Ninth Observsation - Fitzroy High School

This school is very different in terms of classroom atmosphere. There are no fixed tables and there is random seating almost in every classroom. The teachers are very close with the students.

This school is also considered as a 'new school'. It was closed and reopened in 2004. The school was redesigned again and implied new elements so that most of the things were similar to the primary section. This, they say, is very important as students will have a better transiction from primary to secondary. There are some things that were brought from primary to secondary such as class teachers teaching most of the subjects and having a relatively smaller class so that students could have a deeper learning environment.

I went to a Year 11 Arts Studio class. The class was preparing for their VCE and the students have to finish their own artwork so that some of therm could be sold in auction. In the class, there were 2 teaching assistants and 11 students. Some of them have not start on their final project and only a minority of the students are on the verge on completing their masterpiece. From what I have seen from the class, the teacher and student relationship is very deep as there are not a lot of arguments. The teacher did not even teach the students the skills and the techniques. The teacher rather asks students to go and draw whatever thy like. It is completely different back home as we were taught how to draw - only by the technique and give themes for students to draw. In Australia, the teacher would rather give the students a free hand and it is the students who develop their own feelings and personal development. The students could also express their views and their opinions through drawing so that people could understand that the 'artist' are doing. The teacher would also give opinions, feedbacks and checking the students progress. That is another thing that stands out comparing to Hong Kong.

There are some students that was far behind their own schedule. The teacher would give on-the-spot orders so that the students could meet the deadline. There are also students that would require advanced skills and the teacher would help them to the fullest. That could make the student very comfortable and it seems more like a friend talking to the students rather being a teacher and student.

To conclude, this school gave absolute freedom to students to develop and grow to a responsible citizens. The school is willing to try out new things and I could say that they are adventurous and ambitious. Even though we as Hong Kong students might not be able to cope with a school with no or limited rules, I do believe that the students at the school are able to control and with the guidance from the teachers, they would really, really feel like a second home and a fun school to go to.

Eighth Observation - La Trobe Univerity - International College

The school that we visited on that day was the LTU International College. The class that I went to was 3B - an average English class with 15 students. In addition, the students first language are not English and they are together in the class to learn English so that they could go to the main campus - La Trobe University within a short period of time. To me, the students' level of language are average with some usage of code mixing among fellow countrymen. There are also a vast variety of culture experiences. Despite all of those things, the teacher was very patient when teaching a lesson.

The lesson began with grammar revision in the first hour. The students were learning active and passive voice. The teacher went over the answers with the students as they should have finished their activity at home at the previous day. It went well with not a lot of questions. The teacher also went through a series of drills on the grammar to make sure that students are familiarize with the grammar as well. The teacher used repetition exercises as this would not make students bored with learning grammar. The teacher also let students play a game on active and passive. It is also a good way for students to understand the two clauses in a fun way.

In the second hour, the teacher asked students to form themselves into groups of four and they were to discuss about the newspaper cutting. It started brightly for the students but somehow, what a lot of time remaining, the students that I had in my group ended up out of ideas. I therefore guided them to think of things outside the newspaper cutting. The teacher asked the students to take note of what they haven learnt and attempt any new words that could be useful to them so that the students could use the phrases given in the future. It maybe useful in a way. At the present moment, however, it did not work as students in the class also need to learn how to use stress and intonation in order to make the phrase of the sentence speak more smoothly and fluently.

To conclude, I think this school is completely different to other schools as the target audience are mostly adults studying at the International College.The students want to learn more English and then get into university and I could say that the teacher is fulfilling their needs as I think the intonation, stress and speaking ability are lacking. Finally, it was a great pleasure to observe this class as the students and we as teachers-to-be are more or less the same age.

Seventh Observation - Defence International Training Centre: Laverton Base

This observation is focused on adults and these people are there for their teaching training. A note in advance, this place is a military base and it does not allow any photography unless permitted to do so. The 'students' are those military soldiers that were sent from their respective countries (South East Asia and Pacific) to Australia along with the funding from the government. They were here for the next six months and they will be thought about the metalanguage and the methodology on teaching military students back home.

In the base, the militarily-to-be-teachers were seated in a circle. There were no straight rows or lines from what we saw from movies. They were more expressive rather than being vivid. The class started off brightly as we were to introduce ourselves to the soldiers. Very surprisingly, they were not very strict and they told us a lot about their stuffs. We also have the opportunity to know the soldiers background and why they would like to be teachers to teach military students back home. The teaching of that lesson was in an intermediary level (vocabulary) for teachers. I have taught vocabulary to students before but this was the first time that I have received that sort of training. The lesson then followed the methodology of teaching. I would have no comments towards the teacher on her way of teaching. To the in-service teachers (soldiers), the two from my group did not enjoy /like what she was doing as they told me that the method that she was teaching would never happen in their classrooms back home. In a normal classroom, the students would not follow the teachers method and the two of them suggested that they would do it their own way in the class.

To conclude, I think it is interesting to see a military base where military personnel, mostly from South East Asia come to a place and had their training to become teachers. The teachers methods to students could not be commented however I think there are some students (military personnel teachers) do have an opinion but are unable to say it out. This is because they think that the teacher is too one-sided, too teacher-oriented. As what I have heard, the teacher does all the talking and the students do not have the chance to speak due to the different cultures at their respective countries. I think it is best to have a resolution or clean-the-air talks with their teacher so that the teacher could understand the students' situation back home.