In a Day 9 workshop, Grade 6 students were invited to collaborate directly with WAB teachers to create a new interdisciplinary study, covering math, science, and humanities.
As you may know from the first story we published, the project resulted in the creation of a garden outside of the Middle School building. On today's episode of The WAB Podcast, however, we're focusing on the academic side of the experience.
We’re joined by Grade 6 student Mia and Grade 6 Math and Science Teacher Mr. Greg Brown who were among the group leading the creation of the unit. They explain how this project came into existence, the benefits of students and teachers planning together across subject areas, and the students' efforts to share the garden project both within China and abroad in the hopes of serving as a model for other schools.
“A lot of it was just based on empowering the students right from the beginning and letting them lead the way into what we could use within our classes," Greg said about the idea to invite students to collaborate with teachers to create the unit.
While the vegetables are already growing in the garden plots, there is still a lot to look forward to. The partnership that WAB created with Jinpoluo Village gave students the chance to learn about sustainable agricultural practices directly from members of a nearby local community. There are plans for the garden project at WAB to serve as a model for other schools in China through a government program.
Mia is not only one of the students who created the interdisciplinary unit, but she is also contributing to the outreach. A group of Grade 6 students also presented at the Learning2 Asia conference to an audience of dozens of international school teachers from around the region.
“So teachers from other schools, they’d come to watch our presentation and hopefully it would inspire them to kickstart something like that in their schools," she said.
Fine more information about the Grade 6 Garden Project here, and make sure to search for The WAB Podcast on your favorite podcast platform so you never miss inspiring learning stories like this one from WAB.