The era of diversity is coming. In order to adapt to a changing world, countries around the globe are doing everything in their power to prepare themselves. Taiwan is no exception. Starting in the academic year of 2019, students entering first grade, seventh grade (the first year of junior high school), and tenth grade (the first year of senior high school) will benefit from the new curriculum. The new curriculum focuses on students and places greater emphasis on situated cognition, integration, inquiry, and practice. The goal is to use the values of “taking the initiative”, “engaging the public”, and “seeking the common good” to instill in students the knowledge, skills, and attitude they need to adapt to modern life and future challenges.

“The purpose of the new curriculum of 2019 is to help all children, each of them unique in their own way, to develop their own interests and potential through the exploration of diversified subjects, the practice of turning theory into action, and spontaneous self-education,” says Minister of Education Wen-Chung Pan (潘文忠). “It is our responsibility to create an adaptive and diversified learning environment where our children will be filled with passion, work for the common good, engage in lifelong learning, and be the best that they can be.”

In the past, in an adaptive and diversified learning environment, many children were already able to pursue their own interests and passion. They achieved great success in a variety of different fields. Here are some of their stories.

From Interdisciplinary Learning to Game Design
Liu Chih-wei: I Am the Accumulation of My Education

Liu Chih-wei (劉致緯) was born in 1995. His alma mater was the Department of Bioenvironmental Systems Engineering at National Taiwan University (臺大生物環境工程系). He’s currently a planning specialist in a video game company. “I have been interested in designing video games since elementary school,” Liu says with a smile. When he was a student in Lishan High School (麗山高中), he took it upon himself to try to design a two-dimensional action game with a friend. “When you are designing a video game, everything from modes of attack to trajectory design requires very good math skills. This really motivated me to learn trigonometric functions.” His passion for his studies was also reflected in his grades. His exemplary test scores sent him to one of the best universities.  As a college student, in order to continue pursuing his passion, Liu took courses in other departments such as computer science and electrical engineering. The year he became a junior, he finally decided to listen to his heart. Along with a few friends, he founded the “video game design club” and challenged himself to create three-dimensional games.

After graduation, he joined a hugely popular mobile game company and became a planning specialist. His effort to improve player loyalty earned him the responsibility of managing one of the company’s games. Liu thinks he was able to cross disciplines and land his dream job because of his experience with founding a club and integrating learning experiences from different fields. Liu went from being a model student to a planning specialist pursuing his passion in the video game industry. He feels not a single step of his learning process has gone to waste. Everything leaves a mark in life, the important thing is to follow your own interest and passion. You will discover the path you want to take in the future.

Diversified and Adaptive, She is the Sum of All Her Learning
Lin Yi-ting: Making Choices and Decisions Should be Taught to Children 

Lin Yi-ting (林怡廷) grew up in a learning environment where inquiry and exploration were encouraged. She says, “It’s a great thing to teach children to learn for think for themselves and make their own decisions while they’re young. It helps them to pursue what they are really interested in.” Less than a year after she graduated college, Lin created the skincare brand “Oliver Skin Shield” (Oliver肌膚盾牌) through ecommerce platforms. Lin studied at Ginling Girls’ High School (金陵女中) before being admitted to her university through the recommendation program (推甄). “As a child, I knew I wanted to become an entrepreneur like my mother,” she says with a smile. Because she knew her grades were only average, when her high school told her about the recommendation program, she took the chance to evaluate what was the best match for her grades. She decided she wanted to study business. So, she signed up for the Department of Risk Management and Insurance at Ming Chuan University (銘傳大學風險管理與保險系).

For Lin, studying business came very naturally. Even though there were lots of reports to write and off-campus internships to go to, Lin leapt at every chance to take a part-time job and earn some extra money. She worked in administration, the wedding industry, shoes and clothing retail. “In the end, I found my favorite jobs were the ones where you came in contact with lots of people.” After graduation, Lin worked briefly in a bank. Then, she started a business with her boyfriend Hsu Hsiang-lin (許鄉林). The two lovebirds worked closely together. Within three years, the company had taken off, and the young couple was married. Besides skincare products, they’ve also branched out into the accessories market.

A Craftsman on the Global Stage
Lin Chien-hung: Give Me Multiple Choice, Not Yes or No

Lin Chien-hung, who once took the bronze in an international welding contest, is currently a junior studying at the school of Technical and Vocational Education of Design at National Yunlin University of Science and Technology (雲林科技大學設計技優專班). He’s also a part-time teacher at the Taipei-Keelung-Yilan-Hualien-Kinmen-Matsu Regional Branch at the Workforce Development Agency of the Ministry of Labor (勞動力發展署北基宜花金馬分署). The story of his education is proof that you don’t have to be a top-notch student to have a fulfilling learning experience and exciting career development. It turns out Lin’s father is also a welder. He wanted his son to grow up to be a white-collar worker sitting in an air-conditioned office, so he paid special care to his son’s education. Unfortunately, Lin’s grades left much to be desired. His father gave him a choice: “Stay in school or become a welder like your father.” Lin chose the latter.

No one expected Lin to really develop an interest in this profession. But not only did he become a world-class welder, he was even admitted into a proper university on account of this. In 2019, he became a coach in his own right and began training the next generation of competitive welders. He says with a smile, “Along the way, I met a lot of benefactors who encouraged and aided me.” By discovering his natural advantage and interest, even though Lin did not have the best grades, he forged his own path and advanced to the next level of his education with his impressive vocational skills. Lin shares his experience joyously, “I can see my father is quite proud of me. Even though he has not praised me to my face, he often boasts about my accomplishments on his Facebook page.”

These are the stories of three young adults who did not limit themselves and enjoyed an exciting learning experience full of exploration. In the future, we can expect to see more of such stories taking place across the country. This new way of thinking will replace the old mainstream value that prized good grades above all else. The new curriculum will encourage interdisciplinary learning, especially adaptive educational courses. It will give children more chances of enjoying a topic-specific, exploratory, and practical education. They can choose to join clubs or activities they are interested in, explore a diversity of choices, and proactively learn new knowledge to better themselves.

【More on CommonWealth Magazine Vol. 685 Competency-based Education, Forging Future Talent】
♦ Taiwanese Go Champion Joanne Missingham: I Only Finished Middle School, But I Am Who I Am
♦ Illustrator Cinyee Chiu: Passion Trumps Conventional Wisdom
♦ Making History for Taiwan: Beating the Odds with WorldSkills Gold
♦ Singapore’s Education Reforms: Learning Is not a Competition

Translated by Jack C.
Edited by Sharon Tseng
Content sponsored by the Ministry of Education