About The Program
The International Division of the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development is facilitating the development of a new Overseas Study Program. International Division is working with four regions in 2008 to design and pilot models for sustainable implementation across Victoria in following years. The 70- 80 students involved in the pilot project will travel during the second half of 2008 to one of a variety of locations including China, the USA Malaysia, Germany and Japan. Significant funding has been allocated to each selected region to participate in the 2008 pilot.
An expansion of overseas study opportunities will provide an increased capacity for students from Victorian government schools and broader opportunities to live and undertake school-based study in a different culture and so develop cultural literacy, global knowledge and cross cultural communication skills. Limited opportunities exist for students to travel offshore during their school year but these are mainly associated with LOTE studies, music studies or as a member of a sporting group. The International Division is seeking to increase the experiential participation of Victorian students in the broader global environment.
The cohort is year nine or ten students who have not had the opportunity to live, study or travel overseas previously. Currently the Department provides opportunities to broaden student experiences through the City School Campuses and Rural Learning Centres. This Overseas Study Program will complement these city and rural initiatives to include a global educational experience.
Gariwerd Program Information
As participants in the Gariwerd Program, Year 10 students are given the opportunity to take part in a fully funded extended stay in China. All travel, insurance, accommodation and in-country expenses are covered by the program. Costs not covered by the program include: passport applications, travel within Australia (to the airport or to another school for program meetings) vaccinations, gifts for hosts, and spending money.
The program will run for 4 -6 weeks from September 7th to October 5th. Please note that these dates may change slightly depending on flight cost and availability. Student interest will determine how long exactly the program runs for. Whilst in China, students will undertake a cross-curricular action research project. More information on projects is outlined later in this document.
There are places for 20 students from 5 rural schools to take part in the program. The schools involved are: Horsham College, Stawell Secondary College, Ararat College, Hawkesdale P-12 College and Mt Clear College. Students will stay at a boarding school. The group will be accompanied by three staff members (one of which will be a native Chinese speaker) .
The Gariwerd Program provides a fantastic opportunity for schools and students to access an experience and learnings that may not otherwise be available. It encourages international and global awareness as well as leadership skills and personal development.
The program will involve the students in a targeted and defined action research project, however the pre -trip work will be done at lunch times and after normal school hours. The program will be modelled along the Alpine School program, working towards an action research project. However the pre trip communication will be ICT based more than physical contact. The program will be as much about the student’s learning about themselves as young adults, as it is about learning about the western region of Victoria and how the world is today. Students will identify a research project based around world issues that closely relate to their region. Students will work in teams with a set criteria and expected outcomes that come from the student’s ideas and voices. It has not yet been decided how many students will be in each team and whether teams will be across schools or not. Some possible project topics could include the following themes:
- Global water use e.g. “How do households consume water?”
- Global warming.
- Carbon energy use e.g. “How do different lifestyles effect energy and consumption patterns? “
- House hold personal food / and consumer use
- Housing eg “How do housing styles affect life, energy use and people?”
- Work and employment
The students will
· Provide a web site communicating in two languages explaining about their communities and the environmental or global issue (causes and solutions)
· Undertake research in both Australia and China, and work with students from both countries.
· Communicate regularly using IT and other means through distance meetings.
In the weeks prior to the visit, students will work with their teachers in developing the area of investigation they wish to explore. Following the time in China, students will analyse the data they have collected, test it against their hypothesis and make presentations to the wider school community and the world through a web site developed by students from both countries.
