I come to teach at the Chinese University with a hidden agenda. I hope to urge as many students as possible to resolve to be a good man/woman in the rest of their life. I am determined to exert my utmost to give students good education useful to their transition from adolescence to adulthood.

I see students as “intelligent machines” waiting to be switched on. I believe that they would be switched on if:

1. their curiosity is re-ignited,
2. they discover the beauty in the inter-connection among things they encounter,
3. they find out that they can acquire knowledge through their own effort,
4. they realize that what they learn in class is immediately relevant to what is happening around them everyday,
5. they realize that what they learn in class has a global dimension which is also relevant to their life.

I advocate that learning should be fun, should not be just about knowledge, but should also be about developing generic skills, attitudes and in particular righteous values.

I think that as teacher I should come close to the students, to let them know that I care about them, not just as students but also as human beings. I firmly believe in the human touch as the key to motivating the students. For example, I always say “good morning” to all students coming into the classroom even those who are late.

I consider it important that all university students should develop a world-view informed by basic science, geography and history, which carry both the senses of both time and space, in great depth and wide span. This world-view I endeavour to help students built it up themselves.

I feel that as a university teacher, I have the responsibility to help students realize that, armed with the knowledge and intelligence they acquire from university, they have the potential to do either great good or great harm to human society. I further consider that a university teacher has the responsibility of instilling in the young mind of students the determination to do good and not to do harm to people and the world.

1. let students bring up news reports of current interest, which I would then turn into a demonstration of the connection between course contents and current affairs, often involving unexpected intellectual acrobats surprising to students,
2. prompt students with questions which they could collectively answer, and reward them whenever they participate actively,
3. walk among students during the class,
4. let ample humour come into the talking I do in class,
5. as the opportunity arises, drift into side-tracks of immediate interest to students so as to hold their attention throughout the class.

1. how the human condition has evolved in relation to natural climate change and attendant ecological changes,
2. that the inclination to do good to the community is not an accident but a necessary condition for human survival so far,
3. how civilization especially urban life has led to deviations from the natural human condition and eventually to a changed physical world unfavourable to human existence.

I am honored to receive the Exemplary Teaching Award in General Education. There are many good teachers in this university, so it is a special honor to be singled out.

My teaching philosophy is captured by the owl, which is the symbol of the Office of University General Education. In the West, the owl is associated with Athena, the goddess of knowledge and wisdom. Owls look smart, with eyes on the front of their head like humans; many species appear to be wearing glasses. The owl embodies my goal as a teacher, which is to help students develop wisdom. A university education is not vocational training; we are preparing students not only for their first job, but for a life of learning in a rapidly changing world.

One of my primary objectives as an anthropologist is to help students see how culture shapes our view of the world. I want them to be able to see things from a different culture’s perspective, and to see beyond their naturally ethnocentric perspective. I do not seek to change students’ values, but to make them aware of their values. If they recognize the range of possible values that exist across cultures, they can understand other people and communicate better in this increasingly interconnected and diverse world.

My role as a teacher is to coach, encourage, and inspire students to learn. I am not primarily there to impart knowledge—that can be done more efficiently by a book or a video. The two hours of lecture are too short for direct knowledge transfer, and the lecture format can be very boring for students, so it is not effective in helping students see the world in new ways. I try to use valuable class time to explore ideas and deepen students’ understanding of the material, rather than just imparting information.