People On Campus for October, 1999
First Monday
People On Campus
September, 1999 People On Campus is published in FirstMonday by the Public Affairs and Publications offices at SFSU. 415/338-1665. pubcom@sfsu.edu


People On Campus

Joan Wong--For the love of teaching

After spending over a decade as an accountant, S.F. State English lecturer Joan Wong was sure of at least one thing when she made the decision to return to school—a lifetime of counting beans was out of the question. Wong, a San Francisco native who earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration here at SFSU, had reached a crossroads in her life and began rethinking her future. With the support of husband Michael, whom she credits with helping her clarify where her interests lay, Wong made the choice to attend SFSU where she pursued her interest in linguistics.

While taking courses in S.F. State English professor Helen Gillotte’s post-secondary reading certificate program, she landed a summer job teaching reading and writing to fifth graders and her passion for helping children learn began to emerge. "That’s when I discovered that I loved teaching kids," she said.

Wong’s dedication to teaching has grown stronger ever since. In addition to teaching at S.F. State, she directs a summer academic enrichment program for middle school children called "Aim High." The program, now in its 15th year, has several sites in San Francisco and is run by teachers from all levels of education who believe that by having every possible chance to improve their academic skills, kids can be inspired to learn. "Our goal is to instill a desire to learn in kids," Wong said.

Wong feels strongly about the importance of providing students with essential reading and writing skills. In her recently completed master’s thesis entitled "Critical Reasoning in the Developmental Classroom," she deals with the dilemma faced by many English instructors of teaching students who are unprepared for college–level writing. Rather than holding freshmen to a standard which they cannot possibly meet, she argues, teachers need to nurture students’ ability to reason critically. In fact, Wong believes that teachers have a personal responsibility to help correct students’ deficiencies. "We have to give these kids a chance," she explained, "and it’s our job to give them that chance."

At the root of the problem, Wong believes, is the inability of many elementary and high schools to adequately educate students—an unfortunate circumstance, she says, usually stemming from a lack of teachers and financial resources. "When you have teachers teaching five classes with 50 to 60 kids in each class, that’s over 200 essays that they are being asked to grade every time they give a writing assignment," she said. "With that kind of pressure on teachers, it’s virtually impossible to give students timely and constructive feedback."

In addition to researching the topic for her thesis, Wong has had plenty of personal experience teaching English to first–time freshmen. She has taught freshman level and developmental English classes at S.F. State for the past five years. This year she’s teaching a class that combines English 49, 50, and 115 as part of a pilot program designed to accelerate the process of getting students through the developmental stage and into required English composition courses that prepare students for the English proficiency exam.

There are a number of factors that make S.F. State’s developmental English program successful. Among them, Wong said, are smaller classes, well----conceived lesson plans, and a work–intensive environment. But, she believes, at the heart of the program is the department’s philosophy. "Our program works for many reasons but the main one is that our professors are advocates for the students. We don’t just say that teaching begins with respect, we do respect our students."

In the future Wong plans to earn a Ph.D. in education so that she can continue to devote herself to helping children learn. For Wong, any lingering doubts about the course of her future have long since disappeared. "I love teaching so much that it has become my life’s work," she says.

--John Essex

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