news source: <News from NTNU>

The second event of the Ministry of Education's cross-domain aesthetic education excellence pilot project, "114th academic year Taipei-Keelung-Island Area Collaborative School Cross-Domain Aesthetics Results Presentation Conference," was held on July 9, 2015 at the Taipei Botanical Garden and Jianguo Middle School's Boxue Lecture Hall.

The second session brought together teachers from 15 schools in the Taipei, Keelung and Yilan areas to present their exciting curriculum results that integrated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), social emotional learning (SEL) and international issues. It also showcased exchanges and cooperation across counties, cities, schools, educational stages and subjects. All the cooperating schools used actions to make beauty permeate daily life and connect learning to the world.

This event was hosted by the project co-host, Professor Huang Chunmin of our school's Department of Education, and invited members of the Teacher Training Committee, Associate Professor Shi Lanmei of our school's Department of History, Assistant Professor Chen Junwen of the Institute of Arts and Humanities Education at the National Taipei University of the Arts, and Assistant Professor Chen Minghui of the College of Education at the National Chengchi University to participate in the feedback. Principal Zhuang Zhijun of Taipei Jianguo Middle School also made a special visit to the scene to pay tribute and witness the fruitful results of the project's partner school teachers in promoting cross-domain aesthetic education in the teaching field.

The morning event kicked off with a "Botanical Garden Walk". Anthropologist and adjunct assistant professor of the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at National Yang-Ming Chiao Tung University, Professor Xie Yiyi, was invited to lead the participating teachers to walk on the botanical garden trail in the rain, listening to the natural music of rain hitting leaves and birds singing, immersing themselves in the harmony of nature, and experiencing the close connection between plants and urban development since the establishment of the Taipei Botanical Garden in 1895. There are various ecological areas in the botanical garden, including the Buddhist plant area, wetland area and moss area. These areas not only show the diversity of plants, but also reflect the close connection between human culture and nature.

Taipei Botanical Garden is not only a base for botanical research, but also an important place for plant conservation and regeneration. This time, we specially invited Assistant Researcher Li Junwei from the Forestry Research Institute of the Ministry of Agriculture to introduce the Ark Greenhouse Group of the "National Botanical Garden Ark Project" to the teachers, which was open to the public on the first day. The vertical green wall in the greenhouse displays 140 species of native Taiwanese plants, which is a symbol of protecting Taiwan's rare species. Through the guided tour of the greenhouse, the participating teachers not only learned about the green treasures of Taiwan, but also further understood the concept of endangered plant conservation, which was a great harvest.

Professor Huang Chunmin encouraged the teachers present: "The botanical garden is one of the best demonstration and display venues that integrates aesthetics, SDGs, SEL, history, cross-domain common good and continued expansion." He also hoped that "every school can create a botanical garden that students will never forget," and bring green and happy thinking into the campus to reveal the significance and value of this sharing of aesthetic results.

Among them, Taipei City's Jianguo Middle School and New Taipei City's Gongliao Elementary School focus on the connection between ecology and family from the perspective of natural ecology, local culture and the aesthetics of life; Taipei City's Bihu Elementary School and Keelung Girls' High School explore the beauty around them through video combined with nature and literature and history; Keelung's Xinyi Elementary School integrates local culture and yam sea dyeing techniques into life; Yilan's Sijie Elementary School brings history to life with board games; and Shuangyong Elementary School allows students to enter public art, learn expression and participation.

In addition, Ganyuan Junior High School in New Taipei City leads students to learn about their hometowns, combining food and storytelling to demonstrate cultural confidence; Nangang Senior High School in Taipei City takes viewpoints as the core, guiding students to explore the world from the perspectives of philosophy and AI; Zhongzheng Junior High School in Keelung uses refugee issues to arouse empathy and participate in public welfare through art; Fuhe Junior High School communicates with peers through off-site learning, collaborates on STEAM cross-domain courses, and expands a diverse international perspective.

In terms of performing arts, Taipei Bojia Elementary School and New Taipei Jinshan Elementary School use drama courses to strengthen teamwork and expression, and deepen local culture; New Taipei Qingshan Elementary School combines SEL with drama to lead students to understand themselves and others from texts; Taipei Tianmu Junior High School uses history and music as the axis to explore conflict and peace through performance. The course inspires students from multiple perspectives, cultivates creativity, empathy and action, shows the depth and possibility of education, and opens up new horizons for students.

The curriculum practice presented in this publication demonstrates a high degree of integration across counties and cities, across educational stages, across urban and rural areas, and across issues, as well as across local characteristics and international perspectives. The teachers demonstrated deep professionalism and creativity, and each school has its own unique highlights and cultural context.

The finale of the achievement presentation was a comprehensive discussion where teachers discussed and shared their judgments on the quality of teaching achievements and students’ feedback on course participation, which aroused enthusiastic discussions among the participating teachers and brought a wonderful ending to the achievement presentation!