This year, the Education Department, New Taipei City Government hosted 18 workshops for teachers on multicultural lesson plans. They addressed ways to include traditional dress, foreign cuisine, and other issues into lesson plans and activities in addition to discussing the cultural traits of Southeast Asian nations, in order to give students a broader perspective on the world and a more varied understanding of different cultures.
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"Ketupat", a traditional Indonesian delicacy commonly seen during Eid al-Fitr, is pure rice dumpling wrapped in coconut leaves.Photo provided by Education Department, New Taipei City Government
The Indonesian language teaching support staff introduced the national dish "Ketupat" for Eid al-Fitr, the turmeric rice plate for birthdays, and the traditional Indonesian dessert "Nyonya Kuih" during the study activities. Additionally, there are Burmese language teaching assistants who share information on the local cuisine, attire, housing, transportation, history, and culture of Myanmar. They also let the students put on traditional Burmese costumes and the popular sunscreen cream "Thanaka."
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A Burmese girl with "Thanaka" on her face.Photo reproduced from Pixabay
According to the head (張明文) of the Education Department, New Taipei City Government, the city has the biggest population of new immigrants in Taiwan, numbering over 110,000. Teachers have a significant impact on students’ ability to appreciate and reason with people from different cultures. Thus, instructors can learn more about and interact with other cultures and foster students' cross-cultural literacy, the Education Department offers multicultural teaching plan workshops every year.
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