Recently it was reported that 700 parents queued up all night for tutorial class enrolment, which manifested the twisted side of local education culture; yet more parents and schools also become aware of the problems of intensive drilling, and thus try to effect a change. On June 27 and 28, educators and parents will assemble at EDiversity’s second education conference. With the theme “We Need a Break: Drill less, Learn more”, the conference aims to encourage parents and schools to reduce cramming practices and make time for family and creative education. The conference will investigate the actual effectiveness of assignments and assessments, and explore how children can learn more and better on an assignment-free holiday. Parents, teachers and principals who have adopted extraordinary approaches within mainstream institutions, and practitioners of creative education will be invited to share their experience and insights. The programme is as follows:
|
Speaker / Organisation |
Topic of the talk / workshop |
Day1 |
Prof. Chiu Wing Kai, Stephen
Professor of the Department of Sociology, the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Associate Director of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies |
Opening address: Why “We Need a Break”?
Why is it essential to cut down assignments and assessments, and to provide children, parents and teachers with a genuine holiday? |
Mr. Kenny Or
Founder of Little Green Feet (Hapi Reading Club) |
Picture books + happy families = endless possibilities
How does a father manage to connect family, school and community using picture books? And how does it contribute to the betterment of society? What can schools do to “drill less, learn more”? |
Dr. Tsui Chun Cheung
Principal of Tai Po Old Market Public School (Plover Cove) |
Mr. Marco Wong
Founder of Teens Angel Family Centre and Life Inspire, who has once cycled around Taiwan with his three-year-old daughter |
Holidays of Self-realisation
A real-life story of a boy with learning disability and how he transformed in ten years, by planning his backpacking holiday to wander abroad, overcoming his disability and eventually enrolling in a German engineering institute. |
Ms. Wai Wai Ying
Education Consultant of Greenfield Educational Fund Ltd. |
Stories are better than textbooks
Why do some local schools use story books to replace textbooks in English teaching? How do they carry it out? And how is the result? |
Harry Wong (Aka “Harry Goh Goh”)
CEO, Kido Town |
Magic education
Magic is more than a trick – let’s look into the holistic education behind magic! |
Mr. Manuel Somonte
Songhi (Finland) |
Gamification of education |
Prof. Tse Shek Kam
Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research, Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong |
Let there be interludes in life
What is the purpose of assignments, assessments and drilling practices? Is it really the more you drill, the better? |
Dr. Cheng Pui Wah, Doris
Director of the Centre for Childhood Research and Innovation; Associate Professor of the Hong Kong Institute of Education |
Day2 |
Ms. Ada Wong
Founder of MaD and HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity |
Creative Education: Why & How? |
Reading in Nature @ Little Green Feet |
Return to nature: the implementation of natural education in Hong Kong |
Farmer and Food @ Little Green Feet |
Eat, drink, play and learn in the fields: the family education of food and agriculture |
Kids Expedition @ Little Green Feet |
Explore, discover, and imagine: the family co-learning journey in the community |
Kids Fun Co-op @ Little Green Feet |
Playing with 3,000 wooden blocks |
Scientist Sue Choy @ Amusing Science |
Science is Fun: A Tubeful of Colours / Science is Fun: Seeing is Believing |
Lyricist Mr. Wong Chung Kit @ La Violet Education |
You can be a lyricist too |
Ms. Joyce Choi (Choi EE) @ Bring Me a Book |
Storytelling & Selecting the Best Chinese Books to Read with Kids |
