Owing to a shortage of teachers and teaching toolkits as well as high turnover rate of professional teachers, teaching quality has remained low in rural areas and on outlying islands. This program has implemented a three-level student counseling mechanism in Hualien, Kinmen and Lienchiang. Through the mutual support of consultation and online instruction, the two subprograms have jointly improved the effectiveness of rural education.
Subprogram I
PASSION’s All-Round Rural Education Model: High-tech, Highly Connected and Highly Efficient
There are numerous rural schools in southern Hualien. When it comes to rural education, most people think the problem lies in the old school buildings and shortage of computer hardware. However, in actual fact, what rural schools lack the most is a stable teaching workforce rather than fancy computer hardware since they receive plentiful resources from outside sources.
In light of the situation, National Taiwan Normal University’s (NTNU’s) PASSION team has been dedicated to southern Hualien since 2018. They have been partnering with local schools, helping them employ “PASSION’s teaching toolkits” and implement the pioneering “Program of PASSION Quality Education in Rural Schools”, which not only provides local schools with highly efficient teaching toolkits, but also trains university students to teach onsite as part of their summer internship and teach online.
High-Tech Diagnostic Tool
After two years of local dedication, we have received many encouraging news. Through the diagnostic tool and screening and streaming suggestions from our teaching toolkits, our partner schools have been able to assign students to homogeneous groups, thereby allowing them to receive appropriate help. Additionally, teachers have seen quantitative improvement in students’ Chinese and English language skills as well as mathematical skills. This result is a testament to their teaching performance and quality.
Highly Connected Teaching Assistance and Highly Efficient Teaching
The PASSION team also offers systematic teaching toolkits and teacher training workshops, and carries out classroom observations and follow-up consultations. The principals and teachers from our partner schools have expressed that the teaching assistance we provide is their “powerful backing”. We have transformed the teachers’ instructional procedures and mindset, and also enhanced their teaching quality.
Pioneering the Program of PASSION Quality Education in Rural Schools, and Nurturing Quality Rural Teachers
In the summers of 2019 and 2020, the PASSION team took university students from the program to their partner schools, helping elementary school graduates prepare for the new school year. After the summer, the university students went on to teach those students remotely, ensuring continuity of the learning of rural students. Just as a program completer said, “PASSION is not merely a course. It is not transient, but lifelong.” What is more, a junior high school student said to one of the university students, “I wish I can become a teacher like you in the future!” We look forward to nurturing more teachers, together with refining rural education.
Subprogram II
Special Education Team Overcomes Geographical Barriers to Support Special Education on the Outlying Islands of Kinmen and Matsu
According to statistics, the percentage of students with mental and physical disabilities in Kinmen and Lienchiang Counties for the 2018/2019 academic year was 4.24% and 4.63% respectively, which was higher than the national percentage of 3.72%. Nevertheless, it is an inarguable fact that resources for special education and rehabilitation on outlying islands have long remained inadequate.
For the past three years, NTNU’s special education team has been coordinating human resources from on- and off-campus as well as from local communities. They have been offering outreach services complemented by distant support. Through 57 outreach and video conferences, school visits, intellectual and professional development workshops and case studies, they have helped special education teams on outlying islands integrate resources and provide professional services.
Meanwhile, the team has also empowered disabled students from different schools to visit schools in Kinmen and Matsu and advocate for special education. They have already visited 18 schools (accounting for 62.5% of all schools), with the number of local students and teachers participating in reaching 900. The team has also brought students and local groups together and organized over 10 skill-building workshops and respite training courses, which saw attendances by local parents and disabled students reach 220. The team’s efforts have encouraged disabled students and their families to go out, enrich their social life and learn to participate.
“I, too, am capable of making contributions to society!”
Empowering Disabled Local Students to Give Back to Community
NTNU’s special education team set foot on the outlying islands lacking in both accessible transportation and resources to help local special education administrators and teachers to think outside the box and empower disabled students and their parents, equipping them with courage and confidence to face the future.
The special education team joined hands with National Quemoy University, the university in Kinmen, to empower the disabled students in both schools, helping them display confidence and promote acceptance and integration on campus. Three years ago, during an educational campaign, the team met a local high school student who suffered from illness-induced visual impairment. Having seen his frequent frustrations with learning, the team decided to step up and arrange for him a student from NTNU, who was also disabled and shared similar ordeals, to accompany and support him. After getting accepted into National Quemoy University last year, he volunteered to join this program. For him, it was because of the team’s company that he was able to have the courage to face the difficulties in his life. Furthermore, this experience has incited his determination to give back to the community. Since last September, he has been able to stand bravely on stage and share stories about how he overcame his adversities with other students on the outlying island.
Rural education requires professional assistance and long-lasting support. It is only through persistence that we can bring about change. Therefore, we promise that we will remain committed to improving rural education.