傳統名校vs國際學校

Ruby1219

This morning I had a very interesting discussion with my husband. When I told him my sis was pushing her son to retake the grade 8 piano exam and prohibited him to watch the 扭計骰 competition this weekend because he is having school exams from Dec 5, my husband was very 反感 saying my sis should respect her son to make the decisions as it is his life (Her son is now in F.2, a very capable boy doing very well in different aspects in a top tier local school). I told him my sis has very strong and substantial 'rationales' behind this because she does not want her son to waste his high potential to excel in different aspects. Then my husband argued why one must excel in different aspects just because he has the ability to do so? It should be the kid's choice what he wants to spend effort on, whether to reach high and how hard he would like to try. I do agree with my husband that this is what we want for our son - to be happy and true to himself, do what he wants as long as it does no harm to the others. But I told him there's no point in arguing with my sis or trying to convince her as we as parents are very different in mindset and value system. Like most of the HK parents, maybe particularly LS parents, they are very pragmatic and result-oriented (academic and ranking) and "work hard and achieve high" are usually their core values and objectives. Being mediocre or not pushing towards one's limit is kind of the 'original sin'.

I feel that this may be one of the fundamental difference between LS and IS teaching philosophy. LS is going along the social norm/standard of "try hard and be the elite" while IS would acknowledge more individual difference/strength/interest.

Just my two cents.  

964000

原帖由 Ruby1219 於 15-11-23 發表
This morning I had a very interesting discussion with my husband. When I told him my sis was pushing ...

Well saidI totally agree with your husband that's why I can't get back to the local system now.

torunpoland

Maybe let me rephrase a bit of your conclusion: LS students are formulated with nearly a single standard; IS kids' individuality is respected and potential unleashed according to their strength and pace.

yanange

Ruby1219 發表於 15-11-23 14:35
This morning I had a very interesting discussion with my husband. When I told him my sis was pushing ...

This is very true, I like your analogy of the "original sin". On top of that, the HK higher education education is heavily geared towards a one dimensional grading system, that is the DSE, IB etc etc. Unlike the US whereby the personal statement, extra curricular activities partake in the university admission process as well. Asian parents be it Japanese, HK, China and Korean all feel indebted to give the child a chance to excel, be it pushy, perhaps it's because we do value education tremendously but in a different way, education is seen as academics only and not in other parts of life like sports, drama, arts, creative, musical type of fields. If you look in the Australia or the USA or the UK, the asian parents will be more likely to be the tiger mums because our parents had a harder life economically; so education is really highly value. Hopefully by our grandchildren's generation, this societal pressure on academic success is more balanced and we see education for life rather than a dominant focus on academics.

babycowsbaby

原帖由 torunpoland 於 15-11-23 發表
Maybe let me rephrase a bit of your conclusion: IS students are formulated with nearly a single stan ...

I think perhaps you mean the other way around?

maomaofafa

My husband studied in IS for at least 6 years. He said he will send our kids to LS because he is afraid our kids will not know much about Chinese language, mainly in writing and reading. I am not sure if nowadays IS is still weak at Chinese language as before, but I think he has made his point. He is really bad at Chinese language even he is a Chinese. He thinks it is quite important to learn Chinese language properly if there is chance the kids will work in Hong Kong or China in future (or even gov job). However, he said he will consider to send our kids to IS if they cannot get into a good LS. As I told him before only getting into a good LS has more chance of getting into a good university.

lovecasey

回覆 maomaofafa 的帖子

you can try IS with decent Chinese such as CIS, ISF and SIS... and getting into a IS is not much easier than getting into a good LS

maomaofafa

原帖由 lovecasey 於 15-11-24 發表
回覆 maomaofafa 的帖子

you can try IS with decent Chinese such as CIS, ISF and SIS... and getting i ...

Thanks for your suggestion.  We will consider about those schools.  Since my husband is on the priority list of a IS and has some connection among IS, he is not so worried about our kids getting into IS. His main concern is only about learning Chinese language.  Therefore he prefers LS more at this moment.

