“seminar series by renowned scholars in education” no ... newsletter 3rd issue_en.… · ceshk...

1

� “Seminar Series by Renowned Scholars in

Education” No.5

� CESHK Annual Conference 2009:

Post-Colonial Education Development

In this issue we have…

� FED Students as Volunteer Teachers

in Rural Area of Northern Guangdong

� Photo Taking Day 2009 for FED Graduates

� FED Professors Guested Talk Show

---“Chasing Your Future”

� The Third Annual Symposium of CCUEI

� Chinese Arts and Cultural Creativity Activities

Faculty of Education

NEWSLETTER

March-April, 2009

（（（（Issue 3））））

http://www.umac.mo/fed/newsletter/index_en.htm

1

Issue 3 Contents

Student Activities

FED Students as Volunteer Teachers, in Rural Area of

Northern Guangdong

1

Photo Taking Day 2009 for FED Graduates 5

Lunch Seminar Ⅳ “All about Love” 6

DSEJ Officials/Teachers are to Sit in Master Program

Classes of FED

7

Staff Activities

Dr. Sze & Dr. Vong from FED Guested Talk Show

---“Chasing Your Future”

8

Release of Dr. Zhang Zexun’s New Book 9

Dr. Liu Naihua as Guest-speaker at “Parents’ Day”

Gathering of Pui Va Middle School

10

The Third Annual Symposium of CCUEI 11

FED was invited to give a UM admission briefing to

Tong Nam School

12

Academic Exchanges

Chinese Arts and Cultural Creativity Activities 13

Seminar on "Teaching with Variation in Mathematics --

From Theories to Practice"

15

FED NEWSLETTER

Mission

To disseminate educational ideals and

academic and student activities of

FED;

To provide an easy and user-friendly

platform for academic staff;

To promote a sharing culture and boost

teacher education and professional

development.

Editorial Board

Prof. Sylvia S.L.Ieong [email protected]

Cady [email protected]

Sophie [email protected]

Room J527 8397 8727

FED NEWSLETTERFED NEWSLETTERFED NEWSLETTERFED NEWSLETTER

（（（（University of Macau）））） March 2009————April 2009 3rd Issue

http://www.umac.mo/fed/newsletter/index_en.htm 1

SSttuuddeenntt AAccttiivviittiieess

FED Students as Volunteer

Teachers, in Rural Area of

Northern Guangdong

During Easter holidays, 10-12 April, the

Youth Committee of the Chinese

Educators’ Association of Macau and

FED Students’ Association of University

of Macau co-organized a voluntary

teaching activity in a village school in

northern Guangdong Province. 12 local

Macao teachers and 34 FED students led

by Prof. Sylvia S. L. Ieong went to

Xinggong Macao Primary School in

Gongshui Village, Jintan Town,

Qingyuan County in the north of

Guangdong Province as volunteer

teachers teaching Chinese, English,

Mathematics, Arts and Handicrafts to

children in the remote village school.

Prof. Sylvia S.L.Ieong served as the

consultant of this event, and Ms Cheang

Ka Sit, President of FED Students’

Association of University of Macau was

the deputy team leader. On 8 April before

the departure, the organizers gave a brief

press conference and held a donation

ceremony in the auditorium of Chinese

Educators’ Association Macau. During




the ceremony, Ng Sio Lan, Director of

The Youth Committee of Chinese

Educators Association of Macau,

expressed her expectation that, through

this event, Macao teachers and students

would have a better understanding of

basic education in the Chinese mainland

and experience the environment and

living conditions of mainland students in

remote poor regions so that they could

reflect on their own life and learning

attitude and strengthen their will to face

up to the future. Chan Iok Wai, Section

Chief of DSEJ, Wong Cheng U,

Associate Sales Manager of Longman

HK and Loi Man I, Market Sales

Manager of Educational Publishing

House Ltd., presented their donations of

cash, books and stationery, to support this

activity. Prof. Ieong stressed that this is

not only a teaching opportunity but also a

meaningful learning opportunity and the

student teachers learn to treasure what

they have and to care for others.

