博大精深的人文社科课程 | About Liberal Arts Course

点击上方“苏州德威国际高中” 可以订阅哦！

由于苏州德威国际高中过去六年有超过半数的毕业生都去往了美国大学，而美国大学注重学生的全面发展及跨学科知识，且往届毕业生中有很多都选择了人文社科类专业，学校应学生们的需求新开设了人文社科课程，该课程专门为要去美国留学的学生而设计，涵盖历史，地理，环境和心理学等多学科知识，并通过学习这些知识增强学生的自信心，锻炼他们的辩证思维能力以及团队合作精神。学生们反映这门课程帮助提高了他们的英语写作及口语能力，并激发了他们的原创思维能力。

这门课程目前只对10年级和11年级的学生开放，开设之初有70名学生报名，但只有47名学生最终选上，被选上的都是英语能力较强的学生。这门课程的教材有多样的形式，包括阅读材料，视频剪辑，甚至包括电脑游戏。例如，他们通过阅读论文，观看《角斗士》电影中的视频片段甚至通过玩罗马主题的视频游戏来学习罗马历史。

学生故事板展示

针对10年级的课程在过去的几周中，这门课一直在研究西方文明的起源——古希腊和美索不达米亚。要求学生阅读和理解吉尔伽美什史诗的主要思想——死亡，人际关系，永生不朽和生命的短暂-并完成创意写作的任务。对于英语为第二语言并且仅在学校学习了几周的学生来说，这是一项艰巨的任务。该任务需要他们进行团队合作，提取故事情节制作故事板和分享创意点子。总体而言，学生们的写作水平都很高，有两位学生Ian和Kayla的论文得到了A*的成绩。以下是两位学生对这次论文的感想：

对待一门学科最重要的是态度，能力是其次的。自从来到德威我就要求自己以谦逊认真的态度去对待每一门学科，因为大家都很厉害，都很努力。而这一次人文的测试是我来到德威后的第一次考验。这一次测试不仅仅是对于我这一阶段学习状态与勤奋程度的检验，更是对于我对待这门学科态度的检验。而仅此一次注重态度是完全不够的。我关注每一次作业老师的反馈与评论，专注于每一次作业的要求，而每一次我都会比要求多一点，再多一点。以对待数学般的严谨态度对待每一个输入文档的单词。我不可以说我是班级里最强的，因为能力比我厉害的有好多，但是，我可以肯定的是我对于上课、作业的态度是好的，令我自己满意的。爸爸常对我说：“不要关注结果，重要的是过程。”而在过程中起决定性因素的是态度。对于一门自己从来没接触过的学科，要始终保持严谨认真的态度。这是对这门学科的尊重，也是对自己的负责。在做我的MA1的时候，我首先对要求有所了解，这大概和公立学校中所说的“审题”差不多。了解完题目之后，再开始构思。由于这是我第一次做这样的东西，我必须按照老师给我们的步骤，一步一步做好，从大脑中的想到纸上的提纲，一切便变得顺理成章。然后按照自己的提纲每天制定小目标，来完成这次测试的大目标。   

—— Ian L.

一开始我真是毫无头绪……直到截止的前一天我都没想好素材。但是那天晚上我试着写了三四个开头，结果写着写着思路就萌生了，而且过程出乎意料的流畅。在实在没有想法的时候，先动笔还是挺有帮助的。另外，和同学的交流也是很有效的方法，从中能得到很多启发。

—— Kayla D.

学生家庭作业展示

家庭作业不仅可以帮助学生提高英语能力，还能帮助他们建立自信并激发他们的创造力。例如，他们在学习罗马帝国的历史时，作业是以5分钟的视频来展示罗马帝国几位皇帝的特点。然后，学生们的作业在课堂上一个个播放，之后学生们对视频进行分析和评判，这就是在练习做同行评价。两名学生的视频脱颖而出，其中一名学生在视频中做了声情并茂的演讲，另一名学生则用动画并加上自己的配音进行了展示，这表明学生的创造力得到了激发。

这门课的话题涉及广泛，除了西方的历史渊源外，还有人际关系及现代社会高科技相关题材。例如，理解什么让人们快乐，爱，隔离以及家庭关系，并学习数字科技和社交媒体以及这些高科技对人际关系的影响。另外，学生还要学习可持续发展的生活方式，了解个人的选择如何影响我们周围的世界，素食主义和饮食习惯，碳排放以及全球变暖等课题。

到了11年级，学生将学习更复杂的课题，包括：-      世界历史-国际关系，战争与和平-      全球挑战-水，食品与人口问题-      货币与交易-      生物多样性与环境的挑战-      贫穷，社会的不公平与发展

这门课程对于学生们来说非常陌生且充满挑战，老师们在课程刚开始时也看到了学生们的“胆怯”，学生们在课上不敢发言。老师们有意识地在创造一种不评判且鼓励发言的氛围。无论学生们发表怎样的观点都无关对错，重要的是勇于自我表达，并学会支持自己的观点，而不是正确与否。Kayla提到在学习罗马帝国的时候，她与小组成员讨论了罗马帝国哪个王朝最重要，她与其他组员有不同的看法，于是他们进行了一番辩论，在这个过程中她逐渐学会了尊重别人的看法，支持自己的观点并学会妥协。

