Forward-looking English teaching concepts to achieve innovative learners

Fung Kai Innovative SchoolAdhering to the student-centered teaching philosophy, we are committed to training students’ independent thinking ability, laying a solid foundation of knowledge, and at the same time cultivating their 21st century generic abilities to become innovative learners. Principal Liu Liqing has rich English teaching experience and is well versed in the importance and know-how of learning English. She leads the teaching team to actively strengthen English education, use teaching resources flexibly, build a strong English learning environment, stimulate students' learning motivation, fully master language knowledge and skills, and unleash their potential and highlights.

Strong English context, learn and use English flexibly

When you walk into the school, you can see a large number of English sentences and pictures on campus, allowing students to be immersed in the English environment. Principal Liu pointed out: "In English learning, motivation is very important. Competence, Autonomy and Relatedness can enhance students' learning motivation, connect learning with life, and cultivate students' independent learning habits." Therefore, the school sets every Wednesday as English DAY, with an English morning meeting in the morning; English STEAM games will be held during recess; students also need to communicate in English and buy food when going to the English Cafe.

Principal Liu added: "The theme song of this year's school-based guidance also uses the English song We can be Legendary. Students can sing and dance in just two weeks, achieving the effect of applying English to the whole school. At the same time, the school will also hold English movie appreciation activities on Fridays, creating a lot of opportunities to use English, making students realize that English can be used in many situations in life and has Relatedness. On the day of the activity, students can choose their favorite activities to participate in, improve their English skills, and experience the concept of Autonomy."

Construct a professional teaching team and hire 4 foreign teachers/English teaching assistants

The school is committed to helping students develop comprehensive English listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. It has been teaching RWI original pronunciation courses since the first grade, and uses e-books to teach students correct English pronunciation. At the same time, the school has invested a lot of resources to improve the quality of teachers. Therefore, the school has 4 foreign English teachers/English teaching assistants to build a professional teaching team and create an international English learning atmosphere. Four foreign teachers will serve as the deputy head teachers of each first-grade class. They will play games and watch with the students as soon as they enter the classroom every morning, establishing a good communication relationship between teachers and students. Therefore, students will take the initiative to communicate with foreigners on weekdays, increase their cross-cultural communication skills, and put their English knowledge into practice.

Diversified learning experience to improve English ability

In addition to providing diversified English learning experiences in regular classes, the school also arranges a large number of opportunities for students to practice their English knowledge, such as arranging for them to go out of campus and visit foreigners. Principal Liu pointed out: "Students first practice visiting teachers at school, and then visit foreigners on the street to build self-confidence and improve their English communication skills." As society returns to normal, the school has arranged for senior students to participate in an exchange group in Australia. Although not everyone can participate in this activity, the school will film the footage and share it back in Hong Kong, so that other students can experience the foreign language atmosphere.

At the same time, the school has opened English debate classes, writing classes and folk song classes according to students' different interests to expose students to English. Some of the activities are specially designed for outstanding students, such as cultivating them to become "English Leaders", who will introduce the school's features in English whenever guests visit; "English Buddy" encourages students to become reading companions, helping some students who are less English-speaking, playing games and telling stories with them, and practicing the concept of mutual learning and mutual learning.

Apply innovative technology to apply what you have learned

The school is good at applying AI, VR and other technologies to teaching. For example, it cooperates with Metropolitan University to promote "AI Learning English"; second-year students have used AR to shoot English short films. In addition, the school has developed Generative AI, which allows students to write sentences to generate a picture. The more detailed the sentence description, the closer the picture will be to the desired effect. This is in line with students' Relatedness and promotes motivation to learn English. The activities not only allow students to learn English, but also allow them to use the latest technology, which is a valuable experience for becoming 21st century talents. In addition, English posters and student works designed by students can be seen everywhere on the school’s campus. President Liu pointed out: "The English posters were designed by students using Canva. College students from Chinese University and Yale University came to school and were very surprised to see these posters."

Integrating English elements into various disciplines to promote interdisciplinary learning

The school infiltrates English elements from different levels. By promoting interdisciplinary learning and combining different topics such as English, mathematics, science and Chinese culture, it cultivates students' ability to comprehensively apply knowledge. The school uses English as a medium to teach students about mathematics, science and Chinese culture, helping them build the ability to think from multiple perspectives. At the same time, they also know how to examine traditional culture from different perspectives, deepen their personal knowledge and cultural connotation, and can connect to mathematics and science in secondary school. Thanks to the strong English atmosphere in the school, students have no sense of resistance to English. In order to encourage students to use English, Principal Liu also greets each other in English with students. Students affectionately call Principal Lau "Principal Lau". The school’s English teaching has achieved outstanding results. Not only did some teachers receive the Chief Executive’s Award for Teaching Excellence, but the award-winning teachers were also invited to conduct English demonstration classes, consult, or review to share teaching experiences and promote teachers’ professional development.