Members of the IFTM Volunteer Circle provided English teaching support to high school students in Guizhou Province’s Congjiang County, from 23 to 30 December, 2023
On 23 December, Dr. Jack Tuan Phong Ly, the Coordinator for IFTM’s Cultural and Heritage Management Programme, along with 20 students from the IFTM Volunteer Circle, took the high-speed train from Zhuhai, in Guangdong Province, to Congjiang, in Guizhou Province. It was the start of an eight-day exchange programme with the aim of providing teaching support to English classes at the Second National High School in Congjiang County.
The Institute, through the IFTM Volunteer Circle, has remained committed to supporting education at Congjiang’s Second National High School. The latter is located in the mountainous Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture. This volunteering initiative, which has been pursued for several years, aligns with the cooperation framework agreement set out in 2018 between the People’s Government of Guizhou Province, the Macao SAR Government, and the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, focusing on poverty alleviation in Guizhou Province.
When the IFTM group arrived at their hotel in Congjiang, in the afternoon of 23 December, a representative from the Second National High School greeted them, and the two parties discussed the working schedule for the following week.
The day after arrival, the IFTM group visited the Basha Miao Village to study and experience the local culture and customs. By improving their understanding of the local culture, the IFTM delegation aimed to express its respect for the local population and more easily blend in with local students.
On 25 December, the Monday after arrival, a formal opening ceremony for the exchange programme was held at Congjiang’s Second National High School. Its head, Ms. Liu Haizhen, as well as the school’s teachers of English and the whole IFTM group, attended the event. Ms. Liu delivered a welcoming speech and assigned teaching tasks to each of the school’s teachers of English as well as to the IFTM students. Dr. Ly and Gabriel Liu, the head of the IFTM Volunteer Circle, then gave an introduction on the scope and mission of the IFTM Volunteer Circle, and the background of the IFTM students taking part in the exchange.
For the programme, the IFTM students were divided into 10 groups. Each group was paired with a local teacher and given the task of assisting the school’s Grade 7 and Grade 8 students with their English-language learning.
From 25 to 29 December, teaching was one of the main responsibilities of the IFTM students at the school. They first sat in with classes, to observe and learn from the respective teachers with whom they had been paired. At a second stage, the members of the IFTM Volunteer Circle delivered English lectures to the Congjiang students. Dr. Ly monitored the classes and provided feedback to each group of IFTM students at the end of each day, in order for them to improve their teaching and sharing skills.
It did not take long for the IFTM students to build strong bonds with the local students. The high school students were keen to answer questions raised by the IFTM students in class. They were also fascinated by Macao and its culture. The members of the IFTM delegation shared their views on the importance of learning English, and how they had adapted to IFTM’s English-language learning environment. The IFTM students also discussed with the local young people a number of features of Macao, from food to sports, leisure activities, living standards and education policies.
As part of the exchange activity, gifts bought with funds provided by IFTM scholars and students were offered to local students when they provided correct answers and participated in class. On 29 December, the last day of teaching activities, the members of the IFTM Volunteer Circle delivered to Congjiang’s Second National High School 70 books donated by Dr. Ly and the IFTM Alumni Association, stationery items and other educational equipment covering various subjects, with Gabriel Liu representing the Volunteer Circle. All donated books were made available in the school’s library. Many of the local teachers expressed their gratitude to the IFTM delegation for its generosity.
The exchange programme was an eye-opening learning experience for both the local community and the IFTM students. Many local students said they were sad to see the IFTM students leaving, and hoped they would soon return. Members of Congjiang’s Second National High School community said they hoped IFTM could continue with the exchange programme, ensuring the ongoing progress and sustainability of the work it has started.
Rella Zhong, a student on the IFTM Master of Science in International Tourism Management Programme, was one of the members of the IFTM Volunteer Circle attending the exchange activity in Congjiang. “I loved this volunteering chance so much,” she says. “Eight days was a bit short. I wish the trip could have been extended to two weeks, and that we could have gone to different schools in Congjiang County to teach different students.”
Anthony Li, an undergraduate student in IFTM’s Tourism Retail and Marketing Management Bachelor’s Degree Programme, says the teaching experience allowed him “to understand the challenges that lecturers and professors at IFTM deal with in their daily work.”
He added: “This volunteer experience also gave me a good sense of what I have access to, living in a big city. It made me cherish the lifestyle we have [access to in Macao].”
On 30 December, Dr. Ly and part of the IFTM delegation took the high-speed train back to Zhuhai. Some other students took separate train journeys back to their respective hometowns, in order to enjoy with their families the rest of IFTM’s Christmas break.
