A Quick Reflection on Schools in Taiwan

This summer marks the end of my fourth year of teaching, as well as the third consecutive year that I've worked with schools in Taiwan. As my own teaching philosophy and vision of an ideal school develops, I find myself envying the schools in Taiwan more and more. Of course, there's always the "grass is always greener on the other side" syndrome, and surely that's largely at play here. I find myself constantly comparing and contrasting the Taiwanese and New York schools, from their architecture to their school routines. Every time I visit a school in Taiwan, I come away with at least 3 things that I would like to see in my New York schools. Whether or not they're actually possible is an entirely different story (usually at least 2/3 are not within my control or feasible). However, the mere fact that I can be inspired by these schools push me to continue my involvement with a camp that has caused me much grief for two years due to the fact that it's a logistical nightmare (and the fact that it involves individuals above age 10). Therefore, not only has this program pushed me to develop my people management and organizational skills, it has also given me a chance to reflect upon what I value in schools.

This year, I am obsessed with all three schools that we are collaborating with. However, I'm mostly going to focus on the first school, Zhong Yuan Elementary School, which has an amazing program that I fell in love with immediately. There are about 50-60 classes, but only 25 of them are core classes (only 650 students). The rest teach culture and character. For example, there is an indigo-dyeing class, a dragon dancing class (they perform in a black light room!), a huge martial arts facility, a living animals class and a public safety class, to name a few. The fact that there is such an emphasis on non-academic core content classes is such a drastic difference from the schools that I know of and have worked in in New York. While I know that this is not characteristic of all schools in Taiwan, this school was certainly a breath of fresh air. I firmly believe that a school is a reflection of its leaders, and I got the feeling that this school's principal and dean knows their stuff. I'm still trying to figure out what it is about them, aside from their presence and genuine, warm welcome (which definitely adds points in my book!), that struck me, but at the end of the day, I don't think that they could have such a rich curriculum if the leaders didn't believe in developing the whole child (something that too many schools don't really emphasize). I found myself thinking that I would totally work for these leaders, which may be very naive of me, considering I had only met them for about 30 minutes. But that goes to show you how desperate I have been to find strong models to work for.

This camp has given me a unique opportunity to learn about schools in Taiwan, which happens to coincide with my full-time job. When we travel, we don't usually think to look at the education system. However, there are many things that I feel like we could learn from other cultures and countries to help our education system in New York, which I personally feel like is currently experiencing a major crisis. Although I'm not particularly involved in the educational reform movement in New York, I hope to implement what I have learned within my classroom to improve the outcomes for the children that I work with.

Other random noticings about schools in Taiwan:

• Most principals and school leaders are male (why?)
• There is no physical barrier between hallways and the outdoors; there is an open concept that is based on the Japanese model (I truly envy this! All classrooms have access to ample sunlight)
• All kids are involved in cleaning up the classroom in the morning, after lunch and at the end of the school day (I plan to implement this in my own classroom)
• Kids have 10 minute breaks between classes during which they can basically do whatever they want within reason (I really like this because it gives kids a chance to run around, and it teaches them self-control and self-regulation!)
• (7/7 addendum) Although bathrooms I've seen in NY schools don't exactly scream luxury and perfectly sanitized (let's be real), bathrooms in schools in Taiwan are really gnarly. Aside from the squatting toilet bit, which isn't a big deal really, plumbing is poor and the toilets are not always completely flushed, which leads to a rather foul order, and the sinks don't always work. Also, bar soap is often used over liquid soap. That last bit is not a huge deal (soap is soap), but still something to think about!