American School Hong Kong offers students a STEAM-centred learning approach

Set in picturesque Tai Po, American School Hong Kong (ASHK) empowers students to be independent critical thinkers and responsible global citizens with a holistic American education featuring STEAM, Chinese programmes and a hands-on approach to learning. 

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A STEAM approach

In recent years, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) and other variations of the acronym have been a particularly popular concept with schools keen to advertise their forward-thinking approach to innovative teaching and the 21st century. It is however important to determine which schools pay lip-service to the concept and which offer an in depth programme. 

ASHK is undoubtedly one of the schools that is faithful to the concept. In personalising its offering, it has chosen to pursue the route of STEAM (crucially with the addition of the A for Arts) and its bespoke course is one of the factors that helps to define the school’s overall curriculum.  

Since opening in 2016, ASHK has worked hard to carve out a unique and considered programme that helps the modern-day learner combine the skills of a scientist with those of a designer. The school is keen to teach its pupils that there are no defined lines between subjects, but instead many interesting overlaps which can allow them to be studied as a whole.

Read more: Nord Anglia International School Hong Kong is leading the way in STEAM-based learning

“STEAM and STEM are similar philosophies that focus on integrating subjects in a meaningful way while promoting collaboration and problem-solving. STEAM is even more powerful because it intentionally exposes students to the arts to help them develop creativity, imagination, and innovation. As students demonstrate their knowledge through drawings, music, drama, and information technology, their learning and understanding deepen,” says Ryan Yue.

Yue is ASHK’s Director of Education Technology and designs the school’s programme. He explains that it falls into two parts. Firstly, there are the purebred tech classes that focus on coding and robotics. The second part is where technology is integrated with the other subjects in order to enhance the students’ understanding and abilities.

“The benefits of STEAM can be summed up by the words of engineer and physicist Theodore von Karman: ‘Scientists discover the world that exists; engineers create the world that never was.’ At American School Hong Kong, we are dedicated to maximising the creative and innovative capacity of our students to help them become what our Mission statement speaks to: ‘independent critical thinkers, and responsible global citizens who excel in their future studies and careers’,” Yue says. 

Chinese programme

ASHK offers different streams to meet the Chinese language development needs of its students. Options of either simplified or traditional characters are offered at Chinese Foundation Level (CFL) and Chinese Standard Level (CSL), and traditional characters are taught in Chinese Higher Level (CHL) and Chinese Advanced Level (CAL).

New students are assessed by Chinese teachers with their classroom performances and assessment results during the first two weeks of school, whilst returning students are assigned to a suitable stream by their Chinese teachers according to their previous performances.

To help students to develop their personal interests and understand Chinese cultural heritage, ASHK creates an active and open learning environment and offers extra-curricular activities such as Chinese dance, Chinese calligraphy and Chinese painting.

Read more: Chinese Academy Primary School prioritises bilingual education in an immersion environment

Every year, the school holds a large-scale Chinese New Year celebration. Flora Hui, Head of Chinese Studies, explains: “Students will have various performances on the stage, including Chinese dance, face changing (opera mask changing), cucurbit silk, guzheng, Kung Fu Panda stage play, lion dance and dragon dance to demonstrate their achievements in learning Chinese culture. Students can also wander around the Chinese New Year Flower Market after the performance.”

A unique offering from ASHK are its Chinese language camps, designed to fit every student’s learning needs. There are four main options for camps. The Beijing Summer Camp gives students the opportunity to travel to Beijing and have a three-day trip to other provinces, and travel to cities like Inner Mongolia and Xi’an, to dive deeply in Chinese culture. The Taiwan Summer Camp puts students through a series of well-designed Chinese courses and cultural activities to enhance their ability to communicate in Chinese. The GuangZhou WuShu Camp focuses on traditional kung fu and gratitude education and guides students to cultivate good behavior and personal quality. Lastly, the Singapore Summer Camp allows students to compare the similarities and differences between Singapore’s culture and traditional Chinese culture, and to cultivate their international vision.

Hands-on experience

The aim is to provide visual, hands-on lessons that allow students an interactive experience (and far removed from the textbook and chalkboard system that most parents remember from their own school days). The school uses Bee Bot, Osmo Coding and Dash Robot to implement this.

“We even use robotics for the earlier years,” says Yue. “For example, for kindergarten children learning counting we utilise the Bee Bot. They draw a grid map and instruct the Bee Bot how many squares to move depending on their additions.”

The concept of being able to see one’s work manifested in physical form is widely appreciated to allow a deeper level of learning and, crucially, better retention of knowledge. This is something that ASHK promotes whenever possible.

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“Once you have written a program, a very important concept every time is that you need to execute it. So the students see their work become a physical command. They see their work in action.”

The other significant benefit of a hands-on STEAM programme is that students develop ownership of – and responsibility for – their own work in a way which is less likely to happen when the only output is writing in a text book. Seeing the fruits of one’s labour is a process that is much more rewarding.  

ASHK is certainly reaping the rewards. In particular, it is helping to break down the gender barriers that have long existed around science-based subjects. Tue notes that boys and girls share a similar level of enthusiasm for the content. 

A global network

ASHK’s affiliations extend globally, as its parent company, Esol, has a long history of academic excellence. With ten international schools around the globe and 10,000 students, Esol has over 40 years of experience in education. Being part of a broader network also means that ASHK has access to global schemes that would be harder for smaller schools to muscle in on.

With capacity for nearly 1000 pupils, ASHK is organically growing through the years and will see its first cohort of graduates in 2023. For the moment, the year groups rise to Grade 10 with a focus on the American curriculum centred around the US Common Core. However, as students enter Grades 11 and 12, they will move to the International Baccalaureate (IB) for the diploma course.