Prasad Alya (Education & Science)
The 8th Hong Kong Outstanding Prospective Teachers Award – Gold Award
In 2021, Hong Kong New Generation Cultural Association and Hong Kong Prospective Teachers Association co-organised the 8th of Hong Kong Outstanding Prospective Teachers Award, motivating prospective teachers from different tertiary institutions to better equip themselves to become outstanding teachers in the future in order to promote human well-being. I received the Gold award after several rounds of selection. My contributions involved essay submissions, preparation of lesson plans, educational materials, video presentation, microteaching and the final interview, to ultimately being announced as the winner of Gold Award. I was then invited to speak and share insights on my work, pedagogy and views of the educational system at the ceremony. My experience involved a lot of introspection and extrospection.
“Students may be unable to gain essential values through life lessons if schools emphasise success over failure, not mirroring reality.”
The process strengthened my sentiments towards joining the education industry. Yet, I came to understand that despite our well-recognised system, there are deficiencies. By analysing plethora of micro phenomenon from broader perspectives, I identified negative connotations and implications. For example, students may be unable to gain essential values through life lessons if schools emphasise success over failure, not mirroring reality. Moreover, grade outputs emphases further reduce students’ intrinsic motivation to learn, reducing abilities to flourish as life-long learners.
From a curriculum development aspect, educational content could become irrelevant over time, making factual recollection and exam-skills tactless. Education should instead instil self-directedness, self-initiation, and adaptability, which would harvest indispensable individuals in society. I recognised that the global pandemic caused significant changes to the mode of teaching and learning, with somewhat passive modes of student engagement largely persisting.
“Education should instead instil self-directedness, self-initiation, and adaptability, which would harvest indispensable individuals in society.”
I aimed to create an innovative and flexible teaching package tailored for both in-person and online teaching to promote constructive and interactive modes of student engagement. I presented a Biological Science game-based learning approach which was interactive, multisensory and was developed by integrating and applying various educational theories. This experience has not only taught me transferable and professional skills which I can apply into my profession as an educator, such as maneuvering and flourishing within uncertain educational climates through innovation, but within my personal development to take on challenges with courage and confidence to rise to any occasion.
Written by:
Prasad Alya
Year 4, Faculty of Education & Faculty of Science
March 2022