THE SCHOOLHOUSE CURRICULUM HIKING TO MUTIANYU GREAT WALL MEN, TERRITORY & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Teacher’s Guide This Curriculum was prepared by Audrey Gueho Schoolhouse Intern, October 2009. 1 The Schoolhouse Curriculum Foreword At the Schoolhouse, we provide dining and lodging at Mutianyu Great Wall. Our business philosophy is sustainable tourism. For that we use existing buildings, we hire and train local people, we produce our own sustainable food or source food products locally, and we offer handicraft made on site. We also sponsor educational and cultural exchange programs that help visitors understand village life and that foster broader horizons for our rural neighbors. Being sustainable means also increasing people awareness about environmental, social and cultural issues, and about how to deal with the coming world. Also who is the best audience for that except children? As a continuation of that thinking process, we have decided to launch the Schoolhouse Curriculum, a set of programs designed for kids from primary school to junior high school and based on concrete examples taking place in Mutianyu. The Schoolhouse Curriculum leads children and teenagers to be in contact with the nature and the communities of Mutianyu Great Wall, and encourages them to respect all kinds of life and to develop curiosity. It has for goal to explain, through simple words and amusing activities, current important issues related to sustainable development. So, as a teacher or even parents, don’t hesitate to visit us for a day in order to show to your class or your children all the human and natural richness of the Mutianyu countryside. 2 The Schoolhouse Curriculum Before starting… Mutianyu Village is located in Bohai, a small township composed of 20 villages in the Huairou County in the north of Beijing. This small village is famous and prospering today thanks to its renovated section of the Great Wall, open to public. The Mutianyu Village’s neighbor is called Yingbeigou. Even if it is also situated near the Great Wall, it has not been the target of tourist developments. Its economics remains traditional and agricultural. Starting from this idea, this Hiking to Mutianyu Great Wall: Men, Territory & Sustainable Development Curriculum has for goal to make children comparing the ways these two villages are developing today and understanding deeper the part of the Great Wall in this story. Such a comparison is thus the opportunity to introduce the concepts of social geography, i.e. how people impact the territory they live in, and sustainable development. Therefore this program has been designed to be preferably performed during the hike, starting from Yingbeigou Village, reaching the Mutianyu Great Wall and finishing at The Schoolhouse in Mutianyu Village. It lasts about 4 hours and is made for junior high school kids. The present teacher’s guide will provide you knowledge and ideas to enrich the kids’ experience. Its first part concerns the hike: it describes and explains the things you will see during your walk, and analyzes them deeper through simple concepts of social geography and sustainable development. The second part gathers activities you can perform during or at the end of the hike. Regarding the ages for who this curriculum is designed, I suggest activities with different difficulty levels. All these concrete and amusing activities have been invented to encourage kids to better understand the space they are going through and to develop their critical mind. You can perform this curriculum wherever you desire. If you want to conduct these classes at Mutianyu, we can help you to prepare your hike. In this case, please contact our sales department at [email protected]. This curriculum was prepared by Audrey Gueho, Schoolhouse Intern, 2009. 3 The Schoolhouse Curriculum Table of contents Foreword… p. 2 Before starting… p. 3 1. The hike… p. 5 In Yingbeigou: agriculture and tradition… p. 7 On the Wall… p. 12 Mutianyu and its tourist growth… p. 14 Back to The Schoolhouse, an example of sustainable development... p. 15 2. The activities… p. 18 Teacher’s boxes Activity 1: The Differences Game… p. 18 In these boxes, you will find Activity 2: The Mutianyu Great Wall Map… p. 19 deeper information that should Activity 3: The Villagers’ Life Investigation… p. 20 help you to face any kind of Activity 4: The Debate… p. 21 tricky questions! And after… p. 22 Children’s materials… p. 23 4 The Schoolhouse Curriculum 1. The hike The hike I suggest you is a loop connecting Mutianyu Village, its neighboring village called Yingbeigou and the Great Wall. Its starting and ending point is The Schoolhouse in Mutianyu Village. The Schoolhouse little book Walking Before performing this hike, make sure Guide to Mutianyu by Eloise Walter and you and your group have proper walking illustrated by Emily Spear, describes the attire and enough water. Since you will walk hike on which is based this