Teacher Spotlight: Ning Dong

Photo credit: RCHK website

Ms Ning Dong has been part of the RCHK community since the college was founded in 2006. Throughout this period, she has been a Chinese teacher at RCHK and acted as the head of the Chinese Department. 

We decided to ask her a few questions about her lengthy career here at our school. 

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You have been teaching here at RCHK for many years. What about this school interests you and has made you stay for so long?

您在啟新書院教書多年，您覺得這個學校有什麼特別之處令您願意服務這麼久呢？

I have been teaching at RCHK for quite a long time. When the school was founded in 2006, I had already joined RCHK, and have been teaching here since. I think what made me stay and teach here for so long is mainly because our school values Chinese, as Chinese is a mandatory subject in our MYP curriculum. We also provide students from different backgrounds — for instance local Hong Kong students and foreign students from overseas — with Chinese lessons suitable for them. Our school provides these mother-tongue language lessons, so that students can achieve a bilingual certificate. This feature of our school is actually quite scarce in other international schools. So I think for our students being able to attain this level of proficiency in Chinese is a really good thing; furthermore this feature is what allows students in an international school to learn Chinese well. Furthermore, compared to other Hong Kong international schools, our bilingual level is among the top percentages. Not only that, in all these years, our bilingual grades have always been the highest not only out of ESF but all Hong Kong international schools. The alumni who come back to visit our school often tell me that the Chinese lessons have been especially helpful to them. So that is the reason why I’ve kept teaching here. 

我在啟新書確實是很久的，從2006年啟新書院剛開的時候知道現在就在這裏教書。我覺得我在這裏待怎麼久主要是因為我們學校對中文特別重視，因為在我們的MYP裡，中文是必修課。我們也為來自不同背景的學生提供適合的中文課。比如說，有我們香港本地的學生，也有海外的學生。其實在國際學校中，我們學校給學生提供的這種母語課程讓學生們能夠拿到雙語的文憑，是很難做得到的。所以，我們學生能有這樣的一個成績，我覺得其實特別好，而這一點就是能夠讓學生在國際學校的環境裡面，能夠更好地學到中文。而且，從ESF來看，這麼多年，不光是ESF了，在其他香港的國際學校，我們的雙語的成績也是領先的。有很多學生畢業後回來都說到中文課對他們特別有幫助。所以這也是我一直願意服務下去的原因。

What was the most interesting Chinese unit you taught in RCHK?

你覺得你教的中文單元中哪一個最有趣? 

I think my favourite would be the creative writing unit. I think this is also the students‘ favourite unit, because it can give students a chance to reflect on their own life, and then use writing and techniques to share and express their thoughts. For example, in Chinese A classes they’ve been writing short stories about family members, and now some Chinese B courses have started using Chinese to reflect on concepts such as why we live, and the value of life. I find that quite meaningful. 

我覺得最喜歡的就是創意寫作的單元。我覺得也是學生們最喜歡的單元，因為能給予學生一個機會來思考自己的生活，然後用文字和寫作技巧去表達出來他們的想法。比如說，中文A班最近寫作關於他們家人的短故事，還有一些B班的課程也開始用中文去思考人為什麼活著，生命的價值。我覺得挺有意思。

What is your favourite part about teaching?

為什麼你喜歡教書？

Actually, I grew up in a so-called “teacher family”. After my mom graduated, she was asked whether she wanted to go to the “Calf Village” in Shanxi to teach, and she had a lot of dreams, so she became one of China’s first batch of “village teachers.” She became a village teacher in quite a harsh environment. I remember when I grew up, I watched a Russian film called “The Village Teacher”, and I was quite touched by it.

My father was the dean in a commercial college, so my family lived on the school campus for a long time. Therefore, I experienced a lot of school life and also met a lot of excellent teachers. From when I went to primary, until secondary, then to university, I was very lucky to meet so many extraordinary teachers; especially my secondary teacher who was very memorable to me. I think being a teacher is quite nice, so I’ve never thought about taking any other job, and I want to be like the teachers who taught me. 

