Professor Yun-Chi Ho and Professor Chun-Kuan Shi Receive 2017 Outstanding Teaching Awards from the Youth Development Administration, Ministry of Education

Text: Service Learning Group and Chia-Yi Lee
Photo: Chia-Yi Lee
Translation: Steve J. Lin

This year, Professor Yun-Chi Ho of the Center for Teacher Education, and Professor Chun-Kuan Shi of the Department of Social Work applied to the Youth Development Administration, Ministry of Education for funding their service-learning projects. In addition of receiving grants, they were presented Outstanding Teaching Awards. There were only six faculty members who received this award out of more than 100 college faculty members around Taiwan. Professor Ho accompanied her students to tutor junior high school students in Hualien County regularly, and went along with them to serve the needy in local communities and overseas. Professor Chun-Kuan served with her students at the Palliative Care Unit of Hualien Tzu Chi General Hospital, and went with them to Malaysia, Thailand and Japan to serve the needy there. These two faculty members accompanied their students to learn off-campus, and serve the needy.

The Youth Development Administration, Ministry of Education provides grants every year, to promote service-learning projects at schools on all levels. TCU has received grants every year since 2015, and this is the third year. Professor Ho has been teaching service-learning courses and serving the needy for almost ten years. Her students in the Center for Teacher Education, have often tutored at schools located in remote areas of Hualien County, and she also organized TCU SCLOVE, inviting students to serve the needy and spread humanistic culture in China’s Sichuan Province and Gansu Province. Since joining TCU in 2000, Professor Ho has always cared about underprivileged students. She said that when she was little, her family’s financial situation was not good and fortunately, many people helped them. Her father always reminded her to help others as much as she can, and thus she always cares about those who are from underprivileged families or those who live in remote areas. Professor Ho has witnessed TCU student volunteers enhancing their potentials considerably, and enhancing their life’s horizons. Needy children received loving care, looking up to their big brothers and sisters, and were eager to get ahead.

Professor Chun-Kuan started teaching service-learning courses in 2008, attending students’ needs and offering various courses. Professor Chun-Kuan indicated that Master Cheng Yen teaches us to learn by doing, and thus “learning by doing” has become the essence of her service-learning courses. She often encourages students to apply what they learned in their daily lives. Most her social work students are either in their teens or early twenties, and they have never experienced illness, aging or death, but these subjects are what they need to learn as early as possible. Professor Chun-Kuan has invited her students to serve terminally ill patients living in Palliative Care Units, and the students faced others’ illnesses, aging and death issues right away. At the beginning, many students were shocked and didn’t know what to do, but Professor Chun-Kuan calmed them down and guided them step-by-step. Serving the needy elsewhere is also a learning opportunity, so during the summer break, she accompanied her students to serve the needy in Malaysia, Thailand and Japan.

These two professors have been devoted to teaching service-learning courses for years. Professor Ho said that she cares about students and tries her best to attend to their needs. Professor Chun-Kuan upholds the Master’s teaching of “enriching our lives and making us better persons every day” in her teaching. These two professors are really outstanding teachers.