Lecture at the Chinese School

A teacher at the local senior high school here in Shekou had asked me to come in one day and give a lesson to his economics class. I thought it would be interesting to teach these students, so I eagerly agreed. All sorts of thought ran through my head about what type of economics lesson I could prepare for these students. They mainly have lecture based classes, so I wanted them to experience a different way of teaching.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to offer this. The teacher invited a few classes to join his and they filled up a small auditorium of about 75 students just to hear me speak. My name was placed on the marquis outside the school and there were several people in and out with cameras and videos. Yes, I'm quite the celebrity.

He had asked me to talk about the Sino-US trade relations as well as the appreciation of the RMB and the US arms deals with Taiwan. I thought the last one was a loaded question, so I decided to tip toe around it. I decided instead to introduce the students to the history of the diplomatic and trade relations between the US and China. I prepared a quick pre-test for the students and a quick 20 slide Powerpoint.

Did they understand me? Apparently, most of them did, but my translator and another helpful student said the students aren't used to speaking in class, so they were just very quiet and didn't respond much to my questions. I did have a couple of questions thrown my way by some more eager students. My presentation ran about 40 minutes and they actually extended the classtime so students could ask questions.

I think overall, it went pretty well and the Chinese teacher was pleased. Apparently, it is a big deal for them to have a westerner come in and talk to their class, so I guess it gave him some teacher points for the year. Most importantly, it put me on his side for my research. He was now more inclined to help me with my research by finding additional teachers and getting some important signatures for me.

Interesting experience and there was some talk of me giving another lecture to another school. I'm not sure I have time for it, but I would be up for it.