news source: <Ministry of Education Global Information Network>

The Ministry of Education's "Interdisciplinary Aesthetic Education Excellence Leading Program," launched in 2014, has entered its 12th year. Each year, it continues to encourage schools to develop curricula that start from local contexts and integrate interdisciplinary and diverse issues. The Lunar New Year, Taiwan's most culturally significant festival, showcases the rich tapestry of traditional culture, from worshipping deities and preparing festive dishes to family reunions. Through interdisciplinary aesthetic courses, students can understand cultural connotations within familiar life contexts and build a profound connection with society and culture through exploration.

Taking the 2025 curriculum development achievements of Shanfeng Elementary School in Taoyuan City as an example, teachers used the "Journey to the West: A Theatrical Performance to Honor the Gods" as a starting point to guide students in understanding local beliefs and community culture through the lens of the local earth god temple. The ancient earth god temples scattered around the school provided a natural setting for the curriculum. In the classroom, teachers guided students to understand the role of the earth god in residents' lives, and students unleashed their creativity to design offerings for blessings, transforming fruits and vegetables symbolizing good fortune and abundance into works of art full of blessings through paintbrushes and clay.

The teacher subtly incorporated the interaction between the Earth God and Sun Wukong from "Journey to the West" into the discussion, bringing the literary classic to life in an engaging context. After students sewed their own glove puppets, the course took place at the Fulin Palace for a public performance. They performed scenes from a folk opera to thank the gods and complete a blessing ceremony, learning to express gratitude to heaven and earth, adapt to unexpected situations, cooperate as a team, and appreciate the connection between art and daily life.

The prayer offerings and puppet shows created by students during the course not only continued traditional cultural customs but also allowed them to experience the meaning of worshipping gods, praying for blessings, and interacting with the community. This experience of festive culture also echoed the course at Chung Shan Industrial High School where students designed cross-cultural lighting fixtures, transforming the blessings of traditional and multicultural traditions into concrete artistic expressions through creation.

From 2024 to 2025, students from Kaohsiung Chungshan Senior Vocational School of Industry and Commerce, under the Chungshan School Foundation, learned about the spiritual essence of combining culture and diverse ethnic groups in the two-semester course "Exquisite Meals, Artistic and Mathematical Skills." The course invited overseas Chinese students from different backgrounds to share their hometown's festival traditions. Students observed Vietnamese star lanterns, Thai water lanterns, Filipino octagonal lanterns, and Indonesian geometric lanterns, understanding the blessings and meanings behind each design through the shape, symmetry, and color of the lanterns. They used solid geometry concepts to design their own lampshades and combined laser cutting and other techniques to complete their works, showcasing a fusion of festival aesthetics and creative expression. Through lantern creation, students not only mastered interdisciplinary knowledge of mathematics and art but also extended their thinking from festival culture to sustainability and social responsibility, experiencing the shared aspirations of various cultures for "reunion" and "prayer."

From the traditional opera performances at Shanfeng Elementary School to the festive lanterns in the classrooms of Zhongshan Industrial and Commercial High School, these courses vividly demonstrate how interdisciplinary aesthetic education can combine traditional culture, faith, and art through creation and practice, making the learning of festival culture an important experience for understanding the land and respecting diverse cultures.

By implementing life-related courses, aesthetic education is deeply rooted in schools, allowing students to cultivate their sensitivity and initiative during festivals. We look forward to teachers, students, and families experiencing the cultural depth and beauty of life together during the Spring Festival reunion, extending learning into daily life. For more exciting courses, please visit the Interdisciplinary Aesthetic Education Project website (https://www.inarts.world/).