Orient - The Official Magazine of the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore - Issue 67 July 2018 - Page 50 Education & STEM - Creating a Solid Foundation for Future Learning
Students are encouraged to apply skills they learned in all their classes to the open-ended, creative exercises they are given. This interdisciplinary approach to education allows students to hone their analytical thinking skills, while simultaneously providing them with the resources needed to develop creative reasoning. Not only will they learn the “traditional” skills they’ll need to thrive in their careers, but they’ll also enjoy learning and finding creative solutions for pressing real-world problems.
Most importantly, the best schools are those that allow students to make a mess and make mistakes throughout the learning process. After all, students need to explore their creativity to discover hidden talents. That creativity is also vital for students’ future careers – even leaders in STEM career fields require creative thinkers to provide new perspectives and approaches to solving problems. Finally, to achieve all these things, schools must provide a learning environment that makes students feel comfortable and confident.
The integration of STEM based project learning into a curriculum based on student led, inquiry and concept-driven education helps students develop structured inquiry into big ideas that matter and then help them assess how much they really understand
through a rich and varied programme of assessment—some of it potentially highly digital—that allows flexible choice of content that supports conceptual learning. These are 21st Century requirements for teachers engaged with future students being born now, who will probably live into the 22nd Century.
About the Author Sebastien Barnard has over 20 years of experience as a sales, marketing communications, media, public relations and brand reputation management professional. Sebastien’s experience includes B2B, B2C and Public Sector marketing & sales; understanding and working with the marketing, sales and communication needs of leading MNCs' and Government organisations. Prior to joining GEMS World Academy (Singapore) Sebastien worked 6 years for The International Baccalaureate, Asia Pacific office as the Regional Marketing & Communications Manager APAC.
About the Company GEMS World Academy (Singapore) is a truly international school with over 60 nationalities, delivering an IB continuum of education (PYP, MYP, DP) from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
Part of the GEMS Education group of schools, world leaders in K-12 education for over 60 years, GEMS (Singapore) offers an environment where creative, entrepreneurial and innovation skills are at the foundation of the taught curriculum.
Blending a caring, child-focused environment, cutting-edge facilities, low student-teacher ratio and globally experienced and passionate teaching faculty, GEMS (Singapore) provides diverse extracurricular activities and outstanding learning opportunities for the international student community in Singapore. Visit www.gwa.edu.sg for more informatioN