THE Hamilton and Alexandra College (THAAC) has recently appointed Eric Gong as its new Chinese teacher for the 2023 school year, Mr Gong brings a wealth of knowledge and experience with him after teaching Chinese in Bendigo for the last few years.

Mr Gong said he knew of the school as he knew THAAC’s previous Chinese teacher, Mr Bo Zhang, as they both worked together for the Chinese Language Teachers’ Association Victoria and had visited Hamilton and the Grampians in the past.

“I am very excited to take the Chinese teacher job at The Hamilton and Alexandra College as I would love to teach our students what I have to offer in terms of the Chinese language and Chinese culture,” Mr Gong told The Spectator.

“I am ready to start unwrapping each students’ personality and figuring out how to best help them learn and grow.”

Mr Gong has a Master of Teaching (Secondary) from Monash University and is also a VCE Chinese First Language Oral Assessor.

He has worked at several independent schools in Melbourne and most recently at the Bendigo Senior Secondary College.

He started teaching back in 2010 while living in China before making the decision to move to Australia and further his studies after five years teaching.

After completing his studies at Monash University, Mr Gong started teaching Mandarin Chinese at Camberwell Grammar School, he made the move to Bendigo in 2018 and has enjoyed the more regional life for the past four years.

He has also had an active involvement in the Chinese curriculum planning team as a team leader for a variety of schools in the Bendigo region.

The highly esteemed educator said it had been a seamless transition from his previous role and couldn’t wait to bring his experience to the kids in the area.

“I have received a lot of help and support before I relocate to Hamilton, I am planning to move to Hamilton early next week,” Mr Gong said.

“I place realistic demands on my students in terms of language learning and culture awareness, hold them accountable and enable them to be confident and creative young people.

“With the resumption of international travels, hopefully our students will be able to resume their study tours to China to apply their language skills in the real-life context and explore the local culture and food in the near future.

From a local perspective, Mr Gong said he was excited to make the move to Hamilton and was hoping to learn more about the town and its history.

“I learned that the Hamilton region is famous for sheep grazing and agriculture, and I would love to learn more and explore the local history, traditions and culture,” he said.

In a statement released by THAAC, deputy principal teaching and planning, Susan Bradbeer said the school was pleased to announce Mr Gong’s appointment to the role.

“We are very excited to announce that in the eleventh hour of the school year, we have secured a native speaking Mandarin Chinese teacher,” Ms Bradbeer said.

“Mr Gong will be a wonderful addition to our LOTE Faculty, and we are very pleased to have this level of specialist teacher joining the College learning community.”