A small systematic revolution
Action is what brings ideals into reality. The Association of Parent Participating Education in Taiwan (APPET) is a group that forcefully promotes the implementation of children’s rights and pushes for the elimination of hitting, scolding, threatening, terrorizing, and other harmful behaviors in the parent‡child relationship.
The group has also continually promoted a child-friendly environment. For instance, it has pushed the Taiwan Railway Administration to establish cars reserved for families. Ang Le Siok, an APPET board member, explains that they don’t want people to think that this step was taken because the public thinks that children are too loud. Rather, they hope that everyone understands that long-distance travel isn’t easy for children: Spatially constricted, they become bored, since sitting for hours goes against their basic nature of wanting to move and play. One can’t simply take the standpoint of adults and demand that children maintain perfect order and stay quiet to conform to unrealistic standards that society has about children.
An elementary teacher with more than 20 years of experience, Ang knows that the high value placed on educational advancement in Taiwanese society is something that is highly resistant to change. Apart from needing to do their homework for school, elementary-school students also must go to after-school classes. They all too easily fall into an abyss of rigid memorization and rote copying. Ang, meanwhile, encourages reading, journal writing and other unconventional assignments. Although such assignments increase understanding and critical thinking, they often meet with little support because they don’t necessarily bring higher marks. When children, after drilling with repetitive exercises, can answer exam questions without really needing to think about them, most adults consider that a point of pride. Ang, to the contrary, regards it as alarming. Children may look well organized, but they lack creativity and imagination. “Everyone becomes an object of mass production,” Ang says.
In her classroom, Ang does her best to let children gain multiple perspectives. For instance, when the textbook mentions Formosa Plastics founder Wang Yung-ching, lauding him as an entrepreneur who created employment opportunities, Ang will also bring up the explosion at the Sixth Naphtha Cracker plant, his numerous marriages, and other aspects of his life for discussion. Or when the class discusses topics such as women scientists or gay athletes, she introduces content about gender and sexual orientation equality. Ang hopes that children will come to see that the world is colorful and diverse, and that success doesn’t simply mean making a lot of money. Ecofriendly small farmers, for example, can also achieve success on their own terms.
With respect to the educational realm’s cautious attitude toward teaching materials, Ang believes that education must be at the cutting edge of an era. Whether one is talking about relationships education or gender equality education, these should broaden children’s horizons so that they can see the world in all its diversity and gain empathy for groups unlike their own.
The lack of rigid dogma, along with the wide variety of colorful illustrations and videos and fun interactive exhibits, make the exhibition “I’m a Child! I Have Rights!” worth a trip. (photo by Jimmy Lin)