June 2003 BFSU Writing in English Pamela Collett
First year Journalism
students, Class 5 and Class 6
When
I first received my assignment to teach Writing in English for Journalism, I
started looking for resources, including books and web sites. I thought about
my experience in journalism and how I would approach the subject. However, once
the classes began, I realized that my preparation was not appropriate for the
students.
In
the first class, meeting, I had the students write a paragraph. I found that their general writing
skills in English level was lower than their speaking and comprehension
skills. This is not surprising as
writing is always the most difficult skill in any language. Very few of the
students had ever used English as a language to express their own ideas. Their use of English had been based on
classroom exercises and exams.
In an
informal discussion with Prof Sun Youzhong, head of the Journalism Department
shortly after the term began, I expressed my concern that the level of
expressive writing skills and ability of the students was not sufficient to
work on writing in English for journalism. Prof. Sun advised me to concentrate on writing skills in
general and not try to work on journalistic writing. He agreed that probably the students were not yet ready for
that level of writing. He informed
me that although they were in the second term of their first year in the
Journalism Department, this was their first and only writing class during their
entire first year of studies.
I noted that based on previous experience teaching writing to
non-English speaking background students, I suggested that the students needed writing every term with smaller
classes and more hours of classes.
The
overall goal in all of my work is to encourage the development of a learning
community through collaboration, research and team work. I asked the students
why they thought I came to BFSU.
Their answers were “to teach”. I explained that my motivation is more profound, that is, I
come to learn and to share not simply to pass on to them what I may have
learned. The difference is mutual respect for the learning process in which we
all are engaged.
The
philosophy and methodology of the course was that of active participation and
the self-motivated learner. The
classroom was set up during every class so that everyone could see each other
for a freer exchange of ideas. The
course progressed from a more directed and focused approach with an emphasis on
basic skills and the writing process to a more general interactive approach
based on research and publication of a booklet and web site giving information
for international scholars visiting BFSU.
Throughout I tried to emphasize writing for a purpose, that is, writing
that would be useful and analytical, that would be published where possible,
not writing assignments just for the teacher.
My more specific goals were for the
students in this class to:
Methodologies
used to achieve a learning community of writers in English included
brainstorming, group writing, oral
readings, sharing, peer review, writing and rewriting, editing,, reaction
papers, use of internet, interviews, pair work, small group work, research and
teamwork.
From
the first class, students were writing, both in class and weekly assignments
outside class. I instituted the
habit of a daily journal in English. I emphasized that the journal was to be
theirs, not mine, and would not be checked for spelling, grammar, etc. I would only occasionally ask them to
show it to me just to check that they were keeping it up.
We
worked on understanding the writing process as well as exercises from A
Handbook on Writing
on both sentence and paragraph structure.
I required that all assignments be computer generated. I noted that as prospective journalists
it was a necessity to be very comfortable with using computers in English. I
encouraged them to read news reports daily in English, either in hard copies or
on the Internet. We shared some
urls of publications from US, UK and Australia.
We
learned techniques for generating ideas for writing, including brainstorming
and idea webs. We started out with peer review of written work and oral sharing
of written paragraphs and journal entries in class. However, I found that overall peer review was not
effective. Students were so unused
to the idea that they were not critical.
Even though they were given guidelines and some orientation, they were
not confident enough of their own writing to be critical of others. Sometimes they seemed hesitant to share
their own writing in English to the entire class. With their permission, I
sometimes read their articles outloud to the class myself. Some students seemed
more comfortable with that approach.
I
shared a series of handouts with the students about the processes of writing
and of research. I described the
writing process as a circle rather
than a linear process, which includes the following
·
idea
·
plan
·
research:
collect information
·
organize
the information
·
draft
·
edit/revise
( including peer review)
·
publish:
final form
In
the process of writing, you can re-enter the circle at various times. Writing is not simply a step by step
process. I emphasized the importance of writing for communication, especially
as future journalists. I
introduced them to Plain English, which is an informal, international movement
to make English clear and accessible to all.
