Humanities is a human science course that develops students’ knowledge of the world, individuals and societies. Through exploration of the humanities our students at YCIS learn how to think creatively and critically, to reason, and to ask questions. This approach allows them to gain new insights into everything from business models to politics, which is why humanities has been placed at the heart of a Western education since Ancient Greece.

Recently our Year 9 students have been reflecting on their academic journey in humanities at YCIS Secondary.

Lauren Tan: “The purpose of our humanities lessons are to prepare us for the skills of the upper school and later at university. In humanities I particularly like learning about the cause of significant events like wars – it is important to learn from past mistakes."

Caroline Miller: “We have been learning how to check the reliability of evidence in humanities. The issues we learn about, such as global warming, are very important; it is vital that we can fully understand them. However, there is so much contradicting information out there, it is important that we are aware how reliable these potential ‘facts’ are so we can make up our own minds."

Melisa Sener: “The reliability of our sources of information is very important. Fake news can be everywhere. It is very important to consider where information has come from and the intended purpose of the information."

Matthew Marignald: "The internet is of course very useful, however if people don’t consider reliability of ‘facts' they may believe anything."

Finn Smeets: "I enjoy learning and researching in humanities. I feel that it is our responsibility to learn and think for ourselves."

Vaughn Buquid: “I like the way we learn through different ways in humanities, like short videos, discussions and reflections. The difference in tasks helps to break apart what we are learning. It makes it easier to learn some of these big ideas.”

Edward Soriano: “I love subjects like Maths, there is always only one correct answer to the question in these subjects. However, in my humanities classroom I am encouraged to develop my own opinion, create my own answers, so long as I can justify them without bias.”

Iker Irigoyen Benavides: “I like the openness of humanities, the way that my thoughts and reflections are always important. I create answers through discovering evidence and linking it together.”

Ryan Shin: “I love the way that we are encouraged to look behind the facts, to look deeper into where the knowledge has come from.”

Joe Wang: “I really enjoy learning about other countries and their histories; but I really love learning about significant people in particular. It is interesting to learn about people who have really made a difference.”

Nurseit Mukanbaev: “In humanities I really love the history topics, I love lessons where I can learn more about the causes and consequences of significant events and people. I love learning about how political borders were formed. In my own time I am reading extra history books I borrowed from the teacher.”

Chris Lee: I like learning history here as everyone is from different countries. Its easier to learn as we look at the ideologies that were behind the cultures first, that way we can understand different points of view. Very interesting.

We are very proud the educational journey of our YCIS year 9 students. Through inquiry focused lessons, not only are they developing vital skills to help them meet their full potential in school and beyond, but their passion for their studies and determination to build on their academic capabilities has supported their growth as confident and knowledgeable lifelong learners.

“Wisdom begins in wonder” - Socrates, Ancient Greek philosopher

“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” - Albert Einstein, The world’s most influential physicist