Think deeply, Go further-Strengthen cultural confidence & Create an enabling learning community
Xi’an Liangjiatan International School is located in Xi’an Hi-Tech Development Zone, and the campus is between the iconic Qinling Mountain range and the historic Feng River. From June 25th to 26th, the Chinese Conference of the Association of China and Mongolia International Schools was successfully held in our school. This is a knowledge feast where ideas and wisdom collide, and it is also a personal professional development training for educators to reflect on themselves and embrace change in the context of the new curriculum reform and the post-epidemic era: study extensively, inquire accurately, reflect carefully, discriminate clearly, practice earnestly.
When the committee members came up with the theme of the conference, everyone always focused on the core that educators are student-centered lifelong learners. Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Likewise, we believe that the unexamined and unreflective educational philosophy and teaching practices are not worth promoting and inheriting. Therefore, the conference uses “Reflect, Adapt & Act” as the theme this year.
In the past two days, in addition to the educators from nearly 20 schools with an international curriculum background in Singapore, China Macau, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, etc., who participated in this academic event, the teachers and students at our school also carried the unique positive spirit as an XLISer to engage in the conference.
The conference started with the vigorous performance “We Are All In This Together” brought by the Primary choir. It was choreographed by Mr. Pyoung Gang Kim, the Performing Arts Director of XLIS, Ms. Lena Chen, the Music Teacher, and Mr. Nono, the Hip-hop Teacher. The Primary School students once again shined on the international stage. Furthermore, 6 students from the High School took the initiative to serve as volunteer photographers & videographers and put their service spirit into practice. They not only helped the conference to record beautiful moments but also practices their social skills and collaboration skills.
As an enabling learning community, many Chinese teachers from our school were also invited to this conference as peer presenters to communicate with teachers from all over the world and discuss effective teaching practices. The topics they share are various, involving immersive Chinese teaching strategies, inquiry-based learning, assessment, deep thinking, and building a powerful learning environment. Below is the feedback from the teacher presenters.
“Reflect, Adapt & Act. In the post-epidemic era, Chinese teachers from all over the country can gather in XLIS to talk about the beauty of Chinese literacy, discuss teaching strategies, express professional feelings, and share educational wisdom, which is valuable. The success of this ACAMIS Chinese Conference has allowed me to see the responsibility of the big team, the growth of the small group, and the happiness and value of being a lifelong learner!”——From Primary Mandarin Teachers Ms. Nancy Jing & Ms. Carol Wu
“We discussed the possibilities of applying TOK-style thinking for MYP/DP Language and Literature teaching with the aim of exploring how to guide students’ in-depth thinking. TOK is the discipline that explores cognitive processes and allows learners to recognize and reflect on the sources of knowledge, the cognitive processes of knowledge, and the limitations of knowledge. With the guidance of TOK, teachers can help students update their knowledge framework through concept-based questioning and use appropriate questioning techniques to bring more depth to the classroom.” ——From Secondary Mandarin Teachers Ms. Sophia Suo & Ms. Momo Li
“Inquiry-based learning is the highlight of the IB education, through inquiry, the learners will be able to explore the world by constructing their prior knowledge and building multiple skills. The reason I chose the topic is that I found the inquiry-based approach is one of the most effective ways for students to demonstrate their agency. As teachers, we should step back a little bit, and let students take ownership of their learning.”——From PYP Chinese Assistant Coordinator Ms. Julia Fan
“When I knew that on June 25th and 26th our school will host the 2022 ACAMIS Chinese Conference， I was excited！Because it meant that I could have an opportunity to communicate with teachers from all over the country and even the world on my birthday. I chose to reread a classic book “How People Learn” to reflect on my whole-year teaching by reviewing the teaching practices from the perspectives of the fundamental educational principles.”——From Primary Chinese Teacher Ms. Maggie Qiu
“At this Chinese conference, we had the honor to have an in-depth discussion and share with the teachers the theme of “Assessment for Learning and as Learning”. We explored how to continuously gather, analyze, reflect, and act on evidence of student learning in Chinese class from four aspects: monitoring, documenting, measuring, and reporting. Thanks to the ACAMIS Chinese Conference for building a communication platform for Chinese teachers all over the country, and promoting the practice and innovation of Chinese teaching through in-depth teaching sharing and interactive exchanges.”——From Primary Mandarin Teachers Ms. Sally Su, Ms. Winnie Huang & Ms. Faustina Wen
This is the first time that XLIS acts as the host school of the Chinese Conference of the Association of China and Mongolia International Schools. It is a beginning, and we look forward to having more opportunities to organize other conferences in the future. We will spare no effort to empower our students and teachers, and to inherit Chinese culture to build stronger cultural confidence and tell true stories about China to the world.
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Author:
Emma Yang (MYP Chinese Assistant Coordinator, MYP/DP Language Acquisition Teacher)
