'Chalk and talk' and a low profile can get results
I like the school my niece goes to in Mid-levels because the children are polite and well-behaved. I taught in a secondary school for ten years and I can see that my niece's school does use the traditional 'chalk and talk' method, with teachers doing most of the talking, but I would not call this 'conservative'.
There are many teaching methods, and chalk and talk is one of them. The alternative 'activity approach' is not necessarily a better one.
Our society has heaped too much praise on international schools.
At my niece's school, occasional fieldtrips to places such as the Botanical Garden and the Cultural Heritage Museum are organised. Community activities such as visiting elderly people who live alone are organised after examinations.
Whether someone has low self-esteem also depends on their upbringing. My niece does not have too much homework or tests. She is doing fine in her studies and never said she did not want to go to school.
The school keeps a low profile and is not striving to honour itself, unlike some Band One schools in the New Territories that put pressure on their teachers to help students win top prizes in inter-school competition.
The term 'elite' is an unnecessary generalisation. How can Fanny Law use this label if she doesn't want society to label students?
KATHERINE KWONG, Mid-Levels
