Feature Articles

Edith Chan is working in Social Ventures Hong Kong (SVHK). You may call her a “Social Entrepreneur”. SVHK is an inter-purpose organization which focuses on inventing, incubating and investing in social start-ups that address urban social challenges in Hong Kong through sustainable and innovation business solutions. SVHK aims at inspiring the culture of social innovation in Hong Kong. Many well-known projects such as Green Monday, Diamond Club, RunOurCity are ventured by them. For Edith herself, she is responsible for the educational project in PlayTao, like Foreverland and Dreamland projects. Edith hopes to seek an equal learning opportunity and environment for the underprivileged. It is her dream to motivate people to use their heart to feel the world around them, to use their mind to think positively, to use their body to act and to use their creativity and passion to solve problems.

Edith holds a bachelor degree in biologyand a master degree in multimedia and entertainment technology, and another master degree in applied psychology. Starting as a science major, why would she turn to education? How did she get motivated, and what were the turning point(s) for her?

Exploring her potential

Edith is an outgoing person with many hobbies. She likes volunteer work. She remembered vividly that she taught the elderly how to use computer when she was in secondary school. “ Whenever the participants feel satisfied or learn new things, I will be joyful.” In her undergraduate years, she joined a variety of activities like the leadership club, orientation camp and biology club. Not only did she meet many friends of diverse background, she could also understand herself more – She enjoys communicating with others and working as a team. 

“ I love CU!” During the interview, she mentioned repeatedly how she liked CUHK and her sense of belonging to the school. “My experience in CU allowed me to understand myself more and to develop my ability and interest” said  Edith.”

When it comes to the most influential activity to Edith, it will be the “Chinese Student Internship Scheme” held by United College. She worked as an intern in the IT department in an insurance company in Guangzhou. A major task was to design an intranet for the company. Although Edith had experience in IT, intranet was a novel idea at that time. She put lots of effort in learning, developing and perfecting the design. The manager appreciated her attitude and her design. As a student intern, she was askedto teach their colleges how to use the new system and softwares. “I am more confident and find my interest from this experience. — I am happy and willing to share my knowledge to others.” Upon graduation, she worked in an online education platform, designing English and Mathematics learning software for schools. She hopes that students can learn and play through these software.

Edutainment: enjoy learning and broaden horizons

Edutainment is one of Edith’s major teaching principles. She has kept this in mind all the times when when she started her new career in PlayTao. Along with the belief of edutainment, she encourages students to balance study and leisure, and to change the society gradually from their baby steps. She remembered when two two second-grade students came to her and said the school toilets were very dirty. How would you respond to that? Instead of telling the girls to endure (and suffer), Edith encouraged them to find a way to improve. To Edith’s delight, the students had a thoughtful discussion themselves. Then they bought a bunch of janitorial supplies, cleaned all toilets in school and put up posters to remind fellow students to cherish public space. This is really what education is about. In addition to changing the society, Edith hopes to broaden students’ horizons by inviting world-renowned artists to share their experiences.  She also brings students to art exhibitions. “The world is large, sky is the limit. I hope students are not bound by their living space. They shall be hopeful of their bright futures.”

Although Edith stands firm in her faith, others may not agree with her ideas. Some teachers and parents had explicit doubts on edutainment, believing that students should only focus on studying. Some schools did refuse to add playing time in tutorial classes. Instead of giving up, Edith tried to find a way out. She explained her beliefs to teachers and parents. She hoped students can broaden their horizons, know more about current affairs, play leisurely with classmates to develop good communication skills. All these activities are vital to the all-round development of students, who would definitely find their talents and values in the process. Edith’s teaching goal led to solid results from her classes, which in turn gained her more support from schools. 

Life is never short of obstacles. In her enjoyable path of edutainment, some children simply do not appreciate Edith’s efforts. She had a student with special educational needs. He had trouble keeping his focus and and refused to work on his homeworks, let alone finishing them on time. Edith then applied her psychological theories learnt from textbooks to frame a suitable learning plan for the kid. First, she divided his homework into a few tasks. The boy would get a lego block as an incentive after finishing a task. The method worked beautifully and motivatedthe boy to finish all the homeworks, to the surprise of his teachers and parents. The lego blocks he got were enough to build a lovely lego airship for himself. Edith is always contented with successful outcomes. “Difficulties are challenges. Once you overcome these little barriers, you will grow into a robust tree.” To Edith, difficulties are healthy challenges that make her stronger and braver. 

Having faith in yourself

Apart from education, Edith has myriads of interests. She calls herself a “slash person”, which means volunteering gigs outside of their normal day jobs. She has been a docent, Zentangle tutor, and volunteered in many fields. These works have something in common: to get along and share knowledge with others. “I always have the sincere hope that people can discover their own talents,” said Edith.  Everyone is gifted. We may not have brilliant minds, or pliable limbs, but our talents are yet to discover. This is why Edith promotes edutainment so attentively. She wishes students can discover and fully utilize their talents. “Everyone should find an interest that he or she loves to the moon and back!” said Edith. When we believe in our own feelings, and go with it persistently, we can create a bright stage for ourselves in our life. 