We
often discussed the fact that most people who speak English in the world today
are not native speakers. There are
many varieties of English, including Indian English, Kenyan English, etc. Writers from Asia and Africa are
winning many famous prizes for
their writing in English such as the Booker Prize in the UK. English belongs to
the world, not to a few countries. Given the interest and number of people
learning and using English in China, I expressed my opinion that soon China
would have a very extensive literature written directly in English.
We
brainstormed in class What is research? Who does research? Are you
researchers?
Most noted they had never done any research and were not aware of the research
process. We discussed the research process and the steps in carrying out
research. I gave them several photocopied outlines and checklists of the
research process. They willingly joined in the brainstorming and discussions
and formed research teams to carry out the work for the Guide to BFSU for
International Scholars in
the form of a booklet and web site.
The
aim was for all writing to have a purpose, either for analysis of journalism or their own learning
process and/or for publication, With the permission of the students, their work
was posted on a web site established by my husband Jim Lindsay and myself for
our classes at BFSU.
The
topics included:
In
their analysis of their participation in the process of developing the Guide to
BFSU, the students emphasized that they had never done practical research
before, never made interviews, and never worked as a team. All noted the
benefits they received from this process and its challenges especially during
the SARS crisis.
From
my own experience as a visiting scholar, I realized that information in English
about BFSU and daily life was needed. Most international scholars who come to
BFSU can neither speak nor read Chinese.
Because of their work load, there is limited time for them to try to
learn even conversational Chinese.
The
idea of a publication for visiting scholars first came up in an informal
discussion I had with Prof. Sun, head of the Journalism department. I noted that I was interested in my
students working together to do research for a publication that would be useful
to BFSU. During our discussion,
the idea of a booklet as a welcome and guide to BFSU for international scholars
began to take shape. Prof. Sun
encouraged me to pursue the idea.
I noted that it would depend on the response of the students of Class 5
and Class 6.
I
raised the issue with each class and asked them to think it over. Then we discussed it again in a later
class. The idea did not really
take off until one student shared a proposal that he had written to make a web
site in English as a guide to BFSU.
Students became quite excited about the website idea. Some indicated
that they thought the booklet would also be useful for the visiting
scholars. We started a lengthy
process of discussion of ourreaders, that is, the international scholars and
their concerns. We noted that it
would be useful to interview as many of the international scholars as possible
to get more concrete ideas. We
brainstormed different topic areas.
The students themselves had to learn how to live in Beijing as very few
of them are from Beijing or had ever visited it before beginning studies at
BFSU last term. We managed to come
up with a number of topics. Then
students formed research teams and chose their topic areas.
The
students were unable to interview international scholars because of the closing
of the campus due to the SARS crisis.
In fact, the day of the closing of the campus, one student had to get
special permission to return to her dormitory on the East Campus because she
had been trying to interview an international scholar on the West Campus.
Despite
the limitations due to the SARS crisis, students continued with their research,
depending on internet, SMS, and telephone. My husband, Jim Lindsay, volunteered to come to one of the
classes to be interviewed. Isabel
Crook, a retired teacher, also volunteered to come to a class to be interviewed. Ms. Crook made her decision to come to
the class out of solidarity with the students, who were confined due to the
SARS crisis.
Once
the research was completed and the material submitted, an editorial team and
technical team (for web site design and booklet layout) were formed. As part of the technical training,
students were introduced to web site design by Richard (Yu Kun, Class 4
English)) and Jim Lindsay using laptop computers and the television monitors in
the classrooms. Students
volunteered to take digital photos on the West Campus. An editorial team was formed, with an
editor for each section: About
BFSU, Daily Life, Cultural Life and About US. Two photo editors, working with the section editors, chose
the photos for each section and
prepared them for use in the booklet and the web site.
The Editorial team members were About BFSU: Xiao Li Li, Every day Life: Lou Li, Culture: Chai
Liang, and About Us, Cui Xiaohuo. Photo editors: Li Xiaoshu and Qu Fang. Technical team: Yu Kun, Class 4
English Department (not in
journalism but volunteered to help), in charge of web design, assisted byYu
Wenjing and Liu Han; Chen Shi, in
charge of layout for the booklet.
