Building Cultural Competency: Essential Skills for a Complex World

"Our students will become the ambassadors of the future--not just in government, but at every level of society--in bridging the cultural and political gaps that impede progress on so many key issues, from climate change and artificial intelligence, to human rights, peace, prosperity and good governance. 

- Chris Livaccari, Head of School, Presidio Knolls School

At the 17th Annual National Chinese Language Conference in May 2024, Chris Livaccari presented strategies to help schools develop global exchange programs that actively cultivate their students’ cultural competencies, or their ability to see the world from multiple perspectives and take action on issues of both local and global significance. Below, he highlights why cultural competency is integral to developing critical skills in arts, sciences, and social justice in a world grappling with complex global issues and societal divides. 

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At Presidio Knolls School, the mindsets and skill sets that our students develop through our language immersion and global exchange programs are just as good for working in a Silicon Valley startup as they are for becoming a diplomat. They are just as good for solving a math or physics problem as they are for taking action on critical issues of social justice.

Our students’ superpower is perspective shifting – the ability to conceptualize a diverse range of solutions to problems, and to use cognitive and emotional empathy to understand the experiences, backgrounds, and ways of thinking of even the most marginalized or radically different people. Helping our students develop these cultural competencies is the core of our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts (#DEI), and so much more powerful than only teaching content about holidays or heritage months (as in schools with more traditional approaches to pedagogy).

The benefits of becoming bilingual and bicultural extend well beyond learning to speak or read a new language. They enhance our students’ mental flexibility and capacity for understanding – they help create the ability to actively code switch between different modes of communication and different interpretive strategies. They enable our students (as the cliche has it) to “walk in others’ shoes” or (as Marcel Proust had it) to “see with other eyes.”

So many of our students have shared that when they consider a math problem through an English lens or a Chinese lens, it enables them to see a range of different patterns, and conceptualize a unique set of approaches and solutions. The cognitive, aesthetic, and social benefits of bilingualism go far beyond simple linguistic proficiency. At PKS, we use language as a foundation for building the capacity to understand and embrace difference; to find beauty, optimism, and resilience even in the face of adversity; and to formulate, implement, and communicate creative ideas and solutions to complex problems. In this sense, language and culture become the threads around which critical skills in the arts, math and science, history and social justice are woven together. It is their synthesis and synergies that help drive our students’ senses of kindness, curiosity, and courage – the shared values we have defined for our school and community,

This has never been more important for our next generation of young people – in a world confronting a uniquely challenging US-China relationship, wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, economic disparities, and unprecedented levels of political and social divisiveness and polarization. It’s no exaggeration to say that our students will lead the future with energy, creativity, and optimism – it’s why their example inspires us to do what we do each and every day!

Elementary Deep Dives: Social Emotional Learning in 1st Grade

Elementary Deep Dives

Social Emotional Learning in 1st Grade

Big Picture: How We Think About Social Emotional Learning In Elementary School

PKS is a unique and special place for many reasons; for one, our project-based, progressive, bilingual curriculum places students’ needs and interests at the center of their educational experience. At the heart of our teaching is social-emotional learning (SEL), the process by which children gain the knowledge and skills to develop healthy identities, manage emotions, achieve personal and collective goals, make responsible and thoughtful decisions, show empathy, and create caring and supportive relationships. We know that kids need to feel safe and cared for in order to learn. SEL skills and practices allow students to thrive as whole, growing people, and teach them how to create spaces of inclusion, care, and belonging in their classrooms and playgrounds.

Social-emotional learning is woven into our students’ days during Morning Meetings, Closing Circles, recess, and throughout different units of exploration. Anchoring this work, and guiding all of our experiences, individual and shared, are the values of safety, kindness and respect for ourselves and others. How we turn these values into practice looks and sounds different across the grade levels. In coordination with our Wellness Team, each grade level has developed their custom SEL curriculum plan created with a developmental lens, and we have shared some highlights and photos below.

