English Summer Camp in China

Overview

For two years I was an English teacher in rural China through an international program called Teach For China. In my two years of teaching, I saw that most middle school English classes required heavy amounts of rote memorization and lacked opportunities for students to use English in real-life contexts. I hypothesized that a summer camp, arranged outside of students’ normal learning environments and expectations, would allow students to play with English in new ways, therefore increasing their interest in learning English as well as their ability to produce original spoken and written English. Smaller workshops and after-school classes I held with students supported my idea that using English in real-life contexts increased their curiosity and interest in speaking English. With this in mind, I began planning a two-week English Summer Camp for 50 low-income students across Yunnan Province.

Research

My research was an ongoing process that took place over two years. Through meeting weekly with local Chinese English teachers, observing local teachers' classes, attending professional development workshops and conferences, comparing English textbooks and learning resources available to students and teachers, and teaching my own class, I discovered that students often struggled to learn English because their learning was decontextualized. As an example, 8th grade Chinese students who had never left their rural farming towns were expected to write English essays on what it was like to visit an amusement park and an aquarium. Clearly, there was ample room to make English a more appropriate, contextual, and engaging medium for students to study and speak. I knew that I could capitalize on summer vacation to make English more fun, accessible, and relevant to their lives through mechanisms they enjoyed. 

Planning

I brainstormed various solutions to contexualize the existing curriculum and bring more applicable English content to my students. All of these examples were being tested in various forms by both local and foreign English teachers throughout the province. However, I wanted to try something immersive—something that would change students' mindsets and explore a new way to teach and excite students about language. My proposed solution was a two-week English Summer Camp that would capitalize on the free time students had over the summer and transform it into an educational and fun experience that none of my students had ever experienced.

Thankfully, I was surrounded by American and Chinese teachers that had similar mindsets and were eager to be involved. I recruited a team of 12 curriculum planners and together, we determined the classes and content through which students could both learn and then apply English skills.

Design

Given the technological restraints inherent in living in the rural countryside, the camp had to be run low-tech. Some classrooms had access to a projector, while others were simply seats with a blackboard. Twelve curriculum planners and I bypassed this challenge by crafting lessons that were were physical and hands-on and offered opportunities for students to apply their newfound English, such as “Could you pass me that pencil?” or “Can I borrow that ball?”

The drama class in particular would allow students to not only learn new words, but put all of their learning together by presenting a one-act show in English on the final day of camp. While most of the custom-written shows featured simple and easy-to-understand English, others were more challenging. This intentional variety ensured that students could be accurately placed by level and that all students were appropriately challenged.

Testing

The curriculum, schedule, and logistics were reviewed and improved by countless educators, both Chinese and American, before the start of the camp. However, the true test was the first several days of camp, in which students provided valuable reactions and feedback that we used to improve the following days. Some of our early learnings included that students got much more homesick than we anticipated; students had more varied English levels than we expected; and that teachers, like students, needed time and encouragement in order to adjust to this new environment and way of learning. Luckily, we had built enough flexibility into the program that we were able to make adjustments in order to account for these new realizations.

Results and Learning

By the end of the two weeks, students had put on seven one-act shows and increased their written English ability. The idea has sparked the imagination of other Chinese teachers, who have replicated the camp in other locations. Of all the design projects I've worked on, this was the most intensive but most rewarding.

On a personal level, the biggest take away from me was the importance of team work. Planning this camp involved hundreds of seemingly unsurmountable obstacles that I would never have been able to overcome alone. Finding individuals that shared my vision and were willing to come with me on this wild journey were crucial to the success of the camp and the experience the students took with them.