All
three teams: editorial, technical and photo, met with Prof Jin Li, the Dean of
SEIS, Prof. Sun Youzhong, head of Journalism department and Prof LI Youwen,
vidce-dean to discuss the project and fplan how to finish the project. Students learned the challenges of
deadlines, accuracy and editing as well as clear communication through email. Every deadline was met and the teams
participated with energy, creativity and responsibility.
Course
Evaluation
Students
wrote their evaluation of the course including what they liked best, least, recommendations for future
courses and their personal plans for improving their writing in English. During the final class of the term, hey
discussed questions in small groups and then the entire class discussed the
course evaluation. Below are
quotes extracted from their written evaluations of the course. I quote them extensively to give the
flavor of their thinking and writing in English. I use different fonts because the evaluations were sent by
email with different fonts and to indicate that there are different speakers,
rather than using italics.
General
comments, quotes from students’ written evaluations of the Writing Class
Speaking
about the influence of US Pop culture:
. . . The course of the changes mainly includes two aspects. Firstly, I
come from a very undeveloped area of China. Before I came here, my education is
a typically traditional one, which made me be a traditional Chinese girl, both
in thought and behaviors. After coming here, I encounter so many new things,
especially something related to the US pop culture, it is natural that there is
great impact in my mind. This kind of impact caused changes. Secondly, our
teacher of this course is a foreigner. She brought many new thoughts of other
cultures to us and encouraged us to think creatively, which helped us a lot and
enabled us to understand US pop culture better.
My view on journalism ethics also
changed a lot during the course. Before, I know little about journalism. I
thought for journalists, we just need to write articles to report what has
happened. But now I know that journalists must share the social responsibility.
We journalists should be honest, objective and have a high sense of duty to
make the masses know what is happening. We should praise the good things and
explore the shadow side of the society, so that the society can develop in a
more healthy way. In a word, I begin to realize the duty as a journalist and to
train myself consciously to be a qualified one in the future.
Comments on her reaction to the SARS
crisis:
The last one I learn is to be calm before any crisis. When the SARS situation in Beijing was getting more and more serious, we became more and more panicked. . . But Prof. Collett was not afraid of SARS. . . She said we even didn’t know any single person who had SARS on campus, why should we act as if there were SARS patients all around us? Through her words I was comforted to some extent. I learn from Prof. Collett’s attitude that we should never panic before we get clear what the real situation is and have confidence in our government..
Thank you for offering us a great opportunity to do the project. I am
really moved by your passion and responsibility and honored to be one of your
working partners.
What
did you like best about this course?
Quotes from students
The
interaction in the class and the easy-going atmosphere;
It REALLY helped me a lot learn to think
deeply. We used to talk about a lot of things in our class, from which I
learned the importance of thinking for myself and listening to others’
views.
New ideas and the concern
about people in other continents.
I like this course not for
writing itself but for the way it has taught me how to think.
This course is an unique one that I have never encountered before. The style is like friends talking with each other freely. Good thoughts like sparkles often flashed out in the class and that is amazing!
Ms Collett never told anybody “wrong” or
“right” but gave advice and suggestions. I think that’s an exciting way to show respect from a
teacher.
I like its
atmosphere. It’s so lively, free and interactive. Quite unlike other course, this course
is in a more free atmosphere. I
feel our teacher is not trying to fill us with what she knows but exchange her
ideas with and guide us to learn on our own.
I like the free atmosphere in
this class. Everyone here can
speak out his or her opinion freely.
From this kind of free discussion, we can know both ourselves and others
very well. There was also some
challenge in this class. For
example, doing research work and using computer were both very hard for
me. I really had a hard time at
first. However. I finally managed
to do it and benefit a lot from it.
Now I began to use computer more and more. I find that it is really useful.
. . . Those attempts to do new things, such as research, web site.
.What I like
most about the course is that we have more freedom than any other courses.
Firstly, our teacher encourages us to think creatively. We have brainstorm in
class, which is not only interesting, but also provides us a new way to think.
We really got a lot of inspiration from it. Secondly, we have the opportunities
to do something all by ourselves. We did research about BFSU and made brochure
as well as web site. Looking at something created by ourselves, we do have a
sense of success and fulfillment. It’s really wonderful!