The teachers and students were engaged

in three activities: teaching, presenting

donations, books and stationery and

visiting some poor families. FED

students showed great enthusiasm during

these activities. They not only brought

lovely gifts to the children in the poor

region, but also brought into the

classrooms interesting and useful

knowledge and information. For many

freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, this

was the very first time they stood in the




classroom as “real teachers”, therefore,

they made full preparation for the lessons

and brought a great deal of teaching aids,

such as photos, cards, story books, as

well as enlivening and enriching games

into the class. They tried their best to

make children experience different

instructional methods and contents. Their

passion for teaching and love for children

were witnessed by all.

This activity enabled all participating

FED students have a real contact with

children in poor regions of the Chinese

mainland and feel their desire and passion

for knowledge, which motivated FED

students to study hard and dedicate to

teaching. Meanwhile, they also felt

strongly about the unbalanced

distribution of educational resources in

the mainland.

Following is a brief report on FED

volunteer teachers' visit to Xinggong

Macao School, a village school in a poor

mountainous region in the north of

Guangdong province:

1. 34 of our FED students, together with

the other volunteer teachers of Macao,

started the journey in high spirits on the

morning of 10 April 2009, the beginning

of the 4-day Easter holidays. The first

part of the bus ride was quite smooth and

students enjoyed the beautiful scenery of

our country. However, when the bus

bumped along the narrow rugged

mountain paths, they became excited,

which was quite a new experience to

them. We also felt grateful that there was

a new road extending into the remote

mountains.

2. We got up early the next morning so

that we could manage two hours of

teaching. As soon as we arrived at the

village school, named 清新縣浸潭鎮拱




水村星拱澳門小學, our students, (in 7

groups led by experienced Macao

schoolteachers) entered the classrooms

(P1-P6 and a pre-primary class) and gave

their lessons in Chinese, English and

Math to roomfuls of quietly and eagerly

waiting children (there are a total of 265

pupils and 14 teachers in the school). Our

students showed great enthusiasm and

love for these children. They had brought

with them meticulously prepared teaching

aids such as word cards, pictures, wall

charts and paper caps with various

animals. The presentation of the

knowledge items was followed by a

variety of activities to help the children

use the knowledge in life. Then some

teachers took their children onto the

school ground (there is no playground) to

play games, to sing the songs they had

just learned, to play on the "farm"

wearing the animal caps. It was amazing

that all the children were involved and

obviously they enjoyed every bit of the

activities. I felt touched watching our

students so absorbed in teaching and

playing with these children. Soon it was

lunch time and we found it hard to say

good bye to the children. We had a

"feast" with the school principal, Mr.

Huang, and all the other teachers of the

school. There was a simple ceremony,

with singing and dancing prepared by

teachers and pupils. The principal gave a

touching speech of welcome and thanks,

and we presented some books, stationery,

etc.

3. We visited three poor families. It is a

good lesson for us to learn about our

country, the uneven development, the

disparities and differences between the

rich and poor, etc.

4. We bid good bye to the school in the

afternoon and returned to Qingyuan




County. We also had a boat cruise on our

way back home. We returned to Macao

late on 12 April, safe and sound.

In short, this visit is a great learning

experience for our students and for me. I

find great potential in our FED students

and it is up to us to mobilize them,

develop their abilities, guide them and

encourage them, so that their minds and

visions will be broadened, and they'll

learn to care for others and become future

pillars of a caring society and of a caring

world. (Sylvia Ieong)

Photo Taking Day 2009 for FED Photo Taking Day 2009 for FED Photo Taking Day 2009 for FED Photo Taking Day 2009 for FED

