Embracing Educational Diversity: From Hong Kong Classrooms to Montessori in British Columbia
It is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to share a little about my journey since graduating from the B.Ed. in Mathematics and Mathematics Education in 2020. Looking back on the past few years, I have had the chance to work in very different educational settings, both in Hong Kong and in British Columbia. Each experience has taught me something new and has shaped the way I think about teaching and learning.
I began my teaching career in Hong Kong, where I spent two years working as a primary school teacher. Those two years gave me valuable experience in classroom management and teaching, while also helping me understand what it means to support students with different needs and personalities. Later, I decided to step outside my comfort zone and move to Vancouver, Canada, hoping to experience a different education system and broaden my perspective as an educator.
Working in British Columbia introduced me to a very different curriculum and teaching environment. I worked as a homeroom teacher at a Mandarin-English bilingual school, where I taught a mixed-grade class covering Grades 4, 5, and 6. Unlike the subject-based teaching model I was more familiar with in Hong Kong, being a homeroom teacher meant that I stayed with the same group of students throughout the day and was responsible for different areas of their learning, including English, Mathematics, and Science. This experience gave me a much broader view of teaching and allowed me to see how students learn across different subjects.
After that, I became more involved in Montessori education. This was another new experience for me, as the role of the teacher is quite different from what I had previously experienced. Rather than simply delivering lessons, I learned to observe students more closely, encourage them to take ownership of their learning, and create opportunities for them to explore and learn independently.
Adapting to the BC curriculum and later moving into Montessori education was certainly challenging. Teaching a mixed-grade class throughout the day required me to rethink how I planned lessons, managed my time, and engaged students with different levels of ability and interests.
Although BMED did not directly teach Montessori philosophy or the specific BC curriculum, I came to appreciate that the most valuable thing I gained from the five-year double-major programme was not simply knowledge of particular teaching methods. It was the ability to learn, adapt, and think critically about education. BMED gave me a strong foundation in pedagogy and helped me understand how students learn and develop. It also trained me to look at educational ideas from different perspectives and to work through unfamiliar problems.
These skills became especially useful when I moved to a completely different education system. I had to learn many things on my own, but I felt confident that I had the foundation to figure things out. In that sense, BMED prepared me not just to become a teacher, but also to continue learning as an educator.
If I could go back to my undergraduate years, I would encourage my younger self to explore more courses outside my main areas of study. I think having the opportunity to learn from different disciplines can really broaden our way of thinking. When I was studying at CUHK, I never imagined that I would eventually be teaching on the other side of the world. Yet, the foundation I built through BMED gave me the confidence to step into a new environment and continue developing as an educator.
To current BMED students, I would say: don’t feel that you have to follow one particular career path simply because it is the traditional route. There are many possibilities in education, and sometimes you only discover them after trying something new. Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone, and don’t worry too much about making mistakes. Every new experience, even the difficult ones, can teach you something and help you become a better teacher.
Most importantly, trust yourself and the training you are receiving at BMED. You may not realize it while you are still a student, but the knowledge, skills, and way of thinking you develop during these years can take you much further than you expect.
