Friday, September 10, 2021

International School Award: Reaccreditation 國際學校獎升級認證

 








KMJH is the only secondary school that has ever won the highest-level award by British Council Taiwan, which I took great pride in taking on all the curriculum design and implementation regarding English, international collaborations, and numerous virtual exchange sessions 

 

What is ISA?

 

The International School Award, or ISA, is an accreditation process focusing on curriculum and action plans under a dedicated theme and international partnership. The idea is to raise global awareness, appreciate cultural differences, foster civic responsibility, and national identity. The four levels include Foundation, Intermediate, Accreditation, and Reaccreditation, with the higher level demanding more criteria and standards to meet.  

 

Take the Accreditation level for example. Your curriculum-based action plans must include the following:

  • one dedicated global theme as a framework
  • at least seven cross-curricular action plans, with each including more than two subject areas
  • at least three action plans involving international collaborations and foreign language use 
  • benefiting the majority of the students of all grades

 

Curriculum-based Action Plans

 

Since we won the ISA Accreditation back in 2016, I've been invited to do workshops on this topic, including its application, design, implementation, and evaluation. I cannot emphasize enough how crucial it is to make it curriculum-based:

  • learning objectives
  • teaching activities
  • assessment rubrics
  • cross-curricular collaborations
  • student end products

 

British Council Taiwan awards those that can help extend the curriculum experiences to other schools. Fun activities without the five crucial elements are not curriculum-based. That's why you don't want to use picture books, board games, or apps for the sake of their novelty. Instead, they have to contribute to the buildup of the student end products.  

 

Cross-curricular Learning Community

 

The Director of the Academic Office, who served as a project manager, put together a team with teachers of various subject areas. We met up regularly to develop the action plans and learning materials together. Director Lin then compiled those worksheets, slides, and survey questionnaires into a manual for all 7th and 8th graders. 

 

The sense of community helped a lot. Whenever we came back frustrated from the expert guidance meetings, we could always get back on our feet quickly and move on to fix the problems. 

 

International Collaborations     

 

Without international collaborations, the whole ISA project wouldn't be eligible for accreditation. A partner school outside of Taiwan is a must, and the following are some relevant elements:

  •  a liaison who does all the back-the-forth communication      
  • collaborative lesson planning for the predetermined topics
  • video conferencing sessions to involve as many students
  • comparison and contrast after virtual exchange

 

I cannot thank my Japanese and Korean counterparts, Toshi, Shusaku, Kiyeong, Sunkyong, Taka jian, Tommy, and Fumiya, enough for making all these happen. Jessica was always there when I needed her help. We all have one thing in common. Getting students to feel the need to speak in English and enjoying doing cultural exchanges are just too much fun for us. I'd take pride in conducting eight exchange sessions during the school closure caused by the sudden COVID outbreak in May. 

 

The Old and New Beauty of Taichung

 

Under the guidelines of Sustainable Development Goals, we developed curriculum and action plans centering on Goal 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities. To make it more specific, I'd call my course "The Old and New Beauty of Taichung. 

 

For example, Taichung Station comprises two separate stations, with the old one built back in 1917 and the new one beginning operation in 2016. It has a mix of unique esthetic beauty. People in Taichung can appreciate how a city can evolve and preserve the legacies at the same time. 

 

Taichung Second Market, ASEAN Square, and the National Library of Public Information carry this cultural significance. Wouldn't it be great for Taiwanese students to introduce the beauty of their hometown in simple English with their Japanese and Korean counterparts? With the course design and implementation, students in KMJH finished their scripts through guided writing, made PPT slides to go with their presentation, and promoted Taichung at numerous Zoom and Meet conferencing sessions. 

 

It's all worth it

 

I was laughing and smiling when editing the videos after those virtual exchanges. Students from Taiwan, Japan, and Korea exchanged their presentations on our shared topics and showed off their talents, such as beatboxing, dancing, and so on. On top of that, I'd read the students' reflection sheets and feedback again and again, for they left warmhearted comments. 

 

Winning the ISA Reaccreditation is, without a doubt, one of the biggest highlights in my career. It's been a blessing to keep working on things I love- creating an authentic environment for students to have fun USING English and making friends with the world.








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