Scotland Educational Trip 2018 - Day 7 (Closure)

5/4/2018

Principal of Edinburgh U spoke to us.

Although in itinerary we do have a Day 8 when we will visit a garden, Day 7 is the closure of our official duties as a professional trip participants and therefore I think it serves as a proper end.

2014 at HKU

2018 at U of Edinburgh

To start with...who is this man next to me? Well, it's not really a question I'm asking you...I'm sure you can easily tell that he was the Principal of The University of Hong Kong, Prof Peter Mattieson. He left the university and became the Principal of The University of Edinburgh this year. We were thrilled to meet him and have the chance to speak to him this morning. Prof Mattieson was the one who conferred my doctoral degree to me in 2014. I am very glad to be able to thank him in person today!

Q1: Prof Mattieson spoke to us on different topics during the meeting. Try to listen to him carefully (maybe several times) and see if you could understand what he said here! Try to sum it up!

Final meeting

To end our professional trip, we had a discussion at a room at The University of Edinburgh to consolidate what we had learnt over the past week. We were asked 3 questions. And I'd like to briefly share with you my responses here:

1. What are the 3 things I have learnt in this trip?

Firstly, I learnt that we (teachers & students) should grab the chance to study overseas when the chance comes. It is true to a large degree the learning environment we admire here can only exist here. So, one must come to learn. Secondly, "excellence" may NOT be a necessity in school. For instance, some schools post students' work on the board regardless of their quality. Thirdly, somehow, we all learn a lot more from our fellow trip participants than from the Scottish schools because we are the frontline educators in Hong Kong and our sharing based on our own examples often stimulates our peers more directly. We take the Scottish examples as reference but seriously learn from our travel partners,

2. What are the 2 things I will bring back to school?

Present and souvenir. Just kidding...who cares about souvenirs? I'd like to bring the "entire" journey back to Hong Kong, at least in written form, and that is what you have been reading from this travelogue! The other thing I'd like to bring back (but I'm not sure if I can implement it well) is the spirit to help those who need a bit more time to catch up. Meeting students who might need more help in these visits reminds me strongly that there are different kinds of pupils we need to take good care of. After all, I wasn't a smart student myself when I was small.

3. What would I have done differently?

We didn't have time to reach this point during our formal trip-end meeting - to tell you what I think here, I feel that some schools lacked the sense of hospitality. Even Prof Mattieson hosted us himself - I wonder why there could be any school which didn't even host us with a deputy head. If I had the power to arrange reception for school heads coming to my school, I would not allow our visitors to feel that we look down to them. And that is why our school has been working so hard and professionally on our ambassador programme and Headmistress herself always takes care of our visitors personally. The school's attitude towards guests reflects a lot about what sort of value education they give to their students.

Q2: Among the many moments I recorded in these travelogue articles for Scotland, which one do you think is my favourite and why? (Tip: definitely NOT this Scottish dance!)

For those of you who haven't read my previous entries, I hope you will find time to go through them. I love reading all your responses and hope that more will come with creativity and intelligence. I will certainly give you the answers of all the questions I asked very soon. I will come back to Hong Kong on Sunday (6 May) and attend the concert on Monday! If you won't be there, I will see you when school resumes!

Last but not least, thanks to YWPS and Hong Kong Direct Subsidy Scheme Schools Council for this very prestigious learning opportunity; and thanks to you for reading and writing! You make this journey all the more meaningful.

Dr H C Lee

18 Comments

BoscoWong

5/5/2018 11:56:46 am

Dear Dr.Lee,
Thank you for sharing your Scotland study tour.To me,this tour was a very memerable expierience to learn and explore.Many of us were very jealous.To me,I did not felt jealous,I felt VERY jealous(just kidding:)!

During this trip,you have visited many schools.It is also a presure to meet your old Ying Wa students and Prof Peter Mattieson.From my view ,Scotland schools' teaching method are much better than most of the schools in HK..What students do during classes are not only listening to what the teacher says and sitting like a statue,but also having interactions between students and teachers.This is a place that most HK schools cannot achieve .

The enviroment and view in Scotland really inspired me a lot .Espeacially when animals could be seen in many areas in Scotland very easily,not only in zoos and farms!

This tour must be a memerable expierience to you.Going to different schools and places must very exciting and fascinating to all of you! Same as the Singapore study tour, this tour can let all of you explore and 'taste' the country,not only playing .

Dr H C Lee

5/5/2018 02:53:45 pm

Yes Bosco, things are beautiful here in Scotland. But I don't think Hong Kong's teaching style is not as good as what I observe here. Just different tastes, different focuses. If the Scottish teachers come to visit YWPS, I'm sure we'll have a lot to impressive them too!

Colman Wong 6B 30

5/5/2018 06:00:33 pm

Thanks a lot for sharing this study tour. Obviously, a lot of people are jealous that you get to go to the wonderful places while we are stuck in this concrete forest, me included. But, we still learnt a lot from it.
I think there is one thing for the HK government to learn, and it is that we should not build more buildings in the countryside. We should not see animals just in zoos and farms. For how, I don't really know :9

For Q1, I think Prof. Mattieson is talking about how the education of Scotland was arranged.

For Q2, it was probably the fruitful fruit party. Nice pun by the way :P

Thanks again for sharing this tour!

