Turning the pages of a poetry collection written by her son and his classmates, Ms. Ngoc Anh – parent of a student in class 1Sing – was moved to tears. Just a year ago, her son had returned to Vietnam barely fluent in Vietnamese. Now, he confidently performs in plays, delivers presentations, and composes rhymes. As applause from parents echoed throughout the hall and the students beamed with pride at completing their year-end presentation, Ms. Hoai Thanh – Vietnamese Literature teacher for class 2Kobe – couldn’t hold back her tears of joy. These heartfelt moments were the emotional highlights of the year-end Vietnamese Literature presentations by students in grades 1 to 4.
Through Design Thinking and boundless creativity, TDSers brought their Vietnamese learning journey to life in diverse and vivid ways: from designing handbooks on argumentative writing, to retelling the history of the Vietnamese language in the film The Language Journey, and embodying characters from literary works like Saint Giong, The Adventures of Cricket, and When the Light’s Out. Through theatrical performances, the students vividly recreated the heroic days of national founding, the hardship under foreign rule, and amusing yet thought-provoking fables.
A special highlight of this year’s showcase was the integration of Vietnamese Literature with the charitable project The Dream School. With a desire to contribute meaningfully to the community, TDSers applied their knowledge to create heartfelt gifts for underprivileged students at Bao Nam 1 Primary School in Ky Son district, Nghe An province. From vocabulary bingo sets and school rule signage to collections of rhymes—all designed and crafted by the students—these items reflected not only academic ability but also love and compassion. This is a clear embodiment of Dewey’s educational philosophy: learning through experience and nurturing empathy in global citizens.
From a humble stage, the students voiced a powerful dream for the greater good. A love for literature was quietly sown through these simple, childlike yet deeply touching acts of kindness. Because empathy lies at the heart of art—and it is this very foundation that Dewey builds upon to cultivate the souls of students from their earliest school years.
Ms. Pham Thi Phuong, parent of a student in class 4Napier, shared emotionally: “I’m truly grateful to the teachers and the school for giving our children such invaluable lessons on love and compassion. Thanks to these experiences, the students have learned to use their knowledge to create positive value for the community from a young age. Compared to children in remote areas, Dewey students live in a much more comfortable and privileged environment. Yet they’ve shown us that they are not just recipients of these privileges, but also young people who know how to give, to empathize, and to share with those less fortunate. That, to me, is the true essence of literature—because learning literature is ultimately learning how to be human.”
