James Hon
For the past decade, there have been numerous education reform policies, bringing about a vast amount of change in all the education sectors in Hong Kong. From kindergartens to universities, from government subsidized schools to private schools, we have seen large-scale transformation, affecting all stake-holders in one way or another. We have witnessed policies implemented : cutting down budgets, closing down schools, reducing classes, forcing teacher redundancy, enforcing school review schemes, uprooting schools?curricula, altering assessment methods and compelling teacher re-training. With all these changes in full swing, it is surprising how little attention has been devoted to understanding the real scenarios in local schools and addressing to the core issue of the crisis.
The major trumpet call for local education reform is a reform proposals report in 2000 with these as the aims of education for the 21st Century : "enabling our students to enjoy learning, enhancing their effectiveness in communication, and developing their creativity and sense of commitment." The goals may all sound grand and seem legitimate as they all focus on the only outcome that matters in all educational institutes : students?well-being. No teacher can challenge the basic principle behind these aims. Everybody would agree that students should be considered first while implementing any education policy. But there exists one big fallacy : the students- first notion is, in fact, lopsided and dangerous.
Putting students first without taking into consideration the whole picture of the local schools' real situations and teachers' plight has created more problems rather than resolving the crisis frontline educators face. Numerous researches (PTU Research Department 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006) have been done in the past decade revealing the fact that work-related stress experienced by teachers has reached dangerous levels. We have over 90% frontline teachers agreeing that the education reform policies have done more harm than good to teachers?well-being, directly affecting students?well-being. We have innumerable cases of teachers suffering from depression, burnout and resorting to suicide. Despite some attempts at relieving teachers?pressure, we have many teachers still working in difficult situations and unhealthy conditions caused by the recent education reform.
The concept of putting customers first without considering the employees is out-dated. MeGregor (1960) already pointed out the autocratic management style - Theory X - is ineffective in increasing productivity. Instead, paying attention to employees' job satisfaction and self- esteem - Theory Y- can enhance not only productivity, but also long term well-being of both employers and employees, thus leading to the ultimate goal - satisfaction of customers. The local model of management style espoused by education policy makers rests mainly on Theory X and pays no heed to the conditions for teachers to succeed, completely ignoring their many difficulties forced upon them by the education reform policies.
If we want our education reform to be successful, we have to discard the old belief that only children matter and start to reflect upon the needs of teachers."Enabling our students to enjoy learning" must be accompanied by "enabling our teachers to enjoy teaching". "Enhancing students' effectiveness in communication" can only be successfully conducted with the implementation of small-class teaching. "Developing students' creativity and sense of commitment" is best achieved when teachers have the time and space to develop themselves. Herzberg's (1983) management and motivation theory has already validated that the K-I-T-A ( Kick In The Ass) tactic never works in the long term to motivate employees. Teachers must be treated fairly and their needs catered for before any policy is implemented.
For the past decade, we have failed to address ourselves to the core issue of our education crisis. Traditional Chinese virtues of modesty and sacrificing oneself for the benefit of children have prevented local teachers from voicing their own predicament . Why did we have to wait until fourteen local teachers could no longer take it and killed themselves to really come out and fight ? The 2006 Rally , despite its success in alerting the government to the crisis facing teachers, clearly was a demonstration that came too late.
What works to reform education ? Value our teachers. No lip service to respect for teachers while kicking them in the ass. Love our teachers. No slogans lying about professional development when in reality most of the programmes are wasting teachers?valuable time and energy. Create healthy working conditions for teachers. No more " Big-Brothers-are-always-watching" threats for teachers. When eventually we have developed a trusting relationship between teachers and policy makers, cultivated a reformed attitude to management ethics, education reform will be on the right track to success.
