Youth Designs Local Tourism for Global Attractions

These days, people tend to visit countries and places that offer cultural experiences, traditional value and historical stories. On June 11 and 12, high school students from Noeun in Korea partnered with Zhenjiang Vocational College in China and those from Jeonmin in Korea with International School of Tunis in Tunisia had virtual live classes to present their tour industry design to boost cultural tourism in their regions. The virtual meetings created a unique opportunity in that all four schools commonly shared rich culture from the long history of their country; however, their partnerships from the same continent (East Asia) and different continents (East Asia and North Africa) reflected interesting comparisons in perspectives.

Most students commonly emphasized the importance of the spiritual/religious aspect of cultural tourism. Korean students from Noeun High School, for instance, narrated the history of Bulguksa Temple and Wongaksaji Pagoda. They see Bulguksa Temple and Wongaksaji Pagodas “a symbolic embody of the teachings of the Buddha.” This narrative along with their visual presentations enabled Chinese students to appreciate many similarities and relatively slight differences of the temple’s construction and spiritual inheritance between China and Korea—A Chinese student was excited to identify a Jinhan Temple similar to Korea’s Bulguksa Temple. Likewise, Tunisian students introduced the history of ancient Mosques, Islamic calligraphy and arts in the city of Sousse. Korean students from Jeonmin High School were fascinated by the beauty of Tunisian arts that have not been very familiar to them and such great difference also made them desire to visit Mousse one day.

While analyzing their existing tour industry and receiving partners’ feedback on their design of new attractions, students realized tourism impacts on natural environments and learned how global cultural tourists contribute to local economy. They also saw cultural tourism as a global education for peace since it fosters the appreciation for their own and other cultures and builds friendships with local people. A Tunisian student commented, “During this semester, we were all honored to get to know you, make new friendships and learn more about the tourism in South Korea. We were also proud to present to you all a part of Tunisia’s touristic sites, which is our very own prideful heritage”.

Along with the presentations, exchanges of the cultural performances such as K-pop dancing and singing, and traditional music performances escalated magical bonds among the students of the partnered schools. Each school expressed their joy of learning the new cultural attractions by mutually inviting the partners to their country and promising to visit the other. The principal of Zhenjiang school in China shared his hope on this global learning, “China and Korean have a friendship with a long-time history. Our two countries have similar cultural backgrounds. It is hoped that the teachers and students of both countries will learn from each other, communicate with each other, make progress together, and contribute to the globalization of education”.

#Ed4GlobalCitizenship, #InterculturalCompetence, #IVECA, #TourismEducation, #PeaceEducation

Kids Showcase Their Cultural Magazines

June 11 was nothing like any other day for Korean and Vermont students from Yeomlee, JinGwan and GEMS elementary schools. As professional magazine writers, these students did an amazing job by designing cultural magazines to present life in their countries and describe their different cultural components to their partners from the other side of the world.

With their teachers’ support and by using their drawing, coloring and design talents, students prepared exquisite cultural magazines with attractive pictures and eye-catching colors where they nicely present a number of interesting facts related to specific places, people, animals, clothing and foods in their countries.

In a one- hour virtual Live Class, each school’s students had the chance to know about the culture in the other country and realize they are not living on their own. Instead, they are a part of a big world with which they share a lot. Students discussed, gave feedback about each other’s magazine and figured out the similarities and differences in terms of the contents they presented about their countries.

Throughout the live class, students were very excited to hear more from their partners and showed interest in learning about how people live in the other country. And it did not stop here, after this virtual meeting, students wrote letters to each other and expressed how happy they were to meet their global friends and work together for a whole semester.

“We wanted to thank you for participating in IVECA this year. We hope we can do it again in the future. It was so fun working with you all…We look forward to talking again.” – 3rd grader, Vermont

“We had fun to learn the different culture of Vermont. It was so helpful to learn new words for the new world. Moreover, We’re excited to communicate with GEMS School in the U.S. Hope to have another chance next time.” – 4th grader, Korea

“This virtual and cultural exposure has provided a unique and exciting learning experience that children will cherish for years to come.  A learning opportunity, for everyone involved, that has shown to be beneficial both socially and academically. A variety of academics, culture, and FUN for everyone involved.”  – Principal at GEMS, VT

Korean and Brazilian Students Travel Together into their History and Culture

On June 5 in the IVECA virtual live class, students from Hanil High School in Korea and Luiza Formozinho Ribeiro Public School in Brazil traveled into the history with their partner students and shared amazing stories and cultural backgrounds about the historical events and political conflicts that took place in their country.

Students from both schools narrated the historical facts with rich information such as people’s lives under glorious Kings and Queens, the origin of International Women’s Day, and issues with native inhabitants and European explorers. Further, they exchanged their thoughts on the impacts of religious figures, colonial explorers, and famous warriors in their histories. Through this live class, students helped each other understand different historical accounts of travelers and cultures. They also were able to relate their own experiences to the global range of travel writings, personal memoir, and history.

One of the most interesting takeaways from this virtual class was that Brazilian students learned directly from their Korean partners regarding Sunshine Policy that was adopted at the historic  Inter-Korean Summit in 2000. One Korean student explained, “The Sunshine Policy is a foreign policy aiming at peaceful reunification by cooperating and supporting North Korea.” Korean students’ narratives on their history enabled Brazilian students to connect Korea’s past with the current world event happening in Korean Peninsula and other countries for peace and security. Both Korean and Brazilian students expressed their joy of learning and desire for their future collaboration through IVECA.  

Students’ learning experience was reflected through the closing remarks of teachers and principals from both schools:

“I am speechless again! The opportunities this project promotes to students all over the world is unique. We are more than grateful for taking part. Thank you IVECA’s team for such a great job and supporting!” (English Teacher, Brazil)

“The challenges[program activities] proposed for sure have already brought enormous educational learning. This really makes us global citizens in search of a better world.” (History teacher, Brazil)

“I believe that this experience has been a great opportunity for students in both countries to learn about each other. I encourage you to think of today’s class as not the end but a new beginning and hope for each other’s best although we are far apart.” (Principal, Korea)

#Ed4GlobalCitizenship, #InterculturalCompetence, #IVECA, #PeaceEducation