Chinese Language Immersion Day for teachers with Tui Tuia | Learning Circle

“武”文弄墨—2022 中文沉浸日

On the 9th of July, Chinese teachers gathered in Ōtepoti, the beautiful southern city of Dunedin, and spent a meaningful Chinese Immersion Day as a prelude to the language conference. Kungfu master led teachers to practise Wu Bu Quan and how to integrate it into Chinese teaching topics. On the field trip, the teachers visited Lan Yuan, Dunedin Chinese Garden where they tasted yum cha. With the introduction of a tourist guide, the teachers appreciated the Chinese scholar’s garden which made some of them feel they were back in their hometown. The Immersion Day wrapped up with a Chinese traditional painting art workshop. What a day filled with authentic Chinese cultural elements!

Photo: Jojo Hua with teachers at Immersion Day.

‍Article by Lan Dai, Chinese National Language Adviser, Tui Tuia | Learning Circle‍

A Review of the Chinese Language Immersion Day by participant Hui Zhang

At the beginning of the day, I was very honoured to meet the Chinese team at Tui Tuia | Learning Circle. Thanks to the Chinese National Language Adviser Ms. Dai and her team, I had such a great opportunity to experience Chinese culture and spent a fun day with other Chinese cohorts. It’s a meaningful prelude to the Bi-Annual Language Teachers Conference.

Afterwards, Laura, Chairwoman of NZCLTA, delivered a presentation about the Kiwi Hanyu website which is a collection of Chinese teachers’ efforts and contributions. As a future teacher, I appreciate the work by the  teachers who created these rich resources.

Adele Bryant, Director of Confucius Institute at Victoria University of Wellington, brought Chinese teachers some exciting news. Since the border opened in July, the recruitment of the MLA program has been renewed. Schools are expected to meet their new mandarin language assistants from Term 1 in 2023.

In the following sessions, I was privileged to follow Hua Shifu, a Kungfu master, to learn martial arts as well as how to integrate them into language teaching topics. I am greatly inspired by Hua Shifu’s teaching theory about Five Animals Play and look forward to applying them to topics about animals. I believe this will also be a great opportunity for curriculum integration.

On the field trip, we visited the Lan Yuan Dunedin Chinese Garden, one of the famous tourist attractions in Dunedin. It is the only truly authentic Chinese Scholar’s Garden in the Southern Hemisphere. Although this was not my first time taking part in a tour of the Gardens, I was very blessed to taste Yum Cha in the tea house, experience the life of the ancient scholars and socialise with the group.

The immersion day wrapped up with a Chinese traditional painting art workshop in which Mr Ren, a professional artist, showed us how to paint cultural icons like bamboo, towers, and the moon, to name a few. I was so amazed that I can create lively bamboo forests simply with a popsicle stick and some colour pigments. I cannot wait to showcase these unique painting techniques to my students in the final practicum of term 3.

As a teacher in training, this Chinese Immersion Day provided me with a great platform to get acquainted with other Chinese teachers in Aotearoa. Last but not the least, these experiences build my confidence in organising cultural activities in a fun way. Without any doubt, I will bring what I learned on the day to future classrooms.

Photos: (Top): Mr Ren with Chinese Teachers during his workshop,(Middle): Artwork by Hui Zhang, Bamboo Forest and The Temple at Night.

‍Article by Hui Zhang, Secondary Teacher in training from Massey University and Mandarin Language Assistant at Columba College, Dunedin‍

Integrating Te Reo Māori and Tikanga Māori into the Chinese Classroom

Ko tōu reo, ko tōku reo, te tuakiri tangata. Tīhei uriuri, tīhei nakonako’ (New Zealand Curriculum, 2007). This learning languages whakataukī can be translated as your voice and my voice are expressions of identity. May our descendants live on and our hopes be fulfilled. As we all know, New Zealand prides itself in being a very ethnically diverse nation. Teachers and kaiako value what each learner brings with them, recognize diversity of identities, and take action to amplify voices from different communities. Many Chinese teachers try to build culturally responsive classrooms based on respect and connection and ensure that their students know and can honour our country’s cultural heritage based on the understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The dean of Chinese international students Kathy Kuang from Botany Downs Secondary School organized a Marae trip for her Chinese classes.

On Wednesday 18 May, 38 students from two Chinese classes had a thrilling visit to Awataha Marae on the North Shore where they experienced real Māori life and learned about Māori culture.

To prepare for the visit, students practiced the waiata in the class many times. Most students have never been to a Marae, and they were impressed by the pōwhiri and warm welcome. Students also enjoyed the workshops in the wharenui where they were busy playing ti rakau and pukana games. They laughed and laughed and had so much fun. What’s more, they made Harakeke sculptures while understanding the harakeke bush is like a whanau sharing common roots and only the “grandparent” leaves are cut for the sculptures.

The hāngī lunch was beautiful. It is also the first time for most students to have hāngī for lunch. They loved the food and steamed custard pudding was a pleasant surprise for dessert.

This is an exciting and educational trip for students. Learning Māori tradition and history helped them better understand our country and the importance of living in harmony with Nature. Also, the trip built up students’ confidence in speaking Te Reo Māori.

Thanks Tui Tuia | Learning Circle for the funding, the trip would not be possible without your support.

Photo: Students from Botany Downs Secondary School

Article by Yan Yang, Facilitator at Tui Tuia | Learning Circle, Kathy Kuang, Dean of Chinese International Students at Botany Downs Secondary School

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Besides experiencing Māori culture, the head of Chinese Department Christina Howard-Shi from Hillcrest High School ponders over the “What” and the “How” questions when incorporating Māori knowledge.

