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Preparing for a world not yet envisioned
By Mark Renie |
May 30, 2012, Wednesday
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OF the many ideas, theories and concepts I learned during my time studying for my master's degree in education, the one that struck me the most was a simple comment by my education technology professor. He stated, "We are preparing students for a world that does not exist, jobs that do not exist and technology that has not yet been invented."
This point was brought home to me recently when I watched a viral video, available on hosting sites such as YouTube and Youku for some time. The video "Did You Know?" presents a variety of interesting facts. One of the most telling is the fact that information and technology is changing at such a rapid rate than in many cases what a student learns in the first year of university is outdated by the third year.
What these two simple pieces of information have shown me as an educator is that the students who now sit in my classes are being prepared for a world and for jobs that I, as their educator, cannot envision. So you may ask yourself, as I have asked myself, how am I as an educator expected to provide them knowledge that in many cases has not been thought up yet? To answer this question, you have to provide me with a few minutes of your time to introduce you to my school, Shanghai United International School's Pudong campus.
At our school, we strive to be truly international, since not only are our students from diverse cultures and countries but they also are taught about the culture and language of their host country, China. These students are provided a unique opportunity not available to many of their peers in their home countries, namely exposure to a new language, culture and, in essence, a new world. To simply replicate the education in their home countries without taking advantage of this special opportunity would be to fail them as an educator.
At SUIS Pudong, we strive to ensure that our students are being provided with learning opportunities that capitalize on their access to a different culture, language and environment. One way we do this is through our Theme curriculum developed by the culturally diverse staff of our school as a collaborative project. It aims to allow students to truly learn about the world around them and to develop the skills they will need to become globally responsible and successful citizens in the future.
The curriculum explores five key themes throughout the year and expands in scope and depth to ensure that students receive the foundation they need to effectively explore the themes as they grow older and move through their primary education. Theme curriculum is topic-centered, international in scope, critical in analysis, trans-disciplinary in nature and cross-streamin application.
Its cross-stream application is an integral component, ensuring that our International Stream students are interacting in a variety of ways with our Local School students. These interactions can range from shared explorations and presentations to joint field trips. This ensures that students (both local and international) are developing key cross-cultural skills to help them achieve our school's goal of becoming responsible and successful global citizens.
Another important way in which SUIS Pudong prepares students for the undefined future is by utilizing a co-teaching method in each classroom where a Chinese teacher and a foreign teacher are each fully and equally responsible for the students' education and pastoral care. Students benefit by being exposed to a hybrid of two unique but effective approaches to education.
Students are also developing and strengthening their language skills, as they are constantly learning, hearing and speaking in two languages. This system and the learning opportunities it affords are another way in which SUIS Pudong is preparing students to be responsible and successful global citizens of an uncertain future.
So let's revisit the question I raised at the beginning of this article. Well, at SUIS Pudong we do that by providing students with learning opportunities to develop the skills they need to explore and discover new knowledge. This ensures that long after they have left school they are able to adapt to an ever-changing world by independently seeking and discovering knowledge.
(Mark Renie is co-head of International Stream of SUIS Pudong campus.)
This point was brought home to me recently when I watched a viral video, available on hosting sites such as YouTube and Youku for some time. The video "Did You Know?" presents a variety of interesting facts. One of the most telling is the fact that information and technology is changing at such a rapid rate than in many cases what a student learns in the first year of university is outdated by the third year.
What these two simple pieces of information have shown me as an educator is that the students who now sit in my classes are being prepared for a world and for jobs that I, as their educator, cannot envision. So you may ask yourself, as I have asked myself, how am I as an educator expected to provide them knowledge that in many cases has not been thought up yet? To answer this question, you have to provide me with a few minutes of your time to introduce you to my school, Shanghai United International School's Pudong campus.
At our school, we strive to be truly international, since not only are our students from diverse cultures and countries but they also are taught about the culture and language of their host country, China. These students are provided a unique opportunity not available to many of their peers in their home countries, namely exposure to a new language, culture and, in essence, a new world. To simply replicate the education in their home countries without taking advantage of this special opportunity would be to fail them as an educator.
At SUIS Pudong, we strive to ensure that our students are being provided with learning opportunities that capitalize on their access to a different culture, language and environment. One way we do this is through our Theme curriculum developed by the culturally diverse staff of our school as a collaborative project. It aims to allow students to truly learn about the world around them and to develop the skills they will need to become globally responsible and successful citizens in the future.
The curriculum explores five key themes throughout the year and expands in scope and depth to ensure that students receive the foundation they need to effectively explore the themes as they grow older and move through their primary education. Theme curriculum is topic-centered, international in scope, critical in analysis, trans-disciplinary in nature and cross-streamin application.
Its cross-stream application is an integral component, ensuring that our International Stream students are interacting in a variety of ways with our Local School students. These interactions can range from shared explorations and presentations to joint field trips. This ensures that students (both local and international) are developing key cross-cultural skills to help them achieve our school's goal of becoming responsible and successful global citizens.
Another important way in which SUIS Pudong prepares students for the undefined future is by utilizing a co-teaching method in each classroom where a Chinese teacher and a foreign teacher are each fully and equally responsible for the students' education and pastoral care. Students benefit by being exposed to a hybrid of two unique but effective approaches to education.
Students are also developing and strengthening their language skills, as they are constantly learning, hearing and speaking in two languages. This system and the learning opportunities it affords are another way in which SUIS Pudong is preparing students to be responsible and successful global citizens of an uncertain future.
So let's revisit the question I raised at the beginning of this article. Well, at SUIS Pudong we do that by providing students with learning opportunities to develop the skills they need to explore and discover new knowledge. This ensures that long after they have left school they are able to adapt to an ever-changing world by independently seeking and discovering knowledge.
(Mark Renie is co-head of International Stream of SUIS Pudong campus.)
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