Nurturing of Chinese Culture

Language is where culture manifests itself. It is the school-based reading curriculum where students can take in the essence of Chinese culture and literature. Examples include filial piety in S1, personal refinement in S2 and the philosophy in the early-Qin period in S3. In senior forms, teachers lead students to do reflections on certain Chinese cultural features and guide them to think about how they can be related to the current world situations.

When it comes to cultural experience, De Xin Academy, which is a Chinese culture development station, has been established. Experiential learning courses taught by professional coaches are conducted, including calligraphy, tea ceremony and Chinese chess.  Students’ interest in exploring Chinese culture can be raised. Other activities include Chinese musical “Flowers in the Mirror”, Chinese Culture Week, etc.

In collaboration with the Arts Building Character Foundation, the Visual Arts and Home Economics Departments conducted qipao workshops,  aiming at nurturing students’ virtuous characters through arts. Modern elements were added to the traditional cheongsam. From design to the actual sewing, it was our students who made their qipao from scratch. In the qipao expo, some of them even modelled their original qipaos themselves on the stage.

Our school has enrolled in the scheme “Promoting Interflows between Sister Schools in Hong Kong and the Mainland”, through which we construct a platform to collaborate with and develop alliances with secondary schools on mainland. These schools are located in different provinces such as Harbin, Shanghai and Hangzhou, etc. Study tours are organized, complementing the learning in Chinese Language, Liberal Studies and Chinese History, etc.. Learning can take place though experiencing and appreciating different aspects of the country. Ultimately, a sense of belonging to our country is fostered.

The ECA Committee organized Multiple Intelligences courses for widening students’ exposure, including Cantonese opera, papercutting, literature creation, Taichi, etc. Other Chinese culture-related activities include zheng training and Chinese dance practice, and students perform exceptionally well. Awards include an Outstanding prize in Dance Trip in the 55th Schools Dance Festival and the Gold Award in the 14th International Music Festival.

Under the rich cultural atmosphere, not only do students learn about academic knowledge, but they also develop their own self mentally and morally, upholding values such as integrity, kindness and open-mindedness. All these personal and social values are instrumental to develop students’ sense of belonging towards the community and the school.  Students are encouraged to give back to the community so as to apply the virtues they have learnt from Chinese culture in everyday life. Various services have been organized by the National and Social Caring Committee, particularly those serving children of various needs in the community. In the 10th National leadership for High School Students Assembly, our school team received the First Place Award by standing out from more than 100 teams from the mainland.

Students’ passion for Chinese culture gives them a driving force to promote it to others. Students organize booth games and activities during the Cultural Week and the Chinese-Putonghua Fun Day. In terms of cultural experience, experiential learning targetting teachers, student tea ceremony ambassadors, students’ demonstration to parents in school anniversary events where the Secretary for Education was the guest are some examples. After literature excursions, students who study Chinese Literature take the lead to compose an essay collection and share it with their counterparts from Baochuta Experimental School Senior High School. The autonomy and initiatives that students take attest their understanding of and passion for Chinese culture.