中文
子曰：「吾十有五而志於學，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳順，七十而從心所欲，不逾矩。」《論語·為政》
This year marks the 40th anniversary of CCC Kwei Wah Shan College. Besides celebration and thanksgiving, this is a milestone indicating that the school has reached the year of doubtlessness, not only understanding clearly its own strengths and weaknesses but also possessing a clear direction and a blueprint for future development.
School Changes
After forty years of development, CCC Kwei Wah Shan College is totally different now than it was in the past. As a Chinese proverb says, ‘Flowers remain the same year after year while people change year by year.’ The school has indeed undergone lots of changes. First, students have changed from local to international. Other than local students, we have students from the UK, the USA, and South Asian countries, creating a culturally diversified learning environment and an international campus. CCC Kwei Wah Shan College has now embraced the traditions and the peculiarities of the East and the West, helping students broaden their horizon, expand their boundaries and understand more about other nationalities. The enrichment of knowledge and experience through their interaction with each other will surely give them a big edge over the others in their future education and career.
In addition, the school has developed into an e-Campus. Not only did the teachers and the students are used to teach and learn with tablet computers via whole-school wireless network coverage. In the coming year, the electronification of school administration will be implemented through the operation of e-Attendance, e-Payment and e-Notice systems to enhance home-school communication. Moreover, e-Learning has moved to an expansion phase in which the depth (level of mastery) and the breadth (diversity of applications) continue to advance for the enhancement of learning and teaching as well as the creation of an interactive learning environment. Through wireless network coverage, learning has become barrier-free. Students can not only learn in school, they can also continue to learn at home and communicate with the teachers over the network. Learning becomes more interesting, interactive, and ubiquitous.
Future Directions
Summing up the past forty years of experience, the school will continue to develop and move forward. The school has laid out the development direction of the next five years. ‘Self-regulated learning’ will be the goal to encourage every student to treat learning as his/her own business, to enhance learning motivation, to emphasise his/her learning, and to give feedback on his/her learning through goal setting, implementation, and continuous review of the progress.
To become self-regulated learners, the foremost condition is to establish study habits. Good study habits can help us develop a proactive, spontaneous, and introspective attitude. Good study habits include preview, note-taking, reading, discussion, questioning, reflection, review, and completion of assignments. They are fundamental but crucial ways of learning. To develop and establish the above study habits requires patience and determination, hard work and perseverance.
Self-regulated Learning Strategies
In line with self-regulated learning, the school will implement ‘3-P Strategies’. The first ‘P’ is ‘Preparation Before Lesson’. Preparation is an important part of self-regulated learning. Teachers will give students a wide range of preparation tasks, helping them prepare for the lessons well and strengthening their learning efficacy. In addition, teachers will encourage students to use e-Learning tools, which overcomes the limitations of time and space, to complete the preparation tasks, Moreover, reading is a vital means of self-study or preparation. In the past year, the morning reading programme is proved to have good effect; the frequency will be increased from two times to four times per week. It is hoped that students can gain more knowledge through reading and become consistent lifelong learners.
The second ‘P’ is ‘Proactivity During Lesson’, which refers to ‘classroom participation’. Proactive attitudes include frequent questioning, discussion, exchange, and presentation. The only goal is to seek more learning opportunities. Beginning this school year, the school will attach great importance to interactive learning in the classroom. Students are no longer passive learners. On the contrary, they will dominate the lesson and become true masters of learning. To this end, teachers will encourage students to conduct cooperative learning in the lesson. Students will be divided into groups. Each student has different roles and tasks. Through the exchange, students can absorb more different views and opinions, and have a better understanding of the learning content. Cooperative learning can make each student learn better and take care of learner diversity more effectively. Active participation and own-initiative inquiry are the essences of cooperative learning.
The third ‘P’ is ‘Preservation after lesson’. To achieve deepening and consolidation of classroom learning, after-lesson review and application of learning content are inevitably necessary for deep understanding and memory. The completion of after-lesson assignments is thus very important. Starting from this school year, the school will replace junior form ‘class-teacher period’ with ‘self-regulated learning (SRL) period’ for students to complete their assignments and lesson preparation so that they can consolidate their learning. In the SRL period, class-teachers will encourage students to complete the assignments and lesson preparation on their own, to organise the notes, and to reflect on what they have learnt. If necessary, class-teachers will assist students to solve their difficulties in learning.
In addition, as an self-regulated learner, they must constantly review their own learning progress. Hence, the school will adjust its assessment policy regarding tests and examinations to allow students to be assessed after an appropriate period of learning. Students can track their own learning progress meticulously, improve the weaknesses, and enhance the strengths to optimise their learning. From this school year onwards, ‘extended learning’ will be cancelled and replaced by regular tests and examinations. A formal test or examination will be arranged after a learning period of about thirty days. Learning content will be carefully tailored, making it easier for students to absorb and master, and to achieve more effective learning.
Lastly, thankful to God for having led CCC Kwei Wah Shan College in the past forty years. Despite formidable challenges ahead, I believe that God’s grace is sufficient for the school. I hope that all teaching and non-teaching staff can work together wholeheartedly to develop the school, making every student a self-regulated learner.
Mr. Cheng Lai-lam, Principal
1st September, 2016