Unique way to learn via International Baccalaureate
BEIJING: The International Baccalaureate (IB) programme believes that besides knowledge, experience and exposure are also important for students to survive in the 21st century.
These main ingredients will help the students to become matured, enhance their self and skills development, be able to perceive of what they should and should not do with their lives in line with their preparation to be future leader.
For Fairview International School (FIS), an IB school based in Kuala Lumpur, besides class learning its student will be brought to expedition twice a year for them to experience cultures, norms, values that are being practised in the real world.
Expedition chief Hakim Halim said the students would be exposed to trip as early as grade four, aged eight to 10, starting with domestic trip as a preparation for them before having an overseas trip.
“We have been doing this trip since 2009 and this is our eighth year of the expedition series. Every grade are going to different places such as Phuket (Thailand), Lake Toba (Indonesia) and for grade 11 (aged 15-17) with a total of 163 students were brought to Beijing.
“They started with Port Dickson trip at our EduResort then slowly we will bring them outside, further from their home. It is important for them to learn and experience it themselves thus developing their soft skills,” he told Bernama during the trip to Beijing from Oct 24 to 28. For 2017 expedition more than 1,000 students traveled to eight destinations namely Lake Toba and Bali (Indonesia), Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam), Siem Reap (Cambodia), Phuket and Bangkok in Thailand besides Wuhan and Beijing (China).
FIS owns, operates and manages five campuses in Kuala Lumpur, Subang, Johor Bharu, Ipoh and Penang where it offers Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme and the IB Diploma Programme.
Hakim said the main purpose of this expedition besides helping the students score in their final exams, was to ensure that they were able to apply everything they have learned in the classroom in real life.
“Students will also undertake social community programmes during the expedition where it allows student to interact with the local community. From there they will develop their social, outdoor and leadership skills.”
The Beijing expedition themed ‘Past, Present & Future’ exposed the students from the ancient Chinese civilisation until now.
Hakim said FIS wanted to produce students whose were balanced in academic and values.
“They must understand the community in terms of humanitarian and can help others outside their comfort zone,” said the teacher at FIS since 2009.
For Muhammad Noor Syafiq Mohd Zamri, 17, this expedition enabled him to apply what he learned in classroom and do things he rarely do.
“Two of the main skills that I have applied in Beijing are communicator and risk taker because during one of the classes I have joined, I got the chance to speak and debate with my classmates,” he said.
For Azra Azzahra Nordarzy, 15, there is lot of similarity between Malaysian and Chinese such as the architecture of the buildings and the temples.
“In Malaysia whenever you walk pass Chinese areas you will see the same design of achitecture but not completely the same as in China as it is more detailed may be because they have a deeper history.” Bernama