Tuesday, July 17th, 2007
Kids Initiative: Why Do Thai People Wear Yellow?
Television Cover On This Session
As part of its news program, the National Broadcasting Services of Thailand (NBT), the country’s public television, covered a Kids Initiative session held between students in Bangkok, Thailand and Tokyo, Japan on July 17, 2007. Take a look at the news clip provided to TDLC, courtesy of NBT.
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Students in Bangkok and Tokyo Discuss Culture and School Life via Videoconference
School children in Thailand made their “debut” on screen in Japan during a Kids Initiative videoconference session held on July 17, 2007 connecting Bangkok and Tokyo.
In this session, a total of over 40 students and staff from Chulalongkorn University Demonstration Secondary School (Bangkok) and Wada Junior High School (Tokyo) connected via videoconference.
Children in Bangkok put on a skit titled “Two Tourists and the Yellow Thailand” featuring Doraemon and Nobita, two popular Japanese animation characters, who visit their country to discover many people wearing yellow. Using a PowerPoint presentation, students explained that Thai people wear yellow to show respect to their King.
From Tokyo, students described various problems afflicting Japanese schools, and talked about Wada JHS’s attempt to become “the most sought out middle school in the world” based on the principles of “independence” and “citizenship”.
Kids Initiative is a World Bank TDLC program which utilizes videoconference and other communication technologies to promote multi-cultural exchanges between children to prepare them for an increasingly interconnected world.
The TDLC is currently preparing a teacher’s tool kit to provide guidance on conducting Kids Initiative sessions. Numerous experts observed this session to provide feedback, and Consultant Chris Tan commented from Hong Kong, China via videoconference on “What kind of Minds do we need for the future?”