Professor Collett is so thought-provoking,
inspiring and responsible. She opened many windows and doors in my brain and
heart, like critical thinking,, learning community, practice makes perfect. She
is the first mentor I met in the university.
This was the first experience
I got to walk in other’s
shoes. I got experience about
interviews. Then I learned the
importance of teamwork.
. . . Taking
the photos for the booklet, the five of us? hehe.. Actually every little thing
everyone did and wrote during the course. All the ideas and the teamwork.
I like the informal way of having
this course. More importantly, I can feel the thoughts in this course. This is
what I like best. We are told to brainstorm to gather ideas and to discuss to
reach a conclusion. We can think freely in this course. We exchange our
thoughts.
We think and
work as a team. Besides, through this course, I got to know many wonderful
thoughts or ideas such as learning community, peer editing, think from
others’ position etc. I learned writing through practice in this course
and also learned to think.
There
are three things I like best about this course. First, I think this course is
interesting. It not only focuses on our textbook, but also provides us some new
ideas in learning a foreign language. Second, in this course, I improved my
ability. In doing the brochure, I learnt how to gather information, how to
communicate with others. What’s important is that I realized the
importance of teamwork. Third, it helps me improving my writing skill. I kept
on writing daily journal, I did a lot of writing on some hot topics today like
the influence of US pop culture; the war between Iraq and America; how to
handle SARS problem. In a word, I got a lot of practice; it stimulates my
interest in writing. I like this course.
The courses lead me to
think the things I never thought about.
I like the learning
atmosphere of this course very much. No one is superior to others so that we
can sit down in the classroom equally and share our opinions. Besides, I
appreciate the idea “learning community” and I will try very hard
to follow it in the rest of my life. However, there must be a certain
difficulties to pursue the idea in China. The most difficult point is that
people’s traditional attitude and definition towards learning is rather
different from the western learning theory. Besides, our education system does
not support the theory either. That’s why even though we have accepted
this idea, we cannot really do it in real life.
a, I like the notion of “learning
community”. We are here to share.
b. This course helps me to organize the
information I had already had and say it out.
c. My writing improved.
d. We have almost finished a great
project for our school despite all the difficulties. I learnt not only skills
but also teamwork.
I like the
brainstorm in the class and
professor's patience and comment on my essays.
I
like the spirit of teamwork in the course best. Throughout the project of “
Guide To BFSU ” everyone of us tried his or her best to make some
contribution. We work well and cooperate well. At last the project turns put to
be a successful one.
The process of working on the booklet and website is certainly of great enjoyment. That is to do something you have never done. To know that you can influence through things you do is important. I feel that I’ve really gained something during the course by sharing and learning on our own. I’ve enjoyed the course of independent and creative thinking as well as finding of the team work spirit.
Doing the research. I have
learned a lot from it. It has developed my skills of collecting and selecting
information, writing and editing. In addition, it has strengthened the
cooperation between us. I think it’s very helpful and meaningful.
What I like best about this course are
the topics we have discussed--- pop culture, media’s performance during
the war in Iraq and the reports on SARS, the ethic of journalists, our personal
ethic, most of which I have never thought seriously and deeply. This course
gives me such a chance to form my own ideas, as well as express them accurately
in words. I still remember that the comments on my first article---it is not
logical, but after a term’s practice, I think I’ve really made some
progress. Plus: I like the way we sit when having classes, everybody can see
each other’s face. Fantastic!
This
course indeed opens my mind and broadens my sight. Now I feel like an
international person rather than Chinese.
I did not like to write some
topic which I was not quite interested in and had not much things to write out,
such as the criteria of your best friend.
.At first, I know nothing
about computer (it is a pity, but I think it’s not my fault. People in my
hometown all know little about it. It depend on the bad condition there, now
I’m thinking about how to help them). So what I like least was to type my
article on computer. But by now, the problem has already been solved. I’m
very grateful that the course gives me such opportunity to learn new things.
I
find there are not enough specific writing teaching as well as writing. And
those exercises are not adequate.
