Village school uses conical hats to teach

Phu Tho Located in a century-old hat-making village, Gia Thanh Secondary School teachers have included hats in their Math and Chemistry lessons, which have been honored by UNESCO.

The Vietnamese conical hat initiative of Gia Thanh Secondary School, Gia Thanh Commune, Phu Ninh District, received the award for creativity in teaching methods from the United NationsEducational , Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), according to information on the website on October 31.

Gia Thanh Secondary School is one of six schools worldwide to receive a $1,000 grant to pilot lessons using UNESCO’s living heritage this year. The competition received 146 entries from 96 schools in 23 countries.

"We were surprised because we didn't think such a simple and familiar lecture would win the prize," said Mr. Ngo Ngoc Thuy, the school's principal.

Ms. Tam uses a conical hat in a Literature lesson at Gia Thanh Secondary School, Phu Tho. Photo: Provided by the character — Ms. Tam uses a conical hat in a Literature lesson at Gia Thanh Secondary School, Phu Tho. Photo: *Tran Thi Minh Tam*

Mr. Thuy said that Gia Thanh has a famous conical hat making village for nearly 100 years. Since taking up the job in March, he has always kept in mind the responsibility to preserve and promote the conical hat craft, so he and other teachers at the school established the STEM conical hat club. To make lessons easier to understand, teachers and students have thought of ways to incorporate the hometown conical hat into the subjects.

Ms. Tran Thi Minh Tam, a Literature teacher and head of the school's STEM club, sees the profession of making conical hats as gradually fading away, and not many young people today know about conical hats.

"If we don't bring local conical hats into education and promotion to preserve them, perhaps one day this craft will no longer be continued," Ms. Tam explained.

The application of STEM conical hats in teaching has been implemented at Gia Thanh School since 2022. For example, in Math, students apply formulas to calculate the area, circumference, diameter or distance between the hat brims, hat waistbands... and then design the hat mold.

In Chemistry, students learn about the process of processing, soaking, drying, and drying leaves, or using chemicals to preserve leaves from mold and make them last longer.

In the Fine Arts subject, students practice drawing Phu Tho countryside landscapes to decorate conical hats, thereby forming in them a love for their homeland and country.

Students apply Chemistry knowledge when learning about the process of processing conical leaves. Photo: Tran Thi Minh Tam — Students apply Chemistry knowledge when learning about the process of processing conical leaves. Photo: *Tran Thi Minh Tam*

In the local education and literature and history subjects, Ms. Tam helps students learn about the meaning and origin of conical hats in Vietnamese villages. They also approach folk songs, folk songs, poems and songs with images of conical hats.

Ms. Tam said that making conical hats is a daily job for mothers and grandmothers, so at first the students found it normal. However, when the conical hat was introduced into teaching through STEM education activities, the students were very interested.

"The school's STEM club is effective, many students know how to sew hats and make products at school," she said.

According to Ms. Tam, the UNESCO award is important to teachers, motivating them to be more innovative in teaching.

"I am very proud that our initiative has spread. I hope that many agencies and departments will know about it and have resources to support people in the commune or school to develop the model we are doing," Ms. Tam shared.

Dawn

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