Bridging the Digital Divide
October 2000
Banner photo: ©SEKAI BUNKA PHOTO
Hong Kong Soka Kindergarten: Education for the Sake of the Child
Hong Kong Soka Kindergarten has now celebrated its eighth anniversary. More than 1,000 children have passed through its doors, and, as Wong So Yuk, the school's principal, reports, its system of value-creating humanistic education has won it praise as one of Hong Kong's foremost kindergartens.
When I was studying child psychology in America, I was told again and again: "In a person's life, the choice of a good university is less important than the choice of a good kindergarten."
During the years that I have been the principal of Hong Kong Soka Kindergarten, since it opened in September 1992, I have been continually struck by the importance of early education. When I see the innocent smiling faces of our kindergarteners, I pray that these children will retain wonderful memories of Soka Kindergarten throughout their lives. I am certain that all the members of our staff share this spirit of emphasizing "education for the sake of the child."
I am proud that, even though Soka Kindergarten was founded less than 10 years ago, it has already been designated a model kindergarten and has been visited by educational commissions from the Chinese mainland and the rest of Asia at the recommendation of the Hong Kong government. Our educational methods and policies have been the subject of TV and magazine features, and I am certain that the founding spirit of "education for the sake of the child" is responsible for all the favorable assessments we have received.
Our school's founder, SGI President Daisaku Ikeda, taught us this spirit by example. When Mr. Ikeda visited Hong Kong Soka Kindergarten for the first time in May 1993, he greeted each and every child with the utmost respect as if they were envoys from the future. I know that I was not alone in thinking that, even though this was just a brief encounter, it opened up doors in the children's hearts and encouraged them to spread their wings, inspired by the thought that the 21st century is in their hands.
On that occasion Mr. Ikeda presented me with calligraphy that read, "Make Hong Kong Soka Kindergarten your life." I took this to mean that I should dedicate my life to the children and that I should regard their education as a sacred mission whereby I could help foster individuals who will be the treasures of their age. This was one year after the school opened, and we were facing all the problems of running the school and going through a cycle of trial and error as the staff worked out their differences in opinion about the best educational methods. Given the difficulty of the situation, Mr. Ikeda's words served as a tremendous encouragement for me.
I think that the concept of "humanistic education" will ultimately be determined by the quality of the interaction of the children with the teaching staff. The personalities of the staff, their way of relating to the children, their way of handling problems: these are the factors that will have the greatest impact on the children. In that sense, I pride myself that the teachers' enthusiasm and love of the children has certainly compensated for any lack of experience. I have come to understand that it was the warmth of the teachers' care that enabled us to place the children at the center of their education from the start.
A year ago, the major newspaper Singtao Daily News carried a letter from the mother of one of our children. She said that seeing the positive changes that had come over her sickly and introspective child after enrolling at Soka Kindergarten had convinced her that she had made the best choice. I heard from a journalist who came to us to research the subject that this newspaper ordinarily does not carry such stories, but the editor had decided to follow up the letter because he felt that it would prompt discussion about the best approach to kindergarten education in the future. The resulting article made many favorable points about Soka Kindergarten. It emphasized that the school was giving children a solid grounding in being cheerful and courteous to one another. It noted that, whenever possible, the teachers would encourage the children rather than scold them and that teachers strongly encouraged the kindergarteners to face their problems head-on. It stated that our kindergarten offered an education firmly based in daily life and that our educational methods are designed to minimize pressure on children.
I was extremely pleased that the heartfelt words of one mother were taken in exactly the spirit in which she wrote them, and I am determined to take this experience as encouragement to strive to develop even more effective educational methods in the future.
At present, the areas on which we are placing greatest emphasis are the development of "aesthetic education," promoting the spirit of internationalism and the importance of contributing to society. In Hong Kong, these are currently recognized as key educational concepts, and our experiments at Soka Kindergarten are seen as taking the lead in this area.
"Aesthetic education" refers to music, art and games, and we are allocating a lot of time to these areas. Many of the children's works have been entered in international art competitions, and we have won championships or runner-up awards in regional art contests, the Hong Kong Art Competition and other contests. Our children have won top awards in writing competitions for five and three-year-olds and have an excellent record in dance contests and festivals of various kinds.
Regarding the spirit of internationalism, we have many visitors from overseas, and we are doing our best to cultivate the children's awareness that they are young world citizens. Most classes are conducted in Cantonese, but we also have specialists in Mandarin and English who encourage the natural acquisition of these languages. Some of our children have gone on to win prizes for speeches in Mandarin after they progressed to junior high school, and many have also reached high levels in English-language debating contests.
Finally, regarding the spirit of contributing to society, we are actively involved in environmental conservation movements and in respect-for-the-elderly campaigns. Last year we received 23 citations in these extracurricular areas--either on an individual or group basis--with a total of 100 children receiving awards. I don't view these as citations for the school itself but, rather, for the spirit of our school--that is, believing that anything is possible and persevering until the very end. Of course, our success would not have been possible without the cooperation of the parents, to whom I feel a great debt of gratitude.
More than 1,000 children have now passed through Soka Kindergarten, and the list of children seeking to enroll is growing longer each year. At present, there are nearly 10 times as many hopeful applicants as there are places. Given that most kindergartens receive approximately the same number of applications as they have places, this increase gives me great joy. Soka Kindergarten's popularity is in part the result of the united efforts of the commissioners, the teaching staff and the parents, but an even more significant factor is the excellent educational system promoted by our founder. Proof of its efficacy is steadily spreading throughout Hong Kong society.
The Soka education system is open to pupils from all religious backgrounds, and the curriculum does not include any religious content.
