Ms Jennifer Fukushima, Head of Japanese
‘Opportunity dances with those already on the dance floor’ (Jackson Brown, 1991).
As parents and teachers of children in this modern and constantly changing society we are frequently being told that many of the jobs our children will do in the future do not yet exist. So the question is how we make sure our girls are ‘on the dance floor’ ready for whatever music the future might be playing. It is a tricky proposition: how to provide them with opportunities to improve their skills, and encourage them to seize opportunities so they can adapt to an unguessable future.
The Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority has announced an overhaul of the Senior syllabus to come into effect in 2018. Each new syllabus’s slightly jargonistic goal is to ‘respond to the learning needs of all young people, and facilitate effective transitions to further education, training and employment’ (Queensland Government, 2015). Near the front of each new syllabus is a list of so-called 21st Century Skills. The list includes critical thinking, creative thinking, communication, collaboration and teamwork, personal and social skills, and ICT skills (Queensland Government, 2016). Many of these cannot be taught directly or learned from a textbook; rather they involve the students being presented with certain situations and dealing with problems as they arise — a bit like life.
As a language teacher, I found that three of these skills resonated with me — communication, collaboration and teamwork, and personal and social skills. I see a strong connection between these skill areas and some observations I have made recently in my classroom through visits from high school students from our Affiliate School in Japan.
The Affiliate School Programme has given thousands of Brisbane Girls Grammar School girls extraordinary experiences as both hosts and guests. I am an Old Girl and one who possibly owes her career in no small sense to the Affiliate School Programme. I cannot overstate the importance of taking some of the smaller opportunities that arise through interactions with our Affiliate Schools and visiting students. These provide experiences for Girls Grammar students to develop their 21st century skills of communication, personal and social skills, and collaboration and teamwork. The fact that these opportunities are in another language makes them all the more challenging and all the more rewarding.
For the first six weeks of Term III, my Year 11 Japanese class played host to Ayu Ishii from Seirinkan High School. Of course, her host ‘sister’ Navodhee Wijesundara had a wonderful opportunity to host, but it was also very beneficial to the entire class. Although our girls were initially shy to leave their comfort zone and try communicating in Japanese, it wasn’t long before several of them approached Ayu and started talking with her. Over the six week period, through their contact with the Japanese student, I saw girls having to problem-solve, make decisions, interact, become more culturally aware and display ethical and moral understanding. They had to cast off their nervous wallflower fears and stand ‘on the dance floor’, making the most of the opportunities provided to them not only in the classroom but also at lunchtime, and before and after school. Although initially their moves may have been static and a little amateurish, they soon learned to dance to the beat.
As I prepare to escort my third study trip to one of our Affiliate Schools, I am also reminded of the extraordinary experiences about to change the lives of the girls who participate in these trips. It is one thing to welcome an international student into your home and classroom, but to travel overseas as a teenager, experience living with a host family, and attend school in another country could be likened (to extend the ‘dance’ metaphor) to performing with the Australian Ballet. I have no doubt that every one of these girls will find the experience daunting and difficult at first, but they will have to adapt, finding ways to interact, connect, and solve problems. I am confident that the girls will get out and dance, because they invariably progress from feeling apprehensive about their homestays to rating the homestay experience as their favourite aspect of the trip. To me this defines success. The girls have successfully adapted, communicated, problem-solved and dealt with myriad emotions, and turned their study trip into one of the most significant experiences of their teenage years.
Exposing the girls to situations like this, where they have to be brave and take risk, is vital to helping them transition successfully into tertiary studies and future employment. Although we may not be able to foresee exactly where they will end up, we can set them up as well as possible: ‘Fortune favours the prepared mind’ (Pasteur, 1854).
Ultimately, we can have all the skills in the world, but if we lack the disposition to get up and have a go at what might seem at first to be difficult or uncomfortable, the skills will not help. The opportunities offered by our Affiliate School Programme may seem small and insignificant, but the skills gained in taking the plunge to communicate, socialise and collaborate with students from different countries are all skills that we know will be necessary in the future. It is about building into our programmes opportunities for the girls to get out and dance to whatever tunes the future might serve up.
References
Jackson Brown, H. (1991). The complete life’s little instruction book. Nashville, Tennessee: Rutledge Hill Press.
Pasteur, L. (1854, December 7).[Lecture, University of Lille].Retrieved from http://www.quotecounterquote.com/2012/04/fortune-favors-brave-bold-and-well.html
Queensland Government, Department of Education and Training. (2016). Advancing education: An action plan for education in Queensland. Retrieved from http://advancingeducation.qld.gov.au
Queensland Government, Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority. (2015, November). 21st century skills for senior education: An analysis of educational trends. Retrieved from https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/downloads/publications/paper_snr_21c_skills.pdf
Stobart, G. (2014).The expert learner: Challenging the myth of ability. Berkshire, England: Open University Press.