Reader Respond (Final)

             Picardo(2012) proposes that the significance of "fostering global awareness and international collaboration" among high school students is getting clearer in this modern era to nurture open-minded, informative and creative students. Realizing that people "with different languages come different ways to interpret the world", he agrees with Marcel Proust, a French novelist, who states that "the real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new lands but in seeing with new eyes". In addition, he comments that students who are aware of the world and diverse cultures are equipped with practical skills and are capable of deciding knowledgeably. It is undeniable that the goal of "fostering global awareness and international collaboration" can be easily achieved as students nowadays are exposed with information through various means such as travelling and accessing internet. According to Picardo (2012), students have more opportunities to go overseas by the age of 16 and get information easily through the internet. However, the effectiveness of such means is doubted by Picardo and it is regarded that guidance is needed through this process of discovery.

            Thus, Picardo elucidates that various "contextualized learning" methods, which can be generally classified into traditional and modern one, have been introduced in schools. Exchange programs, foreign languages studies and global partnership between schools are the examples of the former while social networks such as Twitter, Skype and Google Maps denote the latter.

            In my opinion, both traditional and modern "contextualized learning" methods can certainly broaden one's horizons about the world and help that individual to understand other's culture better. The memorable experience of welcoming students from Japan as a student ambassador of my high school two years ago deepened my insight of Japanese culture as well as my homeland's. Before the arrival of my Japanese friends, besides contacting them via Facebook, much time and effort was spent on useful websites such as YouTube and travelers’ blogs to learn basic Japanese language and understand their culture so that I could communicate with them with no offence. These efforts prepared me well with knowledge of Japan. Indeed, modern contextualized learning allowed me to "experience foreign cultures with unprecedented ease"(Picardo, 2012). I came to realize that without modern contextualized learning, the languages and cultures barriers among us might cause unwanted problems throughout their visit.

            During their stay in Malaysia, we did various activities like trying out local spicy dishes, "batik" painting and historical sites visits to widen their cultural and historical knowledge of Malaysia. As the host, I benefited as much as they did through our daily conversations and sharing. I was astonished to know how great the impact of China's culture is on Japan when I was invited to join their mini Japanese Tea Ceremony. Despite the fact that my legs were numb after kneeling down on the tatami in the seiza-style for hours, I was impressed by their attention to details and compliance with the meticulous rules of this ceremony. This contextualized learning was effective as I realised the far-reaching effect of culture to a nation. I uncovered the crucial reason that strengthened Japan’s power in the international arena, which was the disciplined and polite culture of Japanese. Also, I realised that modern contextualized learning helped us in developing ourselves to be more aware of others culture (Picardo, 2012).  I honed my soft skills, for instance, communication skills, adaptability to new culture and problem-solving skills and furthermore discovered my weaknesses, which is timidity to communicate with others. I transformed into a confident individual who could easily adapt to new situations, in which I believed I could perform better in the future.

            In a nutshell, I strongly agree that “global awareness and international collaboration during the formative years results in more rounded individuals” (Picardo, 2012) who have both hard skills and soft skills to compete with others in their future. I believe that a graduation certificate of university is the key to own a better job, but without these useful “tools”, an individual might not able to perform effectively and get along well with others in a multicultural workplace,  which will cause them to be easily eliminated very soon in the intense competition in nowadays careers.

Reference:

Jose Picardo (2012, September 25). Why students need a global awareness and understanding of other cultures. Retrieved 17 September 2014, from http://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2012/sep/25/students-global-awareness-other-cultures