curriculum. on the Wall, don’t forget to buy your tickets But not only: it is full of details and at the entrance of the Mutianyu Great Wall anecdotes telling the Mutianyu villagers’ before leaving: you may have to show it. lives. What means social geography? Social geography is a branch of human geography which studies the relationships between societies and spaces. Its main concept is that humans affect their environment and the territories they live in. Thus there are several ideas under this concept. Men receive a territory with a special geography they can’t modify, i.e. this territory can be mountains, desert, shore, forests, plains… But, by living in these spaces, men modify it and create another geography: human geography. They build harbors on the shores, ski resorts in the mountains and cities in the plains. They cultivate some places, live and work in others, keep some for leisure and leave wild others. Furthermore each society, i.e. each country and culture, has its own way to manage its territory. Social geography describes and explains how people’s lives and activities affect and differentiate parts of the world. The following diagram clarifies the place of social geography in the geography field: Geography Geography studies the physical characteristics of the earth and especially its surface features. Human geography Human geography focuses on studying the areas inhabited by men. Social geography Social geography explains how social activities create particular human geographies. 5 The Schoolhouse Curriculum Thus, according to this main idea of Remark social geography, the following Social geography is the branch of explanations aim at describing the geography, using human sciences Mutianyu Great Wall area by linking it to (sociology, history…), that studies trends the societies who live in. As a teacher, you such as urbanization, rural flight, social have to keep in mind that the space cannot inequalities or peri-urbanisation (i.e. the be studied alone but has always to be urbanization of the suburbs). connected with its inhabitants. The following map of Beijing Province presents the locations of the places you will see during your hike or the ones I talk about in the teaching guide. Great Wall Huairou District Mutianyu Village Bohai Township Yingbeigou Village Huairou City Beijing City Picture credit: http://www.urbanhabitats.org/v01n01/images/beijing_map1.gif 6 The Schoolhouse Curriculum In Yingbeigou: agriculture and tradition From The Schoolhouse turn left on the main road and reach the crossroad with the flags. Turn on the right to cross the bridge and take the trail in front of you, between the main road and the road leading to the Great Wall Hotel. Follow this path that climbs the hill among chestnuts orchards and reaches the neighboring Yingbeigou Village. Once in the village, turn right in the street until reaching the crossroad with the public gym. Once there take the road on your right to the North. Yingbeigou is an example of the villages we can find in the north of China. It can be described by the following characteristics: 1. It is few populated and its population is old. The youngest people usually want to leave the village and to work in the city where there are more jobs, more facilities and more comfort. That means that there are less and less children in the villages and the schools are closed down. Young people in Yingbeigou most often move to Huairou, the main city of the district. Example of public gym set up in the villages to help older villagers to keep themselves in good health. 2. Its economics is based on agriculture. Yingbeigou, and more generally speaking Bohai township, is famous for its orchards and especially its chestnuts. Since the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) who implemented the first chestnut trees in Bohai, the chestnuts are the main livelihood of the township’s inhabitants. 7 The Schoolhouse Curriculum Tending orchards is thus the historic and traditional occupation in Bohai township and is the main income in Yingbeigou. The orchards cover then the most important part of the territory of the village. Beside chestnuts, other popular fruits and nuts are cultivated in Bohai township and in Yingbeigou: the walnuts and the sweet Harvests time pears. But we can also find a lot of peaches, The busiest season in Bohai township apples, apricots, plums or persimmons. is fall since chestnuts are ready Farming work is not limited to orchards (September). Then it’s the turn to and some other spread activities are apples, pears and Chinese dates. cultivating corn or rearing poultry (chickens, During the summer, villagers harvest ducks or gooses), honeybees or pigs. fruits such as plums, peaches and, in August, walnuts. Chestnuts in their shells on the trail to Yingbeigou. Walnuts harvest. Pears ready to be harvested. 8 The Schoolhouse Curriculum Plot of land shared between Yingbeigou villagers (corn and vegetables).