NET Scheme News 2023 Spring issue 43

A step to prepare students to be global citizens in future We all live in a multicultural world. When we encounter people from different places and cultural backgrounds, it is important to develop a level of intercultural competence that enables us to appropriately communicate with them. In this ‘Glocalisation: Developing Students’ Language and Intercultural Competence through a Multicultural Language Arts Programme in KS2’ “Seed” project (as MLA “Seed” project in short), we aim to develop students’ language and intercultural competence that will enhance their knowledge and skills to understand culture, develop respect, empathise with others and reflect on the intercultural experience. Most importantly, MLA “Seed” project prepares students to be ready to communicate and collaborate with people of different cultural backgrounds in the future.To help students understand the world, different forms of language arts inputs are carefully selected to provide students with the pertinent ‘windows’ (to learn about other cultures) and ‘mirrors’ (to reflect on one’s own culture). In addition to the cultural aspects, values education as well as the 21st century learning skills are also highlighted in the project. Different modules on various topics have been developed in collaboration with teachers.To celebrate the success as well as share the good stories from schools, we are honoured to have teachers from QES Old Students’ Association Branch Primary School and S.K.H. St Peter’s Primary School to share their first-hand implementation experience with teachers in ‘Week of Hope’-cum-“Seed” Projects Experience Sharing Session – A Design for Life: Values Education in English Language Education on 22 October 2022. Participants were excited to learn about how they could prepare and equip students for future challenges. Winnie Cheung, Curriculum Development Officer, NET Section Glocalisation: Developing Students’ Language and Intercultural Competence through a M ulticultural L anguage A rts Programme in KS2 Food for Thought ‘Culture’ was at the heart of the MLA “Seed” project implemented in our multicultural P4 classroom. The Food for Thought unit introduced students to different cultures and global diversity which increased their awareness of their own culture and also what it means to be a global citizen. Students were exposed to various multimodal texts and supporting activities related to the theme. Through the eyes of a girl fromMali,students put themselves in her shoes and empathised with her. Throughout the module, students learnt about various cultures from different persons and explored ways to build a better world. Suggestions made by students were thoughtful as well as practical. Students enjoyed the module as it provided the opportunity to share their own culture and their special dish with classmates. Wandy Cheung, English Panel Chair, Bui O Public School 14 NET Scheme News Issue 43 MLA “Seed” Project