I don’t like the
“Topic Sentence” thing in the early classes at all. My problem is
that I know only too well it is vitally important, especially in journalistic
writing. But still I don’t want to be restricted by any kinds of formats.
Sometimes the assignments are
too many for a beginner.
I think it would be better
for the teacher and the students to get together and discuss which topics to
write for assignments.
.
To be honest, there’s noting that I like least. If I have to call
up one --- I’ve once complained about there were too many assignment to
do. But I know it’s all necessary and beneficial. Plus, as I walk
further, do more, finish some, see the results,,get feedback --- they are all worth it!
The
class hours were not that sufficient. Sometimes I was over-worked after-class
by too much assignment. (I know it is due to we have too many classes per
week.)
Although we have learned some
writing skills, I think it’s not enough. We need more basic writing
skills.
Give
students more time to express their ideas. Sometimes you speak too quickly and don’t give us
enough time to respond.
.I think the course we have
had doesn't live up to its name---Journalistic Writing in English according to
my understanding. Still I don't know much skills about journalistic writing in
English. I think perhaps it is hard for a freshman to write articles in English
coherently and naturally. We'd better go step by step.
What
recommendations do you have for improvements in this course?
I hope to receive more
relevant information during the course, especially those multi-media materials.
For example, we may be provided the chance to read several typical magazines or
some websites while talking about US pop culture. Secondly, you can give us
some suggested writers or books then we might have a taste of what the
Americans are in favor of. Thirdly, we need to share our pieces of writings
more. We may put it on the wall of our classroom.
For the improvements in the course, I think there should be more communication between students. If teacher can provide us more opportunity to discuss and to read each other’s articles, we can learn more from each other and make greater progress. After all, this is an effective way to learn something, because we master it through conclude it all by ourselves.
To be
honest, I really envy those guys who major in small languages. Because they are
often lucky to be arranged to visit embassies in China. As for myself, I am
always looking forward to visits to those head media. I am really curious about
how they are being run, what people usually do there. After all that’ s
where we are heading for.
As I have mentioned above, basic skills are
very important. I think it would be better if more basic things are taught in
the course. We are not skilled writers therefore basics are the things we need.
Maybe motivations and
more chances of participation in decision making should have been created. Some
of us feel there weren't many things for them to choose. So the course was
simply about assignments to be handed in next week...
Since it’s a writing in English course, probably we’ll need more time on the improvement of our writing along with individual thinking, opinion finding and expressing.
Besides, as our major is
Journalism and Communication, I advise to give more topics on this aspect.
I think during the discussion, professor does most of the speaking; maybe it is a better idea to give us more chance to express our thoughts. And we can exchange our articles with each other and give some comments and suggestions. Every time we do group discussion, there always . are some students that are not active enough, maybe we should divide ourselves into smaller groups, like four people in one group, then each one must take the responsibility, think hard and say something.
Maybe
the students can share their writings more. Every one in the class should get a
peer review from all other students al least once a term. I would like to learn
from others and know how different people like my writings.
I
think we can do more activities in our class concerned with our major. For
example, we can analyze a piece of news to see how it organized.
What
personal plans do you have to improve your writing in English ?
Above
all, I’d like to keep on writing my daily journal. It is a good way of
practice. Then, I should keep an eye around to make good observation of life so
that I have more to write. Apart from that, I think I should pay more attention
to the important issues and write down my own point of view. Besides, I should
read more books to enlarge my knowledge in order to improve my own writing.
I think I should continue writing at least one essay every week, and letters or e-mails are acceptable. I believe that practice makes perfect.
My
writing skills are not good enough so I have to improve it through some
methods. I’m going to read the book “ A Handbook of Writing ”
once again, slowly and thoroughly. And I will read some short but well
organized articles. I have no further plans but I believe once I have done
these two aspects well my skills of English writing have been improved.
Read more and write more. Is there any
other way?
First, I would like to read more
articles or books to learn writing skills and ideas. Then I will practice them.
Hope to learn them by more practicing.
Read more books, keep the
journal, think more, and write more.