A while after I started being a teacher, I discovered that this job is very meaningful. It allows me to grow and learn with the younger generation, and allows myself to constantly have room for improvement. The influence from teaching doesn’t end, and has a lasting impact. There are a lot of graduate students that I taught back when I wasn’t very experienced, yet they still always talk about me, and I think that means that you’ve done something meaningful. Because life is quite short, right? When life is over, it’s over, but when someone’s life ends, the things they do will still leave a mark, and I think that’s a very meaningful thing.

It’s also interesting that my eldest daughter is also a teacher in America, and my son, who graduated not long ago and has only begun his studies in university for one year, also works as a teacher to earn a living.

其實我是生長在一個「教師的家庭」裏的。 我的媽媽當時畢業後就被問是否願意到牛村那裡做教師，當時她也很有理想，所以去了便成為中國剛解放後的第一批鄉村教師其中之一。在挺艱苦的情況下，她就開始做鄉村教師了。我記得我長大以後，看過一個蘇聯的電影就叫《鄉村女教師》，我覺得挺感動的。

我的父親是一個商業學院的一個院長，所以我們家很長時間都是住在校園裏面的。所以我接觸了很多學校的生活，也遇上了很多非常好的老師。我從上小學，一直到上中學，然後到了上大學都很幸運遇到很多特別優秀的老師；尤其是我的中學老師對我印象特別深刻。我覺得做教師就挺好的，所以我從來沒有想過做別的職業，而且我也想像我的那些老師一樣去做一位好老師。

我開始當老師後，我就發現這個職業也特別有意義。它讓我跟年輕人一起成長，而且允許我自己有不斷的進步空間。 教師對學生的教導都會留下深遠的影響。我有很多畢業的學生是很多年前我不太有經驗時候教的，但是他們還是老說起我，我覺得那個感覺就是說你做了一個有意義的事情。因為一個人的生命都挺短的，對吧？生命完了就完了，但是一個人他的生命完了以後，他做的事情還會留下影響，我覺得這個是非常有意義的一個事情。

還有挺有趣的是我現在的大女兒在美國也是在做教師，我的兒子在這裏畢業沒多久，現在才上了一年大學，可是也做教師打工。

Apart from teaching, what other interests do you have?

在工餘時，你有甚麼興趣或者愛好嗎？

When I was little, I didn’t really focus on my schoolwork, but I did have a lot of extracurricular hobbies such as singing, dancing, playing ball games, etc. 

However, when I became a teacher, I found that my hobbies gradually became associated with my job, for example reading and writing slowly became my hobbies. Since 2008, I began writing and creating teaching material, and until now I’ve written approximately twenty. 

我小的時候，功課沒怎麼好好做，但是就學了很多業餘愛好比如說唱歌、跳舞、打球等等。

但是，我當了老師後，我覺得我的愛好漸漸就變成跟我工作相關的，比如説讀書和寫作慢慢地成了我的愛好。還有從2008年開始我就開始寫教材，到現在為止就寫了20本教材。

In your opinion, how has RCHK changed over the years?

你覺得啟新書院在這麼多年以來有什麼變化？

I find that our school’s facilities have improved quite a lot. I still remember when I first joined the RCHK community in 2006, most areas were still in construction. However, the school has become significantly better since then and added many additional facilities such as the Specialist Centre or RedDoor. The undercover playground has also become quite nice and has extended substantially; the upstairs area has also got more room for activities too. Recently, even our bathrooms have changed.  This shows how great our school is, and with such a variety of facilities that allow our students to learn more conveniently. 

Furthermore, our staff has also increased, many teachers have come and gone with the relatively high staff turnover. Out of the secondary school teachers who joined the school at the same time as me, including myself, only three remain. 