GraduatesGraduatesGraduatesGraduates

Again, it is the time of the year, with

sweet sorrow pervading the campus. It is

the most joyful time of the year--- finally

the graduates have completed their

studies, striding towards the society,

ready to realize their ambitions along

with their dreams, aspirations, ideals and

knowledge; however, it is the most

sorrowful time of the year--- four years’

friendship with fellow students, affection

with their alma mater, in the twinkling of

an eye, they have to say goodbye. Just

like the lyrics of a song named “In

Blossom, Gardenia”：

In blossom, gardenia,

To leave, this is the time,

Loath to part from you

My blushing girl

Leaving slight fragrance lingering in my

heart




In blossom, gardenia,

Lovely as it is

Weaving to farewell to rejoice

And cannot arrest

Running water, the time to

Irrigate our golden time day and night

Like sparking and crystal-clear weaves

Showering

In the sea of my heart

Ah, in blossom, gardenia

Ah, in blossom, gardenia

Plain youthfulness

Pure love

Wishing all FED graduates splendid

prospects and a glorious future! (Sophie) LunchLunchLunchLunch Seminar Seminar Seminar Seminar ⅣⅣⅣⅣ “All about “All about “All about “All about

Love”Love”Love”Love”

“Is love all about feelings? Or is love

blind? If you consider yourselves

brimming over with love, then do you

believe that love is all about feeling or is

blind? What is love on earth? This is a

good question really worth pondering,

because love is important, and if you

don’t know what love is, you won’t

understand life, and you will live a

meaningless life...”

Dr. Ng Mei Lin from the Chinese

University of Hong Kong started her

speech with these questions that

interested all present at Lunch Seminar

Ⅳ “All about Love”, which was

organized by Educational Research

Centre of FED on 25 March, 2009. Then

she tried to further explore the concept of

love, concluding that love makes people

fragile; love causes sentimentality; love




renders people blind; love is momentary

impulsive action; love makes people stay

away from the rational; and, thus, people

shouldn’t believe in love. However, Dr.

Ng Mei Lin dismissed the seemingly

correct conclusion by drawing examples

from real life and showing video clips to

all participants present. In contrast, love

makes people strong; love makes people

calm; love makes people bear the pains,

constrains, desires and compulsions for

the beloved; love is superior to the

rational. At the end of the seminar, Dr.

Ng Mei Lin closed her speech with the

following advice:

“Love is all of life. The significance of

life is to love yourself, to love others, and

to love the world. Learning how to love is

one of the most important responsibilities

of life, and learning how to appreciate

love is the most valuable in life. Please

do enjoy your life of love.”

Prof. Vong Sou Kuan, Director of the

Educational Research Centre chaired this

seminar, and more than 70 UM students

participated. All were very interested in

this topic and totally involved. The

seminar was a great success.

DSEJ Officials / Teachers are

to Sit in Master Program

Classes of FED

In accordance with the protocol signed by

DSEJ and UM in 2007, about 50 DSEJ

officials/teachers are going to sit in 20

classes in 4 FED master programs in the

coming semester.

This is the second year that FED offers

opportunities for DSEJ staff to update

and enhance their professional

knowledge. Also past experiences have

proved that the practical experience and

wisdom they brought into the class have

benefited both FED faculty members and

master program students. In return, DSEJ

supports FED with funding to organize

conferences and do research. DSEJ also

offers FED faculty members

opportunities to join in the academic

visits out of Macao, not to mention the




SSttaaffff AAccttiivviittiieess

other cooperative efforts in helping FED

implement better pre-service and

in-service teacher training programs.

It is believed that the win-win situation

will facilitate the betterment of Macao

education. And most important, FED

faculty members feel more confident that

they are approaching the goal of “Serving

Macao and caring for education with

whole-hearted dedication.” With this

confidence, they will try harder to

achieve the mission of FED:

The Faculty of Education strives to

become a leading centre for teacher

training, teacher development and

educational research in Macau, China,

Asia and even the world by continuously

improving teaching and research quality

and emphasizing academic excellence

and international standards.

Dr. Sze & Dr. Vong from

FED Guested Talk Show

“Chasing Your Future”

On the afternoon of 21, April, Dr. Sze Tat

Ming and Dr. Vong Sou Kuan, FED,

guested on the talk show---“Chasing

Your Future” organized by the students’

Affairs Section of UM, sharing their

experiences of study and growing up in

the past and offering some ideas to the

students who are going to further their

study or look for jobs soon.

Dr. Vong -- “Cultural understanding is

the most important”

Dr. Vong shared her study experiences in

Portugal, and concluded that one needed

to dispel the misgivings and endeavored

to find the way to deal with the cultural

shock, which is, in fact, a process of

growing up. Meanwhile, she emphasized

the importance of “engagement” and

“commitment” during the course of study

abroad.