Ian和Kayla两位同学都来自公办学校，刚开始上人文社科课时他们都感到比英语课更难，但是他们付出了努力，并在老师创造的不评判、鼓励发言的氛围里他们逐渐建立起了自信并学会了独立思考，他们感觉到了被尊重，并希望在之后的课程里自己的能力得到进一步提高。

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About Liberal Arts

More than half of the graduates of Dulwich International High School Suzhou matriculated to American universities in the past six years. American universities traditionally attach great importance to the comprehensive development of students, as well as their interdisciplinary knowledge. Because many of the previous graduates have chosen to study humanities and social sciences as their major, our school has opened a new Liberal Arts course to meet their needs. The Liberal Arts curriculum is designed as a bespoke course that covers the key skills required by Chinese learners who intend to study in the US and beyond. It covers multidisciplinary knowledge such as history, geography, the environment and psychology. It helps students build confidence and develops their critical thinking and teamwork skills. Students reflect that this course has helped improve their English writing and speaking skills and inspires original thinking.

The course is currently only open to Year 10 and 11 students. When it first opened, 70 students applied, but only 47 were selected. The selected students all had strong English proficiency. Teaching materials on this course come in a variety of forms, including reading materials, video clips, and even computer games. For example, they learned Roman history through reading articles about Rome, watching video clips from the movie Gladiator, and even playing Roman-themed video games.

For the last few weeks in the Y10 class, we looked at the rise of Western Civilization through its origins in ancient Greece and Mesopotamia. Students were required to read and understand key ideas from the Epic of Gilgamesh (death, relationships, immortality and the transience of life). They were given the task of creating their own piece of creative writing, which updated the story for the modern day. This was a challenging task for students for whom English is a second language and who have only been at school for a few weeks. The task required team work, storyboarding and the sharing of ideas. The standard of writing was extremely high overall. However, the work of two students stood out in particular: Ian and Kayla, who both achieved A* grades.

Here are their thoughts on this assignment:

The most important thing in studying a course is attitude, and ability is second. Since coming to Dulwich, I have told myself to treat each subject with a humble and serious attitude, because everyone here is excellent and works hard. The Liberal Arts assignment was the first test after I came to Dulwich. This isn't  just a test of my level of study and diligence at this stage, but also of my attitude towards this subject. I pay attention to my teacher's feedback on my homework. I treat each word of the document with a mathematically rigorous attitude. I can't say that I am the strongest in the class, because there are students whose ability is much better than mine, but I can be sure that my attitude towards class and homework is good. I am satisfied with myself. My Dad often said to me: "Don't pay attention to the results, the important thing is the process." And the decisive factor in the process is attitude. For a discipline that you have never touched before, you must always maintain a rigorous and serious attitude. This is out of respect for the subject. When I was doing this assignment, I had a good understanding of the requirements. After you understand the topic, you can start thinking creatively. Since this was the first time I've done something like this, I had to follow the steps the teacher gave us. Once I planned an outline of the paper, everything became logical. I then set a small goal every day according to my outline in order to complete the big goal of this test step my step.

    --Ian L.

At first I didn't have a clue... I didn't come up with an idea until the day before the deadline. But that night I tried to write three or four beginnings, and surprisingly my thoughts started sprouting, and the process was unexpectedly smooth. When you have no idea, it is helpful to start writing down something, anything, just start writing! In addition, talking with classmates is also a very effective method to get a lot of inspiration.

--Kayla D.

Homework doesn't just help students improve their English skills, but also builds confidence and inspires creativity. For example, when they were studying the history of the Roman Empire, the homework was to make a five-minute video showing attributes of Roman emperors. Then, the students' homework was played one by one in the classroom, after which the students analyzed and judged the video, which is a good practice of peer review. Two students' work stood out. One of the students gave a well-presented speech in the video, and the other student's video had an animation and voice over, showing that the students' creativity was stimulated.

The topic of this course is extensive. In addition to the historical origins of the West, it also covers interpersonal relationships and high-tech related topics in modern society. For example, understanding what makes people happy, fall in love, isolation, and family relationships, as well as learning about digital technology and social media and the effects of technology on human relationships. In addition, students learn about sustainable living, they gain an understanding of how individual choices affect the world around us. They also learn about vegetarianism and diet choices, carbon footprints, and global warming.

In Year11, student will cover more complex topics, including:

-      World history – international relations, war and peace

-      Global challenges – water, food and pollution

-      Money and Trade

-      Biodiversity, and environmental challenges

-      Poverty, inequality and development

This course is challenging for the students. The teachers saw an element of fear at the beginning of the course. The students did not dare to speak in class. The teachers try to create a non-judgmental atmosphere where you are allowed to make mistakes. No matter what opinions students have, it isn't important to be right or wrong. It's all about expressing your own opinions and supporting them with evidence. Kayla mentioned that when studying Roman Empire, she discussed with the group members which dynasty of the Roman Empire was the most important. She had a difference of opinion with other groupmates, so they had a debate, and in that process she gradually learned to respect the views of other people and support her own opinions and compromise.

Both Ian and Kayla are from public schools and felt that the Liberal Arts class was harder than their English class to begin with, but they worked hard and gradually developed in confidence as they learned to think independently. They now feel respected and hope to improve their abilities even further as they continue in this class.

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