Music teacher from South Dakota touches heartstrings in China
By Kerry McBride |
March 5, 2013, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SOUTH Dakota is a long way from China but operatically trained singer Kim Gilbertson feels right at home, teaching music and English and planning to help disadvantaged children in rural schools.
Nine years ago, Gilbertson arrived to teach English for one year at the Suzhou Singapore International School. When her singing ability and music background became apparent, she transferred to the music department.
Her classroom is filled with musical instruments, posters of performers, and students working hard to perfect their guitar chords or master another clarinet piece.
It could be a classroom at any school, anywhere in the world, but Gilbertson says she wouldn't want to be anywhere but Suzhou.
"I was told that when you come to China you love it or hate it, and there's no middle ground. Everything is new and so very romantic but then you crash because you miss home and miss the food and miss the people," she tells Shanghai Daily. "But I never had the part where I didn't like China."
Gilbertson says her very small hometown has just 600 people.
"There are more people living in Suzhou than my entire state. I thinks that's the beauty and energy of it that helps keep me focused, happy and alive here in China," she says.
"When I go back to South Dakota, I go back to my country roots, quiet streets and open spaces but Suzhou is home and where I enjoy coming back after every holiday."
A trained opera singer, Gilbertson works with pupils from every age group, tutoring them in singing, flute, violin, guitar, clarinet and other instruments.
While most pupils are trying to improve their English, language is never an issue.
"Music is rhythm and pattern so it's the rhythm that sticks with them. They learn the singing really fast," Gilbertson says.
"In the United States, it was so performance-based. It was always about singing for the public. I was burned out from teaching in very small rural American schools where ensembles had to perform four nights a week. Students didn't seem to have enthusiasm for learning," says Gilbertson.
"I thought that I needed a revival of sorts because if my students were not enthused then maybe I wasn't helping them the best way I could. So I decided to take a year off and try something completely different then go back and bring new ideas to my old classroom.
"Here I get to teach composition, which is something I've never had the chance to explore before."
It took around three years to really accept the Primary Years Program (PYP) teaching methods, she says.
PYP stresses inquiry-based lessons and lets students take a very active role in their own learning."It is not memorizing notation symbols, theory and composers but rather using their skills and talents to explore," she says.
"It's so good to be able to see children make sense of music and then play it," she says, adding that the music rooms in Suzhou are very different from those in South Dakota.
"Here the kids actually want to work. They are serious and dedicated and want to improve their skills. It's very much about making sure the teacher and parents are happy. Most importantly, it's about them wanting to learn more and achieve more. These children still place so much value on praise from the teacher."
Outside of the classroom, Gilbertson was recently inspired by a young Chinese woman who said she wanted to learn English so she could teach English and other subjects to disadvantaged children in poor remote schools.
Gilbertson was inspired.
Now she and fellow expat teachers along with local Chinese businessmen are working to launch an initiative that would take English into some of the poorest provinces.
"I want to help teach English to he poorest people in this country. We want to find teachers to go out and live in harsh conditions and take their skills with them," she says.
After training, the teachers would be sent to a rural school for one year.
When Gilbertson arrived and taught English in her first year, she met some students from western China who were enrolled in boarding school.
"I remember how they would never go home during the holidays and I learned of the poor conditions they came from," she says, adding that they came from places with little transport, little food and water and limited electricity. Their parents invested a lot to send the children to school for opportunities they never had.
"This was their life before coming to Suzhou and this made my heart sad," she says.
Gilbertson says she is now trying to set up a foundation and get both expat and local Chinese English teachers linked up with provincial schools.
"These remote schools have barely the basics and we have set out to change that, one school at a time," she says. "We want the rural children of China to have more opportunities in education and discover the joy that comes from learning."
Age: 47
Nationality: American
Profession:
Music teacher
? Strangest sight:
A guy carrying two refrigerators on a pedal bike on a busy street.
? How to improve Suzhou:
The infrastructure seems unable to handle all the cars that are out there now. Also, it's important to have green spaces like parks.
? Advice for newcomers:
Embrace the whole culture. You are here and it is not your home so enjoy it. Don't try to make China or Suzhou a replica of where you came from. It doesn't work.
? Motto of life:
Life is a gift you have been given. Share yours with others.
Q: Favorite dish?
