AustraliaKorea

BRIDGE School Partnerships Project 2016

Background:
Asia Education Foundation (AEF) has been at the forefront of the promotion of Asia literacy for more than
24 years. AEF provides teachers, education leaders and school communities with innovative programs,
curriculum resources and networks to support the achievement of Asia literacy for every young Australian.
The AEF and Sydney Opera House (SOH) are working in partnership to deliver the Australia-Korea BRIDGE
Project and the Global Conversations Project1, both Australia-Korea Foundation funded initiatives.

About the Australia-Asia BRIDGE School Partnerships Project
The AustraliaAsia BRIDGE (Building Relationships through Intercultural Dialogue and Growing
Engagement) School Partnerships Project is a blended model of face-to-face teacher professional learning
and online engagement that connects teachers, students and school communities with their counterparts
in Asia to increase awareness and understanding of contemporary Australia and Asia.

The inaugural Australia-Indonesia BRIDGE School Partnerships Project was implemented as a pilot in 2008.
It has since expanded to 243 BRIDGE partnerships (486 schools and over 745 teachers) global partnerships
across Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea and Thailand.

BRIDGE is a teacher professional learning program that, through school partnerships, builds teacher
capacity to:

build cultural knowledge and awareness

develop intercultural understanding

enhance ICT skills

establish sustainable school partnerships

contribute to a community of learners.

The Australia-Korea BRIDGE School Partnerships Project builds global competencies and citizenship of
young Australians and Koreans through classroom collaboration. It is funded by the Australia-Korea
Foundation (AKF) and will support four Australian and four Korean schools 2 to establish a school
partnership.

Global Conversations is an interactive, digital engagement program delivered by the SOH Creative Learning team.
Students and teachers in Australia and Korea will participate together in a series of live, interactive digital learning
experiences increasing cross-cultural awareness and collaboration, and developing cultural literacy through Arts
activities. The activities will include digital behind-the-scenes tours of SOH, live-streamed performances direct from
the Opera House stage, and digital drama workshops.
The program will be offered over various dates in 2016 and teachers who participate in the AEF BRIDGE program will
participate with their students in the program. Technical training and support will be offered, in both countries, by the
SOH team. The program is funded by AKF and there will be no additional charges for AEF BRIDGE schools to
participate.
2
Two primary and two secondary in each country.


Overview:
Four schools from each of Australia and Korea will be selected to participate in the 2016 program. One
teacher per school will be nominated to lead the project at each school. The nominated teacher will
participate in two, 10-day in-country professional learning programs (see below for full detail) delivered
in Australia and Korea.

Professional Learning Program
BRIDGE includes a multi-faceted teacher capacity building program that helps teachers to develop deeper
intercultural understanding, expand knowledge about the culture and society of the partner country, gain
new pedagogical and ICT skills, lead whole school change, and where relevant, extend their language
proficiency. The program equips teachers to create quality learning experiences and outcomes for students,
which encompass web-based and/or face-to-face contact and collaboration with peers in the partner
country.

Over a six-month period, a blended model of face-to-face and online professional learning is made
available, comprising:

Webinars introducing and supporting program participation.

A reciprocal, 10-day professional learning program in Korea (13-23 April 2016) that includes:
o

Three days of joint professional learning focused on establishing personal relationships, building
intercultural understanding, and strengthening the use of ICT in learning and teaching (13-16 April
2016).

A seven-day school / homestay program in the partner Korean school community (16-23 April 2016).

Facilitated webinar to enable schools to share best practice and plan future action.

Webinars for schools to share partnership activity; support planning for the reciprocal visit;
participation in interactive digital sessions with the Sydney Opera House (focused on engaging students
in language and cultural exchange through tours, performances and creative workshops).

An 11-day professional learning program in Australia (21-30 July 2016) involving:

Four days of joint professional learning (21-24 July 2016) hosted at the iconic Sydney Opera House
focused on:

consolidating personal relationships between lead teachers

furthering intercultural understanding

increasing knowledge of each others education context

exploring the use creative arts in developing cultural exchange and understanding

strengthening the use of ICT through hands on experience of interactive technology

A seven-day school and homestay program in the partner Australian school community (24-20 July
2016).

Eligibility:
To be considered eligible to take part in the Australia-Korea BRIDGE Schools Partnership Project,
a school must be:

committed to support the implementation of the Australia-Korea BRIDGE Project in their school.

able to host their Korean partner in the school community for up to seven-days.

supportive of the teacher nominated in this application to travel to Korea for 10-days of professional
learning and to a central point in Australia for four-days.

have suitable hardware, software, Internet access and IT support.

have an interest in furthering the use of ICT in the school curriculum.

aware of the funding support, additional costs and the evaluation requirements associated with the
Australia-Korea BRIDGE school Partnerships Project and the Sydney Opera House Global Conversations
Project.


To be eligible, a teacher must:

support and host a Korean partner during the seven-day homestay and school program.

travel to Korea to attend ten-days of professional learning.

travel to a central point in Australia to attend four-days of professional learning, of which two days
may be over a weekend.

commit to working with a Korean partner for at least one year.

have sound computer skills and an interest in furthering the use of ICT in their classroom practice.

agree to the funding support, financial contribution and evaluation requirements associated with the
Australia-Korea BRIDGE School Partnerships Project and the Sydney Opera House Global Conversations
Project.

Funding support
The AKF will support Australian schools participation in the program by offsetting costs such as:

10-days of professional learning in Korea, including transport, accommodation and most meals.

4- days of professional learning in Sydney, including transport, accommodation and most meals.

Each Australian school is required to contribute AUD$1,800 3 towards their nominated teachers
participation in the professional learning program.

How to apply

Tell us about your school and why you are keen to establish a school partnership with Korea here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PCZWW8H

Registrations close 28 February 2016.

This may be a co-funded model that includes the teacher, school and/or education jurisdiction.