Dr. Sze --“Try to find one’s model/idol

to follow”

Dr. Sze pointed out that one should read

as much as possible, and there is no end

to reading, and that one should try to find

one’s model/idol to follow. Dr. Sze also

responded to the question that it is hard




for a student holding a doctoral degree to

find a job now.

At the end of the talk show, Dr. Tse & Dr.

Vong answered more questions raised by

the students present on further study and

gave them many useful suggestions.

Release of Dr. Zhang Zexun’s

New Book

On 8 April, FED Assistant Professor

Zhang Zexun released her new book

Study on the Statues & Inscriptions of

Taoist Philosophy in Beiwei

Dynasty—Appendix with Photos of

Statues & Inscriptions, which was a part

of the consecutive activities of

“Literature and Culture Festival in the

Spring of 2009” co-organized by the

Macao Publications Association &

Macau Polytechnic Institute and

coordinated by Starlight Bookshop. Dr.

Zhang Zexun shared her research

experiences and findings on the statues &

inscriptions of Taoist Philosophy in

Beiwei Dynasty with the readers present,

and briefly introduced the main features

of her new book.

It is reported that Dr. Zhang has studied

this project for five years. And she has

travelled to Shanxi Province, which was

called “Guanzhong” in Beiwei Dynasty,

and to America and Europe where many

libraries and museums are housing the

documents and antiquities of the statues

& inscriptions of Beiwei Dynasty. She

took photos and read literature there,

trying to explore the religious culture in

“Guanzhong” area. It is different from

her past research, because in this study

she focuses not only on the statues but

also on the inscriptions of the statues. In

this way, she found many statues were

combinations of Taoism and Buddhism.

Studies have shown that Taoism, as the

main-stream culture in Beiwei Dynasty,

doesn’t exclude Buddhism from the

society, instead, it tolerates and

influences Buddhism. The two religions

together play an important role in the

construction of social culture at that time.




Liu Naihua as Guest-speaker

at “Parents’ Day” Gathering

of Pui Va Middle School

On 28 March, Dr. Liu Naihua of FED

University of Macau was invited to

deliver a speech entitled “Beautiful Mind

Project---Brief Talk on the Meaning of

Life Education” to all parents present at

Pui Va Middle School’s “Parents’ Day”

gathering , which was warmly received.

This was the third “Parents’ Day”of Pui

Va Middle School, and over 500 parents

attended this gathering. Dr. Liu first

asked all parents to think about the

meaning of life education, what life is,

and what the value of life is. All these

questions received enthusiastic responses

from the parents. During the seminar, Dr.

Liu emphasized the significance of life

education, and she pointed out three

necessary elements that construct

harmonious life: Love, Care and Respect.

Also, man and life relationships, so we

must learn to treasure ourselves, love

others as ourselves, make a clear

distinction between right and wrong,

handle interpersonal relationships with

care, appreciate nature and protect

environment. Furthermore, drawing on

her own experience of educating her own

children, Dr. Liu maintained that all

parents could accompany their children,

especially adolescents, to tide over the

hardest time of their life, so that they can

believe in their dreams, become “brave

little fighters” in their life, and learn to

appreciate their lives. She also suggested

that parents should play a significant role

in children’s life, build up a reading

environment, listen and try to understand

their conversations, and promote life-long

learning and development. Finally, Dr.

Liu shared a life story with all the

participants.

Dr. Liu’s speech was applauded by the

parents and by Un Yu Wah, principal of

Pui Va Middle School, and the seminar

enabled the parents to have a better

understanding of life education. They all

said that they had benefited a great deal

from it.




The Third Annual

Symposium of CCUEI

"The Annual Symposium of English

Immersion Program on Curriculum and

Teaching (CCUEI, 2009)", co-organized

by Tong Nam School, the University of

Macau, and South China Normal

University, was held on 23-24 March

2009. More than 120 well-known

scholars, professionals, researchers, and

teachers around the world gathered in

Macao, sharing their findings and

experiences in English Immersion

Program (EIP). ”A grand opening

ceremony was held in Tong Nam School.

