Day 6 was absolutely hard work - three schools in Victoria to visit and learn from. How should I rank these great experiences in the end? Let me see...
A guest waiting room
A beautiful natural scene
Here comes the 3rd place - Royal Roads University (above). This is a rather young university as it has not even reached 30 years. This school focuses on social science subjects like business, tourism, education, and cultural studies. So, those looking for popular subjects like law and medicine may find this school not relevant for them. With our short stay in the campus, we did not get to see much of their facilities. However, interestingly, this school used to be a residential a century ago and it turned into a military school before becoming a university. Its old buildings and Japanese gardens gave us unbelievable images! Just imagine yourself studying in this environment...what a pity it doesn't run a poetry course!
The 2nd place goes to the University of Victoria (above). I personally loved the professional tour-guiding, showing us all the major facilities and explaining the campus life style. Also, I am impressed by the university's many relaxing catering areas, its attractive cinema, and its new sports centre. Studying is not only about books and examinations; it is a part of living. This university captures just that and ensures that learners have quality learning as well as living environments.
The Number One experience of the day to me is Vic High - Victoria High School (above). The school has a long history and its current main building is over a hundred years old already. Besides, there were two things from this school that struck me. First, many of its courses are divided into 3 levels to suit learners of different competence. Students of different years may freely join a course at their desired level. Second, they offer many practical courses for students such as leadership, photography, hairdressing, auto body (car fixing), and carpentry. It is very rare for a Hong Kong school to have these as school subjects.
In Hong Kong, it is often said that we study for examinations. But in schools like Vic High, we have a strong impression that learning is for making a living and contributing to one's community. And honestly, school design should be like this. We don't need exam-takers, we need people who know how to serve and help each other to build our society. However short our visit was, this strong message keeps ringing in my head - we should design a practical school curriculum to equip future global leaders in diverse fields. And my boss will agree with me that YWPS, despite being a primary school, has been heading exactly for this direction for the past decade.
See you on Day 7!
Dr H C Lee
In Hong Kong, it is often said that we study for examinations. But in schools like Vic High, we have a strong impression that learning is for making a living and contributing to one's community. And honestly, school design should be like this. We don't need exam-takers, we need people who know how to serve and help each other to build our society. However short our visit was, this strong message keeps ringing in my head - we should design a practical school curriculum to equip future global leaders in diverse fields. And my boss will agree with me that YWPS, despite being a primary school, has been heading exactly for this direction for the past decade.
See you on Day 7!
Dr H C Lee