Zooming In: What SEL Looks, Sounds and Feels Like in First Grade

Our focus at the beginning of the year has been on getting to know our first graders, and together, becoming a community where we all take care of each other and help each other do our best. In order to be able to help others in this way, we need to be able to take care of and make good decisions for ourselves. This happens through self-awareness and self-regulation, one of our key SEL goals in first grade.

To help us notice and identify our feelings, states of alertness, and energy levels, we learn about the Zones of Regulation. As you learned and experienced at our Back to School Night, there are four colored Zones – Blue, Green, Yellow, and Red. Everyone experiences all of the zones at different times and in different circumstances. Being in tune with our feelings takes practice, so each morning as part of their arrival routine, students will think about and identify their color zone. As the year continues, we will continue to learn and practice self-regulation tools such as calming strategies, thinking strategies, and sensory supports, with the goals of helping ourselves and our classmates do our best in our learning and our friendships.

We also make social emotional learning connections through different subjects and classes. For example, group projects and activities in our units of exploration give us a real-world context to practice using kind, cotton ball words (vs. sandpaper words), growth mindset, flexible thinking, and problem-solving approaches based on the size of problems. During our Community unit later this year, we will practice perspective-taking and empathy as we think about different community members’ needs and experiences and think of ways to make sure everyone’s needs are met. 

In English class, we have played situational scenario games such as Expected vs. Unexpected (behaviors). This framing helps children more deeply understand and anticipate the impact, and sometimes consequences, of their choices and behavior. For example, when a classmate says something funny, we will naturally want to laugh. After a good laugh, we may need to take a deep breath and refocus. That’s the expected behavior. An unexpected behavior would be to continue laughing loudly after everyone else has stopped and the group activity has resumed. That loud laughter might cause some classmates to feel sad or frustrated that they can’t hear, or others to feel uncomfortable because of the loud volume. We will continue to introduce different scenarios to help our students understand the many individual and group benefits of expected behavior.

Our COLORFUL Year of Learning and Growth

As the year continues, we will delve more deeply into our Zone of Regulation curriculum and continue to use stories, games and role plays to support key SEL learning goals in first grade:

• Using cotton ball words, not sand paper words that feel rough or uncomfortable

• Learning self-awareness via Zones of Regulation

• Identifying our specific and changing feelings each day

• Navigating social situations with kindness and increasing independence

• Trying out different coping strategies

• Developing an awareness of equity in our community through Units of Exploration

September Faculty Spotlight: Our Wellness Team

Lily Huang (left) is our ES Resource Teacher, and one her favorite ways that wellness is incorporated into the classroom is through mindfulness and sensory awareness.

Missy Silver (middle) is our Educational Therapist, and she loves to connect with students by chatting about books, songs, games or outings, and through the conversation, discovering shared likes or experiences.  

Elizabeth Heuser (right), is our Wellness Lead and Counselor, and she is excited about how our SEL focus can strengthen bonds across our whole community around the themes of flexible thinking, kindness and respect.

Elementary Deep Dives: Math in Kindergarten

Elementary Deep Dives

Math in Kindergarten

The Big Picture: Teaching and Learning Math in Elementary School

Embracing an innovative approach to math education, PKS integrates the Bridges curriculum with open-ended math investigations related to our Units of Exploration. This blended method not only ensures differentiation but also challenges students to think deeply about math concepts across different contexts. By intertwining structured learning with real-world application, we foster an engaging and inviting math environment that naturally fosters both foundational skills and deeper critical thinking.

Central to our math program are six big ideas that frame student learning across the elementary continuum from kindergarten through fourth grade:

1. Students explore composing and decomposing numbers, both conceptually and in practice, gaining a deep understanding of operations. 

2. Students engage with visual representations of mathematical concepts, developing a strong grasp of how not only numbers, but also ideas and relationships can be represented visually. 

3. Students learn to use and understand mathematical tools and pictures, enhancing their problem-solving abilities. 

4. Students learn to look for and see patterns, creating deeper ways to understand numbers and make sense of the world.

5. Students practice describing, sorting, and categorizing, applying analytical skills through creative lenses. 

6. Students use numbers in the context of measurement to obtain information, make comparisons, and solve problems in the real world context. 