It started with a lively performance by

kindergarten children from Tong Nam

School. And then a ribbon-cutting

ceremony was hosted by Prof. Wei Zhao,

Rector of University of Macau, Dr.

Alexis Tam, representative of the

Secretary of Social Affairs and Culture of

Macao S.A.R. and Mr. Liu Xiaohang, the

head of the Culture and Education

Department of Liaison Office of the

Central Government in Macao, etc.. At

last, EIP demonstration lessons, given by

Tong Nam School, Xiguan Experimental

Primary School from Guangzhou City

and HSKAMA International School from

Donguan City, showed EIP achievements

both in Macao and the mainland.




In the afternoon, a plenary session of the

conference was held in the library of

University of Macau. Prof. Sylvia S. L.

Ieong and Dr. Wong Ping-Cheng from

the Faculty of Education of University of

Macau chaired the meeting. During this

session, scholars and professionals from

all around the world shared their research

findings. Particularly, Prof. Qiang Haiyan

gave a report entitled “Reviewing the

Fundamental Principles and Effects of

EIP in the Mainland ”. And Prof. Linda

Siegel from the Faculty of Education of

UBC in Canada presented the theoretical

rationale, achievements, development and

challenges of EIP for the children whose

native language is Chinese. Ms. Lao Sin

Peng, vice-principal of Macao Chinese

Educators Association, reported EIP

achievements in tong Nam School with a

presentation entitled “Promoting Chinese

& English Language Competence and

Intellectual Development

Simultaneously”.

On March 24, parallel sessions started.

There were five sessions in total: EIP in

pre-primary and low grades of primary

school, EIP in middle and high grades of

primary school, EIP in high school, EIP

school management, and theoretical

research on EIP. Prof. Ieong from FED of

UM emphasized the sustainability of

English education and Dr. Matilda Wong,

also from FED of UM, summarized the

experiences and reflections of FED New

Zealand Immersion Program of the past

three summers. The presentation aroused

great interest of the participants, and they

had a lot of inquires and discussion about

this experience.

During the closing ceremony of the

CCUEI, a brief conclusion about the

annual symposium was made. And Prof.

Shan Wen Jing, Dean of FED of UM,

delivered a closing speech and he

informed the audience that FED would

offer an ELT master program in near

future to promote English Education in

Macao.

FED was invited to give a

UM admission briefing to

Tong Nam School




AAccaaddeemmiicc EExxcchhaannggeess

20 Feb. Associate Professor Sylvia S L

Ieong of FED, together with Ms. Lei Kit

Man from Registry of UM, Xiang

Chunping and Qin Yuan, did a UM

school briefing at Tong Nam School.

They were warmly welcomed by Ms.

Chu Kam Fong, the Principal of Tong

Nam School, Mr. Ieong Chan Kei, Vice

Principal, and 126 Senior Secondary 3

students who are to graduate from high

school in June 2009.

Ms. Lei first briefed the students on the

admission process and other matters of

importance with special emphasis on

scholarship policy of UM. Then Prof.

Ieong introduced all the five faculties of

UM: FBA, FLA, FED, FSH and FST,

with their respective visions and missions.

Prof. Ieong demonstrated the strengths of

UM and of all faculties, stressing the

international status of the University,

academic staff members from all parts of

the world, a diversity of quality

programmes and the rich and varied

student exchange programs.

When Prof. Ieong asked the students

which university they rate first in Macao

S. A. R., with one accord all the students

said, "University of Macau!", from which

we can see the popularity of UM. Also,

when it came to the Q & A section, Tong

Nam students showed great interests in

UM by raising related questions. The

briefing not only provided necessary

information for all Senior Secondary 3

students in Tong Nam, but also a good

opportunity to help the public know our

university better.

Chinese Arts and Cultural

Creativity Activities




Organized by the Faculty of Education

University of Macau, a series of activities

on Chinese arts and cultural creativity

were held on 2 April, 2009. Prof. Huang

Kuang Nam, an artist and administrator

and Rector of Taiwan University of Arts,

was invited as the honored guest speaker.