Mātauranga Maori is a frequently occurring phrase in secondary teaching in Aotearoa. According to Māori and Indigenous development research study at Auckland University of Technology, the term Mātauranga Māori literally means “Māori knowledge” and is closely aligned to the period of pre-European contact as it encompasses traditional concepts of knowledge and knowing that Māori ancestors brought with them to Aotearoa/New Zealand.

What does the secondary Curriculum need to include to guide teachers and learners to incorporate Māori knowledge? This is a very big topic, however, in the field of Chinese teaching, some frustration and confusion among teachers are bubbling every time this phrase appears. For example, many language teachers are trying to add Māori elements into their daily activities by using simple Māori greetings, words, and customs such as a pepeha that is directly translated into the targeted language. These actions teachers took appear to resemble box ticking rather than discovering the need to incorporate Mātauranga Māori naturally and seamlessly.

What teachers of Chinese need to realise is that there are already many similarities between Māori and Chinese in myths and legends, cultural practices, social structures, and so on, even decolonisation aspects. Looking at epistemology between Maori and Chinese cultures may be able to shine a light on this journey into introducing Chinese in the Aotearoa specific context. For example, pepeha and Chinese Zuji祖籍can be taught together, as they represent each culture’s initial introduction. Creation traditions such as Ranginui and Papatūānuku vs Pangu 盘古definitely draw strong resemblances from both lands.

In order to have a better understanding of merging Matauranga Māori into our daily teaching, we need to explore the fundamentals - what they are. Why were these values established and how was this knowledge passed on to the next generation as well as into the communities? If teachers cannot think big, how can we encourage our learners to do so? The bottom line is that we need to find out what support Chinese teachers need and then teachers can be well prepared to educate our learners in Aotearoa.

Article by Yan Yang, Facilitator at Tui Tuia | Learning Circle and Christina Howard-Shi, Head of Chinese Department at Hillcrest High School‍

Canterbury Regional Meeting

A Canterbury regional meeting for Chinese teachers was held on Wednesday the 10th of August at Christchurch Boys’ High School. 12 Chinese teachers from high schools, the University of Canterbury, Rewi Alley Chinese School, Fiona Yen, Facilitator from Tui Tuia | Learning Circle and Chinese National Language Adviser, Dr Lan Dai attended the meeting. The meeting was informative, engaging and inspiring. It provided a great opportunity for teachers to exchange ideas and support each other.

After a warm welcome from the Chinese teachers in Canterbury, Dr Lan Dai introduced herself, her role as the Chinese National Language Adviser , and the upcoming workshops from Tui Tuia | Learning Circle. Dr Lan Dai said more virtual workshops will be organised for Chinese teachers who are outside Auckland. She also shared other useful websites for Chinese teaching resources, for example, Chineseplus etc.

Huili Feng 冯慧丽 the president of the New Zealand Chinese Language Teachers' Association Canterbury, shared some of the resources she has created. The teachers were very impressed by her well-designed teaching materials and greatly appreciated her hard work. Huili also shared her understanding and experiences about NCEA internals, which led to a great discussion among all teachers.

The meeting also included another inspiring presentation from Kevin Grounds, a Chinese teacher from Burnside High School. He shared his best practice for remote learning and showed some of the videos he has made.                                  

Moreover, the meeting also discussed the plans for NZ Chinese Language Week and cultural events. The meeting also thanked CIUC for their efforts in organizing online cultural activities and providing the opportunities for students to participate under the very challenging circumstances due to Covid 19. The Teachers all look forward to our next regional meeting.
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Photo: Chinese Teachers at the Regional Meeting

Article by Alex Fraser and Mengping Cheng‍

Mooncake Festival

Spring is just around the corner. Most of us in New Zealand see the first sign of spring as flowers starting to blossom in gardens. Elsewhere in the world, countries including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam are about to go into harvest season. During this period, the Chinese celebrate one of their most important festivals. The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a traditional festival celebrated in Chinese culture.

You may have seen mooncakes in shops including Chinese grocery stores and restaurants. There are many legends surrounding the origins of mooncakes, but today, I would like to share how my family celebrate this special occasion. For me, Mid-Autumn Festival is like a second Chinese New Year. We celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival at my grandparents’ home. Our family is big, so my grandmother would prepare our food very early in the morning. My most enjoyable part was making mooncake with her. She would prepare the dough on the night before, then we baked it together. My grandparents live in a small village where they all know each other. It was always my duty to deliver and share the mooncakes to our neighbours. I remember how I would always come home with more food, as our neighbours would share theirs in return.

At 5 o’clock my Dad would light the fire for our dinner, which is a charcoal BBQ. We would gather around the grill, sizzling our meat and vegetables whilst sharing happy moments together filled with laughter. Then we would end our night with my grandmother’s home-made mooncakes. Although we wouldn’t give out or receive “Hong bao (the red envelopes)”, it was one of the most memorable days for me. I love that we would all gather and share what happened in our lives, consulting and giving out advice with kindness. This is the Mid-Autumn Festival for me!
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Photo: Mooncakes

Article by Fiona Yen, Facilitator,  Tui Tuia | Learning Circle

Upcoming Events - September

50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relations between New Zealand and China

This is an event organised by Confucius Institute in Auckland which will showcase Chinese language learning by Kiwi students.

Location: Auckland

Date: Saturday 24 September

For queries, email: info@ci.ac.nz

To read more about this event and to register click here
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Chinese Immersion Day

Come and enjoy the various Chinese language and cultural activities including the following:

• Calligraphy
• Paper cutting
• Making chinese knots
• Chinese painting
• Tea art
• Fun language workshops
• Chinese games
• Listen to tradional Chinse music
• Lion Dance

Location: Christchurch

Date: Sunday 25 September.

Free Event, No Registration required

For queries, please contact Confucius Institute via email: confucius-institute@canterbury.ac.nz or call and speak to Qianhua on Telephone: 03 3693383

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