Our approach to teaching and learning math creates an engagement, excitement and energy that counters the myth of the 'math person'. At PKS, math isn’t just about numbers; it is an open invitation to all students to explore, and a gateway to making sense of the world through the lenses of numbers, relationships and patterns. 

Zooming In: What Math Looks, Sounds and Feels Like in Kindergarten

Math is visual

Students love playing Tiny Polka Dot because it's fun! Teachers love this game because it fosters visual connections between amount and integer value, and it leads to interesting conversations.

Math is interactive

Throughout our elementary program, we learn math together, in pairs or small groups, to deepen engagement, flexible thinking, and communication skills.

In our lively kindergarten classrooms, we are deeply immersed in the world of mathematics, looking for and finding numbers, shapes and patterns in our environment. Number sense and patterns form the cornerstone of our exploration this year. Our recent focus has been on understanding combinations of five, a foundational concept that lays the groundwork for more complex numerical relationships. We're guiding our young learners towards a deeper comprehension of numbers, steadily moving towards understanding the intricate relationships within the realm of ten.

Central to our approach is not just teaching these concepts, but instilling a sense of excitement and wonder about math in every young learner. Through hands-on activities and interactive learning experiences, we're nurturing a genuine and shared passion for numbers and patterns. By cultivating this enthusiasm, we're not just teaching computational skills, we're shaping confident, creative and curious thinkers.

What do you notice?

What patterns are hidden within this calendar? Every month we explore a new set of images on our calendar, and start with the questions, “What do you see,” and “What do you notice?” We are amazed by the discussions that these questions ignite, and by the multiple and varied insights our students come to. What do you notice here?

Faculty Spotlight: Yang Cao, Math Curriculum Lead

Math has been a journey for me! Back in school, I used to view math as this daunting task of endless numbers and equations, just drills and formulas. But as I got older, I started seeing it as this incredible puzzle, a game waiting to be played. Solving a challenging math problem became like cracking a secret code, and suddenly, I was hooked. Now, as a teacher, I get to share this newfound excitement with my students. I love those 'aha' moments, you know, when they go from total confusion to that light in their eyes when it finally clicks.

One of my favorite things is turning math into a game. I get such a kick out of kids wanting to challenge me, and trust me, they often win! We play and learn together, making math this fun, interactive experience. Seeing their faces light up with pride when they solve a problem, it's like witnessing magic happen right in the classroom. And it's not just about numbers; it's about understanding the world around us. From measuring ingredients for a recipe to figuring out the best deals during sales, math is everywhere, and it's pretty cool once you get the hang of it!

Elementary Deep Dives: Units of Exploration in 3rd Grade

Elementary Deep Dives

Units of Exploration in 3rd Grade

The Big Picture: How Our Units of Exploration Anchor Student Learning

The PKS mission is wholly unique, and our units of exploration are a core curricular component that brings the mission to life. Learning that happens in the context of our units and projects is authentic, meaningful and connected, and therefore also deep and lasting.

In kindergarten, units of exploration start with the students’ favorite subjects - themselves! Through exploration of their senses and their families, students begin learning different ways to relate to each other and their world. In first and second grade, students begin to relate to a widening world around them with topics such as life cycles, green communities, health, drama, and citizenship within our city. While studying these familiar topics, students build mindsets and skills that they can then apply to more abstract topics in upper elementary grades.

In third and fourth grade, students explore human development, frontiers, space, mechanics, migration, and energy.  Through their project work, they engage in inquiry, hands-on creation, problem-solving, and self-reflection. Learning in this way contextualizes important, “traditional” subject matter such as history, geography, and biology and also develops dynamic, deep interdisciplinary thinking that can lead and empower students to solve complex real-world problems.

Zooming In

In third grade, teachers and parents often notice a significant leap in our children’s interest in the wider world, and their ability to engage in sustained academic work. This is a period of rapid growth and transformation for many students! This year, students will study four different units of exploration: Healthy Brains and Growth Mindset; Frontiers;  Earth, Moon and Sun; and Simple Machines. These units are interconnected by the common theme of exploration and the explorer mindset. We delve into the historical context of explorers who ventured across the Earth, and into the universe. From there, our third graders will adopt the same exploratory mindset to solve real-world problems in our simple machines unit.