A: A lot of food is so different from what I had in the farm country of South Dakota. It's hard to pick one, but I really like dumplings and hotpot.
Nine years ago, Gilbertson arrived to teach English for one year at the Suzhou Singapore International School. When her singing ability and music background became apparent, she transferred to the music department.
Her classroom is filled with musical instruments, posters of performers, and students working hard to perfect their guitar chords or master another clarinet piece.
It could be a classroom at any school, anywhere in the world, but Gilbertson says she wouldn't want to be anywhere but Suzhou.
"I was told that when you come to China you love it or hate it, and there's no middle ground. Everything is new and so very romantic but then you crash because you miss home and miss the food and miss the people," she tells Shanghai Daily. "But I never had the part where I didn't like China."
Gilbertson says her very small hometown has just 600 people.
"There are more people living in Suzhou than my entire state. I thinks that's the beauty and energy of it that helps keep me focused, happy and alive here in China," she says.
"When I go back to South Dakota, I go back to my country roots, quiet streets and open spaces but Suzhou is home and where I enjoy coming back after every holiday."
A trained opera singer, Gilbertson works with pupils from every age group, tutoring them in singing, flute, violin, guitar, clarinet and other instruments.
While most pupils are trying to improve their English, language is never an issue.
"Music is rhythm and pattern so it's the rhythm that sticks with them. They learn the singing really fast," Gilbertson says.
"In the United States, it was so performance-based. It was always about singing for the public. I was burned out from teaching in very small rural American schools where ensembles had to perform four nights a week. Students didn't seem to have enthusiasm for learning," says Gilbertson.
"I thought that I needed a revival of sorts because if my students were not enthused then maybe I wasn't helping them the best way I could. So I decided to take a year off and try something completely different then go back and bring new ideas to my old classroom.
"Here I get to teach composition, which is something I've never had the chance to explore before."
It took around three years to really accept the Primary Years Program (PYP) teaching methods, she says.
PYP stresses inquiry-based lessons and lets students take a very active role in their own learning."It is not memorizing notation symbols, theory and composers but rather using their skills and talents to explore," she says.
"It's so good to be able to see children make sense of music and then play it," she says, adding that the music rooms in Suzhou are very different from those in South Dakota.
"Here the kids actually want to work. They are serious and dedicated and want to improve their skills. It's very much about making sure the teacher and parents are happy. Most importantly, it's about them wanting to learn more and achieve more. These children still place so much value on praise from the teacher."
Outside of the classroom, Gilbertson was recently inspired by a young Chinese woman who said she wanted to learn English so she could teach English and other subjects to disadvantaged children in poor remote schools.
Gilbertson was inspired.
Now she and fellow expat teachers along with local Chinese businessmen are working to launch an initiative that would take English into some of the poorest provinces.
"I want to help teach English to he poorest people in this country. We want to find teachers to go out and live in harsh conditions and take their skills with them," she says.
After training, the teachers would be sent to a rural school for one year.
When Gilbertson arrived and taught English in her first year, she met some students from western China who were enrolled in boarding school.
"I remember how they would never go home during the holidays and I learned of the poor conditions they came from," she says, adding that they came from places with little transport, little food and water and limited electricity. Their parents invested a lot to send the children to school for opportunities they never had.
"This was their life before coming to Suzhou and this made my heart sad," she says.
Gilbertson says she is now trying to set up a foundation and get both expat and local Chinese English teachers linked up with provincial schools.
"These remote schools have barely the basics and we have set out to change that, one school at a time," she says. "We want the rural children of China to have more opportunities in education and discover the joy that comes from learning."
Age: 47
Nationality: American
Profession:
Music teacher
? Strangest sight:
A guy carrying two refrigerators on a pedal bike on a busy street.
? How to improve Suzhou:
The infrastructure seems unable to handle all the cars that are out there now. Also, it's important to have green spaces like parks.
? Advice for newcomers:
Embrace the whole culture. You are here and it is not your home so enjoy it. Don't try to make China or Suzhou a replica of where you came from. It doesn't work.
? Motto of life:
Life is a gift you have been given. Share yours with others.
Q: Favorite dish?
A: A lot of food is so different from what I had in the farm country of South Dakota. It's hard to pick one, but I really like dumplings and hotpot.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
