YU, operates ‘Global Harmony for Future’ with Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education
Foreign exchange students and YU students, become a daily teacher for Middle School Free Semester System
Communication of language·culture through global music … positive reactions from students to a special type of class
[2018-10-25]
Latin-American music was playing out of a classroom during 2nd period on a Friday in Class 2 of first grade in Soseon Girls’ Middle School located in Suseong-gu, Daegu, and the students’ joyful cheers help feel the atmosphere of the free-semester-system.
Deborah Ulloa, 21, who came to YU as an exchange student from Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile located in Santiago, Chile became a one-day teacher for Soseon Girls’ Middle School that is implementing the free-semester-system with Kwon Tae-yong (22) from YU majoring in Political Science and Diplomacy.
This day, they studied topics such as popular songs in South America and the Cueca music, which is a traditional Chilen dance. Deborah Ulloa introduced Chile as a country and delivered to students the meaning and contents of music which was the topic of the class of the day, and Kwon Tae-yong conducted the class with videos related to the music and materials of lyrics in the original language. The students were very enthusiastic about the unique flow of the class conducted by a foreign college student. In particular, the students fell in love with South America and enjoyed the Chilen traditional dance together.
Deborah Ulloa spoke about her feelings about the class by stating that “It was rewarding that I was given the time to introduce Chile to Korean teenagers. I particularly enjoyed connecting with the students through doing the Chilen traditional dances together. It was a time where I could really experience the global harmony.” Kwon, who conducted the class with her, stated that “I prepared for the class very thoroughly by making materials that explained the lyrics and also appropriate videos, but I was worried about teaching a whole class. But when I walked in, the students’ reactions were very positive and I was able to conduct the class in a joyful manner.”
Students of Soseon Girls’ Middle School that actively participated throughout the class also stated that “It was an interesting class where we were able to indirectly experience Chile. We were able to gain interest in Chile and Latin America because of this class.” They also spoke of their wishes by stating that “We hope there are more classes that can teach us about various countries that are hard to hear about on a daily basis.” Lee Soo-hyun, an English teacher at Soseon Girls’ Middle School, stated that “Students are enjoying these classes where they can hear from and connect with local college students about the culture, history, and language of an unfamiliar country, through the Free Semester System of First grade. It seems like students’ interests and curiosity were provoked because the one-day teachers from college prepared for classes very thoroughly. I hope that there can be more opportunities like this for students.”
This day, foreign exchange students from Chile and Netherlands and YU students separated into two teams and conducted classes. The classes they conducted are part of the ‘Global Harmony for Future’ Program conducted by YU and the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education. YU and Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education designed this program to allow local teenagers to experience global culture and develop global minds while naturally communicating with foreign university students during class. 4 countries and 7 teams such as Netherlands, Chile, Brazil, and China participated in the program. Classes will be conducted until November 23rd in 6 middle schools in Daegu including Soseon Girls’ Middle School, Gosan Middle School, Daegu Dong Middle School, Maeho Middle School, Siji Middle School, and Sinmyeong Girls’ Middle School. The topic of the classes is music from all over the world. In consultation with the Daegu Metropolitan Office of Education, YU plans on expanding the program by planning about more various topics.
YU director of the Foreign Cooperation Agency Huh Chang-duk stated that “There are about 1,300 foreign exchange students at YU, and approximately 20 countries and 200 foreign exchange students are looking to be at YU each year. YU will take the lead in promoting various internationalization programs that can be integrated with local communities.”