Musical mapping

To kick off the Frontiers unit, students created map legends based on observation of our neighborhood and we transformed them into our 'street song'.

Our current Frontiers unit is an example of how we integrate multiple subjects and lenses into the framework of a unit. We kick off this unit with two engaging entry events: "Me and the World" and a "Music Map" to spark curiosity. As we delve into the study of geography, we have been building the habit of perspective taking, particularly, thinking about historical events and situations from different parties’ points of view. We reflect on the stories behind maps, and use critical thinking to understand the lessons we can learn from history, including who has had the resources to document and tell their stories through maps or texts. We also incorporate mathematics by exploring concepts like scale and coordinate grids to enhance our map-reading skills. The students are empowered to be both geographers and artists as they create their own maps. Finally, we apply multimedia skills to present our learning effectively, sharing one story from different perspectives. 

Beyond Geography 

Maps are a useful tool that can help us navigate from place to place. They are also interesting historical documents that can tell a story. Through this unit, students will not only learn map-reading skills but also begin thinking about what stories maps throughout history have told, and who was telling those stories. Whose story did not get told and why is that?

Faculty Spotlight

Anita Laoshi: I love the simple machines unit！This unit is my favorite because it allows students to transition from theoretical learning to hands-on activities. Students exercise creativity and critical thinking skills through the building process, and we can see their deep sense of accomplishment.

Han Laoshi: Our Frontiers unit is captivating at so many levels. Our study and comparison of maps prompted insights and questions from our students. Our classroom mapping project allowed students to show both creativity and application of mathematical problem-solving. I am inspired and can't wait to continue our exploration.

Rosalie Laoshi: I love the growth mindset unit. The application of a growth mindset in both daily learning and life is crucial, not only for students but also for teachers. The final project was a powerful way for students to put their learning into practice.

Creating a Culture of Belonging: Part Two

At PKS, we know that school is more than a place of learning, or a stepping stone to high school and beyond. Our students’ years here will help them develop a sense of themselves in the world, so it is imperative that PKS be a community where they feel seen, known, accepted, connected, and included. And as I shared in the first part of this blog, belonging sets the stage for learning; it provides the foundation from which curiosity, exploration, risk taking, and collaboration emerge.

Empathy, belonging, and global competency

The Creating a Culture of Belonging conference that I attended with a fifteen-member PKS team prompted discussion of belonging in the context of our bilingual, international program, and brought to mind some recent research about the different notions of global competency in the Chinese speaking world, and in North America and Europe. 

The day started with a lecture by Stanford neuroscientist Jamil Zaki, author of The War for Kindness: Building Empathy in a Fractured World, who shared some very good news about empathy: (1) that it is increasing in the world post-Covid and (2) that it can be learned, fostered, and increased in any individual. He used the paradigm of three kinds of empathy (emotional, cognitive, and empathic concern) to describe what in our school we call perspective shifting (cognitive empathy), kindness (emotional empathy), and social justice (empathic concern or compassion).

This is also what is described in the Asia Society framework for global competence that I helped develop with the OECD many years ago, as the simple formula of “investigate the world,” “recognize perspectives,” and “take action.” It was a good reminder that our focus on mindsets and skillsets is the right approach for building students’ global competency and empathetic engagement with both the local community and the broader world. I wrote about this a few years ago in an ongoing series of articles for Asia Society. 

Are there unique Chinese aspects to consider?

While we sometimes narrowly characterize Chinese culture as collectivist and Western culture as individualistic, when it comes to issues of social justice, it may be just the opposite. The Harvard researcher Veronica Boix Mansilla (who is also one of the architects of the Asia Society / OECD Framework I cited above) has done a deep dive into what global competency means for schools in China. Her research on this topic suggests that while European and North American schools encourage students to believe in their agency and take action in the world immediately, schools in China focus more on building one’s individual capacity – in the classical tradition, 修身 or self-cultivation – before taking action. Like all of these thorny issues, there is no right or wrong answer, and the learning comes from the struggle of being caught in the middle and willing to be open and vulnerable. After all, we neither want to silence voices or impede action, nor do we want to encourage uninformed, superficial, or ineffective action. 

