Introduction to Sias IS Chinese Curriculum

 

 

Have you ever asked these questions or had similar concerns? The questions we have compiled below are of great concern to parents all the time. In our communication, we found that although parents send their children to international schools, they still have expectations for Chinese classes. The Chinese culture is extensive and profound. It is the essence of the culture that has been passed down to this day after five thousand years of precipitation. Therefore, for students, Chinese class is not only a language class, but also a learning, perception and inheritance of traditional culture. In other words, to choose an international school ≠ to give up Chinese learning.  

Today we will uncover the veil of Chinese classes, and bring you a general understanding of the curriculum content of the Chinese classes offered at Sias IS. This article will show you the school's Chinese curriculum from four aspects: Curriculum Setting background, Curriculum Objectives, Course Classification and Course Features.  

1、Curriculum Setting background

"East Meets West" and "Global Citizens" are all familiar words. The philosophy of the school is to develop students who are inclusive and able to see and solve problems as global citizens. "East" and "West" are two words with opposite meanings, but when they’re put together, they reflect the school's concept of "seeking common ground while reserving differences" and help students learn from each other's strengths. It is a process of learning cultural knowledge -- understanding customs and habits -- respecting regional differences -- applying knowledge and experience -- finding and solving problems -- improving life quality -- establishing a harmonious society. 

2、Curriculum Objectives
(refer to Chinese National Curriculum) 

As an indispensable part of international school curriculum, Chinese class is not only to improve students' education level, but also to cultivate students' fine moral quality and establish correct fundamental values. 

• Cultivate students' positive attitude towards life, improve their education level and aesthetic taste; 
• Cultivate students' good learning habits and master scientific learning methods; 
• Understand and absorb the essence of national culture and respect cultural diversity; 
• Develop thinking ability and stimulate imagination and creativity while developing language; 
• Take the initiative to conduct inquiry-based learning, and be able to use knowledge effectively; 
• Learn Pinyin and acquire new knowledge with the help of dictionaries and Pinyin; 
• Able to write Chinese characters neatly and fluently; 
• Able to read independently. Develop interest in reading, and be able to reasonably analyze and empathize with the reading content; 
• Be able to convey one's own meaning smoothly and use appropriate rhetorical devices to enrich the content of writing; 
• Be able to communicate effectively, express oneself in a civilized, fluent, and clear way; Able to listen and cooperate. 

These curriculum objectives demonstrate that whether it is in listening, speaking, reading or writing, our goal is to enable students to become effective members of society while learning from books, and to truly apply what they have learned to real life. 

3、Course Classification

Due to the diversity of the student groups, the school offers different courses for students with different Chinese learning backgrounds. Courses are divided into three categories: 

Language A: native Chinese speakers who live in a predominantly Chinese language environment and have previous experience in Chinese language education. These students have a relatively equal proficiency level in listening, speaking, reading and writing.  

Language B: students from intercultural families or have previously studied Chinese at a basic level. Such students' listening and speaking levels are higher than their reading and writing levels. Their daily living environment have simple Chinese input. 

Language C: Students whose native Language is not Chinese, have little to no knowledge of Chinese language and have no experience in Chinese language learning. Such students need to learn Chinese from scratch. 

Students of the three groups have their own language foundation, so they’re separated to ensure that the knowledge input of students is in line with their language level and learning needs. Different types of students use different textbooks while sharing the same teaching objectives. Due to the different number of students in each group, we also make corresponding adjustments to the course settings, while making sure that students get into effective classes to gain knowledge. 

4、Course Features

1. Integration with IB courses 

The IB curriculum is one of the most recognized curriculum systems in the world, and its most distinctive feature is the concept of "Interdisciplinary learning". "Interdisciplinary" means the integration of all disciplines. Different subjects are no longer independent, but interrelated and interdependent. We integrate Chinese classes into different courses of PYP, Primary Years Program. On one hand, students can learn the similarities and differences of various cultures while learning the same topic. On the other hand, it can better summarize the knowledge learned, and the organic combination of knowledge help students understand and master it. 

2. Real-life activities 

An educator once said, the textbook is not the world of children, but the world is the textbook of children. In Chinese class, in addition to knowledge that needs to be mastered by practice, we set up many practical activities for students to have hands-on and explore learning experience. These direct perception and experience deepen their understanding of the content. For example, in the crisp autumn air, we hope that children really feel the beautiful scenery outdoor. Enjoy the comfortable weather and the beauty of falling leaves, which naturally bring out their feelings and understanding, rather than learn and understand “beauty” simply from words and texts. As a Chinese saying goes, knowledge gained from the book is always plain, if wants to grasp thoroughly one must personally go to practice. We’d like to read ten thousand books, as well as travel ten thousand miles.  

3. Integration of culture and history 

Learning a language is also learning culture and history. Behind the characters is a huge system of spiritual civilization. Histories make men wise; the past tells the future. Therefore, we hope to not only present prose, poetry and other text content, but also use different literary forms as carriers to convey multi-perspective and multi-element content such as culture, background, customs, history and geography. Width and depth of knowledge are equally important. At the same time, it makes the class more interesting, and students will be more engaged in their study. 

After this general introduction, we hope you have a better understanding of the Chinese classes. We will bring more information on these topics in future articles. Thank you for reading. 

 

Sias IS Chinese Department