Second Observation - Melbourne Grammar School - 30/5/10

Located opposite to the Shrine of Remembrance, the school is a private school for boys. The students population are mostly Europeans and there are Asians at the school, as a minority. The campus are also well protected by the antiques and preservation department. The school also have two prime ministers that graduated from the school. Other than that, the school have a powerful alumni which most people from there hold important and influential positions in the society.

The school is not like a school. This school is an elite school. In addition, it does not, however, look like a school but an university as it does have everything that a typical university have - theatre hall, rehearsal hall, footie + cricket + football pitches, etc. The students are very high-tech and indeed the school is very prestigious as the buildings are a mix of the old and the new.

We had two lesson observations: First half - German and Second half - Chinese. I will start off with the German class. It is a Year 11 class and there are only six students in the class. There is one teacher and one teaching assistant. When it is all settled, the teacher starts teaching. She hands out the syllabus to the students and the topic is about 'School systems in Germany'. The topic is very interesting but it does not imply to the students as they seemed not to be enjoying the class. The behaviour was under par and their response was not at their best. There was one incident that the teacher had to sent the student off (out of the classroom) to cool down. I have to say frankly that it is a boring class as the teacher is more teacher based and one-sided talking. The student only gave some feedback but when the teacher asks the student to elaborate more in detail, he was somehow reluctant to answer but he did fulfill the teachers requirements. The materials are very exam-oriented but that is explainable as the students are in their Year 11s. All in all, it is a very typical Aussie classroom from the government and that could be comparable to a typical Hong Kong classroom.The differences are that the class ratio is 6:2. and there are no fixed seats. The students are able to give feedbacks and question the teacher on the answers given on the sheet (despite the teacher stating to students that there will be a modal answer after the students had completed the activity). Hong Kong students are reserved in a way and it would be very difficult for them to answer in open ended questions as the Hong Kong system does not provide such questions and thus, limiting them in their development of creativity.

The second lesson was Chinese with Year 10. The teacher is not a Chinese teacher but an Australian teacher with excellent Chinese. He started off the lesson with a question and answer game which concise of three teams - Peking (Beijing) team, Hong Kong team and Taipei team. the three teams start with 20 points. Each student had to go up in front of the classroom and the teacher will ask the question. The quickest student who answered the question correctly will get 5 points. 5 points off for incorrect answers and the first team that reaches 40 points win a set. It was a pleasant class. The students enjoyed it and so did I. The students (some) were over the top and there were some points in which the student have to remember the answer from what they have learnt from the notes. I can say that the materials are dull in a way but the teacher had made the materials useful to the students. This could help students develop their Chinese vocabulary by memorizing and having fun in the class. There were at one point that some students do not understand the questions and the teacher will suit their needs by rephrasing the question or giving them another easier question. To conclude, I do enjoy the latter than the first one. It is not because I am good in that language (in fact, I am not good in Chinese), but because I find the class interesting and the way of teaching. In addition, I did learn some Chinese vocabularies for me to take home!

Two different classes, two different teaching styles. There are different classes in which you need to imply different strategies to make the class more effective. The school itself does show its uniqueness and their status as one of the top schools in Victoria. It does have a huge difference from the school from Springvale and here but I think with the mix and match from both schools and then imply them to Hong Kong context, I think it will work and students will enjoy an effective class, hopefully.