Geoff Wong 6A(30)

5/5/2018 10:27:24 pm

First and foremost, I now want to express my deepest appreciation to Dr.Lee for your travelogue articles about this 7-day amazing journey, and it is my pleasure to give some replies. Indeed, it is an unforgettable educational trip, isn't it? The most impressive part is Day 6, visiting St. Roch's Secondary School. It is really encouraging to all of us. Although Keren Mingole is a deaf, she did not give up—she gives herself a target, and eventually, she did it and succeeded. When I was listening to her speech in the video clip, I kept asking myself: If a deaf can do something great, why can't we? And yes, it is inspiring, food for thought!
By the way, I would like to answer Dr.Lee's question 1-2:
Question 1: Professor Peter Mattieson, the Principal of The University of Edinburgh, the then-Principal of The University of Hong Kong, talked about Scotland's education environment. He emphasized that although Scotland is not independent, its power of education was devolved, which gives some advantages and disadvantages.
Question 2: Among the many moments recorded in the travelogue articles for Scotland, I think that your favourite photo is the photo with Angus Cheng, the YWPS graduate who you met on Day 5. It is quite unbelievable that you met a Ying Wa boy in a place miles away, am I correct? It is such an extraordinary photo!
To sum up this journey, I will use the word "SEE" to describe it:
Significant!
Enjoyable!
Excellent!

Let's SEE!

Vincent Yin 6E(30)

5/6/2018 06:19:20 pm

Dear Dr.Lee
Thanks for sharing this amazing trip! I think you must be disappointed that the trip only last for seven days,I think you may still have some places that you wanted to go to but you don't chance.However,among those wonderful places that you went to , I think you enjoy the fourth day the most. It is because the school is beautiful and I am sure that you and your wife definitely have a sweet and good time in Sterling!(Please don't mind I say this)

Also,I wanted to ask you a question:If you have an other chance to go to Scotland again(Not Professional Trip!),which place that you will like to visit ALONE ?

Vinecnt Yin 6E30

5/6/2018 06:32:08 pm

Reply you for (Why shall I done differently):
I think it is because those schools think you and the principal are come from HK, and you are just a teacher from a primary school that is not very famous,so they look down to you and the principal(Just guessing). Also,I agree with you that you will not let the visitors feel that we look down to them. It is because treating every visitors nicely and professionally is really important!

Timothy Lam

5/6/2018 09:30:34 pm

Wow!Thanks for sharing such a wonderful journey!The views and experiences must be so meaningful and fun! Personally I feel jeleous for staying in HK and watching you go to cool places, but I'm sure we have learnt a lot!

Vincent Song 6C 25

5/7/2018 01:01:24 pm

Hi! Long time no see! I'm too busy with my schoolwork...Sorry...No time to comment...
Mmmm... I guess it's a sad time for Dr.Lee to leave Scotland. Well, on the other hand, I don't need to be jealous anymore! Great! Just kidding.
Anyway, for Dr.Lee's first question, I think Prof Peter Mattieson mainly talked about Scotland having an independent educational system ran by a government which is not entirely independent of UK. Yep. That sums it up.
As for the second question, I think Dr.Lee will come back and tell us the model answer, which is: Every moment is so precious, and I enjoy them all !!! I hope I'm right about this matter!

Bye!

Jacob Won 6A 29

5/7/2018 10:47:57 pm

Well , the last day, so excited to come back to YWPS , but also, missing this wonderful trip to Scotland. So, for Q.1 summing up things , the thing that Dr. Lee needs us to do every time we read a book that he would talk about in Ying Wa. I think that Professor Mattieson wants to tells us the education in Scotland can be good sometimes and bad sometimes. For Q.2, I really enjoyed the school visits(like I said in day 6)but I still find the Scottish dance quite hilarious too!

Lin

5/9/2018 08:27:09 pm

This is the day before the last day
Doctor Lee said it at the top of the passage

Jacob Wong ( not a mistake in the passage)

5/7/2018 10:49:36 pm

P.S. It is Jacob Wong 6A 29 ( at the top of the comment)

Angus Chan 6e 03

5/8/2018 07:51:21 pm

Hi Dr Lee.In this Scotland trip,I think you learnt a lot and our students will learn more. Even, I think this trip let us everyone in our school will learn a lot,too.Cause you shared lots of important information to us,it makes teacher know teach better and students know more about Scotland.I think this trip is an amazing trip.Hope you will travel more,learn more and teach us more!

Hinson Ho (chicken head)

5/8/2018 08:28:47 pm

I watch the passage of the seventh day in Scotland . I hope you really bring the two things (the entire “journey “ and the spirit)but not present and souvenir from Scotland.By the way,I’m curious about your spirt after six days trip because I usually get tired from a long trip( it means a trip that spend a week or more).

Matthew Yu

5/8/2018 09:17:47 pm

Dr. Lee, I think that you have learnt a lot and had a great time in Scotland. But we learnt even more. Thanks for all the articles you have put on this website. I really love reading them. By the way, I hope you can really bring the two things back Hong Kong.

For the questions, no 1: I think Prof Peter Mattieson mainly talked about Scotland having an own education system ran by a government which is not entirely the same of UK.
no 2: I think that Dr. Lee loves every precious moment in Scotland.

6E(1)Pak Hang Chan

5/8/2018 11:49:36 pm

Wow!Thank you for sharing about your wonderful journey in Scotland!The views must be very fun and meaningful!And I fell very jealous of I watch your sharing of your journey when I am staying at home.Thank you for your sharing.

Jason Leung

5/9/2018 12:58:29 am

Thank-you for sharing about the trip you went to Scotland.i think this trip is a very good trip too as you can read .

Jason leung (add more things into the passage)

5/9/2018 01:01:45 am

Also , you have also met more new friends from the school you visited .

Lin Lok chi

5/9/2018 08:29:29 pm

Q1: He says that the Scotland has a different education system than the UK.
Q2: You likes the school visits best, because you learnt how the Scotland children learn in school and how their classroom looks. You might have some ideas of improving our school.

Scotland Educational Trip 2018 - Day 7 (Closure)

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