What is 5IN?
INTELLIGENTLY
INTELLIGENTLY
INTELLIGENTLY
The establishment of education has not seen significant change for over a century. While the rigidity and authoritarian aspects of the system have slightly lessened over time, the basic concept, aims, structure, and administration have largely remained unchanged. In its current state, education most often serves as merely a machine that perpetuates its own existence, with the seeming goal of endless effort and time from students, parents, and teachers to simply move on to the next stage of education. This mindless grind has been the predestined path of the modern era for as long as the current population of the world has known it, yet the world of today is totally different from the world of just five years ago. For too long, too little thought has been given to what education should be and what it should be for.
“INtelligently” represents the 5IN pledge to design and implement an educational model that has been actively thought out and considered in terms of the needs, wants, and practical application aspects of today’s world and of tomorrow’s unpredictable landscape. Although we hold that all learning is valuable, we must also consider that the time, energy, and resources of each individual has limits. Through the intelligent design of our unique curriculum, 5IN ensures that each day of student growth trains the logical habits of mind, effective work processes, and modern digital tools that will be needed to accomplish goals in any and all contexts which students may pursue in the future.
“INtelligently” is further represented in the 5IN curriculum through the inclusion of programming class each and every day, and heavy emphasis on developing digital tools for creation. Students learn to use these skills the same way they use language skills, as a normal tool which is utilized to achieve various results in normal everyday tasks. Each and every project will require students to use programming and other digital skills in some form, from solving problems to sharing information to recording their own learning process to exhibiting the results of their work. Digital skills become understood to be fundamental for achieving goals.
INTEGRATED
INTEGRATED
INTEGRATED
“INtegrated” at 5IN represents two dimensions, the integration of education and real life, and the integration of all learned knowledge and skills.
Each and every individual holds many concurrent roles in their lives. We may be a working professional, a wife, a volunteer firefighter, a daughter, and an amateur artist, all rolled into one. The existence of one role does not exclude the other. Just because you are currently at work ensuring the most cost-effective use of company funds, you do not magically stop being a mother for eight hours of the day (even though you may wish it were so). Our lives are not compartmentalized into neat little boxes which fit cleanly into little scheduled blocks, divided by walls and location. So why should the way students are educated be?
The disconnect between what happens inside “the learning area” and the outside world results in poorly developed and maladjusted social beings, unable to understand or control their own role and position in the world which they must live in. 5IN addresses this by integrating the real world into the issues explored and missions undertaken by our students on a daily basis. Through contact with the world outside, students are able to receive input from the full spectrum of society, not just narrow subcultures that do not reflect all the variety and possibilities available in life. Through constant collaboration and communication with various industry and social partners, 5IN students will come to understand the big issues of current society and the beliefs and motivations of disparate stakeholders. In this process, students are able to observe and contemplate “which side” of issues they stand on, what values match with their own beliefs, and what kind of person they wish to shape themselves to be. By allowing students to contact the real world, 5IN guides students to understand themselves, to situate themselves in the world, to think about themselves as active builders of their own identities, and to establish their personalities as unique and valuable human beings.
“INtegrated” at 5IN also refers to the integration of various domain knowledge and skills and abilities. When carrying out everyday tasks, the mind does not think from the angle of one subject area and make a plan, then another subject area to come up with another plan, then a third and so on. To do so would be nonsensical and unproductive, leading to paralysis and the inability to accomplish even the simplest of goals. Life requires integration.
Unfortunately, current methods of education too often divide learning into independent "subject areas", leading students to learn and think of knowledge as mutually exclusive and non-transferable. The end product of this education leaves students with little more than a set of random and useless content that is easily forgotten and of no practical use in life.
5IN addresses this lack of overall vision in curriculum design by integrating all learned skills and knowledge around semester “big issues”, each with a developmentally and socially important set of themes which students explore. Learning of knowledge and acquisition of new skills are applied and reiterated to achieve real-world goals in these areas and issues, allowing students to see the interaction of different concepts, processes, and tools to achieve these big goals. Each and every field of learning is utilized in conjunction with other fields to help towards the final accomplishment of the big mission. Through this integration of all acquired skills and knowledge, the students better understand the reasons for the learning of different disciplines, along with how seemingly disparate spheres interact and are employed to accomplish large purposes in life.