I
think I will keep on writing daily journal in English and some essay about
hottest issues, and exchange my writings with my fellow classmates to have some
comment. I am going to read more native writing at the same time. To imitate
may be a good way to start with. I may learn some writing methods from some reference
book as well.
In will certainly read more
books so as to imitate the writing style, train my language sense and share
some beautiful minds. in some way. Journals are also important to gather
inspired ideas and prepare for the future needs. Basically, to write more is to
make improvements step by step. However, quality is mo essential than quantity
in the progress. So I will rewrite more to become a devoted and strict writer.
Need to keep
on reading different things. And when writing, try to be more concise and
accurate. This requires more writing practices--writing different things.
As
for me, I’ll go on with my journals and write down the inspirations that
hit on me. Also I’ll obtain much information from different ways and form
a habit of deep thinking.
To improve my writing in
English, I will read more, especially reading material in the field which I
seldom stepped into, such as politics and economy. That is to say, get more
input. I am fully aware of the importance of practice of writing. Besides, I
came to realize it is equally important input in order to output more
effectively.
.My plans to improve my
writing in English are these: 1.To read more, especially some famous works in
English. 2.To think more both when I’m reading and in the daily life, for
life is the source of inspiration. 3.To write more. I’ll try to write
different kinds of articles regularly. 4.To conclude more. That is to correct
the wrong in time and to find the good aspects and insist on.
It’s easier to say than
to do, so the most important thing of my plans is constancy. I’ll work
even harder to improve my writing.
Based on the students ‘comments plus my own observations, I think that this course opened up some new possibilities in ways of thinking and learning for most of the student participants. Those who left the campus because of the SARS crisis did not experience this process , because they missed most of the class meetings and participated only indirectly in the Guide to BFSU project.
Students very much enjoyed brainstorming, idea webs and daily journals as ways of generating ideas and insights. They readily cooperated and worked in small groups both in and outside of class. They were keen to learn research techniques and interviews. They began to understand writing as a thinking process. They became aware of the issue of point of view, bias and putting one’s self in someone else’s shoes. We struggled to understand ethics, both in our personal lives and as professional journalists.
In the group discussion at the end of the course, students noted that without the pressure of exams in this course, they were more motivated to learn. They appreciated the opportunity to think and write about current issues and problems. Although it sometimes meant writing and rewriting three, four even five times, they appreciated the extensive rewriting process . They appreciated the written comments on every piece of writing by the instructor, (although many noted that my handwriting is hard to read).
Even at the end of the year, many students had tried to keep up a daily journal in English.. Keeping a daily journal in English was easier for those having their own personal computer. Most people said they intended to continue the journal in English as well as write emails in English to practice and improve their writing in English.
Although communication and group dynamics improved throughout the course, peer review of their writing introduced at the beginning of the course was not very successful. Probably it should have been introduced later in the course and given more time and practice. Students in their evaluation noted that they did want to share work with their classmates and get feedback.
The
first suggestion would be to take another look at the overall curriculum for
journalism students. I am not sure
how much flexibility SEIS has in designing the curriculum. The curriculum may
include requirements from the Ministry of Education. However, I would like to encourage SEIS, if possible, to
include and integrate expressive writing, especially in the various genre used
in journalism, from the first term and in every term of study. According to the students themselves,
they had no experience in expressive writing in English at the secondary
level. All their previous
writing in English was for
exercises and exams.
Writing
classes should be small if possible to give individual feedback on a regular
basis. Different students are at
different levels and progress at different speeds, so small classes are best in
working on writing as a process. Fifteen participants should be the maximum if
possible. In the first two terms, it might be preferable to have writing
classes twice a week. This was my
experience in teaching writing in a private university in Venezuela.
In
reviewing the curriculum, it might be possible to reduce the overall number of
classroom hours. Other
international scholars commented that students at BFSU spend many more hours in
classroom than in the USA or Australia, leaving them little time for
independent study, research and writing.
Research
skills should be included in the curriculum from the beginning. Research is fundamental to learning in
all fields, but particularly in journalism. Students need interview techniques, web-based research,
focus groups and other social science research techniques, with an emphasis on
the qualitative methods.
