Project-Based Learning Lesson Plan for the ‘Young World Heritage Guides’ Programme: The Case of Macao Historic Centre

Chan Mei I  [Macao]

Abstract

As the city within China boasting the densest concentration of World Heritage architecture, Macao's unique history of Sino-Western cultural fusion presents exceptional educational resources. However, current World Heritage education in Macao's primary and secondary schools largely remains confined to site visits and rote learning, with pupils acting as passive recipients of information, struggling to develop profound cultural understanding and identity. To address this, this study designed and implemented a project-based learning scheme titled ‘Young World Heritage Guides’ spanning the final years of primary education. Driven by the task of ‘developing and delivering multilingual (Chinese, Portuguese, English) guided tours for specific sites within Macao's Historic Centre, targeting real visitor groups,’ the programme operates within a PBL framework. Students progress through six stages: project initiation, knowledge construction, skills training, prototype development, testing and iteration, culminating in public practice. They not only delved deeply into the historical, architectural, and cultural significance of their chosen heritage sites but also mastered cross-cultural communication techniques, multilingual interpretation skills, route planning, and on-site demonstration abilities. Through nearly a year of practice, this study demonstrated that the curriculum significantly enhanced students' pride in local culture, their capacity for interdisciplinary knowledge integration, multilingual application skills, and confidence when addressing real audiences. Project outcomes—including student-produced guidebooks, tour videos, and on-site services—directly benefit the community, achieving organic integration between learning and society. This provides a replicable and scalable innovative model for local education in Macao and other heritage sites.

Keywords: Project-based learning; World Heritage education; Local education; Multilingual teaching; Authentic learning; Historic Centre of Macao; Civic literacy

Introduction

Research Context: Opportunities and Challenges in Macau's World Heritage Education

In 2005, the ‘Historic Centre of Macau’ was inscribed on the World Heritage List. This core area, comprising 22 buildings and 8 squares, bears witness to over four centuries of dialogue and coexistence between Eastern and Western cultures. For Macau's primary and secondary schools, this represents an invaluable ‘living textbook on their doorstep’. However, current educational applications exhibit significant shortcomings: Firstly, experiences remain superficial, predominantly conducted as ‘one-day tours’ lacking in-depth inquiry; secondly, perspectives are narrowly focused, emphasising the transmission of historical facts and architectural styles while neglecting discussions on diverse topics such as cultural hybridity and heritage revitalisation; thirdly, students are rendered passive, functioning as listeners and spectators rather than active explorers and communicators; Fourth, disconnect from language education, where Macau's societal reality of ‘three scripts and four languages’ remains underrepresented in World Heritage education. Concurrently, the Macau SAR Government actively promotes ‘curriculum reform’, encouraging schools to develop school-based curricula that cultivate students' ‘sense of national identity’ and ‘global perspective’. How to leverage World Heritage resources to design deep learning experiences rooted in local context yet oriented towards the world has become a critical challenge.

Theoretical Framework: Authentic Learning and PBL

This teaching plan adopts a project-based learning (PBL) framework, deeply integrating the principles of authentic learning. PBL emphasises exploring complex, authentic problems through extended, interdisciplinary, student-centred projects culminating in public outcomes. Its core elements—driving questions, sustained inquiry, authenticity, student agency and choice, reflection, critique and revision, public presentation—provide a robust structure for this project. ‘Authentic learning’ further stresses that learning tasks should align with real-world practices, problems, and tools. In this project, authenticity manifests across multiple dimensions: task authenticity (guided tours represent a genuine profession at heritage sites); audience authenticity (targeting real visitors); contextual authenticity (conducted at actual World Heritage sites); and outcome authenticity (producing guide materials and services usable by society). This authenticity serves as the bedrock for stimulating students' intrinsic motivation and cultivating a sense of responsibility and professional ethos.

Research Objectives and Significance

This study aims to develop a systematic teaching plan for cultivating ‘Young World Heritage Guides’ that integrates PBL with authentic learning, and to evaluate its effectiveness. Specific objectives are:

1. Educational Objective: Enhance students' deep understanding, emotional connection, and conservation awareness of Macao's cultural heritage.

2. Competency Objective: Cultivate students' comprehensive competencies in interdisciplinary research, multilingual expression, public speaking, teamwork, and complex problem-solving.

3. Societal Objectives: Establish a bridge for students to serve the community and disseminate culture, strengthening the connection between schools and neighbourhoods.

