A total of 16 schools in Nanshan District have been selected as the first batch of museum education bases for primary and middle schools in Shenzhen at a recent seminar held at Shenzhen Nanshan Foreign Languages School (Group) Kehua School.

The 16 schools are the Shenzhen Nanshan Foreign Language School (Group) Kehua School, Shenzhen Nanshan Wenli Experimental School (Group) Wenli Experimental School, Lixiang School, Shenzhen Shekou Yucai Education Group Prince Bay School, Nantoucheng Primary School, South University of Science and Technology (Nanshan) No.1 Primary School, Nanyou Primary School, Zhuguang Primary School, Nanshan Affiliated School of Beijing Normal University, Xili Primary School, Shenzhen Shekou Yucai Education Group Yucai Middle School, Nanshan District No.2 Experimental School, Daxin Primary School, Yangguang Primary School, Chiwan Primary School, and Qianhai Primary School.

Four more high schools will be enlisted as museum education bases later, bringing the total number to 20.

On the sidelines of the seminar, student representatives from eight schools demonstrated a series of museum education projects on topics including museum exploration, geology, history, meteorology, archaeology and oceanography.

The event also exhibited teaching materials, homework and popular science projects on museum education contributed by other schools in Nanshan District.

Xu Pan, a Grade 2 student with Prince Bay School, stated that the students are introduced to oceanography, geography and biology knowledge in a practical way thanks to museum education courses at the school. “We have courses on the ocean museum which are very practical and feature lots of interesting do-it-yourself events,” said Xu.

Xu worked with Rao Han and other schoolmates to design a museum model featuring a maritime lounge bridge, which takes advantage of the cycle of the sea’s ebb and flow.

Shenzhen Nanshan Foreign Languages School (Group) Kehua School was the host of the event and is one of the 16 museum education bases. Headmaster Ge Yanfeng said that the school has opened a museum education project featuring investigation and exploration, where the students are able to make plaster models, mend Trilobite fossils and go on field trips at the Fairy Lake Botanical Garden in Luohu District.

Museums are seen as one of the most iconic public cultural facilities in Shenzhen. As the first district in Shenzhen to pilot museum education in schools, the education bureau and the institute of education sciences in Nanshan District attach great importance to the popularization of museum education in primary and middle schools.

Over the past two years, the district has issued guidelines and instructions for the development and standardization of intramural museum education courses, according to Yu Yaoxian, head of the Nanshan District Institute of Education Sciences.(Wang Haolan)