Taitung University Affiliated Elementary School

　　Our school is the first public educational institution in Taitung and probably is the school which had renamed the most times in the country. The school was established back in 1895 (Qing Dynasty) and was public funded at the time. In the same year, Qing government lost to Japan at the The First SinoJapanese War and Taiwan was ceded to Japan. During the Japanese colonial period, National Language(Japanese) School was established all over Taiwan in order to cultivate Japanese interpreters and promote general education.In September 1897, Taitung National Language School was opened. Later, Japanese government had changed the National Language School to Public School and became the primary educational organization for Taiwanese people in the colonial period.

    Taitung National Language School was changed to Taitung Public School in 1905 which was located next to current Taitung County Government office.Later, the name of school was changed to Taitung Treasure Citizen School in 1941. After Taiwan Restoration from Japanese colony(1945), the school was renamed to Taitung County Cultural Citizen School. In 1947, to cope with the mission of Taitung Normal Teacher’s School in education, the school had become 『Taiwan Provincial Taitung Normal Teacher’s School Affiliated Elementary School』. On 8th, June 1965, all school complex was destroyed due to severe Typhoon attack. Therefore, the school was rebuilt and moved to the current location. In March 1968, the Normal Teacher’s School was promoted to Normal Teacher’s Junior College, therefore our school name was changed yet again to 『Taiwan Provincial Taitung Normal Teacher’s College Affiliated Elementary School』accordingly.

    In August 1983, the name of the school was changed to 『Taiwan Provincial Taitung Normal Teacher’s Junior College Affiliated Experimental Elementary School』in order to cope with the need of qualified teacher cultivation and enhance educational research, experiment and practice. In July 1987, follows by the promotion of Teacher’s Junior College to Teacher’s College, the name of the school was changed to 『Taiwan Provincial Taitung Normal Teacher’s College Affiliated Experimental Elementary School』. In July 1991, the school was promoted from provincial to national. In 2003, Taitung Normal Teacher’s College was supervised and supported the the Ministry of Education transformed and renamed to National Taitung University. In addition to becoming a comprehensive university, the development and enhancement of qualified teacher cultivation remains. Hence, our school was renamed 『National Taitung University Affiliated Experimental Elementary School』on the same day.

   The school has an area of 2.57 hectares. There are 36 general classes, 4 art classes, 2 learning centers, 2 kindergartens with total 1,030 students in 44 classes and faculty of 76 staffs. Our responsibility is to cultivate children with 5 Ways of Life, knowledge and skills, balance development of both physical and mental health by the Law of National Education. Furthermore, we cooperate with Teacher’s University by Teachers Education Act to supervise Teacher’s University students and interns to practice on-site education and initiate experiments and research projects in all related fields in order to cultivate excellent and qualified teachers for elementary, kindergarten and special education to facilitate better fundamental education .

       Most of our principals are appointed from teachers of Normal Teacher’s College. And their efforts to lead all staffs to cultivate numerous talents and build up the foundation of school education have earned great reputation, appreciation and trust from local residents.

    High quality courses and teaching are foundation of the school. Thus, to elevate teaching effectiveness is the most important work.We regard reading as the nutrition of the school operation and physical and mental health are the key of learning. The encouragement of reading is our main task to all staffs and students. Health, Aesthetics and Sustainability have become the vision that embedded in our mind. The principal and our teachers help students to develop regular exercise habit and observe and care about themselves and the environment. Always keep healthy physical and mental condition. Becoming a person with good manners, caring and kind heart to live harmony with the environment. Elevate the sense of aesthetics in life and have the ability to care about oneself, others and the sustainability of the nature in the world.

    We wish our students that are able to care about others with a kind heart, live a life with self-discipline, believe and self-assured with positive attitude and be an optimistic learner. Through the whole-person development education system which covering balance of Five Ways of Life（ethics, intellect, physique, social skills and aesthetics）, multiple intelligence development and physical and mental health, the students are expected to become global citizens with humanity caring, ability of execution and problem-solving with the global viewpoint.

　　Children with balanced development of Five Ways of life is the main goal of national education. To achieve this goal, the school has designed various extra curriculums besides general courses. For examples, practices or contests of national languages, native dialects and English, project research in every field, Teenager Science Association activities, scouting group, sports events, group competitions, art exhibitions, concerts, games and theater plays, learning results sharing conventions, school outings and many other exploring, experiencing activities which provide diverse learning opportunities for children to be more familiar with native culture and cultivate good living habits and positive life attitude. The school also publishes school magazine and a collection of students’ work named 『Ching-Miao Student Work Collection』which share and keep important growth and learning record of our children

　　The main purpose of school operation is to enhance teaching effectiveness via excellent teaching quality, premium teaching environment and sufficient teaching equipment. We have spacious students activity center, modern heated swimming pool, botanic-eco garden for natural science courses and fully- equipped specialized classroom. Library is opened daily (except weekends and national holidays) even during winter/summer vacations for all our staffs and students. The library collection is constantly renewed and various reading events are organized to encourage students to love reading.

    To cope with the ICT(Information, Communication and Technology) era, the computer classroom was set up back in 1990 with the donation for 47 used computers from Taitung Teacher’s College. And the budget for ICT equipment is planned annually since. Currently we have 2 computer classrooms, 1 digital classroom and 1 mobile device vehicle and 30 tablets. The computer classes are arranged for 3 to 6 grade students and updated devices are also planned. The learning purpose is to train our children to be familiar with the role and function of ICT in daily life as early as possible in order to adapt future development of the society.