寓教於樂—社企人的教育心語

Edith現職香港社會創投基金（SVhk）。香港社會創投基金創立於2007年，旨在為香港創造更有社會價值的新想像，通過培育創新項目、推廣創效文化、組織社會資本等策略, 為解決香港的城市問題帶來多樣新可能。Edith主力推動教育創新，負責遊樂道（PlayTao）旗下的教育項目，如無窮天地、夢想天地等，主要服務基層兒童。她希望基層孩子能在多元、公平的環境下成長，拓闊視野，找到自己的長處。

認識自我，激發潛能

Edith笑稱自己興趣多樣，包括當義工。中學時曾在社區中心教電腦，見到參加者滿載而歸，總是喜不自勝。「參加者有得著、滿足感，我的滿足感就更大。」考上大學後，Edith投身各種活動，繼續尋找自己的興趣，如中大聯合書院的領袖訓練學會、迎新營、千人宴、生物系系會等。Edith在籌辦活動的過程中，認識了不同科系的同學，「每個學院和學系的學生都有不同想法、價值觀，有趣之餘亦讓我有所領悟。」透過與不同的人交流、合作舉辦形形色色的活動，她也進一步了解自己。

「我真係好鍾意中大！」訪問期間，Edith強調她熱愛母校。「中大的經歷讓我更了解自己，弄清能力和興趣所在。」

當年對Edith影響最深的，莫過於中大於暑假舉辦的「中國就業發展獎勵計劃」。Edith在某家保險集團位於廣州的資訊科技部門實習。Edith副修資訊科技，部門主管放心地將工作交給她，其中一個重任，就是設計內聯網介面。雖然Edith有資訊科技的底子，但內聯網當時是新事物，她也算個「行外人」，唯有猛下苦功鑽研，認真對待難得的工作機會。皇天不負有心人，主管很欣賞她的設計，還請她教正職同事，使用相關系統和軟件。

「這件事令我更肯定自己的興趣和能力，我很享受與人分享知識，一同增值。」

Edith發現，他人感受到自己的熱誠和用心，自然會交託重任，所以她敢於嘗試與本科不同的工種。畢業後，她加入了網絡世界的教育界，任職網上教學平台，設計英文、數學科的教學軟件。她希望寓教於樂，將多媒體軟件變成有效的教學工具，讓學生邊玩邊學。

寓教於樂：享受學習，擴闊眼光

「寓教於樂」成為Edith的教學宗旨，及後轉職遊樂道，亦貫徹始終，努力推動教育創新。除了平衡遊玩與學習，她也鼓勵學生多思考，由自身出發，改變社會。有一次，幾位小二學生跟她和團隊老師說，學校的洗手間很骯髒。旁人聽到，可能會說：沒辦法啊，去用吧。但Edith和團隊鼓勵學生，讓她們嘗試改善。一番討論之後，學生們買了清潔用品，主動清洗全校的洗手間，並在門外貼上海報，呼籲同學愛惜公共空間。除了改善社會，Edith也希望孩子拓闊視野，不再局限於生活周邊的事情。她負責一個藝術教育項目，有頂尖藝術大師與學生進行藝術互動，亦會帶學生參觀大型藝術展覽。「希望孩子知道自己的世界更大，不限於小小的蝸居，對未來抱有希望。」

Edith 貫徹自己的教育理想，但其他人可能有不同的教育理念，例如有學校和家長以學業為重，「寓教於樂」的目標為次，不想在課後支援班混雜遊樂時間。Edith 沒有灰心，反而積極尋求解決方法。她多次向學校和家長解釋自己的理念，爭取試行的空間，希望學生在應付學業的同時，也可以輕鬆地增廣見聞、了解時事、並透過遊戲培養社交能力。她相信，學生可以發現自己的長處及價值，找到自己的舞台。隨著試行活動得到成果，學校亦逐漸給她發揮空間，實踐教學理念。

任何工作都有挑戰，教育也不例外，Edith也遇過一些孩子，樂於與家課搏鬥，卻不願做作業。她記得一位SEN學生，常常亂蹦亂跳，難以集中精神做家課。於是，Edith用心理學理論，因材施教，想出適合學生的獎勵方法。她把功課分為數小份，每當完成一份便送他一塊積木。最後，學生自發完成功課，所得的積木足以砌出一架飛船。提到成功的例子，Edith面上盡是滿足之情，「每個困難都是挑戰，成功克服便會成長。」她不會視困難為挫敗，反而是個挑戰，遇難越強，越戰越勇，成功跨過大大小小的難關。

忠於自己，順性而行

除了教育，Edith還有許多興趣，喜歡嘗試。她笑稱自己為斜槓族 (Slash)[1]，閒時擔任博物館導賞員、禪繞畫導師、不同機構的義工等。這些工作皆有一個共通點，便是與人相處和分享知識。「讓對方發掘自己的興趣、價值和長處」是她最希望做到的目標。

天生我材必有用，人人皆有獨特之處，縱使我們不如身邊朋友讀書厲害、運動超群，但只是我們未找到自己的價值。這是Edith信奉的原則，也是她推動創新教育、寓教於樂的初衷。她希望每個人都發掘到自己的長處，好好運用，加以發揮。「我很希望鼓勵身邊人成為一個『控』（喜愛某樣興趣）！」當我們順性而行，持之以恆的朝著目標前進，就能夠建立屬於自己的舞台。

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[1] 斜槓族，亦作Slash族、彈性就業人士，指年輕人不再滿足於專一職業的工作模式，而選擇有多重職業及身份的生活。當社會上一個人的事業可從其工作上的活動辨認其僱傭或專業，斜槓族取的是一種多重事業的路向 (取自維基百科) 。

Student Reporters: Lam Tat Hin (IBBA/2), Wong Hong Ting (IBBA/2), Chow Shuk Wa (HIST/3) and Lam Mei Suet (IBBA/2)