Finding balance

One important takeaway from the conference for me is that the complexity of our program opens up so many possibilities for our students to build empathy and compassion. At the same time, our commitment to building a strong foundation in Chinese – with Chinese literacy being the most cognitively challenging of any language currently used in the world (!) – can sometimes limit our short-term ability to go deeply into issues and cultures beyond. 

I feel this every Lunar New Year; there are some consistent yet opposing refrains in our community – those that see our celebration as “not Chinese enough” or “not traditional enough,” and those that see it as “too Chinese” or “too traditional.” While it’s tempting to just chalk this up to the fact that you can’t please everyone, it’s important to tune into this feedback a bit more. It’s also important to recognize that the long-term skill sets that are being fostered in our students represent the critical foundation for them to build empathy and an authentic engagement with the world. 

I am reminded of the challenge I faced the first time I brought high school students to China. We had them working in a rural village to build houses as a component of service learning. When we arrived in the village each morning, the local people would pull me away from the worksite, put an English textbook in my hands, and bring me to a classroom in the local school. What they had presciently realized is that this nerdy American did not have the capacity or skills to be an effective builder of houses, but did have the skills to be an effective teacher of English. I struggled to be authentic in walking the balance of helping my students understand that it was very worthy for us to work in the village, but at the same time the help we were providing was ultimately more symbolic than substantive. So how do we provide the right balance of action and efficacy in the world? – again, there’s no easy answer, but the fact that this community is engaged in that struggle is so notable and important.

Creating a Culture of Belonging: Part One

Creating a Culture of Belonging: Part One

This past weekend a 15-member PKS team – students, parents, alumni, teachers, trustees, and Dr. Keisha – attended a conference along with 12 other Bay Area schools on Creating a Culture of Belonging, hosted at the San Francisco Friends School by the organization Pollyanna. We listened, learned, and shared approaches and insights about how schools are fostering a sense of belonging in their communities, how they are addressing complex local and global issues, and how they are opening space for diverse voices and perspectives. Ours was the only bilingual school in attendance, and the additional complexities we wrestle with made for rich conversations!

Why belonging?

As Loris Malaguzzi, founder of the Reggio Emilia educational philosophy, wrote, “Ensuring that every child feels a sense of security and belonging within the school enables each child to accept and participate actively in transforming situations that are part of learning experiences.”

Belonging sets the stage for learning. When children feel accepted, connected, and included within their family, classroom group and larger community, it supports ​their emotional security and well-being​. From that place of safety and belonging grows curiosity and the cognitive receptivity to investigate surroundings, take risks, explore new concepts, and collaborate with others - the kind of engagement with the world we know leads to better overall learning outcomes.

How does belonging relate to the PKS program?

Belonging is not about fitting in, or checking boxes, or waving flags – it is about opening space for each child to feel valued on an individual basis each and every day at school. It’s why our team is so fully engaged in the lives of our children, from the moment we lift them out of the car in preschool to the moment they walk across the graduation stage and take their first tentative steps into high school. It’s why we conduct surveys of belonging for our older students, to ascertain how they are feeling, whether or not they are connected in meaningful ways to the adults at school, and whether they are seeing themselves, their experiences, and their values reflected in the school community. It’s why our active and committed parent community has embraced so many key initiatives, including the PA Service Learning Committee, DEI Committee, LGBTQIA+ Affinity Group, and Neurodiversity Affinity Group.

It’s also why we have used the racial literacy curriculum from Pollyanna and the social justice standards from Learning for Justice as reference for our Units of Exploration. And it’s why we’ve engaged Dr. Keisha, who has been with us on campus for a two week residency – to help us diversify the materials in our library; to help ensure that the seeds of social justice, service learning, and cultural and racial literacy are embedded in our curriculum; and that we are learning to foster space within the school day for vulnerability, reflection, and the celebration of difference – whether race, gender, culture, learning style, cognitive profile, or perspective. 

