I haven’t written a blog for a long time. Today’s post is primarily to summarize and record my first meeting with my supervisor. In previous posts, I’ve mentioned that I hope to preserve some of the diminishing minority languages by increasing ethnic language courses in basic education in ethnic regions. In the meeting with Professor Andrea English, we primarily discussed several aspects as flowing.
1. Why is it necessary to add minority language courses
I hadn’t thought about this in specific and detail. In my understanding, the necessity of increasing linguistic diversity and preserving traditional ethnic culture doesn’t require much deliberation. However, the problem lies in my assumption of understanding and trying to enforce a curriculum reform policy through government agencies/education departments. Is it necessary to make major changes in the formal education system for a problem (protecting language) that needs to be solved? This is a question I need to consider, as it involves how to convince the government or educational institutions to implement this. This raises questions not only about feasibility but also about the necessity of the project from different perspectives.
2.How to plan and design a language course? Do I have the theoretical or practical foundation?
This challenge is actually very clear to me, as my past experience and knowledge are not sufficient to smoothly complete the design of a course. I certainly can’t design it however I wish, so this poses a high demand on my own level. Especially in the context of education in China, where the autonomy of regions and schools is relatively limited, I must make a consistent course design with the support of central government guidelines and policies while also conforming to local ethnic cultural characteristics. This indeed increases the difficulty of this project for me.
3.Reflection in Dilemma (Aporias)
This is a reflection unrelated to the project after the meeting. It’s a challenge to my personal way of thinking. I am a person who highly values logic, and I always hope for specific steps and directions in thinking about the entire project. When the development of something goes beyond what I can control, I feel uncomfortable. The discussion with my supervisor was mostly in the form of questions, and I found many questions I could not answer well, and even I did not know the answers at that moment. I don’t know if this feeling is good or bad, but what I can be sure of is that meeting with Professor Andrea English was a transcendent challenge to my usual way of thinking. I recall the concept of Aporias mentioned last year in the Relationality course. Perhaps moving forward through confusion and perplexity is the most important lesson I could learn in my postgraduate project.
