Looking East: China and the curriculum
Post categories: Diary
| 12:13 UK time, Friday, 28 November 2008
Yesterday I was at the first conference about at Jordanhill. Co-organised by the University of Strathclyde and the , it was a varied day of workshops, presentations, and even a musical welcome on the from of the . This approach reflects the vast opportunities for cross-curricular work that study of China opens up to teachers and learners.
Why China? Many believe the 2008 Olympics was the reason for this flurry of interest in Chinese culture - and there's no doubt that the spectacular show the Chinese people put on for the world inspired many people. There's more to it than that, however - China is not only one of the largest countries in the world, it's fast becoming a major economic power. To function in the 21st century, our young people must engage with China. The slide presentation '', which surely every teacher in the country must have seen at a CPD event by now, is brilliant at bringing this home to any class who asks this question.
Back to a rainy Jordanhill, though - we had a stand to publicise our China Stories content, and Gerald Strother, senior producer on the project, delivered a presentation to the 300-strong audience. No pressure then!
The China Stories website includes eight short films (about 10 minutes each in length), as well as a production diary, which describes how our production team went about making the films. Sounds simple? We hope it's accessible to as many people as possible - the programmes themselves feature strong stories; like the happy but lonely little boy who is a product of China's single-child policy and the farmer who now grows designer trees for hotel lobbies rather than food crops. They can be used across the curriculum and across a wide age-range - teachers were telling us yesterday that some of the videos that their S1 classes loved and used regularly were not the same ones that they could use with their S4 classes. The choice is put in the teacher's hands, and this can only help teachers deliver exciting and creative lessons. The production diary, a new approach for us to our content, allows media studies students a unique insight into the 'real' work of a production crew, but also complements the films for other subjects by showing the crew's often very Western perspective on Chinese culture. Creative teaching could use China as a hub for all kinds of interdisciplinary work - art, drama, dance, languages, politics, cooking, design - amongst others. I think that the China Stories films provide an excellent base for all different kinds of activities - truly taking on the challenge of cross-curricular breadth of learning.
Next week, we will launch My China, which will enable learners to build their own site about China using video content, images and text. A great way to showcase that project, which for early primary learners could be about pandas, and for secondary classes could be about media freedoms - all aspects of China can be incorporated. Look out too for 'Changing China' which will include interviews and commentary from people about what China means to them. A full Gaelic version, Sealladh air Sìona, is also available and some of the films will be broadcast as a special on ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Alba on Saturday 27th December.
Gerald's presentation in the afternoon was very well received - lots of visitors came straight to the stall after his talk. The delegates seemed to be genuinely excited and inspired by China Stories, and many teachers we spoke to promised to use it with their classes. I was amazed by the sheer amount of people who had assembled to discuss teaching China, and by the subject itself - if is going to develop and succeed, it will be on the back of initiatives like this.