This initiative represents not only pedagogical innovation but also the concrete implementation of Macau's core educational value of ‘patriotism and love for Macau’. It enables the younger generation to construct a robust cultural identity through researching and narrating their hometown's stories.

Innovative Curriculum Design for ‘World Heritage Junior Guides’

1. Overall Planning and Driving Question

Project Duration: Full academic year for Year 5 pupils (both semesters), integrated with Social Studies, Chinese Language, Foreign Languages, Visual Arts, and other subjects.

Core Driving Question: ‘How can we, as cultural ambassadors, vividly, accurately, and engagingly introduce a heritage site in Macao's Historic Centre to visitors from diverse backgrounds, enabling them to experience the unique charm of Macao's culture?’

Final Public Outcomes:

① Multilingual (Chinese, Portuguese, English) guidebook/leaflet (illustrated).

② A 10-15 minute live guided tour service (delivered at public events such as Heritage Day).

③ A 3-5 minute micro-video introducing the site.

2 Learning Objectives

· Knowledge and Understanding:

Gain in-depth knowledge of the historical origins, architectural features, cultural significance, and role in Sino-Western exchange of the selected Macao World Heritage site.

Understand the fundamental principles and importance of cultural heritage conservation.

Acquire the essential knowledge framework required for guided interpretation.

· Process and Skills:

Master research methodologies including information retrieval, field investigations, and interviews.

Develop the ability to draft commentary tailored to diverse audiences (adults/children, local/visitors).

Acquire foundational proficiency in delivering commentary in Chinese, Portuguese, and English.

Master public speaking, improvisational skills, and interactive techniques.

Collaborate effectively within teams to execute projects from conceptualisation and production through to presentation.

·Emotional, Attitudinal and Values Development:

Cultivates pride, belonging and conservation awareness towards Macao's local culture.

Develops an open, respectful cross-cultural attitude.

Instils a sense of responsibility and confidence in serving the community and disseminating culture.

3 Teaching Phases and Activity Design (Six-Phase Detailed Plan)

Phase One: Project Initiation and Team Formation (Weeks 1-4)

Activity 1: Launch ‘The Call of the Heroes’. Simulate the Cultural Affairs Bureau or Tourism Bureau issuing a ‘Call for World Heritage Junior Guides’ to create an authentic mission scenario. Screen compelling guided tour clips produced by past outstanding students or professional guides to spark interest.

·Activity 2: World Heritage Exploration and Topic Selection. Organise students for preliminary site visits to Macao's Historic Centre, providing a list of attractions with brief introductions. Students form project teams of 4-6 based on interests, each selecting one site (e.g., Ruins of St. Paul's, A-Ma Temple, Dom Pedro V Theatre, Zheng Family Mansion) and submitting rationale for their choice.

·Activity 3: Signing the ‘Learning Contract’. Teams collaborate with teachers to draft project proposals, clarifying research questions, internal roles, timelines, and expected outcomes. Contracts are signed to reinforce accountability.

Phase Two: Knowledge Construction and In-depth Research (Weeks 5-12)

·Activity 1: Expert Lectures and Resource Study. Invite experts from the Cultural Affairs Bureau, university historians, and senior tour guides to deliver a series of lectures on Macau's history, architectural styles (Chinese and Western), and cultural heritage concepts. Under the guidance of teachers and librarians, student groups conduct research using books, academic databases, the Cultural Affairs Bureau website, and oral history materials.

·Activity 2: Fieldwork and In-Depth Description. Groups conduct multiple visits to their selected sites for systematic observation and documentation:

Architecture Group: Sketch architectural plans, noting materials, ornamentation, and structural features.

History Group: Sought historical traces (e.g., inscriptions, epigraphs) and interviewed relevant staff or long-term residents (with teacher assistance).

Humanities Group: Observed visitor behaviour and documented contemporary activities and narratives associated with the site.

‘Three Languages, Four Scripts’ Group: Collected existing multilingual information materials at the site for comparative analysis.

·Activity 3: Establishing Guided Tour Themes and Narrative Threads. Based on collected materials, groups discuss and determine their unique perspective or core narrative for the tour. For instance, a tour of the Ruins of St. Paul's need not focus solely on architecture; themes such as ‘Fire and Rebirth,’ ‘Stories Behind the Sculptures,’ or ‘From Church Façade to City Landmark’ can be adopted to imbue the tour with narrative depth and distinctiveness.

