1. ALL HALLOWS’ SCHOOL Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia........learning through a lived experience. Email: bentley_susan@allhallows@qld.edu.au Blog: http://herstorycambodia.wordpress.com
10. Survey of students 47 Year 10 student respondents ( my History and Religion classes). 33% acknowledged media sources as the strongest influence on their understandings of Asian history, culture and issues. In terms of exposure to subject matter that explicitly addresses Asian issues: 21% English 19% Religion 13% History
11. Student perspectives: “ I am not very knowledgeable about Australia’s relationship with Asia” “ My lack of knowledge leaves me uncertain about aspects of Asian cultures” “I would like to learn more about Asian culture and how it is linked to Australia’s relationship with Asia”.
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13. Project Stage 1: Savong orphanage and High School, Cambodia Volunteered at Savong orphanage and taught English at Savong High School for 2 weeks (September school holidays) Documented my experience in Blog posts (http://herstorycambodia.wordpress.com / Read autobiographies and biographies of victims of the Khmer Rouge whilst in Cambodia. Used resources my students had made in teaching English Trialled use of text resources for the teaching of English in Cambodia Visited a range of community development centres in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
15. Student reflections: “The experience of my teacher has really impacted on my knowledge of Asia because while she teaches us about Social Justice she didn’t just tell us what we have to do, she just went out and did it” “ Listening to the first hand experiences and visual aids helped me to understand that the situations are real and not just on the internet or in a book” “I now have a better understanding of the injustices and inequality endured by millions of people” “...made it seem as if it is actually possible to make a difference”.
17. CHALLENGES: Confronting! Time frame IT learning curve Cultural re-adjustment upon return Teaching English to 30 children aged 3 to 17 in the same classroom
18. Where to from here? Embed social action project in the teaching of Social Justice in Year 10 Religion curriculum Broaden the History (8-10) curriculum to include units of study on Asian history Continue expanding pedagogical practice Foster personal interest in teaching English in a third world country by returning to Cambodia during LSL in 2012
Editor's Notes
Passionate interest in social justice, social advocacy and Asian history ( have been researching cultural immersion programs for a number of years)Desire to broaden student inter-cultural understandings and enhance their capacity to be active and informed global citizensA concern that curriculum – particularly History- is eurocentric and hence lacks diversity that is required to promote global perspectives
The next step was to identify the central issue of my section of the project.I was conscious of the need to operate within the context of AHS Mercy values and wanted to incorporate my “lived experience” in Cambodia into my teaching across English, Religion and History curriculum.The evaluation of History units in light of National Curriculum guidelines and ACARA’s cross-curriculum perspectives provided me with the impetus to organise the immersion experience this year.
I wanted my engagement in a cross-cultural immersion to be transformative for my students in so far as promoting Asia and social justice literacy and empowering the students to engage in social advocacy.I also hoped the experience would be transformative for myself (global mindedness, challenging myself)I aimed to incorporate the resources, artefacts, texts and cultural understandings accessed during the immersion into my pedagogical practice.
What process did I follow in achieving these aims?1.Informal dialogue with students helped me identify problems such as the narrow range of sources which influenced their knowledge of Asian cultures. I also discussed with students the role current History and Religion courses had on their appreciation of Asian history, culture and issues.2.Students in my 2 Yr 10 Religion and History classes were invited to participate in a survey (via the Moodle portal) in order to ascertain the influence of various sources on shaping their perspectives and knowledge of Asia. Students were also invited to express their personal attitudes on Asia and evaluate various learning tools.3. Prior to my trip to Cambodia I recorded my annotations from research in a blog. I also read Cambodian newspapers, journal articles on current practices on the teaching of English in Cambodia and conducted research on Cambodian history and cultural traditions prior to the trip. 4. The immersion experience took place in the 2 weeks of the Sept school holidays in an orphanage and rural high school about 25 klms outside the city of Siem Reap, Cambodia.5.At the beginning of term 4 I designed and implemented lessons for my Yr 10 Religion and History classes regarding social justice issues and the history of Cambodia.
1.Professionalreading included cross-cultural immersion programs, “connected learning” principles, the National History Curriculum guidelines and integration of ICT in pedagogical practices.2.Prior to, and during, the trip I read autobiographies and biographies about Cambodians and their experiences of the Khmer Rouge and subsequent fight for social justice.3.Surveyed my 3 Year 10 classes re. their attitudes to Asian communities and collated results.4. I read newspapers ( such as the PhenPhenh news ) and biographies written by Cambodians prior to the trip to deepen my knowledge base.
Speak aboutschool founder and goals........my role ( volunteer at orphanage 8-1pm daily, taught English at High school, team teaching, excursion, curriculum mapping and lesson planning, evaluated teaching resources... ....Contributing Blog posts whilst in Cambodia,Trialled use of resources-ones my Yr 10 students had made (eg picture books), materials I had brought with me from home and resources I found in the SiemReap Book CentreI visited a number of community development centres, such as Mekong Quilts, Ankor d’ Artisan, Mekong creations which are all playing a large role in re-generating in retrieving Cambodia’s cultural heritage and nurturing the self-esteem of employees.
Upon my return to school I decided to use photographs I had taken whilst at both the orphanage and high school as my primary learning tools. My aim was not only to use the photos to teach about social justice issues but also to challenge my students to think more deeply about the issues the photos presented in story format.I also incorporated narrative inquiry as a framework for representing for students meaning from my experiences
Students from each of my 3 classes were then invited to write reflections about their learning.
Student reflections were very positive and addressed issues such as empowerment, increased knowledge, broadening of inter-cultural understanding and awareness of the dynamics involved in cross-cultural perspectives.The immersion experience equipped me with the skills to overcome the challenges which my students may experience in becoming globally competent ( eg: ethnocentricity, xenophobia, difficulty in accepting other people’s worldviews and acceptance of inter-cultural differences. Personally and professionally highly rewarding. Enabled me to integrate a global perspective, accrue new skills, strategies, attitudes and knowledge which will shape my teaching practices in English, Religion and History.Development of my IT skills. eg I learnt to use a range of web 2.0 tools ( eg: pearltrees, issu, diigo, visual bookmarking tags, bonzobox , widgets and blogging etc so have made some progress towards being a “digital native” rather than a ‘digital immigrant”.Connected learning for my students........some students have come to me with their own ideas for social advocacy
