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hearts &
Global Cultures, English Language
BY HEATHER WOJCIK ’99
52
REGIS TODAY
While studying English and elementary education
at Regis, my passion for global cultures began with
teaching English to a young Chinese woman. Within
a few months, I received a contract to peer tutor
international students at Regis. I’ll be forever grateful
to my dear alma mater for these opportunities to
ignite my lifelong vocation.
I then moved into a teaching career with English
Language Learners in Massachusetts public schools.
Although most of my students are born in the U.S.,
I also teach recent immigrants. With students who
speak a total of 18 different languages, it takes great
learners. (By the way, readers, I have only rusty
Spanish, limited Chinese phrases, and an ability
to mime very well!) When a student who struggles to
understand the classroom discussion shyly raises a
hand to participate, when a student with just a little
English attempts a conversation with a classmate,
when a student who writes only a handful of words
suddenly blossoms in a personal essay, I smile on the
inside and out.
My journey came
full circle with an
opportunity to share
American teaching
methods with
Chinese teachers
and teach English
to Chinese students
in China through
a program sponsored by SABEH (Sino-American
Bridge for Education and Health). For three summers,
I was fortunate enough to actually teach in
China: Fuzhou in 2010 and 2011, Hanyin and Xi’an
in 2012.
“With students who speak
a total of 18 different
languages, it takes
a great effort for them to
become confident learners.”
What struck me most was the way I always
felt like a part of the community. In the mornings,
I joined the women in Hanyin, climbing the stone
steps up the mountain to participate in the daily
dancing routine on top. In the evening, I traveled
to the square near the Han River. There the women
danced, the children played freely, and the men
chatted over games or cards. During my evening
stroll, I always met familiar faces—I felt like I
was on the set of Cheers, where everybody knows
your name!
I learned that both the American and Chinese
teachers encounter the same challenges of time
and class size. Class size (more than 50 students
in Chinese classes), class times too short for the
amount of material they need to cover, and the
necessity to teach to the test are common problems
in both countries. But the way both groups handle
teaching in general is very different. The Chinese
teachers teach in classrooms lined with rows of
desks and stand at the podium. Their teaching
style includes lecture, memorization, and testing.
In the evenings, they correct piles of student papers.
By contrast, American classrooms have desks
clustered in groups for small discussions sprinkled
throughout the lesson. American teachers rely on
creative planning and spend their evenings making
The feedback from the Chinese teachers
included such comments as this: “It’s you and
your attitude toward teaching and your love for
students that make your class unforgettable.”
So we see what the Chinese teachers learned.
As we exchanged teaching methods, we enriched
each other and changed forever.