Specialist Programmes
Feature on Human Technologies Human Technologies is the centrepiece of the ways in which ICHK continues to change education for the better.
The 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 the core aim is to educate students to be resourceful, resilient, collaborative, open-minded, ethical, accepting of others, sustainable in their habits, and more inclined to take the long view. The goal is for 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.
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.
The 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.
The programme aligns perfectly with the Epistemic Apprenticeship which lies at the heart of ICHK, and by virtue of which the school creates and sustains 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.
ICHK is a community of innovation, which is attracting global attention for its cutting edge approaches to learning.
The school has been recognised by Cambridge Strategies, with inclusion in its list of the top 100 schools worldwide for innovation.
A Curriculum X framework encompasses everything that that ICHK offers beyond the traditional curriculum.
It includes Human Technologies, which is a ground-breaking curriculum encouraging students to experience school in more positive ways, whilst developing a profound sense of the art and craft of being human.
All learning and teaching is framed through the HT lens, which offers a novel perspective on human beliefs, practices and activity.
Curriculum X also features unique programmes including Free Learning, Deep Learning, Enrichment and Flow, Flexible Learning and Outdoor Learning, all of which serve to offer students more choice, more flexibility, different work practices and more opportunities to develop skills and attributes which are not addressed by examinations.
ICHK offers senior students the opportunity to attain the ICHK Mastery Transcript, as an additional qualification to the IB Diploma. It is one of a growing number of schools globally offering this qualification, and the first school in Hong Kong to graduate students with a MT.
