For me, making an effort means not only preparing the lesson well, but also being mindful of teaching. While designing this "When Oral History Meets Art” course, I had an "abstract image” of students in my mind. I have kept on wondering what indeed "gifted students” from all walks of life want to learn. Until I met those gifted students from different secondary schools in various districts…

Having successfully completed the course, the students brought along their collective creations, illustrated oral histories, to visit the three old stores (Lam Chi Kee, Sing Kwong Electrical and "何俊記”) today. The owners of the old stores were overwhelmed with delight when they saw the illustrated histories, like having found priceless treasures, and asked, one after another, the students to take photos with them. When they gazed at the "books” made from the stories of their stores in their hands, it was like seeing their own children. The Lam sisters praised the students’ originality over and over again – they used their own old clothes to wrap the illustration in order to present a history of old clothes. Mr. Chan of Sing Kwong Electrical was amazed to learn that the students had found a photo taken at his shop’s previous location on the Google Map. He told us that the photo had been taken just before the typhoon signal number 10 was raised last year. Ms. Ho also expressed her gratitude to the students when she saw the splashes of mustard and sour plum sauce on the illustration that indicate the good and bad times the three generations of the store have experienced.

Seeing students complete a learning tour with the old stores, I was overcome with emotion as this kind of teaching experience is exactly what I have been looking for. "Teaching” is, in fact, the creation of a learning community, in which not only students but also teachers and even interviewees are learning. All the parties are engaged in the learning process indeed and they are all learning actively. Through the historical stories, we have learnt the true meaning of community and society; accordingly, all of us feel that we "own” the illustration. Particularly, students are able to involve in exploring how these stories reveal the history and make personal connections with them.

The major problem of modern education is alienation – parents "outsource” their children to schools; teachers fulfil their duty to the school by increasing the university acceptance rate and passing rates; and students make desperate efforts to do their exams. "Learning” has been reduced to tactics – money-making tactics, tactics for further study and tactics for success – by this kind of education. Nevertheless, is "learning” itself not a goal? Learning is indeed such a voluntary action. You find inspiration from my life story and integrate yours into mine.

This course is not a history course but a community learning project using history as a tool. After the completion of the course, I took advantage of the lunchtime to collect students’ feedback. Jun Jun said not only did this learning project introduce her to the history of Shek Wu Hui, but it also aroused her interest in her father’s story. Actually, her father was once a stuntman. According to her, if she had not talked with her father, she might not have had the opportunity to learn the bright history of stuntmen. Oi Yan suggested that history is alive and asked me if there were other oral history learning projects. Po Kwan told us that she also grew up in Shek Wu Hui. Though she walked across San Kan Street for countless times, she had never raised her head to see the year of completion of the pre-war building. Since she took this course, the Shek Wu Hui in her eyes has turned different, enriching her childhood.

Teachers do not necessarily "teach” anything but they have to identify where learning is and subsequently develop an environment where learning can happen continuously. I have been seeking inspiration for "teaching” from the learning of students. "Learning” is always there before "teaching”. I hope to regenerate students’ passion for studying history because lifeless history education is the onset of the city’s loss. Without memories, our vision will be only imposed by others (a concept borrowed from the film Inception) and they can only live in the plan of others. 

As a history teacher, with a view to leading students to enter the community and return to their native soil to see "Hong Kong”, I don’t even mind leaving the school system. Students are the reason why I teach.