In the context of globalisation, countries are becoming increasingly interconnected. As time marches on for 10, 20 or more years, the world might will no longer be an independent place in the true sense of the word, but according to the strategy of globalisation that will bring a number of new cross-border challenges. "How to help children acquire the ability to stand out in the future world?", which has naturally become an unavoidable question for today's educators.
When it comes to stand out in the future, we believe many parents will first think of Ardingly's "World Ready", which is dedicated to helping children excel in the future world. Indeed, just as famous as Ardingly College in the British education, the concept of "World Ready" was officially introduced into the PISA as early as 2018, and has become a buzzword that has attracted a lot of attention around the world.
The World Ready Programme is one of the most important aspects of the education that Ardingly is committed to. Looking back at history, under the guidance of the World Ready Programme, countless ACUK students have successfully entered the world's top universities, and now they might have become elites in all areas, contributing to the development of the world in the future.
However, no matter how good an education is, for down-to-earth Chinese parents, the most important concern is undoubtedly the actual implementation of the programme at ACZS, and what exactly can our children gain through the World Ready Programme?
Almost two months into the programme, we are honoured to have invited several teacher representatives from kindergarten and primary school, who are responsible for the World Ready Programme, to join us in this episode. Facing such a programme with endless possibilities, what unique insights will they bring to us?
Vice Academic Dean of Teaching & World Ready Teacher of PS
Holds a Bachelor's Degre in History and the TESOL certificate
Cambridge University Certified English Speaking Interviewer
More than 20 years experience in international education, particularly familiar with the IB system (including IB Principles, MYP English, DP English, TOK, DP Geography, etc.), and has been responsible for teaching geography, history and English in the IB system for a long time
Excellent teaching management skills, has been involved in the design of school geography curriculum and syllabus, and is responsible for the development and tracking of the overall knowledge structure of new teachers
Head of International Teachers & International Homeroom Teacher of KG
Bachelor's degree in Psychology
Hold TEFL and PGCE teaching qualifications
Nearly 3 years teaching experience in high end bilingual kindergartens in China
Extensive practical experience in teaching 2-6 years old, expertise in teaching the whole child at a younger age
International Class Academic Assistant & Chinese Homeroom Teacher of KG
Hold a Bachelor's Degree in Business English
Holds the CET6 certificate and the English Teacher's Qualification
More than 12 years of experience in early childhood education as a team leader, language teacher and homeroom teacher
Unique insights into the EYFS system, focusing on project-based teaching and child-centred teaching
What is your understanding of World Ready?
World Ready goes with the idea that we need to get kids ready for the world, ready for the skills they will need later in life, whether in school or the world of work. Most education looks at what one student can do, the ability to answer very specific questions. We look at bigger questions, more challenging questions where there's not one answer. Students will have to be creative and thoughtful about how they will answer this.
They normally will work together, so they get used to working as part of a team, communicating with each other, sharing ideas, criticizing each other's ideas and supporting one another. So later in life, when they're working in companies or starting their own business, they are creative, thoughtful collaborators, capable of taking on anything.
We have created the World Ready Programme this year to be taught in conjunction with our units of inquiry. In the World Ready programme, we teach the children the language, maths and values they will need to engage purposefully and meaningfully with their units of inquiry.
What do you think are the objectives of World Ready Programme?
The goal for world ready is that students will normally be producing something. A presentation, a poster, a model of something they have done together. We don't just look at what they produce, we're measuring what they're doing along the way. Seeing are they collaborating? Are they able to divide a task into smaller parts? But in the end, they will produce something showing their understanding of our world and their role in it. Looking at how they can try to make a better city, a better country and a better planet.
Our goal for the World Ready Programme is to teach the children transferable skills that they will need to go out into the world being knowledgeable citizens. We use IB enquiry as the core to develop language skills, reading comprehension, word creation, logical thinking and values in young children, and teach them the skills that they will need to converse and interact with people not only in China, but from across the world.
Development Goals of
KG World Ready Programme
Language Skills: Build up bilingual vocabulary, master natural spelling, and become proficient in common communication. Through a variety of social activities, we encourage children to share their thoughts and develop excellent social skills and self-confidence.
Reading Skills: Through the creation of an immersive and thematic reading environment, we aim to stimulate a love of reading and cultivate good reading habits in our children. Age-appropriate and classified books, as well as the caring reading education that by our teachers, will enhance children's reading comprehension skills.
