How time flies! I could almost still smell the morning air of Singapore when the group reported at Changi Airport on the 21st March. Now, I find myself typing away in the hotel room with mixed feelings. The conference has come to an end and I will be homeward bound soon.
The Annual Conference has given me insights and new perspectives to what education is about and where it is heading. With the congregation of educators from other parts of the world, it facilitated exchange of ideas and riched conversations. Truly, the global education claimed its vision and direction of preparing the young generation for the future. It is about equipping the next generation with the essential skills to deal with the unknown and dynamic future. The ASCD President emphasized the importance of the 21st century skills and its a calling for all educators to recognise the paradigm shift in the way we teach our students.
In light of modern technology, it has certainly made the 21st century skills indeniably profound. Through the many presentations at the conference, the amount of webtools out there simply blew my mind away! I learnt that 21st century skills is not just simply a set of 'survival skills' for the future. It cannot be taught! It is a habit to acquire; it is a mindset to inculcate; it is an attitude to develop. Hence, the acquisition of the 21st century skills must cut across curriculum and forms the basis of teaching methodology. It is a culture!
It would be a challenge to challenge the teachers in school to embrace the 21st century skills and infuse teaching methods into their lesson delivery which would bring about deeper understanding and ownership of learning on the part of the students. It would also be a challenge to infuse 21st century skills into the formal curriculum through pedagogies like Problem Based Learning (PBL) and Inquiry Based Learning by harnessing modern technology.
Through some of the sessions I attended which discussed about uniting formative assessment with reflective practice, it gave me some insights to organise assessments and testing in the area of physical education. In addition the Presidio Middle School visit also provided some sample and reference model of measuring student outcomes in physical education. I believe I would be able to bring this information and learning back to my fellow PE teachers and start a discourse about formulating assessment criteria.
Amidst the rich learning, the trip has been most smooth and enjoyable. My fellow participants were most accommodating, fun loving and made the trip memorable and fruitful. I have also learnt a lot from the daily debriefs in the evenings. The rich conversations that sparked during the discourse has been very enlightening as we related our experience in the day. I enjoyed the sessions of debriefs.
I want to thank Ms Soh for being such a wonderful group leader in making this trip so rich in learning yet so enjoyable in experience. Apart from handling the administrative and logistics matters of the trip, Ms Soh set clear directions for all and created a safe environment for sharing of ideas during the debrief. Ms Soh has been very professional as the leader of the group and we have indeed benefited much from her leadership.
It has been a wonderful trip of learning and I am very glad to be given the opportunity to see the beauty San Francisco as a city by the bay.
Written by: Aubury Ong
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