Phase Three: Skills Training and Content Creation (Weeks 13-20)

·Activity 1: Multilingual Narrative Workshop. Under the guidance of Chinese and foreign language teachers, learn the distinctive features of narrative writing across languages: the historical and literary resonance of Chinese, the cultural connections of Portuguese, and the clarity and conciseness of English. Draft initial versions of the narrative in all three languages, then conduct mutual translation and refinement to ensure accurate cultural information delivery.

·Activity 2: Practical Guiding Skills Training. Invite professional tour guides or broadcasting instructors to train participants in vocal projection, body language, positioning and movement, interactive techniques (questioning, creating suspense), and contingency management (handling awkward silences, unanswerable questions). Conduct simulated practice sessions.

·Activity 3: Production of Tour Guides and Visual Materials. With assistance from art and IT teachers, design and produce tour guide booklets/leaflets. Learn layout design, information visualisation, and photographic composition. Capture site photographs and create comparative diagrams, schematic illustrations, etc., for explanatory purposes.

Phase Four: Prototype Development and Simulation Testing (Weeks 21-28)

·Activity 1: Campus Simulation Tours.

Each group conducts their first full-length tour rehearsal within classrooms or campus grounds, delivering presentations to peers from other classes of the same year group. Utilise self-produced visual aids for multilingual commentary. Audience members complete simple feedback forms, providing comments on aspects such as ‘content clarity,’ ‘linguistic fluency,’ and ‘presentation appeal.’

·Activity 2: Field ‘Stress Testing.’

Under teacher supervision and safety protocols, groups visit their assigned attractions to conduct live tours for ‘mock visitor groups’ comprising parents and students from partner schools. This assesses students' environmental adaptability, on-site organisational skills, and ability to manage disruptions (e.g., weather, other visitors). The entire process is recorded for post-event review.

·Activity 3: Iteration and Optimisation.

Based on detailed feedback from both tests, teams conduct in-depth reviews. They may need to revise obscure sections of the commentary, adjust pacing, incorporate more engaging interactive elements, or even redesign specific sections of the handbook. Emphasis is placed on the principle that ‘no tour is perfect; it is an ongoing process of refinement.’

Phase Five: Public Practice and Showcase (Weeks 29–32)

·Activity 1: Public Service Day. In collaboration with the Macao Cultural Affairs Bureau, Tourism Bureau, or relevant associations, establish ‘Junior Guide Service Points’ at World Heritage sites during events like ‘Macao Cultural Heritage Day,’ ‘International Museum Day,’ or weekends. Students, wearing uniform identification, provide scheduled or appointment-based complimentary guided tours to genuine visitors. This marks the project's culmination and ultimate test.

·Activity 2: Achievement Exhibition. Host the ‘Macau World Heritage Junior Guides Achievement Exhibition’ in the school hall, showcasing all groups' finalised guidebooks, research documentation, and micro-videos alongside interactive displays. Invite all parents, community members, and education officials to attend.

·Activity 3: Online Microfilm Release. The microfilms produced by each group introducing the attractions were released via the school's official platform and the Cultural Affairs Bureau's education channel, expanding the project's social impact.

Phase Six: Reflection, Evaluation and Celebration (Weeks 33-36)

·Activity 1: Individual and Group Deep Reflection. Students will write personal reflection reports addressing questions such as: ‘What were my greatest challenges and breakthroughs during the project?’, ‘How has my understanding of Macao's culture evolved?’, and ‘What was the most valuable skill I acquired?’. Groups will collaboratively produce a project summary report.

·Activity 2: Multi-dimensional Assessment. Assessment is continuous throughout, encompassing: formative evaluation (research notes, meeting minutes); product assessment (guidebook, micro-video); performance evaluation (simulated and public tour delivery using rubrics); and summative reflection reports. Assessors include teachers, peers, parents, visitors, and community experts.

·Activity 3: Certification and Celebration. The school collaborated with cultural authorities to host a solemn yet joyous ‘World Heritage Junior Guide Certification Ceremony,’ awarding officially recognised certificates and badges to students who successfully completed the programme. The celebration featured highlights sharing, recognition of outstanding teams and individuals, transforming the project's conclusion into a point of honour.

Teaching Practice and Effectiveness Analysis

Research Implementation

This action research was conducted over one academic year in two Year 5 classes (58 pupils) at a primary school in Macao. Project effectiveness was comprehensively evaluated through data collection and analysis of: student research portfolios, multiple versions of commentary scripts, tour guide manuals, micro-videos, field recordings of guided tours, pre- and post-tests (measuring cultural identity and self-confidence), student reflection reports, teacher observation logs, and interviews with parents and visitors.