Creative Writing Skills: Cultivate children's visual recognition skills and exercise their ability to express themselves in multiple forms, such as pictures, symbols and words.
Logical Thinking Skills: Provide children with unique mathematical and logical experiences, and cultivate the comprehensive skills of observation, analysis, reasoning and summarisation.
Values: Combining Ardingly's values and IB Learner Profile, the programme will accelerate the development of the child's mind, character and inner qualities.
How does the World Ready Programme work at ACZS?
Our programme has been developing since we opened in September with students spending time in classes working together. They need to get use to how to share their ideas. Now that G5 and G6 pupils are tasked with exploring different cities, teachers are guided through problem-based questions, such as asking them to imagine what life is like in this city? Why do people visit this city? And what else makes it unique? They are guided to develop their own insights into the development of society.
In the next session, the teachers will guide the pupils to further explore the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For instance, in my classroom, I frequently motivate them to participate in brainstorming, group assignments, poster creation, presentations, and other activities so that they can get in touch with the challenges the world faces, such as pollution, new energy sources, AI, life in space, and so on. This collaborative and diversified exploration can foster a sense of global citizenship, and they can develop their public speaking skills and self-confidence through presentations and demonstrations, and begin to make a positive impact on the people around them.
In the future, I'd like to see us continue what we're doing with students, getting more comfortable with the process, and as being able to take on bigger projects. I'd also like to see it spread from the World Ready classroom into other subjects, as other teachers see what we're doing and understand how this works and know the students can do it. Other classes can become more collaborative, more project based, and this will not be the only thing that's happening in the school, but i would love to see it spread throughout other subjects and all grades.
In this term's KG World Ready Programme, we are building on the children's first IB unit of enquiry - Healthy Lifestyles. Centred around the idea, which is "people's lifestyle choices affect their physical and mental health", we are using a project-based approach to help children build their curiosity, expand their knowledge, and even push them to become self-driven in their learning.
" I like ice-cream the best! This one looks like chocolate!"
"How do we categorise healthy food and junk food?"
"Is there really vitamin C in fruits and vegetables? Can we see it with our eyes?"
Children's innate curiosity and a perspective of enquiry that is very different from adults is the greatest gift when they facing learning. All we as teachers need to do is provide them with as many perspectives as possible in the World Ready Programme around food, water, movement, emotions and the environment.
For example, Fruit Elimination, a popular online game, is brought into the real classroom, allowing children to deepen their impression of fruit and vegetable words, enhance their visual recognition skills, and acquire initial logical thinking through "game-based learning". Under the guidance of the World Ready concept, the children will gradually develop divergent thinking, so as to explore the close connection between fruits and vegetables and the world around them, and even the impact of fruits and vegetables on the pattern of human life.
The KG World Ready Programme brings learning into the real world where there is more reality and more possibilities. This initiative allows children to practice in the context of more realistic social events and to develop their multidimensional competencies. As we all know, the Wrold Ready Programme does not end with the graduation of K3, ultimately, the children will be able to improve their soft skills and self-esteem through thinking and reflection, and make a smooth transition to their next step of growth.
What growth have students gained through 2 months of the World Ready Programme?
It's been exciting this year watching students come in a little confused about what we wanted, and starting to say oh okay there's not one correct answer, there's all these possible things we can do. Seeing students get very comfortable working together, seeing them get more respectful, more polite and more about giving criticism and more open to receiving it. And especially seeing them getting more comfortable communicating in English, finding that it's okay to make mistakes, it's fine we're open to them learning as they go.
I am currently in charge of K3. Since the launch of the World Ready Programme, the most obvious thing I have noticed is the children's keen interest in reading in English. Based on the different themes in the class and the children's natural spelling skills, they have begun to actively seek out related books in pursuit of the knowledge they want to acquire. Of course, the World Ready Programme's unique approach is also reflected in the children's overall development, as their finger muscles have developed to the point where they are able to handle a number of challenging pre-writing activities.
We believe that the impact of the World Ready Programme will not be felt overnight, and with the continued support of ACZS 15 years of education, every child who graduates from ACZS will be World Ready and will have the confidence and energy to succeed in the future.
At the end of this article, we would like to invite you to continue to follow our WeChat Offical Account. In the future, we will bring you more information about the World Ready Programme in the Middle and International Schools, please stay tuned!
