2012年11月21日 星期三

老師們,這是我的兩句話


  上週末,一群老師進行了示威集會,促請教育局盡快推行中學的小班教學,以30人一班為短期目標,長遠目標更應是25人一班。

  老師們的口號,當然是為了提高教育質素,讓學生得益。但潛台詞是甚麼,相信不用畫公仔畫出腸,那不就是飯碗保衛戰。今天的既得利益者,總學會不少轉折的話語。堅持丁權的,總是為了風俗;不想前面無敵海景被擋者,總是說填海影響生態。其實,最應該保衛學生利益的,是一眾家長,但我認為,小班教學不會是家長們心裡的想法。一般家長,大都是名牌主義,名校每班人數減少,即是學生進入心儀名校機會減少,這豈會是家長的內心願望。老師們搞了那麼多的動作,中學校長們數週前更是一字長蛇陣「曬冷」,還是鼓動不到各校的家教會組織大力支持,小班教學在家長心目中的地位,實在可想而知。只是不少家長還是厚道和功利並重,不支持也不致於明言反對,畢竟子女仍在學校就讀,投鼠自當忌器,當反動份子不見得會有好下場,家長多是聰明人呢。

  從家長的選擇,小班教學也不見得有甚麼特別的吸引力。現今最受家長歡迎的幾家直資中學,都不是小班教學的學校。個別班次,每班人數更超過40人。從公開試的成績,畢業後能看得見的畢業生表現,我實在得不出小班教學能大幅改善學生學習的結論。學校時期在大班學習的我,小學50人一班,中學40人一班,學習還是正常進行,自己同樣能走到今天的地步。兒子現今念每班30人的小班,卻看不出他的學習順暢了多少,這也是我對小班教學的直接質疑。小班教學就像快餐店餐牌上的一道選擇,多一款不會嫌多,顧客也不會討厭。如果所有學校都是私人經營,顧客的選擇自然能告訴市場的反應,願意選擇和負擔小班教學的家長,自會作出他們的決定。只是,今天的學校不全是私營,而是存在大量津貼學校,小班教學更涉及大額公帑,家長又沒有直接選擇權,成熟的社會不應任由既得利益者留下單聲道的聲音,所以我選擇在網絡世界留下我的兩句話,講出坊間沒有人願意說出的東西。

  從公帑應用的角度看,任何支出都應該物有所值。小班教學的成效,其實遠不及一個有能力、有熱誠的老師。從我兒子現時的學校經驗,我對一眾老師的信心是非常不足。看著老師們的考試卷、答案、評分標準,我不覺得在今天相對小班學習的兒子,有甚麼學習優勢。有中文老師教成語「瞠目結舌」時,發音竟是「堂」目結舌,不由得自己先來一個瞠目結舌。這是反映甚麼問題,我希望一眾老師們好好反省一下,更不想再引伸帶出書商已經幫助了他們不少。就算是行政工作怎樣多,不完全清楚的材料,先去備課,是應盡的責任。一竹篙打一船人,可能是有些偏激,但現實的老師們,鍾情打麻雀、賽馬、炒股票、炒樓的,確實不是一個小比例,這是我認知的境況。在面對老師名額不足時,被裁減的,永遠是Last In First Out形式,挑選出最年青的老師,而不是考慮教學表現。這間接保護上層的既得利益,但算是教育質素的考慮嗎?各行各業,特別是專業範圍,持續進修,基本是必然事情,也不代表在職人士不用處理行政工作以及辦公室政治。老師們不斷埋怨工作負擔重,瑣碎事多,還要學習,其實不易得到社會的同情。大家都在不同角落逼迫的空間,為糊口奔馳,全城的情況相差不遠。以小班教學為藉口,只求保住自己飯碗,卻不能為學生帶來教學質素的實質提升,至少不會得到我的支持。