Our students have also changed. When I first came, many students did not start at this school from Year 1, yet many do now. Our graduate students have also ended up all over the world, often graduates come up to me and say, “I was an RCHK student,” and you get quite shocked because when our school was completely new it was not like this at all. 

我覺得我們校園的設施越來越好了。我記得我在2006剛來到啟新書院的時候，學校的大部分還在建築中到處是一片工地。但現在，學校的建設明顯好多了，也加了各種額外設施，例如專家中心還有ICT的部門RedDoor。小學的遊樂園部分也變得特別漂亮，而且延伸了很多，樓上也加了很多的活動空間；然後最近，我們的廁所也變了。這些都說明我們學校是非常好的，有各種各樣的設施方便我們學生的學習。

另外，職員也多了，人員的流動變化也挺大的。和我一起來的中學老師包括我自己之內，只剩下三個了。0

我們學生也變了。我剛來的時候，很多學生並不是從一年級在我們學校上，現在很多學校都是從一年級就是從我們學校上。我們的畢業生也真的是遍佈全世界各地，經常會有學對我説：「我以前是RCHK的學生」你會覺得挺驚訝的因為我們學校還是全新的時候都不會這樣。.

What aspect of the school can be improved/changed?

你覺得我們學校可以有什麼改善的地方嗎？

Because I’m quite attentive towards Chinese in particular, I hope that our school can put more attention towards Chinese learning as well. Because many new students have started to transfer here from local schools, and students in our Chinese A and Language and Literature classes have increased a bit from the numbers they used to be. So I believe our school should provide more and better Chinese library resources for our students. I also hope the library can let our Chinese A Language and LIterature reading lessons be hosted in the library, and give students more learning support.

I have also wanted for many years to provide our students with some practical and interesting classes about Chinese culture, and not just lessons where I speak and you listen. For example, Chinese theatre classes where students can get up and act, or when learning Chinese history and geography we can have field trips for the students. Obviously, field trips aren’t possible under the ongoing pandemic, but there are countless meaningful locations in China that are definitely worth visiting.

Moreover, our school could also invite more celebrities and authors to host events and workshops. I think these activities would allow students to become more interested in the Chinese subject. If we could allow students to meet authors directly, it could be very beneficial towards the learning and future development of our students. This year, our school has been connecting with Tsinghua University. Because I did some paperwork translation and wrote recommendation letters for students, I have discovered that we have students who are interested in the most well-known universities in China such as Tsinghua University and Peking University. 

Ultimately from my personal perspective, I hope RCHK’s Chinese curriculum can become greater and better, and to really make students who study Chinese at our school feel proud.

因為我比較關注中文，我希望將來學校也能更重視中文學習。因為我們學校從本地學校轉來的新學生都挺多的，而我們中文A班的學生比原來要多一點。所以我們學校的圖書館應該有更多的，更好的圖書資源給我們的學生。我也希望圖書館可以讓我們A班的閱讀課在圖書館裡上，還有給學生多點學習方面的支持。

還有，我好多年都一直希望為學生們開一些有趣中國文化的一些課，不光是你講我聽的。例如，學中國戲曲我們可以一起演一演，學中國歷史或地理時候我們也可以帶學生走一走。當然在疫情中就不可能，但其實中國也有許多很有意思的地點值得我們拜訪一下。

另外，我們學校也可以邀請更多的名人或者作家來舉辦一些活動。我覺得這樣學生們就會對中文更有興趣。如果讓我們的學生跟作家們直接見面聯繫，我覺得對他們的學習與未來發展會挺好。最近今年學校就跟清華大學聯繫過，由於我做了一些文件的翻譯也為學生寫推薦信，我知道我們有學生對於中國最有名的大學 –– 清華大學，北京大學 –– 還是挺感興趣的。

最後從我個人的角度講，我希望啟新書院的中文課程名譽可以越來越好，能夠真的讓學生們覺得在我們啟新書院裏學中文感到自豪.