Teacher StoriesBroaden Your Mind, the Curriculum and Develop and Ever-Widening Circle of FriendsTake a TICFA Tour!This article was written by Sara Martin, Royal Children's Hospital School, Victoria, who was a participant in a TICFA study tour to China in April 7996. Here she describes the work that she has done as a result of her participation in the TICFA Program. School is in at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne and what a start to the year it has been! Complete your passport, brainstorm what you already know about China, locate it on the map, then fasten seatbelts on wheelchairs, batten down drip-poles - the students of the Royal Children's Hospital School are off on a 10-week discovery tour of ancient and contemporary China, with their hosts, Sara Martin and Rosemary Doward. A 10-week teaching program focusing on China has been developed to enable children P-6 to experience a hands-on approach to Asia related learning experiences in all curriculum areas as part of the Integrated Studies program. The program promotes the challenging of stereotypes, understanding of contributions made to our society and the world by the peoples of China, as well as the development of accurate and informed concepts of Asia. It all began when a rather jaded 40+ teacher decided to try something different in an effort to re-motivate herself. An article in the School News caught my eye. It read: "Teacher In-Country Fellowship to China". Initially I had visions of myself climbing the Great Wall, communing with the entombed warriors, misty mountains, Mao and other aspects of the rich and diverse cultural heritage that forms China. The reality was not quite what I had prepared myself for (that's another story) but the impact has been far-reaching professionally, socially and emotionally. The effects of this study tour have also had a major impact on my school in terms of curriculum development and service delivery. The trip was enlightening, enriching and exhausting. The same adjectives apply to what was to follow; in fact the entire experience almost began to take on a life of its own. Back in Australia, evaluations completed and the curriculum in the process of being devised, I felt the need to hang my meagre robes of knowledge on a firmly based skeleton and enrolled in the AEF's Including Studies of Asia in the Curriculum course. The networks developed from this and the continual support and stimulation gained from my China study tour colleagues, the AEF and NALSAS encouraged me to apply for an Asian Studies Grant. This grant enabled my coworker and I to put into practice a 10-week program that offered a range of hands-on motivating activities that had students so enthused they were absconding to school and refusing to be discharged until they had completed the activity in hand. It has been a challenging experience to develop a program that caters for the needs of a group of children with a diverse range of social, cultural and educational experiences while taking into account their current health status, degree of mobility, medical procedures and length of hospitalisation. The teaching program we developed consists of 10 separate units of work. Together they can be regarded as a whole, but individually are also meaningful as a one-off experience. Activities are planned for each session so that students are able to take away something positive. They not only have an end product they are pleased with but also have something to take back to their local schools. The sight of Prep students with their preferred hand in a splint concentrating on mastering the correct technique for brush painting; parents, grandparents and hospital staff seeking out their Chinese birth sign; and wheelchair-bound students charging down hospital corridors wearing the dragon mask with a retinue of followers with varying degrees of disability supporting the tail was immensely satisfying, if at times somewhat surreal! If you wish to develop a strong, supportive network of colleagues, develop and clarify your own attitudes and understandings of Asia, develop a hands-on approach to your local curriculum profiles and get to really appreciate these documents as a working tool, renew and refresh your teaching life and the curriculum that your school offers, I would have no hesitation in recommending a TICFA study tour. The spin-offs from that study tour in 1996 are too numerous to mention. Suffice it to say that artwork done by our students now feature on the Internet, illustrating stories written by students in China. This activity was initiated and overseen by another China study tour participant. Helen Mcintyre from Beechworth Secondary School, Victoria. I am now also furthering my appreciation and knowledge of other Asian cultures and broadening the curriculum scope for our students through participation in The University of Melbourne's Teaching in Asia (Indonesia) Program. I am no longer a 40+ jaded teacher. Through my participation in that initial study tour to China, I have become an enthused learner, still 40 + unfortunately, who wishes to share the joy and richness of the education process with colleagues and students.
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