How is a culture of belonging compatible with our focus on global competencies?

I am guided by an idea that is fundamental to many traditions, but appears in Chinese as the notion of the 中庸 , the moderate or middle way. For me, this means representing the spectrum of thought on an issue and allowing students to make meaning for themselves and to find their own positions, voices, identities, and points of view. This also means listening to voices on the fringe and even extreme points of view in order to allow students to find their own voices and perspectives. 

One of the students who attended the conference put it so eloquently: “I think it may be kind of challenging…to consider opinions or different perspectives…San Francisco can sometimes be too much of a safe zone…One way our school can improve is to teach more often about both sides of a certain argument and then allow students to form their own opinions…” Powerful stuff!

I’ll have more reflections to share in Part Two of this blog, particularly on the additional complexities - and the extraordinary opportunities! - we have as a bilingual, international school to integrate belonging and global competency skills.  

For now, I’d like to sincerely thank the PKS conference team for opening up new perspectives for me and for the broader conference participants: 8th grade students Karina Quach and Sage Rafer; alumni Dylan Szeto and Maile Koidin; parents Karen Hong and Tricia Choi; faculty members Becky Shi, Haiyang Yu, Yangyang Han, and Alistair Crompton; trustees Mikhal Bouganim, Alejandra Rincon, and Theresa Johnson; and Dr. Keisha!

How AI is Making English Class (Even) Better

How AI is Making English Class (Even) Better

In January, I walked into my classes and said , “AI can do everything you can do, and I can’t tell the difference between a robot’s writing and yours. Should we just cut English from our curriculum?” 

In the English-teaching world, the start of 2023 was dominated by predictions of doom. The Atlantic published Chat GPT will end High School English, the NY Times reported that colleges were frantically restructuring their English programs, and The New Yorker investigated The End of the English Major. English teachers were forced to consider the value of teaching students to write something that a machine could produce in seconds. With limited time in the day, and a range of fascinating projects competing for curriculum space (Race and privilege! Coding! AAPI history! Bullfrog dissection! Gender studies!) we had to consider whether reading for enjoyment was enough. 

“I still believe in the value of learning to read thoughtfully and write eloquently, and I don’t think AI is a threat to that process.”

As the dust settled, AI panic calmed in English class even as it ramped up in the rest of the world. Our students don’t want to cut English class, and neither do I. I still believe in the value of learning to read thoughtfully and write eloquently, and I don’t think AI is a threat to that process. Instead of engaging in a technological arms race to ban the use of AI, PKS has spent the last 4 months embracing the full potential of English class and its complex interaction with technology. 

“We want to learn how to think for ourselves.” 

First, I pitted our fourth graders against the machine. I gave students a choice of two writing prompts (“write a story about something that happened in your life last week” and “consider the ship of Theseus. When is it still the same ship?”) . I gave the same prompts to chatGPT, instructing it to write at a fourth grade level. We compared answers, and by traditional metrics (spelling, grammar, rhetorical construction) chatGPT won hands down, while still retaining a plausible fourth-grade tone in its writing. Looking at these examples, I told my students, "You will never truly "need" the skills that we learn in English class - literary analysis; informational, persuasive, and creative writing. Why should we continue with class?"  The students’ answers fell into two main categories: 1) English class is fun 2) We want to learn how to think for ourselves. 

“ChatGPT can tell you a story about a child’s life, but it can’t tell anyone about my life. It doesn’t know what’s in my head. Only I can ever write that.”

What our 10-year olds can articulate so clearly is the purpose of education, and in particular, the purpose of a progressive education. It not only brings joy, it teaches a process that can never be emulated by a machine. We can no more outsource our thinking than we can outsource our emotions. One student argued that “reading and writing are fun, and if we just let machines do it, we take a lot of joy out of the world”. Another said, “chatGPT can tell you a story about a child’s life, but it can’t tell anyone about my life. It doesn’t know what’s in my head. Only I can ever write that.” I think they are onto something. 

“Rather than banning AI writing tools, students worked with them.”