Ruby1219

原帖由 babycowsbaby 於 15-11-23 發表
I think perhaps you mean the other way around?

I think the same as u and I don't know why she has to rephrase my words

shadeslayer

原帖由 maomaofafa 於 15-11-24 發表
My husband studied in IS for at least 6 years. He said he will send our kids to LS because he is afr ...

As I told him before only getting into a good LS has more chance of getting into a good university.

Cxxxxxx

Depends if you define good Uni as Local HK uni only or world good uni.

shadeslayer

原帖由 maomaofafa 於 15-11-24 發表
Thanks for your suggestion.  We will consider about those schools.  Since my husband is on the prior ...

Chinese is definitely important but HK people are rarely better than mainland Chinese in "Chinese". HK has survived with some kind of balance of Chinese and English.

I sometimes fail to understand why parents take Chinese or English as the main decision factor in choosing a school. Shouldn't we take the overall education of the school as the most important decision factor. Practical every school in HK has some kind of balance in Chinese and English. Even Harrow. We want to give our kids the best education we believe in and we can afford, right?

maomaofafa

原帖由 shadeslayer 於 15-11-24 發表
As I told him before only getting into a good LS has more chance of getting into a good university.
...

What i meant is for LS, the child need to get into a really good one to get into a good uni,  either local or world uni.  Personally I think according to current public exam system,  studying in IS or IB has more chance of getting into a world good uni.

maomaofafa

原帖由 shadeslayer 於 15-11-24 發表
本帖最後由 shadeslayer 於 15-11-24 21:51 編輯

Perhaps my husband has experienced the disadvantages of poor Chinese language skills himself,  that's why he wants his kid to learn more about Chinese language.  He has no doubt the quality of IS education. However,  he also believes LS will also provide good education.  That's why I have suggested him to choose a LS carefully.  I think only the top LS is worth to get in.  Otherwise staying with his old boy LS is not a bad idea.

maomaofafa

maomaofafa 發表於 15-11-24 22:02
Perhaps my husband has experienced the disadvantages of poor Chinese language skills himself,  that' ...

He also mentioned maths and science education are better in LS. He prefers his kids to study in LS before grade 12. And during grade 12 and 13 they can switch to IS to enjoy the IB system so that they have more chances in getting into good world uni.

newdaddy

回覆 newdaddy 的帖子
hehe sorry I mean " the Dean's kid"

newdaddy

回覆 newdaddy 的帖子

sorry i mean his kid hehe

kellyfan

原帖由 yanange 於 15-11-20 發表
I was predominantly raised in Australia from year 4 onwards, but have relatives in LS system (top sc ...

Well said!!

yanange

回覆 maomaofafa 的帖子

LS emphasises on repetitive exercises to reinforce learnings in Mathematics and Sciences. They also teach faster right? But then I think the top LS is excellent in its education academically and musically, it's just that sports normally take a back seat as the child get older. I believe in a LS, most teachers would assume their students will end up in the local university system as such they cater for that. Whereas in the IS system, because English is the pre-dominant language and with the parent's relatively higher financial standings, along with the school's more international staff, this allows the students and parents to expand their set of choices in university. Looking back at a lot of friend's who attended IS in late 90s to mid 00s. I think a lot of them do have poor Chinese, not solely because it was not taught. However they were not in a social setting that fostered the speaking of Chinese.
If finances never come into play, in my ideal world. I would prefer sending my child to a local top tier DSS school then decide if the child is suited to a IS and switch if required, then send him/her overseas at around 15-16 to study so that they become independent, learn to fail and bounce back, become more responsible for his/her future and not rely on parents as much. Kids nowadays are very pampered these days due to the higher education of their parents and the opportunities that money can afford. I just wish my child could be someone that learn to be successful through hard work, having a goal and learn persistence and the value of resilience.

Artie

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KarenKang

" If we teach students today as we taught yesterday, we rob them of tomorrow."
By John Dewey