  老師們把槍頭瞄準滿身子彈孔的吳克儉,營造他不理從業界聲音的壓力,亦是值得批評的方法。我對孫明揚徹底失望,對吳克儉沒有期望,對教育局亦毫無好感,不代表我會因為他們的不對,而完全接受另一群既得利益者的表述。相反,依賴這類批判式的手段,來爭取權益,更贏不到我的尊重。要說服我,老師們應該依靠自己的能力,不是口號。在老師們能證明他們的能力前,我不會支持繼續任何深化小班教學的建議。

  作為納稅人以及教育開支消費者,這是我想說的幾句話。沒有那群標榜為民請命的議員肯說,就由我來先說。望同道人向一眾老師們,說出家長見班主任時,不敢帶出的亮話。香港不應是既得利益者說完就算數的地方。

4 則留言:

  1. Excuse me, may I suggest because you and your child are elite so actually school education doesn't matter.

    How about in another extreme, like Leong Kai Cheong's "fresh fish school", in which the stomach of the students actually matters.

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    1. Thanks for your comment.

      Both my son and I study in subsidised schools, and we are not elites neither. My article aims at addressing the question of quality of teachers and cost effectiveness. Your example of Mr Leong is in fact a good example showing how enthusiasm and heartfelt effort of quality teacher affects the society. When Mr Leong faced the problem of school abandoning due to decrease of students enrolment, he focused on curriculum improvement, instead of demonstration, to gain parents' confidence and support. This earns my big respect.

      Indeed, I have also quoted Mr Leong in my response under HKEJ forum for the same article. My full remark is quoted below for your reference as well:

      謝謝大家的留言,在此一併補充幾句。

      校長和老師給公眾的印象,的確不好。像之前的直資學校混賬事件,校長們的態度是諉過於政府的不清晰指引。如拙文所言,社會上不同行業人士都面對學習、壓力和裁員的相似境況,零售如是,會計如是,銀行金融如是,但總要學懂面對,而不是諉過於不同原因。一些實況,更不應是掩耳盜鈴式的自欺欺人,這無助問題的解決。要提及面對殺校的壓力,鮮魚行學校的梁紀昌校長最有資格成為良好的榜樣,他是用行動和努力證明他的教學熱誠,不是示威集會。

      就周容兄的問題,好的老師,放在小班,自然更好。但若是二擇其一,我會認為人較制度重要。一個好的老師,一同教50人,不會是問題;一個不好的老師,教5人,也可能力有不及。小班教學其實是沒有可能以科學方法來衡量,科學實驗上的control比較,在同一學生根本做不到。私校推行,自然由家長決定是否支持。由公帑支付,最基本的原則,應該是考慮是否物有所值才對。

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  2. As an ex-teacher (who changed to another trade more than 10 years ago), I would like to say a few words for the teachers Hong Kong. I agree that different professions are facing the same challenges of heavy workload and the need for continual learning. However, teaching load of Hong Kong teachers is much heavier than their counterparts in other places like Japan, Korea, Mainland, etc. In Hong Kong, a secondary school teacher normally has over 25 lessons a week while his counterparts in other places normally have at most 15 lessons per week. Together with other teaching and non-teaching duties, Hong Kong teachers usually do not have much time left for preparing and planning for their lessons before coming to the lessons while in other places, teachers have to use the non-lesson time to prepare detaiedl lesson plan before delivering their lessons (in some places they have to submit their lesson plans to school management). The main cause of the problem you mentioned about your son’s Chinese teacher is that he/she does not have sufficient time to prepare for his/her lessons (checking of reference for accurate pronunciation is a part of the preparation work for a lesson).
    From my own experience as a secondary teacher, I think a better planned and prepared lesson will benefit the students more than a lesson with fewer students and each student can participate more during the discussion time slot. I’d rather reducing the number the lessons per week than reducing the number of students per class if there are spare resources.

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    1. Thanks for sharing your personal experience. I totally agree that reducing the number of lessons per week could deliver better effect than reducing the number of students per class.

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