Key Findings

1. Cultural identity progression from “knowing” to “appreciating and enjoying”. Post-test surveys revealed a surge in student agreement with “I am willing to proactively introduce Macao's cultural heritage to others”, rising from 45% to 96%. Students' research extended far beyond textbooks, uncovering vivid details such as the origin of the wooden flooring at the Dom Pedro V Theatre and the traces of the Zheng family's rise and fall etched into the lintel of the Zheng Family Mansion. One student reflected: ‘Now when I walk through Senado Square, I feel every stone has a story to tell. I am no longer a passer-by, but a custodian and storyteller of this land's history.’

2. The evolution of multilingualism from academic knowledge to communication tools. The project provided authentic contexts for language application. To craft compelling Portuguese narrations, students proactively researched Portuguese maritime history; to explain Mazu culture to English-speaking visitors, they sought appropriate cultural translations. Languages ceased being mere exam topics, becoming bridges connecting cultures and people. Students' multilingual confidence markedly strengthened.

3. Holistic Cultivation of Comprehensive Competencies. During public tours, students demonstrated composure and professionalism beyond their years. They adeptly guided visitor flow, responded resourcefully to unexpected queries, and dynamically tailored explanations to visitors' ages and interests. Embracing multiple roles—project manager, researcher, designer, spokesperson—provided comprehensive training in organisational, research, creative, and communication skills.

4. Strengthening Learning Communities and Community Connections. The project transcended classroom boundaries. Students forged connections with cultural bureau specialists, tour guides, attraction staff, and even local elders. Their learning outcomes—manuals, videos, and services—directly benefited the community, earning widespread public acclaim. This experience of being valued and recognised significantly bolstered students' sense of social responsibility and self-efficacy.

Discussion and Reflection

Key to Success: Multi-dimensional Construction of Authenticity

The core of this project's success lies in its relentless pursuit of authenticity. From genuine tasks, real audiences, authentic scenarios to tangible outcomes, each element allowed students to grasp the significance and weight of their work. This authenticity dispelled the detachment of ‘learning for learning's sake’, igniting an intrinsic sense of ownership and professional attitude. When students realised their brochures would genuinely be picked up by visitors and their explanations would tangibly shape perceptions of Macao, their dedication and commitment to quality surpassed anything achievable through virtual tasks.

Challenges and Countermeasures

· Safety Management and Coordination Pressure: Frequent off-campus activities imposed significant logistical demands. We established comprehensive safety protocols and formed a ‘Safety Alliance’ with parent volunteers and community organisations, clearly defining roles and assigning individual accountability.

· Depth of Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Success hinges on close cooperation among teachers from multiple disciplines including Chinese, foreign languages, social studies, arts, and information technology. A core project working group was formed, holding weekly collaborative lesson planning sessions to ensure seamless support.

·Addressing Student Anxiety and Setbacks: Public speaking and receiving authentic criticism pose considerable challenges for primary pupils. We mitigate this through extensive simulation exercises, fostering a culture of constructive peer feedback, and emphasising a growth mindset—reframing setbacks as learning opportunities rather than failures.

Implications for Macau's Local Education and Global Competence Development

The ‘Young UNESCO Guides’ initiative establishes a new paradigm for Macau's local education. It demonstrates that fostering local pride is not about indoctrination, but rather cultivating genuine affection through deep engagement, research, and creative expression within local cultural contexts. Simultaneously, the programme inherently possesses a global perspective: when students narrate Macao's stories in multiple languages, they are practising how to articulate the inclusivity and diversity of Chinese culture to the world. This perfectly aligns with the educational goal of nurturing a new generation of Macao citizens who are ‘rooted locally yet globally minded’.

Conclusion

The project-based learning curriculum for the ‘Young Guides to World Cultural Heritage’ initiative represents a successful exploration in transforming Macao's unique cultural heritage resources into high-level learning experiences. It demonstrates that through carefully designed authentic projects, primary school pupils possess the capacity for in-depth research, the completion of complex tasks, and the delivery of genuine societal contributions. Within this process, knowledge is constructed, abilities are honed, and emotions are elevated. Students have not only become young connoisseurs of cultural heritage but also active disseminators and inheritors of culture. This model of ‘learning through service and finding identity through creation’ offers a vibrant, Macao-specific response to global challenges in heritage education, local education, and core competency development. Moving forward, exploring long-term collaborative mechanisms with additional community organisations could extend this model to Macao's non-World Heritage historical buildings and cultural spaces. This would illuminate more ‘corners’ and amplify more ‘voices’.

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