In 8th grade, teacher Liam Stanton dug deep into the potential for AI with his project, Data Driven Where. Students explored Artificial Intelligence and its potential impact on society. Some of the activities included reading excerpts from Chen Qiufan and Kai-Fu Lee’s science fiction novel, AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future; debating the ethical usage of social media after watching the documentary The Social Dilemma; and interrogating the messy process of quantifying pedagogical outcomes by planning, delivering, and analyzing a lesson for 7th graders. Students also wrote persuasive arguments about whether or not ChatGPT should be allowed in schools - using ChatGPT itself throughout the writing process. Rather than banning AI writing tools, students worked with them. They used AI to create a draft of a persuasive essay, and spent time evaluating the process and outcome. 

Maile’s excellent short story, Sacrifice, examines the potential of AI to make ethical decisions in our legal system. Teia and Dani spent time working with Sudowrite, an AI-powered writing tool created by PKS parent James Yu. Sudowrite isn’t intended to create a product for the writer - it is a tool they can use in their writing process. One of the biggest problems facing middle school writers is a tendency to get paralyzed by fear and perfectionism, and to end up with a blank page and a feeling of “writer’s block”. Sudowrite can gently release writers from this block, by generating possible ideas, suggestions, and next steps. 

“More space and energy are freed up for critical thinking, reflection, and experimentation. Our classroom is buzzing!”

Just a few weeks after the release of GPT-4, AI has taken its place alongside spell check as a regular writing tool. Our students continue to brainstorm, debate, peer edit, and ask teachers “is this good?” With the decreasing proportion of student brainpower dedicated to handwriting, spelling, and now brainstorming, students are increasingly using their academic time to find their own stories and refine their own ideas. More space and energy are freed up for critical thinking, reflection, and experimentation. Our classroom is buzzing! 

Early Childhood Chinese Immersion Forum (ECCIF) 2023

On Saturday, March 25, PKS Preschool hosted the 6th edition of the Early Childhood Chinese Immersion Forum (ECCIF). Over 90 participants from Bay Area, Southern California, as well as Portland, Seattle, Michigan, Canada, and Hong Kong came together for the first and - so far - only professional conference exclusively dedicated to early childhood educators in Mandarin immersion programs.

Co-founded and co-organized by PKS with Bay Area peer schools CAIS, Silicon Valley International School, Shu Ren, and Yu Ming in 2018, this year's edition of the Forum featured a panel discussion among the early childhood pedagogical leaders of the five schools, as well as breakout sessions, classroom visits, and networking opportunities for the educators. The multiple breakout sessions in particular were an oportunity to share best practices in early childhood immersion, as well as in depth reflection and exchanges on specific topics such as documentation and assessment, developing language competencies through project learning, scientific inquiry, development of the whole child, inclusive community, equity and belonging, etc. 

PKS is very proud of the entire early childhood faculty, as all of the preschool homeroom teachers and assistant teachers participated in the Forum. A special word of appreciation to our teachers Ilsa Liao (P3 Daisy), Fei Chen (P3 Daffodil), Vicky Zhen, Tina Ho, and Yolanda Deng (P2 Begonia), Kai To and Brittany Ziobron (Kindergarten Purple), who expertly delivered inspiring and informative presentations.

Dr. Keisha on Black History: The Culture Before 1619

Black History: The Culture Before 1619

Week 3

In this four part series, Dr. Keisha (our DEI Consultant) will take us around the world to learn more about Black lives, experiences, and cultures before 1619 (the start of “Black history” as we know it). Hear Dr. Keisha speak more on the subject in this video.

1562 - Spanish Establish the First Slave Colony Georgia

Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, along with around 500 Spanish colonists and 100 slaves, sailed up the East Coast of what is now the United States. And arrived in what is now Georgia on Aug. 9th - this was the first documented instance of enslaved Africans in the United States. Ayllon’s mission was doomed to fail, because the ship carrying their food sank before it reached the shore. Their troubles only intensified. They landed in the fall, it was too late in the season to plant crops, their food supplies sank with the ship, and colonists began to starve. A group of settlers who sought help from indigenous neighbors were killed. Then, an unknown infectious disease spread through the settlement. Within a few months, 350 of the 500 settlers had died. It is unknown how many of the enslaved people perished; the Spanish did not keep a count.