    From 2004 to 2005, the overhead projector and the e-blackboard were installed in every classroom and the homeroom teacher was given a laptop to fully managed the updated information and utilize multimedia as active teaching approach for more effective learning result.

    Swimming class is one of our focus of health and sport curriculum. The old swimming pool was built during the Japanese Colonial period and the structure was obsolete. In order to provide better learning environment and also connect to the community, the Campus Planning team and Sustainability Committee had initiated a proposal to build a new indoor swimming hall on 8th, June 2010. The proposal was submitted to the Ministry of Education on 31st, December 2010 and the funding was granted on 6th, May 2011. In 2013, the swimming class was officially started in the new indoor heated pool.

    The definition of sustainability focuses on fulfilling the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. Based on this principle to build a campus with 『Sustainability, Aesthetics, Safety and Energy-Saving』 for all our staffs and students, we applied to Ministry of Education for a refurbishment project of energy-saving. The installation of heat insulation outside the Bao-Ai and Hsin-Yi Building which had serious heat effect from the sunlight and indoor temperature can be reduced after refurbishment. The circuit loop and the lighting system are also improved and the energy-saving monitor system is set up. The door shutters are also installed in certain classrooms which had poor ventilation. The school had removed the concrete near old trees and improve the soil quality to provide better living environment for them and transformed unused space to an eco farm which became an excellent field teaching area for teachers and students who can have a great opportunity to get in touch with nature.

    The aim is to build a safe, comfortable, visionary and sustainable campus environment.The facilities and the school field are improved on a regular basis. By studying in this campus, students can understand the relationship between people and oneself, people and the society and people and the nature. They will be fully prepared to become a future citizens with the potential and creativity of taking actions and solving problems.

    The endeavor of creating a reading-oriented campus with the improvement of library facilities and the advanced training for teachers has facilitate the reading and writing capabilities of our students. We believe that students with reading habit can absorb all sorts of knowledge from different realm by themselves. Developing a lifetime reading habit brings positive learning attitude to care about the society and discover the beauty of it. 『Reading is healthy, reading is sustainable, reading is aesthetic 』, students are taught that reading is extensive, balanced, fun, diverse, in-depth and sharing. With these principles, a big smile on their faces is the beautiful scenery through reading.

    The Art Talent Class was established in 1985 to receive 25 students starting 3rd grade by the Special Education Act. The goal of the class is to provide systematical art education for children with art talent. To discover children with art talent as early as possible, the purpose is to cultivate future artists with analytical, application, appreciation and creative ability. The course is designed in 3 categories: Art and Living, Expeloring Creation and Display, Art and Culture. The school has also rolled out this art teaching concept to all grades. Since 2010, we invited Quanta Immersed in Creativity which is sponsored by Qaunta Culture & Education Foundation to curate a sustainable and multiple themes exhibition in the school. The exhibition is part of our art curriculum and training of little art-tour guides is also arranged to elevate the capability of art appreciation and creation of all our staffs and students. Owing to the Public Art Fund cultivation project derived from the indoor heated pool project, the residence artists are invited, body development and performing art are included in the art curriculum.　

These are the elements that shape the essentials of art education in the school and create artistic atmosphere for all students cultivating sense of aesthetics.

    In 2011, the Ministry of Education has promulgated the International Education White Paper which indicated the cultivation of international literacy and the ability of cross-cultural communication for young students in order to have the competency living in the world of globalization. Thus, the international education program was started in the same year. The facilitation group of international education was established and participated in related training to receive the certificate for the administrative team. We also applied for the SIEP project (School- based International Education Project) which was subsidized by the Ministry of Education to initiate『School cooperation-Understanding South-Eastern Asian Culture 』and 『Exchange and Visiting activity of Environmental Education in Kyoto (Japan) 』. The further effort to promote international education, we have the second exchange program with Kyoto Doshisha Elementary School and with Nagasaki University Affiliated Elementary School for the first time. International education is part of our academic curriculum to improve the understanding of globalization, broaden the international viewpoint and enhance international competency of all the staffs and students.

    The counseling office is set up on the basis of the maintaining mental health of the children. The individual value and dignity of the children should be highly respected and appropriate consultation is offered. The counseling office organizes regular seminar of life education, gender quality and family education, also set up counseling mailbox and teacher’s hotline , and hold several events of appreciation. The psychological test, small group consultation and individual consultation for all grades are also arranged to help children build a sound personality, accept oneself and develop their potential. Another important task of counseling office is to supervise art class and learning center combining parents and community resources to promote volunteering services.

    Our Loving-Heart Volunteer Group was founded in 1988 which was named Loving-Heart Mother Counseling Group at the beginning. In 1997, the team was renamed as Parents Loving-Heart Volunteer Group to invite more parents to assist school affairs as additional manpower. The main tasks of Parents Loving-Heart Volunteer Group are: crossroad guard, library management and guided-tour, health center assistance, story-reading etc. The volunteering parents are the role model of generous service and some of them continue to volunteer even after their children graduated. This unselfish service has earned our respect and appreciation.

    Our affiliated kindergarten was established in 1947 which received 2 classes of 5-year-old children. Since 1998, we started to received all-day students because of the expansion of classrooms. In 2012, following Temporary Curriculum Guidelines for Preschool Activities, the lively courses were designed and implemented to boost children’s interests and potential through games and activities. Take whole-person education as our ideal and goal, the children can have solid life experiences and develop good life habit

　　Education takes hundreds of years to cultivate. Our teachers have devoted themselves to education with hard-working attitude and teamspirit to facilitate life education. We expect that the cooperation with parents and the society can help to cultivate healthy, ambitious and aspiring future leaders.