A delegation of the representatives of 8 residential colleges of the University of Macau (UM) headed by Haydn H.D. Chen, the vice-rector of student affairs, visited Po-Ya School (Liberal Arts College) and the Office of Student Labor[1] in Tunghai University (THU) on 1 December, 2014. The visit was to enhance service and innovative capabilities of both universities through experience sharing.

The president of THU Dr Ming-Jer Tang, together with the vice president Chih C. Chao and Shaw-fawn Kao, the dean of Office of International Education & Programs as well as other chief officers welcomed the delegation in the morning. During the reception, they briefed the achievements of ‘a green university of liberal arts education’ in the past two years.

The members of the delegation included David Pong, the master of Choi Kai Yau College; Yim Shui-wa, the associate master & chief of students of Shiu Pong College; Chan Moon Fai, the associate master & chief of students of Lui Che Woo College; Wang Chao, the associate master & chief of students of Chao Kuang Piu College; Kevin Zhen, the associate master & chief of students of Cheng Yu Tung College; Ray Cheung, the resident fellow of Moon Chun Memorial College; Kevin Wong, the resident fellow of Stanley Ho East Asia College; Wong Siu Lam, the resident fellow of Henry Fok Pearl Jubilee College; and Chris Fong, a member of administrative staff at the Rector’s Office.

In the morning the delegation met Tso I-Min, the dean of Po-Ya School, for an exchange of ideas. In the afternoon, Huang Shen-Kuei, the dean of student labour, led the teachers and students of the Office of Student Labor to greet the delegation members. This was the fourth student exchange visit between the Office of Student Labor and the delegation of the UM residential colleges. Kevin Wong said he was particularly impressed by the student labour component in liberal arts education. Moreover, he was eager to learn how this activity could have been going strong for nearly six decades while keeping abreast of changes and development.  

At noon on that day, the delegation first went to boys’ dormitories, which were the basic labour sites for the first year students, and observed how the group leaders conducted routine labour activities. They found that students would open the ditch cover and sweep out the leaves from inside. Besides, they would put the cleaning tools back in place neatly after work. The staff there pointed out that work of that sort could cultivate a good attitude in the participating students. Thus by introducing students to such a programme, liberal arts education can cultivate in them whole-person growth.     

In fact this labour programme has threaded through different generations of THU students over the past 60 years. You may wonder how the staff in the Office of Student Labor can have adhered to the educational ideals of labour over such a long time while keeping with the times and being amenable to changes. The discussion on the day of the visit gave us the answer. Before the discussion, Huang gave a presentation on the modern educational values of labour. She talked about the ideals of the programme and how it was structured. Although some young people might not have a correct understanding of the meaning of doing the cleaning jobs, she was confident that as more students were learning how to give back to the community as they grew up, the programme would continue to play an important part in the liberal arts education of THU and in the higher education of Taiwan in general. Also present in the discussion were the sectional heads of the Office Lin Li-Sheng and Wang Mei-Jan who elaborated on the training scheme of student labour group leaders. Through the discussion, the participants could see that what kept the programme going were the humanistic elements of commitment, love and care. 

The highlight of the discussion was when Shan O’Yang, a group leader and a first-year postgraduate in industrial engineering, shared his experience with the discussants. To him, being a group leader was the best moment in his 4-year university study in that the programme not only provided him rigorous leadership training, but also, more importantly, gave him great learning opportunities through the role modeling of the teaching staff of the Office. Such opportunities included application of industrial engineering knowledge to the labour jobs, for instance, organizing things and how to use tools correctly. Besides, through tasks of different nature and change of locales made possible by shifts, students could strengthen their love for the places they worked in and for. In sum, socializing, bonding, seeing and feeling things for themselves and equally importantly, experiencing what it feels to live a real life were all the benefits they could reap from the programme. This was really a situation where the participating students could put their classroom knowledge into practice. They were now cognizant of the fact that knowledge was not only learnt to serve others, but also a way of self-enrichment. To them, therefore, doing labour was a very positive learning process.

