Friday, July 3, 2015

Lulu Literacy History

Lulu Wang
Content Area Literacy
Literacy History
My Earliest Experience
 When I was in the elementary school I really enjoyed Chinese language art. I like to read Chinese stories and memorize the characters. My Chinese language score was high; therefore I always received praise from my Chinese teacher. This encouragement made me excited to learn more. At home, my father would read news to me in the hopes of helping me learn more vocabulary. When I was doing my homework at home, especially math, my father will not only give me the answer of the content, but the strategy how to figure it out. He would ask me to read the content many times and explain to me.
What Do I Feel
 I like to read, but I would not call myself a bookworm. Usually I turn to books what I have questions or life problems to have answered. I think the person who really inspired and helped become curious about the written word was my high school Chinese teacher. She was not like my other teachers. She taught us when reading a book that we should start with a purpose and raise questions of why the author wrote the book. She also taught us to think critically and question the authors’ opinions. I think form that time is when I really started to enjoy reading.
Culture Influence
The Chinese educational system is very teacher centered.  The students are just there to absorb the information and score high on the test. If we had trouble learning we were on our own to figure out what learning strategies worked for us. We were taught to respect the teacher, and not question the teacher. It was not common practice for any student to ask clarifying questions, the questions were always focus on the test answer. I know realize that is so important for the student to discover the answer, but the Chinese system just doesn’t work that way. In my opinion the Chinese educational system does not encourage curiosity like that of other countries. I think if the system were different, I would be more of a reader.




2 comments:

  1. Lulu, I think it is significant that you do not consider yourself a reader. To me the connection lies in how reading and writing were presented to you. Literacy was task oriented and skill driven and not something that is meant to be enjoyed. Rather than simply reading the news to you, you were expected to learn vocabulary. It was only when a teacher began to relate to you on a more personal level did you begin to appreciate the learning that was occurring. I am glad that you can see how the schooling you experienced was teacher-centered and how this approach is not always the best to motivate students and to inspire creativity. That is not to say that there aren't times that a teacher-center lesson is not valid but it should not be a singular approach. I enjoyed reading this. Thanks!

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  2. Lulu, its nice to know more about you and your life living in China. And after reading Jim's comments to your post, he has put it very nicely and wish I could have that in-depth understanding on this subject. Since I too have grown up in a country with a similar approach to education so I can completely understand your expressions and lets consider ourselves to be the more fortunate ones to have seen the other side of things where as we have recently learnt that learning can be fun and exciting, creative etc. (not just memorizing) and we can live the rest of our lives with this new more enjoyable approach. Also do our part in imparting this knowledge to the coming generations as teachers.

    Take care.

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