“Then, on Oct. 18, Ayllón himself died... Then, the Spanish historian wrote, “it happened that some of the Negro slaves independently set fire to [a leader’s] house … and as the fire burnt they all gathered to kill him; and in this way they managed to escape.” Thus the first enslaved Africans known to have been brought to the continent were also the first to revolt. “It appears that the Africans ran into the forest, never to be seen again,” Cameron wrote. Weeks later, when the remaining Spanish bailed on the settlement and sailed away, there was no mention of any enslaved Africans onboard.”

Additional reading recommendations:

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
By Ibram X. Kendi

• For kids

• For young adults

• For adults

Sources:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/09/07/before-there-was-mystery-first-enslaved-africans-what-became-us/

https://www.todayingeorgiahistory.org/tih-georgia-day/lucas-vasquez-de-ayllon/

Dr. Keisha on Black History: The Culture Before 1619

Black History: The Culture Before 1619

Week 2

In this four part series, Dr. Keisha (our DEI Consultant) will take us around the world to learn more about Black lives, experiences, and cultures before 1619 (the start of “Black history” as we know it). Hear Dr. Keisha speak more on the subject in this video.

Esteban the Moor, Moroccan

Different contemporary accounts and subsequent historians variously identify him as Estevan, Esteban, Estevánico, Estebánico, Mustafa Zemmouri, Esteban de Dorantes, Stephan Durantes, and Black Stephen. He was an African of Moroccan ancestry and born into the Muslim faith. He was first enslaved by the Portuguese in 1522 and sold soon thereafter to Andrés Dorantes de Carranza, a Spaniard. 

Estevan was one of a party of survivors of the ill-fated 1527 attempt by Pánfilo de Narvaez to explore Florida. A group of survivors, led by Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de la Vaca, washed ashore on Galveston Island in 1528. That party eventually diminished to four persons, including Estevan and his “master,” Dorantes. These survivors became the first explorers from the Old World to visit the interior of present-day Texas. Often accompanied by Native American guides, they managed to travel on foot from the Gulf coast to the Pacific coast of Mexico, then on to Mexico City, a journey that covered about 2,400 miles. Cabeza de Vaca’s party frequently sent Estevan ahead, when encountering new Native American peoples, to act as an intermediary.

Upon returning to Mexico in 1536, Estevan became involved in a second expedition, an attempt by the conquistador Fray Marcos de Niza to locate and take possession of the legendary golden cities of Cibola.  Estevan’s participation in this exploit was not voluntary, but at the direction of his new “master,” the Spanish Viceroy in Mexico. Estevan served de Niza’s group as a guide, advance scout, and insulating buffer between the Spanish and the Native Americans. In that capacity, he became the first conquistador to set foot in what is now northwestern New Mexico.

He was killed in 1539 by the Pueblo inhabitants of Zuni under disputed circumstances.

Additional reading recommendations:

• The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami - a fictional telling of Estevan’s story which, as indicated by the title, is intended to present his side of the matter.

• “Estavanico” is a 2017 poem by PEN award-winning author Jeffrey Yang. It portrays Estevan as a physical and moral guide.

• Entertaining Read of Estevan’s Life https://newmexiconomad.com/esteban-the-moor/.  Somewhat accurate, but lacks citations. Treat as historical fiction. 

These portrayals illustrate Estevan’s enduring legacy, and his importance as a figure of contemporary cultural, as well as historical, significance.

Ultimately, Esteban was one of only four survivors who covered the last of an arduous sun-stroked trek – barefoot and near starving – toward Mexico. Along the way, he and the others (including Cabeza de Vaca whose Relación is one of the only surviving records) inspired many they encountered with tales of survival and, reputedly, with feats of healing.

Sources: 

https://thebryanmuseum.org/2020/06/15/estevan-an-early-african-in-the-new-world/

https://www.nps.gov/coro/learn/historyculture/esteban-de-dorantes.htm

https://dsps.lib.uiowa.edu/esteban/esteban/