The delegation was also accompanied by Huang Shu-Yan and Lin Hui-Chen, the former deans of student labor. The delegation found the visit very inspiring to the implementation of their similar programme in the future.


 

[1] Labor is spelt labour in the rest of the text except where it is the official title of the Unit which adopts the spelling of labor

澳門大學訪問團 於2014年12月1日與東海大學進行交流,此次由澳門大學副校長(學生事務)程海東帶領本校八大書院與東海大學的博雅書院及勞作教育處進行交流,期望藉由彼此經驗分享提升兩校的服務與創新力。一早由東海大學現任校長湯銘哲帶領副校長巢志成、國際長高少凡等一級主管接待,歡迎會中並分享這兩年來學校實施綠色博雅的實績。

本次澳門大學訪問團成員包括:龐百騰院長(蔡繼有書院)、嚴穗華副院長兼輔導主任(紹邦書院)、陳滿輝副院長兼輔導主任(呂志和書院)、汪超副院長兼輔導主任(曹光彪書院)、甄勇副院長兼輔導主任(鄭裕彤書院)、張宇軒導師(滿珍紀念書院)、黃才試導師(何鴻燊東亞書院)、黃兆琳導師(霍英東珍禧書院)、馮崢行政組員(校長辦公室)。

澳大訪問團早上與東海大學博雅書院長卓逸民面進行會及交流分享。下午行程並由東海大學黃聖桂指導長帶領勞教處師生接待本次勞作教育交流活動。此為,東海大學勞作教育處與澳門大學書院團隊所引導之學生第四次進行互訪交流。澳大書院黃才試導師表示,特別欣賞東海大學博雅學習中的勞作教育,亟欲瞭解勞作教育如何在東海大學實施將近60年,又能與時代潮流接軌。

12月1日中午,勞作教育參訪首站為大一基本勞作教育場域-男生宿舍區勞作觀摩,瞭解小組長日常勞作課程如何進行?龐百騰院長一行發現勞作生會主動逐一拉起水溝蓋掃除溝內的積葉,勞作結束後,學生會將工具整齊擺放,現場的師長紛紛表示,一個好的態度能在勞作實施時自然的展現出來,足見東海大學的博雅教育透過勞作教育的深耕,推進了全人教育的理想。

「勞作」是東海人60年來所共同經驗的印記,勞教處同仁如何堅守勞作教育的核心理念?同時與時代軌跡融合創新,答案就在當日勞作座談的對話中逐一顯現。座談前勞作教育黃聖桂指導長以勞作「教育」的現代意義為題,介紹勞作教育教學理念與整體學習架構,表示雖時下年輕人容易對掃除表象產生誤解,但是透過無數學生成長的回饋,有信心地,能繼續為東海大學博雅教育與台灣高等教育盡一番心力。勞教處林立聖組長、王美珍組長也於座談會中詳實介紹如何建構勞作教育小組長培育系統的細節,讓與會者看見在勞作教育執行背後,更多的承擔、愛與關懷。

座談會的高潮由勞作小組長歐陽陞同學(工業工程研究所一年級)的現身說法,歐陽同學表示,加入勞作小組長團隊,是他求學生涯4年中最美麗的祝福,不僅僅是嚴謹的小組長領導知能培訓,重要的是透過勞作師長身教所傳遞的溫度,也啟發其運用工業工程的知識,實踐於勞作現場的機會,如落實整理整頓、教導工具正確使用,透過每期內部輪替工作內容、地點,深化勞作生對腳踏土地的情感;輕鬆的聊天與期許,串連掃友間的黏著力,陪伴反思 “眼見為憑或心見為實” 等等,透過勞作活動與勞作生真實的反應,實際驗證了所學知識的效用,不僅服務他人,又能成為更好的自己,真的很開心。前任勞作指導長黃淑燕老師、林惠真老師也於交流活動中全程陪伴,交流分享勞作心得,本校參訪團隊表示,本次交流有助於本校勞作教育工作的推展,甚至對學生進行勞作對話的輔導都增加許多靈感。

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