International College Hong Kong

Human Technologies

Developed at ICHK, Human Technologies offers students a toolkit for becoming better human beings in an ever-changing world.

Human Technologies is the centrepiece of the ways in which we continue to change education for the better at ICHK.

Our ground-breaking curriculum encourages students to experience school in more positive ways, whilst developing a profound sense of the art and craft of being human.

At ICHK our core aim is to educate our students to be resourceful, resilient, collaborative, open-minded, ethical, accepting of others, sustainable in their habits, and more inclined to take the long view.  We want them to have a profound and positive sense of the art and craft of being human. This is the aim and the promise of Human Technologies.

All learning and teaching is framed through the HT lens, which offers a novel perspective on human beliefs, practices and activity.

The programme has been developed and refined over the past five years and is followed by students from Years 7-11 every week.

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It suggests that what makes us smart is not our brains in themselves, but the fact that our brains – and the thinking they generate – are able to benefit from the accumulated wisdom of our peers and forebears.

In this view, language is a technology, mathematics is a technology, the scientific method is a technology. So, too, are conversational skills, giving constructive feedback, ‘selling’ a presentation to an audience and knowing how to enthuse people as a leader.

Handwriting is a technology, the ‘rules’ of good graphic design are a technology. Fashion is a technology to promote identity and money is a technology to promote trade. Mindfulness is a technology for mental health and enjoyable physical activity a technology for bodily health.

Our HT curriculum engages with all these topics and more in entertaining, provocative and accessible ways. It encourages students to think critically about which technologies they want to use and how they might use them to best advantage. And, equally, to identify which technologies they would like to leave well alone and how to go about developing the self-confidence to act on their decisions.

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The programme aligns perfectly with the Epistemic Apprenticeship which lies at the heart of our school, and by virtue of which we create and sustain a psychological and physical environment in which students want and are able to build towards being the best people they can be.

A significant point in the development of HT was marked in 2019, with the start of a PhD research project into the curriculum, and increased international attention from education leaders.

Human Technologies is available as a curriculum strand to any and all interested schools around the world. We have one fellow traveller already in Kirwan State High school in Australia. We would welcome others to join the journey.

HT Resources

To find out about Human Technologies in more detail, click on the link below to read our primer.

You can also view the Human Technologies Venn Diagram below:

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The Head of School’s blog explores the subject in greater detail.

This video below showcases some of the skills learned in our HT curriculum: tenacity, strong teamwork skills, the capacity to deal with emergent complexity, logical deduction, clear communication and lots of creativity.

To begin thinking through a Human Technologies lens, take a look at the videos below.

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