Guoxi Elementary School, Zhushan Township, Nantou County—An Encounter with the Fragrance of Tea and the Melody of the Qin

This semester's interdisciplinary curriculum structure incorporates music and Hokkien storybooks into the school's core tea ceremony course. The semester also features a dance curriculum developed from physical stretching activities, which is further developed into small-theater performances. Hokkien songs are integrated with physical stretching performances, creating a theatrical experience that provides students with diverse learning opportunities. This allows language to be internalized through student performances, adding physical activity and storytelling to the Hokkien language curriculum, beyond the static learning of language and songs, thus motivating students to learn. The hands-on local storybook making course cultivates students' creativity and aesthetic sense, providing hands-on experience that deepens language learning into creative expression. It also connects with the community, helping students understand local industries and the value of sustainable development. The physical stretching class is a beautiful cleansing for both body and mind. In the static language and song classes, you can practice dialogue and conversation methods. By adding physical stretching classes (dance) to the language and song classes, you can enjoy a different kind of feast after a high-tension state. In fact, after the dance class, your mood will be more stable and your thoughts will be clearer. You can also learn different interdisciplinary courses here.
Nowadays, students have a lot of erratic behaviors due to academic pressure, and they will forget their own physical and spiritual deficiencies and needs. Through the cross-field courses arranged by the school, students' academic tension can be slowly adjusted and the body can return to balance and health. .
Furthermore, the course seamlessly integrates the original instrumental music and tea ceremony lessons, allowing students to develop their own traditional Chinese string and wind ensembles by incorporating musical elements into the tea-making process. This ongoing and in-depth curriculum makes the content more diverse and engaging. The aim is to enhance student learning through interdisciplinary collaboration, combining artistic performance, poetry recitation, and hands-on activities, thereby deepening the teaching of language, tea ceremony, dance, and art.
In terms of physical stretching classes, this is a gentle, relaxed, and non-competitive course that can produce a subtle, pleasant sensation that travels to the muscles. This type of course is individualized and doesn't require following any rigid rules; the stretching is about self-reliance, allowing you to feel like yourself. Furthermore, it can be combined with existing language activities to develop courses suitable for students.
Through hands-on learning and practice in creating local storybooks, students experience multifaceted growth in knowledge, skills, and attitudes. They gain an understanding of the community's historical background and cultural values, recognizing its unique characteristics and developing a love for their hometown, thus enhancing their sense of identity and respect for local culture. The practical process also fosters creativity and aesthetics. Through a tea plantation field trip, followed by teacher explanations and discussions back at school, students design their own storybooks. This enhances their crafting skills and focus, cultivating patience and meticulousness. During presentations, students actively try different expressions and techniques, learning to introduce the tea-picking and processing procedures in the tea plantation. Through discussion and practice, they reflect on how to apply design to promote the sustainable development of community industries.
Dance classes use simple exercises to progressively improve muscle strength and flexibility, allowing students to connect with their inner selves, relieve muscle stiffness and soreness, and increase physical agility while providing necessary rest. It's an experiential learning program where learners develop simple skills through dynamic dance lessons, combined with language and song recitation. Therefore, this interdisciplinary curriculum cultivates students' patience, respect for others, and gratitude, inspiring resilience and perseverance, and transforming into an artistic atmosphere. The organizers of the Nantou County Tea Expo invited us to perform, and our tea ceremony, accompanied by students' musical performance, created a warm and welcoming atmosphere. We hope that through interdisciplinary collaboration and artistic performance, we can integrate and deepen the teaching of language, tea ceremony, and art, enhancing student learning outcomes.
Through the process of joint lesson preparation by school teachers and the hiring of professional tea sommeliers and dancers to conduct teacher training at the school, teachers’ teaching abilities are enhanced, and cross-disciplinary qualities such as music, language and dance are added to revitalize the original tea ceremony teaching.