Paired-reading Activity Spreads Love
“I was very touched when the ethnic minority children gave me ‘hearts’ (a hand gesture to show love) towards the end of the last pair-reading session. I simply didn’t want to leave those adorable kids,” said Rachel Lai, a Year 3 student in the Bachelor of Education (English Language) programme at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) and participant in the “Paired-Reading Without Walls” online service project organised by the Student Affairs Office (SAO).
Lasted over three months from September to November in 2020, SAO recruited over 100 student volunteers for the paired-reading programme, designed to support students in need during the pandemic. Split into ten groups, the volunteers read picture-book stories to more than 200 children in total, from ethnic minorities, underprivileged families or with special educational needs during the period.
There was a one-month training before the volunteers provided service. The volunteers attended workshops conducted by experts in children’s education, to acquire communication skills for interacting with children. They learnt how to make use of songs to arouse the children’s interest before the story-telling, and the importance of staying focused on the storyline to ensure smooth delivery. To enrich the children’s imagination and cognitive thinking, the storytellers were also encouraged to link similar objects, such as “birds fly in the sky like aeroplanes”.
Rachel, who majors in secondary education, said this was the first time she had learnt to teach children at this age using picture books. She had to pay special attention to the ethnic minority children and provided translation at times, as their Chinese listening skills were rather weak. Religion was also a topic they had to be careful with. “For example, we did not choose any picture books that were related to “pigs” to avoid being disrespectful to Muslims,” explained Rachel. She said this experience and the skills she developed have helped her become more sensitive to the cultural diversity of different countries, which she believed will benefit her teaching in the future.
Rachel said she had not expected the reading project to be this effective in building bonds and relationship with the children, since they only interacted online. “At first, the children were lukewarm about interacting with us, but eventually they became more involved and active in the paired-reading programme. They not only gave us “hearts”, but also drew pictures and showed them to us on the screen as gifts. That was really a pleasant surprise for me,” Rachel recalled.
Ms Angie Yeon Yuk-mei, Director of Student Affairs, said many student volunteer activities could not proceed as planned because of the pandemic. Considering many children’s need for social interaction during class suspension, especially those coming from underprivileged families, SAO decided to move the reading project online.
“Paired-reading is a meaningful activity, which allows EdUHK students to contribute to society. Through this programme, they can also develop empathy and learn about the needs of different people in the community,” said Ms Yeon. Given the positive feedback received, she said the second phase of the project will be implemented this semester to benefit more children in need.
Paired-reading Activity Spreads Love
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