21st Century Language Learning

Tania Morgan HEAD OF LANGUAGES LEARNING AREA, HEAD OF COMMUNITY & GLOBAL CONNECTIONS

The inclusion of Arts in the term STEM Education provides opportunities for educators and students to use Arts principles and practices, such as communication and expression, in their otherwise technically-focused teaching and learning. A key aim here is to produce well-rounded and well-grounded global citizens, for the coming century. This focus on preparing our students to be well-rounded and well-grounded 21st Century global citizens is a core principle of our Languages Teaching programmes at Rangi. We want to ensure that we are providing motivating, engaging and real-world contexts in which students can acquire and apply the skills that they will need to flourish in the world of the future.

Some of the real-world contexts for learning that the French Department has provided this year so far include the Year 10 ‘Café Français’ unit which saw students using the language they had learnt in class in conversations around ordering drinks and talking about themselves in a French café- setting. In addition during this year’s French Film Festiva,l the French teachers took a group of French students to the new Lumière Cinema to watch a feminist comedy called “Cette Belle Équipe” (Queens of the Field).

The Spanish Department would also be normally offering students the opportunity to participate in some of these more real-world learning activities, but unfortunately some of these activities have not been able to take place due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. We would usually take part in the Spanish Immersion Day for senior students in collaboration with the University of Canterbury and the Spanish Embassy, as well as the National Spanish Dance Video Project led by the Spanish Programme of the University of Canterbury. Every year our Spanish students enjoy these opportunities to connect with students from other schools in these projects that have an emphasis on using the ‘6Cs of 21st Century Learning’: Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Creativity, Citizenship and Connectivity.

Unfortunately we have also had to cancel our much anticipated July 2020 France/ Spain trip. This is a three-yearly trip for senior students of French and Spanish that offers them the opportunity for immersive language learning in language schools in Nice, France and Salamanca, Spain, while staying with host families. The itinerary also includes organised excursions to visit local sights and cultural activities, as well as tours around the wonderful sights of the capital cities, Paris and Madrid. We are hopeful that once some semblance of normality is restored to international air travel, we will once again be able to offer this amazing learning opportunity to our students.

Some of our senior language students have been lucky enough to travel overseas this year to participate in our language exchange programmes. At the start of the year, two Year 13 French students, Lydia Robinson and Addison Drake, participated in the inaugural Lycée La Mennais exchange, where they travelled to Guérande, France for six weeks. The exchange seems to have been very beneficial for these students as Lydia reports, “The experience of being so fully immersed in the French language and culture was one I will never forget, and I truly learned the value of this in terms of my learning. It allowed me to become so much more confident, not only in my French, but in myself, to an extent that I never expected.” Over the September/October school break last year, three Year 12 Spanish students, Brooke Kingsbury, Lily King and Phoebe Sugrue took part in a fourweek exchange to Argentina at Colegio Pestalozzi, Buenos Aires. As well as extending their language skills by immersing themselves into a Spanish speaking country, they challenged their boundaries by adapting to an entirely new way of life. As Phoebe said, “What I personally gained from it was an amazing growth in my independence and a greater global awareness. The fact that life in Buenos Aires was completely different to Christchurch pushed us outside of our comfort zone and into a space where we grew as people. The fact that we were so immersed and engaged in this fantastic experience meant we came back as different people, with our eyes open to a new way of life.”

Last year we welcomed Sherrilee Hearangi-Harrison to our Languages team. Sherrilee brings not only her Te Reo Māori skills, but also a wealth of knowledge of ‘Te Ao o Te Māori’. This year our Languages Area goal is “To integrate ‘Te Ao o Te Māori’ into our learning area so that all staff and students become more confident and knowledgeable about Māori tikanga and protocols” and we are thus very grateful to be able to use Sherrilee

Argentina trip

and her students as our resources and guides along this journey. The Te Reo Māori classroom is now physically part of the Languages area in L5, making it much easier for the Languages team to work collaboratively together. The Te Reo Department is leading the way with making gradual changes to our Rangi culture, including Te Reo learners wearing mini poi on their blazers to identify themselves as a group of Te Reo Māori ambassadors. They are also proposing that as a school, we establish closer connections with our local Marae, Rehua Marae and plan more regular Marae visits for not just our Te Reo learners, but other school groups as well. In addition our Languages team are hoping to increase our school’s awareness of, and celebration of, key events in the Māori calendar like Matariki and Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori.

Our Head of International this year, Lydia Robinson, has been busy during our recent lockdown thinking of new ways to promote language learning at Rangi. One of the ways she and her committee are planning to do this is through Education Perfect’s Global Online Languages Competition, where girls will try and earn as many points on languages activities as they can in a week - with lots of cool prizes for motivation of course! They are also looking forward to organising a Languages Showcase night and lots of events for International Week for Term 3.