Critical Thinking, Effective Communication in a Cross-Cultural Setting

The 2weeks introductory course is designed to engage international middle school and secondary students in developing their critical thinking and questioning skills, cultural understanding, and comfort level in English communication skills.
The critical thinking component will center around students learning and practicing debate-style argumentation skills with local students, as well as gaining an understanding of how to use questions to drive discussions and build relationships.
The class will stress hands-on learning as debate topics and all special activities and classes will be shaped to foster student reflection on their own assumptions, values, and understandings of the world and themselves.
To improve their English language fluency, students will have a wide variety of interactive opportunities with local students: small group discussions; two-on-one debating; one-on-one talks during meals, activities, and outings. They will learn to become better speakers and find effective ways of expressing their creative and analytical ideas through class presentations in the form of impromptu speeches, “Quick Responses” to short video clips, pictures, etc., participating in panel discussions, and, for their final, giving a self-evaluative speech on how they have grown during the course.
Because change is a process rather than a moment, journaling and self-reflection will offer a daily space for students to develop insight about their own emotions, attitudes, values, and beliefs and how they are affected by them.