Celebrating our Strategic Themes
Culture & Diversity
Theme Statement:
The families of ISY constitute a wide variety of nationalities and cultures. We will Celebrate Culture and Diversity at ISY. In particular, we will promote greater awareness of our host country culture and expand host country language programs.
Setting the Foundations
Culture and Diversity already has a long tradition at ISY. Typically, there are around fifty nationalities represented in the student body and ten to fifteen nationalities represented among the teaching faculty. Cultural diversity has long been celebrated at ISY in a number of ways and most prominently during our International Day celebrations where the whole community comes together as one.
Upon establishing this theme a committee was set up and a plan developed to better integrate host country culture and language programs into the curriculum and activity structure. Ways of measuring our success in this area were also developed in line with the agreed objectives.
Professional Development
A number of professional development opportunities focused on culture and diversity including sessions on anti-bias in education and an excellent student-led session on Diversity, Equality and Inclusion in education. Teachers teaching teachers sessions also focussed on this issue during a number of our compassion conferences where teachers from other International schools in Myanmar were also invited. Additionally, ISY invited an external speaker, Hana Bui to come and speak to new faculty members regarding Myanmar culture as part of an initiative to help new staff adjust to life in Myanmar.
Culture and Diversity in the Curriculum
A major curriculum review happened in all divisions alongside the development of an interdisciplinary framework using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a base. The use of overarching concepts such as sustainability and citizenship allowed for multiple cultures to be covered in a single unit of study and also allowed for learning to be tailored to the cultures represented in a class. The theme of cultural diversity is used as a context in other disciplines as broad as Math, Science or Art making all subjects more culturally relevant.
The development and implementation of the ISY Inclusive Practices permits differentiation to occur not only at the learning ability level but also at a cultural level. English texts for small group work are chosen to be more culturally relevant as well as appropriate for the learning needs of the student.
A new Myanmar Studies course was introduced in the Elementary School for the 2019-2020 school year. This course was taught by a Myanmar teacher to all students in Kindergarten to Grade 5. Guided by the ISY Social Studies standards, students make connections to what they learn about Myanmar culture and language to different countries and cultures – including their own. This class was extended to Pre-Kindergarten this year and was renamed Culture and Communication Studies to reflect the fact that students explore, celebrate, compare and contrast cultures from all around the world using Myanmar language and culture as the common focus. A recent example of Myanmar language and culture focusing student learning in this course is a unit of study in which students compare and contrast traditional Myanmar stories and international stories to define the ISY Learner Attributes. Another example of Myanmar culture being integrated into the curriculum included the music department having one of their concerts focussed on culture. There was not a dry eye in the house (or rather on the field) when the audience spontaneously arose for the singing of the Myanmar national anthem. Children’s stories and songs from a range of cultures were translated into English and sung by the Elementary School students.
In the Secondary School, Burmese language courses are offered in Grade 9 and 10 and also as part of the IB Diploma program. The history, geography, culture, economics, language and people of Myanmar are integrated into the Social Studies curriculum. Social Studies units of study have an identified Myanmar focus integrated into the units enabling students to make connections between what they learn about Myanmar and different countries and cultures. These Myanmar connections provide an important focus for student service learning, working together with local partners as a force for positive change.
During the time ISY was virtual and in place of our normal Week Without Walls trips ISY instead organized a collaborative culture week – ‘Students Without Borders’. The week began with 12th Grade Psychology students teaching other students about the definition of culture. An Alumni, Arden Reynolds (Class of 2018) gave workshops on ‘Identity and Privilege’ and ISY worked with 5 other international schools in other countries to enhance cross cultural experiences and learning.
Events and Activities
Language Classes
ISY encouraged community members to develop mother tongue language programs using ISY facilities and resources. After a short time, Dutch, Spanish and German classes were established with even a small collection of Dutch language books in the library. An outside Myanmar language teacher was brought in to teach community members the Myanmar language which proved very popular with teachers and parents alike.
Calendar
The school calendar has been revised to recognize the important holidays of Myanmar with activities and celebrations in the classroom to help students understand the cultural significance of each one.
Schoolwide Events
The format of ISY’s flagship annual event, International Day, was altered to emphasize the cultural aspect of the day. This involved changing what was a talent show in the evening to a cultural show. Instead of individual students or small groups vying for the best act, groups of students representing different cultures were encouraged to team up and perform events reflecting their culture. This led to a fantastic series of culturally minded performances at all grade levels.
Measurement
ISY has engaged in a variety of methods in order to measure the performance of this strategic theme. These include:
- The annual climate (Endicott) survey
- A branding survey
- SWOT analysis from the Director
- Admissions surveys
- Accreditation self-studies
All these indicate that ISY’s focus on cultural diversity is recognized and greatly appreciated. Families feel that their individual culture is appreciated and report that they have been invited to share their cultural heritage. Similarly, students also report that they are encouraged by teachers to celebrate their individual cultures.
The International School Yangon
20 Shwe Taungyar Street
Bahan Township
Yangon, Myanmar
+95 (0) 9 880 441 040