INTERNATIONAL
INTERNATIONAL
INTERNATIONAL
“INternational” has been a buzzword in education and commerce for the past few decades, especially in Taiwan education in recent years. The push for Taiwan to become a bilingual country by 2030 is one result of this mindset, a positive one that should bring many opportunities for the future of the country. Programs towards different levels, especially those in English, are featured heavily in all academic contexts, from public to private to experimental education.
While the goal of internationalism is one which 5IN completely supports and is involved in, we believe that the understanding and direction which “internationalism” in education has recently taken is overly narrow, shallow, and somewhat misaligned. Currently, common means by which schools and institutions attempt to reach this goal include: holding more English classes, using western published teaching materials, filling staff with foreign faces, having students take western standardized tests, and signing memorandums of cooperation with as many foreign schools as possible. Each of these measures may or may not be effective at assisting students reach the so-called “internationalism” goals currently held up by various institutions, but mostly miss the mark on even what criteria for internationalism will actually bring pragmatic value to the people of Taiwan. 5IN proposes an adjusted definition and aim for “internationalism” which will meet the needs and reality of the country as a whole.
While foreign input can be beneficial to exposing students to a wider range of possibilities, 5IN believes that “internationalism” is not defined by location, borders, or stamps on passports. 5IN proposes that true internationalism is the flexibility and adaptability of contemplation to understand that the thinking and view of others can be and often is different from the thinking and view from the self, and that differing and even opposing views can hold just as much import and validity as those that agree with our own. Understood as such, our curriculum design which gets students out of the classroom and into society, interacting with peoples of different backgrounds, ages, and upbringings is a much more immediate and actionable path towards true internationalism. Internationalism at its heart is a mentality and a state of mind.
INNOVATION
INNOVATION
INNOVATION
“INnovation” is achieved at 5IN not only through the way we define the goal and process of education, but also in the way in which it is administered.
What it’s for: Instead of simply moving on to the next stage of education or chasing after acceptance at so-called “top schools”, 5IN’s education equips students with the transferable habits of mind, work processes, and digital tools needed to achieve goals in the real world, whether it be for academic, professional, social, or personal purposes.
What students do: Instead of cramming for arbitrary content knowledge tests or memorizing facts that could be easily found on any search engine, 5IN students utilize their abilities to enact real change in real social issues. Students learn, practice, and master the cross contextual transferable skills that they will be using to solve the problems and challenges of tomorrow, whatever those may be.
How it’s done: Every semester revolves around big social issues which will help students contemplate and explore personal beliefs, morals, and values. Learning is tied to tangible goals which have demonstrable consequences, working with industry and social partners on real issues and projects. All content and skill areas are integrated and collaborate to serve real outcomes. Results of learning are assessed based on successful real world impact and the ability to utilize and master learned abilities.
Who’s involved: There is no lecturing in 5IN classes. Every period involves students actively engaging with and manipulating new ideas and competencies. “Teaching” is only a small part of the responsibilities of a 5IN teacher. Instead, they serve as guides, models, supporters, and sounding boards for the students on their journey towards growth and maturity. 5IN teachers do not have a teacher office, but instead spend the entirety of the day together with the students, learning, working, eating, exercising, and interacting, achieving bilateral understanding and rapport not found elsewhere in academia. This, in addition to purposeful curriculum design which incorporates input of families, industry, and society at large provides a learning and growth environment that is unique and second to none.
What’s the result: 5IN students do not graduate as “good academic learners”. More importantly, they come out as effective achievers, responsible members of society, active self-learners, and strong positive influencers. Instead of learning to obey and fit in as a drone of the system, 5IN students are prepared to resolve complex problems, to set and achieve their own goals, and to become the people they want to be.
INSTITUTE
INSTITUTE
INSTITUTE
An INstitution is what we are. More importantly, it represents our identity as more than just a collection of singular individuals. Every member of 5IN, from students to teachers, along with parents, partners, and society at large form a collective that is working towards a greater purpose. This purpose is to prepare the youth of today with the real knowledge and abilities to meet and overcome the challenges of tomorrow. The purpose is to shape and influence society for the better. The purpose is to shift the paradigm of education.