Heads up: This post is 12 years old. My thinking may have evolved since then — read it with that in mind.
“I’m a lucky mommy, my daughter was accepted into St. X, one of the most sought after kindergartens! In K.1, I just let her play, I didn’t sign her up to any after school activities or tutor schools. It was OK, but now in K.2, her classmates can WRITE, in English, a story! They can do additions, 2 digits with 1 digit! And multiplications!! I have no choice but to push my daughter too, otherwise, come interview time, she may lose everything…”
Last Wednesday, we met up with Meeco Wong, a local teacher with 9 years of experience teaching at both local and international kindergartens. She is Sarah’s teaching partner and when we heard from Sarah about how even though she knows early childhood development, the importance of free play and attachment, she “had no choice” but to push her daughter at a competitive local kindergarten, we knew we must interview her to understand what may be a very common conundrum that parents face in Hong Kong.
Meeco is a young mother of two, she claimed that she had a horrible childhood, (she didn’t elaborate and I didn’t want to press on) but she really loves children and she wanted to become a mother one day. Because of that, she studied Early Childhood Education and became a kindergarten teacher.
We were very impressed by her answers to our questions, she showed a high level of professionalism at her profession - observing both parents and children and the interactions between them, acknowledging the parents’ concerns while demonstrating how to respect children, forming a close bond with them and trusting them to discover their own knowledge.
During our weekly team meeting yesterday, Soren, Mrinalini and I discussed our “Top 3 take-aways” for this interview. Two of the most profound take-away were:
“As a kindergarten teacher, I can’t change much in the education system. I can’t even change my school. But what I can change is how I treat my own children.”
“The education system is not helping my daughter to become the full person that she can be. My husband and I are the ones who’re helping her.”
What’s the role of the education system? What’s the point of sending our children to it if it doesn’t help our children learn? How can we change this system so that it can truly nurture children into capable human beings? We think we’re beginning to see the leverage points within this system that can bring about the changes the society needs!