【Interview with expert at Rocks Net – Lo Wing Sun】
In Kakadu National Park of Australia, Lo Wing Sun stood in front of endless green trees, and a bellied park inspector was explaining the features of the Park to him. In each travel, apart from enjoying sceneries, Lo Wing Sun would record the geographic information about those wonders, and share with his students back at his school. Hearing that Hong Kong would establish a geopark, this geography teacher expressed his expectation: Hong Kong can also have a Kakadu.
Lo Wing Sun, vice-principal of Wah Yan College, Hong Kong, has taught geography for 25 years. In class, he likes introducing students to the mountains and rivers, and likes bringing students into close contact natural environments. He will lead a survey team to tour around Hong Kong: Tsim Bei Tsui in the northwest, Fan Lau in the southwest, Tung Peng Chau in the northeast and the Tung Lung Island in the southeast. .
Lung Lok Shui in Tung Ping Chau
But it is not easy to organize a geographic survey for secondary school, mainly because there are not enough teachers. At present, there are about 40 students in each class, but the Guidelines on Outdoor Activities of Students of EDB specifies that the ratio of teachers to students is 1:30. Therefore, to lead a whole class to make geographic survey, another teacher good at geography must be engaged. More than that, geographic survey takes half a day and needs to occupy other classes, so it can not be carried out casually.
An ideal geographic survey arrangement for secondary school is twice a year. Teacher Lo said: "In this way, students may feel the changes of seasons, and understand the differences of natural environments in winter and summer. Meanwhile, teachers can lead students to watch more geographic sceneries; if students have watched rocks and streams this year, then they can visit seashores and marshes next year. Therefore when students graduate, they will have a general idea about the geographic sceneries of Hong Kong." But the actual class arrangement doesn't permit teacher Lo to implement his ideal timetable.
Students themselves can also have a walk in the suburbs in their spare time as a supplement to class study, but teacher Lo finds that the parents in Hong Kong do not like introducing their children to nature: "Many times, it is children who take parents out to the suburbs. Our School-Parent Association organized outing, and once we went to Tai Au Mun of Clear Water Bay Peninsula, a hot spot for tour, but many parents said that they didn't know about this place."
Geographic survey is a precious learning experience which can not be replaced by book knowledge. Teacher Lo said that students could touch rocks and trees during survey and thus could have a deeper impression. More importantly, well-organized hiking can develop right attitude of students toward nature: "Take bird watching in Mai Po for example, students were required to wear plain and light clothes, and not allowed to make noises or leave litter."
Geographic survey is also a mental shock for students. They are accustomed to urban life and go shopping more than go hiking, so they don't know much about the suburbs of Hong Kong: "I once led them to Shek O, where many students had been for fun and BBQ. Behind Sek O are a small village, a tombolo, and Ng Fan Chau which is eroded seriously by seawater, but students didn't go there. They have seen these geographic sceneries in books, but it has never occurred to them that Hong Kong also has such sceneries."
Tombolo in Ma Chi Chau
Middle school geography courses don't elaborate on the local geography of Hong Kong, with one or two classes in junior middle schools, but allocate more pages to the geography of America and Europe. The revised curriculum even cuts down some basic knowledge about geography. For example, contents concerning the variety and formation of rocks are not compulsory, so the new generation school graduates are weak at basic geography.
The establishment of geopark can make up the curriculum, but geopark in teacher Lo's eyes is not simply a circle on the map but a park capable of serving the purpose of science popularization both in hardware and software. He proposed that the geopark should provide regular tour guide service, leading tourists and students to appreciate and learn the geographic features of the park, or students will still be in a blank even after they have walked through the whole park.
School Tour in Geopark
This is the outcome of teacher Lo's experience. He has been to Kakadu National Park of Australia, and found that the park inspector there was kind and professional: "The park inspector who guided me was a pregnant woman. Although there were just about ten tourists and she was heavy with child, she still explained to us patiently, which moved us greatly." Teacher Lo hoped that the geopark of Hong Kong, or even the existing country park could provide frequent tour guide service like Australia.
More than that, he proposed that relevant departments could provide more information for students to search, especially on the internet where youngsters spend most time, therefore if the government establishes good websites to exhibit beautiful pictures of natural sceneries, and publish the experiences of ecological and geological experts, students' knowledge about geography and nature will definitely increase.
Teacher Lo loves teaching, and even takes his pointer with him while traveling: "I always travel with a purpose. In order to experience the glaciers described in books, I will go to New Zealand particularly. I remembered that once I forgot snow boots and walked into snow with sneakers, and my feet felt chilled!" In order to give a lively description of volcanoes in class, he also went to craters: "I hope students may feel my experiences about landforms, but not just know them from books." He hoped that when the geopark is established, it can provide some trainings for secondary school teachers so that they can give more vivid guidance while leading their students to the geological world.
