We have offered over 10,000 workshop places to teachers working in Hong Kong schools. Recent professional development programmes have included using learning technologies with secondary students, for example, ‘Media Literacy in the Junior Secondary English Classroom – Enhancing Critical Thinking Skills through the Use of Digital Texts’, and ‘Effective Use of e-Resources for Communication – Tapping into Students’ Creativity, Critical Thinking and Problem-solving Abilities’. In addition, we have offered full-day workshops to maths, science and English language teachers working collaboratively to support their students’ ability to develop subject-specific vocabulary. Our workshops are well-structured and resourced with a good balance between input on concepts and classroom approaches and practical activities.
The Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR)
SCOLAR English Alliance formulates language policy for learners in Hong Kong, implementing projects that take into account the needs of students, schools and the community.
Among the projects we have completed with SCOLAR are short story writing and film-making competitions, and reading workshops using a variety of media and drawing on various language arts content including drama, short stories and social issues.
These projects have enabled us to offer innovative and exciting English language development experiences to hundreds of students and to support their teachers through processes and materials. Most importantly, working with the team at SCOLAR English Alliance has allowed us to develop the understanding and relationship we have with schools in Hong Kong.
One of our most innovative SCOLAR projects was ‘Adaptations’, which aimed to arouse student interest in reading by combining the use of a film and book in a series of workshop activities. Taking part in this project were sixty-five primary and secondary schools and hundreds of students supported by the their teachers.
Young Journalists
This was an exciting film-making project with junior secondary school students funded by Friends of the British Council.
The project gave young people studying in secondary forms 1, 2 and 3 the tools to produce a short English language current affairs film about an issue they were interested in. The project helped students to plan and make their film and supported them in developing skills such as critical thinking, storytelling, problem-solving, creative expression and responsible citizenship in order to become young independent film-makers of the future. During the project, we invited leading media professionals from a number of different backgrounds to contribute their knowledge and expertise through videos and interviews, and to share their personal work and stories.
British Council was delighted to be the strategic creative education partner for the Prudential Eye programme in 2015. The programme promoted creativity through art and English using selected, age-appropriate works from the Prudential Eye and the British Council Collection. This two-hour workshop consisted of a range of activities using art as a trigger for the development of 21st-century skills, rich language and creative thinking. The activities were designed to generate high levels of personal response from students.