Prof. Shan Wenjing, Dean of FED, and

Dr. Zhang Zexun from the University of

Macau, were also present at this seminar.

There were three consecutive activities.

First was a short but grand ribbon-cutting

ceremony, hosted by Prof. Huang Kuang

Nam, Prof. Shan Wen Jing and Dr. Zhang

Zexun, which signaled the official

opening of Prof. Huang’s book exhibition

on artwork. The exhibition will last till 10

April. The ceremony and the exhibition

attracted many students, and some of

them raised their curiosity about Prof.

Huang’s bold use of red, black, and white.

Prof. Huang explained that these three

colors were very traditional Chinese

colors, which represent special features of

oriental painting. He tried to use Chinese

traditional colors to convey the sense of

modernism and postmodernism.

After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, a

seminar on “Chinese Arts and Activity of

Cultural Creativity” was held. Focusing

on the theme “Contemporary Taiwan

Art” Prof. Huang gave a detailed

introduction to Taiwan contemporary art

history along with Taiwan history and

customs: from “scholar painting”, which

was flourishing before 1895, to

“Southern School” in 1930s’and

“Nanjing School”, then to modernization

of Taiwan fine art after 1940s, and to

“Localism”, “Futurism”,

“Postmodernism”, which became very

popular in 1970s and 1980s due to social

transition and international culture

exchanges, finally to instant digital era,

and reflections on life and environmental

conservation. Prof. Huang then concluded

that it’s easy to reach physical value, but




mental and artistic value is never ending,

so, he called on all audience to immerse

themselves in art atmosphere even though

they’re not majoring in art.

The third activity is artwork

demonstration by Prof. Huang. He

demonstrated his Chinese calligraphy by

inscribing four Chinese characters “Qie

Er Bu She”, which means “work with

perseverance” in English. The

calligraphic masterpiece was then

presented to the University Library as a

gift.

All participating students felt enhanced

by the art seminar. Prof. Huang’s rich

experience, knowledge, talents, and his

passion for Taiwan and unique outlook

on Chinese culture deeply impressed all

the students present and enabled them to

have a better understanding of Chinese

painting, especially customs, history, and

fine art history of Taiwan.

Seminar on "Teaching with

Variation in Mathematics –

“From Theories to Practice”

Organized by FED of UM, a seminar on

“Teaching with Variation in Mathematics:

From Theories to Practice" was held at

L105 on 18, March, 2009. Prof. WONG

Ngai Ying from The Chinese University

of Hong Kong was invited to speak at the

seminar, with Dr. SUN Xuhua from FED

chairing it. UM undergraduates and

postgraduates, directors and mathematic

teachers from Macao schools and

members from Macau Mathematics




Teaching and Research Association also

participated.

Prof. WONG Ngai Ying presented

teaching with variation in mathematics

from three perspectives: world

mathematics curriculum trends,

mathematics variation instructional

design and practice. He maintained that

during social transition era, in addition to

a solid ground and skills, students must

improve their intellectual competence on

high-level thinking from sensibility to

rationality, from the concrete to the

abstract, and from induction to deduction.

Also, they must grasp the rules of

searching “constant” from “variation” in

mathematic study so that they can handle

the “apparent changes” in exams. For

example, when talking about speed rate

in a mathematic course, teachers can also

mention clicking rate, birth rate and

audience rate etc., which can help

students understand the concept better.

Meanwhile, using his own research

project as an example, Prof. Wong

pointed out that, through variation

instruction, students had their mathematic

performance improved, but there was no

obvious increase in their study interest,

which can be further researched. In

variation instruction, it is not the more

varied, the better---when to vary, and

how often to vary is an art.

At the end of the seminar, a Macao

middle school director expressed his

wishes to apply teaching with variation in

mathematics to all middle and elementary

schools in Macao, and he also hoped that

Prof. Wong and Macau Mathematics

Teaching and Research Association can

work together to promote the

development of Macao mathematic

education.

“seminar series by renowned scholars in education” no ... newsletter 3rd issue_en.… · ceshk...

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