On Friday March 7th, I had the pleasure of leading a guest lecture at the Hong Kong Education University, where I shared ICHK’s journey and experience of enacting our 5+1 model, how it connects to Human Technologies (HT) at the school, and together, help us place student wellbeing at the centre of what we do.

My audience was a group of aspiring teachers, some at earlier points of their learning journeys in training to become qualified teachers than others. I began the session by presenting them with a case study:an upper school secondary student who may be finding it very difficult to motivate themselves in the classroom. We discussed some of the possible next steps, had they been this student’s teacher, and agreed on what we think a productive response should look like - the common theme is “care”.

Over the summer holidays before this school year, I read a book by Nel Noddings called “The Challenge to Care in Schools”. Here she argues for the importance of care in education - emphasising the importance of building nurturing relationships between students and teachers, and how these can enhance learning. The question is, “how?”

Noddings suggests ways to achieve this in schools in her book, such as encouraging students to care for everything around them: animals, plants, the environment, and of course, the people; encouraging self-evaluation and giving students practice in caring, so that they are able to learn and grow in a caring environment.

At ICHK, we believe that the 5+1 model, along with our Human Technologies course, play a big part in creating this environment of care. We use the 5+1 model on a day-to-day basis, to foster the growth and development of our students in becoming sustainable, happy, and productive learners.

Based on the works of five educational thinkers, the first of the five strands of the model encourages students to adopt a growth mindset; the second encourages students to step out of their comfort zones and enter their zones of proximal development; the third looks at different cognitive dispositions children have in their journey of becoming an adult; the forth explores stages of psychosocial development; and the fifth and final strand focuses on the notion of ‘transactional analysis” - encouraging adult-to-adult communications, communications that can take place without prejudice and baggage. The “+1” here is a reminder that each student is a unique individual that we care for and support.

As both a pastoral leader and a Human Technologies teacher at ICHK, I frequently find myself connecting what we do in Human Technologies with our 5+1 model, as it’s intentionally woven into the fabric of the curriculum. Moreover, Human Technologies guide students through the process of putting theory into practice.

In the Year 7 unit on Animal Cognition, for example, we explore the umwelts of animals by “experiencing the world through other animals’ lenses.” In Year 8, students delve into what it means to develop a growth mindset. By Year 11, we embark on a journey with students to answer a big question: “What technologies can we draw on for a sustainable future?” The recent thought-provoking panel discussion at ICHK had students critically engage with this question from the perspectives of various experts and professionals, once again challenging them to think deeply.

Throughout the years, Human Technologies students also participate in diverse group work and collaborative activities, reflecting on their relationships with the people around them.

By connecting principles of care and personal growth with fostering positive student-teacher relationships, I was delighted to see my audience at Education University engaging in fruitful conversations with each other (and with me) about prioritising student wellbeing in our roles as teachers. Afterall, happy, productive learners are more likely to fulfill their capacities and achieve their goals. Let us continue to “care”, so as to empower students to become reflective, empathetic, and resilient learners and adults, ready to navigate the complexities of the world with confidence and compassion.