Having received the College’s Teaching Innovation Award last year, Dr Peter JORDAN, Assistant Professor in the Department of English, also won the University’s Teaching Excellence Award. Jordan, the sole awardee this year, received the award from Professor Way KUO, CityU President, on 21 March 2019. Following the award presentation ceremony, Jordan delivered a lecture sharing his teaching methodologies.

Most successful teachers embrace a high level of interaction with students. Jordan is no exception. Having pursued an acting career for a number of years, he brought dramas to the classrooms when he joined CLASS in 2014, livening up the teaching and learning process. He encourages students to give feedback in his lectures and to make use of English to express themselves with activities like improvisation exercises, public speaking and acting—even if they may make mistakes.

“Don’t be afraid to fail. Don’t waste time comparing your standards to others. Just enjoy the process of communication and, above all, take every chance to practise,” Jordan said, referencing his personal motto.

Looking at the different projects Jordan has completed or is currently working on, one would surely agree that he loves to break new ground in creating opportunities in which students can proactively engage. These projects include scripting and directing a documentary production based on a historic court case for over 30 students to perform at a real theatre; coordinating with the School of Creative Media to shoot a film at the former Central Police Station complex; and many more besides.

Introduced in 1993 in recognition of excellent teachers and the promotion of best practices in teaching, the University’s Teaching Excellence Award is the very first award of similar nature offered by the different universities in Hong Kong. The nominees are required to go through a selection procedure that assesses their innovative teaching strategies; whether they create unique student impact; their engagement and academic leadership in teaching and learning; and their scholarship in teaching and learning. The final awardee(s) receive a cash prize for staff development and related purposes, and a grant for a teaching development project of their choice.