CIS’s Educator Forum - Great Platform for Knowledge Sharing between Educators
The Canadian International School’s (CIS) first Educators Forum was held on 30 November. Following the successful launch of CIS’ Outdoor Discovery Centre (ODC), the first outdoor classroom in Singapore, we received an overwhelming interest from educators to come visit the centre. CIS was keen to share what the school has already learnt in the field, with an audience of 32 educators from preschools and kindergartens across the island.
The ODC at CIS provides an unparallelled learning environment for kindergarten children, based on tactile and experiential play in an outdoor environment. Early results from the ODC have been exemplary and, as a thought leader in early years education, CIS aims to give back to the local community by sharing their best practices in experiential learning and K12 pedagogy framed by IB (International Baccalaureate) programme through the forums.
In this inaugural forum, Primary School Principal Mrs. Radojkovich and Vice Principal Ms. Strachan gave an insightful overview of teaching and learning in kindergarten. Mrs. Radojkovich explained how the CIS pedagogy is rooted in CIS’ mission statement: Engage. Enlighten. Empower. She shared that these three words are a clear call to action for CIS teachers - in developing 21st century skills and global citizens. Ms. Strachan explained how purposeful play, guided and facilitated by teachers, is the foundation of learning in the early years. She went on to share the research that supports the benefits of play based learning, and why it is essential in students’ formative years. Ms. Strachan also explained the concept of inquiry based teaching and learning, a foundation of the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP). She explained inquiry as a “hands-on approach where students are prompted to think, pose questions and acquire knowledge across multiple disciplines”.
Following the presentation, the participants were taken on a Kindergarten visit. Animated discussions occurred as the group visited classrooms, learning pods, the kindergarten kitchen, and the perceptual motor programme room (used for physical education classes). The tour ended in the Outdoor Discovery Centre (ODC), where educators spent time discussing the centre’s discrete learning spaces that are unique to this groundbreaking space (including a mud kitchen, soundgarden, and art walls) and the associated learning opportunities and outcomes.
About CIS’ Educators’ Forums
CIS is an innovative school at the forefront of best practice and educational trends and research. It is this innovative mindset that led Mrs. Radojkovich to spearhead an educator's forum with a purpose of sharing current research and practice that is being explored and implemented not only at CIS, but within forum participants organisations. This proposed model will see forum participants meet regularly, develop ongoing forums collaboratively, with CIS Lakeside as the potential host.
The future looks promising, as the inaugural forum was very successful. It concluded with participants offering ideas and potential foci for future forums, with many volunteering to facilitate discussions and presentations from their own practice perspective.