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listening to great music; by looking at works of art either in the original or in good reproductions again from the treasuries of all races, it should be possible deliberately to turn the minds of young people towards general ethical principles that would lead we hope to the adoption of standards of living and behaviour which in turn would benefit both themselves and the communities in which they live. This may sound either trite or ridiculous but from my own experiences in this country and elsewhere I am sure it would be worth trying.
Use of English. II.
Teacher Training.
Closer Assoc-
iation with
the United Kingdom.
In Hong Kong as in the rest of South-East Asia the increased use of English seems justified not only in answer to popular demand but as a unifying and anti-communist measure. There are still too few Europeans with a sufficient knowledge of the various dialects of China to keep an adequate watch both on the literature that is used and the oral work that is carried on in the unaided Chinese schools. English should become the second mother- tongue of more than the elite that now use it through the English-speaking schools. Every effort should be made to take advantage of the experiments that are being carried out in various parts of the world in the teaching of English as a foreign language. I understand that some of the Education Department in Hong Kong know of useful work that is being done in Canada. Mr. Richards of Harvard is an expert whose help would be invaluable. grants under the Fulbright scheme could be made available so that these experts could come to Hong Kong to give the territory the benefit of their wisdom.
war.
Perhaps
III. Hong Kong embarked upon full time teacher training just before the
Urban teachers whose medium is either the vernacular or English are trained at the Northcote Training College. Teachers for the New Territories are trained at the Rural Training College. To make available to all teachers regardless of the tongue inwhich they are going to teach, the best in modern educational theory and practice, English should be the language of the training colleges. Certainly no member of staff should be without this language.
Hong Kong now needs the services of men and women in the training colleges who have been trainers of teachers in this country and who will bring to this all-important educational service the modern outlook and a familiarity with modern methods. This applies not only to the vocational training but to the whole outlook and organisation of the training colleges as communities in which young people learn to take adult responsibility, make decisions and learn by mistakes while they still have people to help and advise them.
IV.
The Education Department from the moment it took over after the Japanese Occupation has made a point of sending students to this country for further education and training. It chose women to get the full Froebel qualification and to come back to work both in the schools and in the training college. There is however, I think justification in the present circumstances to expand these facilities and to send home more people of the older age groups who have had years of experience of teaching in Hong Kong for one-year revitalisation courses such as those given at the Colonial Department of the Institute of Education. Even a shorter time would probably be very useful. I met many Chinese teachers of such calibre that they could benefit by three to six months outside China. with the United Kingdom and with modern educational practice and philosophy were infused in an even greater measure into Hong Kong, Hong Kong could then offer opportunities for the training of teachers for a wider area and could make up for the closing down of a great deal of European and American education in China. This may appear an uneconomic suggestion in the present
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