2012-08-01 Three maps for every classroom!
It's good that Hong Kong people are concerned
about the issue of
"National Education". I hope there can also be concern for the
issue of
"International Education".
During my years of teaching English in Hong
Kong, I've often noticed that many students
have very little knowledge about geography. Even some Form Five students have
difficulty finding
Canada, India, England, Australia, Korea....and sometimes America....on a map of
the world.
Some students also take a long time to locate
Beijing and Shanghai on a map of China.
And, even more surprising, some students are not very familiar with places in
Hong Kong!
If you think I'm exaggerating, please ask your children/students to point to
some countries/cities/places
on a map. You'll be surprised how even older students will go looking in Europe
for Canada!
So, I would like to see every classroom in
Hong Kong have three maps: a map of the world,
a map of China, and a map of Hong Kong. All maps should be in Chinese and
English.
May the current Olympic Games encourage all of us to update our
"International Education"!