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Author: Yvonne Wu
Learning Service at Guo-tai Elementary School
Students from the English Language and Literature Department enrolled in Introduction to Teaching English as a Foreign Language in the fall semester of 2024 are required to participate in service-learning and teaching at Guo-Tai Elementary School, near Fu Jen Catholic University. FJU students will teach at Guo-Tai Elementary School for ten weeks, from the week of October 7, 2024, until the week of December 16, 2024. They will be divided into groups, with each group responsible for teaching a homeroom class on Tuesday or Wednesday mornings. Additionally, FJU students must design a ten-week teaching plan for their elementary school students. These teaching plans must address specific topics, such as picture book teaching, biographies of notable figures in moral education, or current events.
According to Professor Doris Shih, the service-learning program at Guo-Tai Elementary School has a long history. Its origins trace back to a graduation project in 2012, which allowed students to apply what they had learned at Guo-Tai Elementary School. This project lasted until 2016 and was later transformed into a course-integrated project designed for students to put their specific knowledge and skills into practice. Moreover, the service-learning program under the Introduction to TEFL course serves two main purposes. First, it provides students an opportunity to apply their knowledge of different teaching methods when lecturing or designing teaching plans. Second, it aligns with Fu Jen Catholic University’s mission to fulfill its social responsibilities by supporting the communities surrounding its campus.
However, Professor Shih noted several challenges she and her students have faced this semester. The first challenge is related to time management. With numerous teaching methods and theories to cover, it has been difficult for the professor to teach all the material effectively within a tight schedule while ensuring students fully understand the content. Secondly, in the long history of collaboration with Guo-Tai Elementary School, students have yet to complete their teaching responsibilities. Unfortunately, two students this semester failed to show up for their scheduled teaching sessions without notifying their partners in advance. Professor Shih said this circumstance had never happened in the past twelve years. Consequently, she expressed her frustration and disappointment with her students’ actions this semester, which made her decide to go to Guo-tai Elementary School to send her apology by providing gifts for the students of her two irresponsible students. Therefore, Professor Shih urges students to take responsibility for themselves, their peers, and the English Department, as they represent the department while teaching at Guo-Tai Elementary School.
Learning Service at Guo-tai Elementary School
Furthermore, due to the fact that the Introduction to TEFL also collaborates with the Education Center on campus, students who are taking the educational program would also take this course even though they do not major in English. However, since most students from the Education Center are currently teaching, Professor Shih allowed them to replace the service learning at Guo-tai Elementary School with their self-teaching. Nevertheless, this arrangement has made it challenging for the professor to regulate and evaluate their teaching. As many teach off-campus or online, it may also be a bit unfair for the other students who need to wake up in the early morning to teach at Guo-tai Elementary School. From an overall perspective, these three challenges have never happened before in the long history of service-learning at Guo-tai Elementary School, which made Professor Shih feel slightly exhausted. However, she still has a positive vision and anticipation for future service-learning at Guo-tai Elementary School.
Learning Service at Guo-tai Elementary School
During this semester, Professor Shih visited Guo-Tai Elementary School several times and had opportunities to interact with the elementary students. They shared with her how much they enjoy learning from FJU teachers and expressed appreciation for the efforts of FJU students. This feedback made Professor Shih feel proud of her students, who have demonstrated their professionalism and enthusiasm in their teaching roles. She hopes that the English Department will continue collaborating with Guo-Tai Elementary School, strengthening the partnership, and fulfilling its social responsibilities for many years to come. Meanwhile, Professor Doris also considers this service learning as a method to eliminate education inequality to some degree because, for those students who are not able to go to cram schools, the lectures of FJU teachers provide them opportunities to get in touch with extracurricular English lessons.
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