REFLECTION: Student group discuss their project in a hotel.
KUCHING: Fairview International School, which has embraced the International Baccalaureate programmes while providing a curriculum framework, expounds on core values and principles in what is called the Learner Profile.
The programmes are based on the premise of inquiry, built on transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary themes topped up with areas of interaction.
Students are not fed with information; on the contrary, they are geared towards the right questioning skills, research skills, critical thinking skills and the like.
TEAM WORK: Students work in the orphanage under the community and service project.
Learning becomes an arduous yet enjoyable journey with teachers, students and parents not just engage but are virtually immersed in the process of acquiring and understanding a myriad of skills and concepts that equip them to not just embrace a body of book knowledge, but question the authenticity of it.
Recently some of the students of MYP9 (middle years programme 9) went off to revel on the island of Bali.
Tasks were assigned to various groups that included doing laundry, cleaning washrooms and gardening during their visit to Jodi O Shea Orphanage on the second day of their trip.
Lunch with the children at the orphanage was an experience as food was shared and everyone had something to eat.
It was an extremely thought provoking notion to consider as all human activity on Mount Batur depended on volcanic activity in the area.
Objectives achieved, students spent time critically reflecting on the expedition, and looking at their exhibition of the attributes of the Learner Profile at every step of the expedition.
International-mindedness was apparent as students considered the plight of children disadvantaged by location and circumstances.
Knowledge was acquired through practical real time activities with creative and critical thinking skills coming to the fore as they devised ways to uplift the lives of the orphans, problem-solving and deductive reasoning skills.
In embracing the International Baccalaureate Programmes, Fairview has paved the way for education that results in a better world.