Computer
skills could be offered as an elective the first term for those students with
little or no previous computer experience. Several students commented that they know how to use the
computer in English but are very slow because they don’t know the
keyboard. They should be taught to
use spell check as a matter of course, as well as other writing tools such as
dictionary and thesaurus, which are included in the software. In writing class, students were asked
not to refer to an English-Chinese dictionary but only to use English-English
dictionaries. I frequently pointed
out the need to think and write directly in English without any
translation.
All
students should have an introduction to using the Internet, including search
engines, verifying the validity of information from the web, and journalism on
the web. More advanced web site building skills could be offered as an elective
for those students who are interested.
Layout software such as Pagemaker and software for manipulation and
storage of digital photos such as Photoshop could also be offered as electives.
Practical
projects, such as the Guide to BFSU for International scholars booklet and web site should
be included in every term. As a followup, students could interview visiting
scholars to get their feedback on the booklet and web site, Guide to BFSU
for International Scholars. Other areas such as the International
Business School, classes in Chinese for international students could also be
investigated by journalism students to help get information for BFSU and
SEIS.
Students could work directly with English language publications in China
and internationally, including web site (Prof. Sun has already set something
up), magazines and newspapers.
Their writing is fresh and interesting and would benefit these
publications as well as give the students’ first hand experience. A SEIS
policy regarding students
receiving compensation for published writings should be established if the work
is done in conjunction with class assignments.
The
SEIS Journalism Department could
set up its own interactive web site where students post their work and receive
feedback from their classmates.
Students who act as webmaster
for such a site should receive suitable compensation for this task. It
is time consuming and a necessary aspect of maintaining a useful website.
Study
visits could be arranged to media organizations, both print and
broadcasting. Journalists, both
Chinese and international, could be invited to visit classes and be interviewed
by students. I had planned to invite international journalists but could not
because of SARS. Web site producers
and webmasters could be invited to explain their work and the process of
developing and maintaining a high quality, interactive web site. Through the SEIS Journalism web site,
students could have contact with other journalism students both in China and
throughout the world.
Having
lived around the world and experiencing first hand some of the negative aspects
of U.S. Pop culture, including pop
music, violent films and fast food, I have a personal interest and concern in
young people’s views about culture.
Some of my Chinese colleagues share this concern and some even asked me
to lecture the students on the “evils” of U.S. Pop culture. Of course, this would not be an
effective approach. However, I did
incorporate writing, thinking, analyzing the influence of U.S. pop culture on
Chinese youth as an issue in our writing class.
Most
of the students said they had never thought deeply about it. Many noted that they equated U.S. pop
culture with being “modern” and with “freedom”. I posted many of their comments
on the greenmango web site that my husband and I set up for our classes at
BFSU. Some of their comments are
also included in the About US section of the Guide to BFSU for International
Scholars web
site.
I
think the question of culture and more generally of identity, ethics and social
awareness of youth today is a profound challenge to all of us, everyone in the
world, whether as parents, teachers, community or political leaders. I would like to suggest that we all
need to be more aware of the importance of our position as role models and
mentors to young people. Youth
need an avenue of expression of their inner needs as well as their academic and professional learning.
I
shared with my students my appreciation of shui mo hua (Chinese ink wash paintings,
usually of mountain landscapes, bamboo, etc) as well as of tai chi and
traditional instruments like the pipa and the erhu.. I informally asked about their interest in these areas of
more traditional Chinese culture.
Some seem surprised by my interest. When asked if they knew how to use the brush and do
calligraphy, they said they had studied in primary school but not used it
since.
I
would like to urge SEIS and BFSU to integrate traditional Chinese culture including
using the brush, calligraphy, painting, and traditional music into the
curriculum. I know that the
students all do learn how to practice tai chi at BFSU. Perhaps these other
subjects could be electives but somehow they should be encouraged for all
students. The issues of culture and globalization should be included somewhere
in the curriculum as well as questions of ethics and values formation.
Jim
and I will be thinking of all of you and sharing ideas and information from all
of you with our colleagues at the African Rural University in western
Uganda. Our contact email address
is: mukinduri@bigfoot.com
Thank
you all very much . I hope to see
you all again some time.