“They changed and when you see students like that, you change too.”
As part of the Character and Creativity Initiative (CCI) Practice Sharing session at the Transforming Education Summit in Malaysia on January 27, educators who have successfully implemented CCI in their schools shared their experience and inspired their peers to seize opportunities for change.
The Character and Creativity Initiative seeks to make education more relevant in the twenty-first century by integrating character and creativity into all aspects of school culture towards the development of the whole person.
Eugene Morais from Katholik Petaling Jaya Secondary School shared how he used choral speaking and drama activities to make learning English more fun for his students. The entire classroom had to be involved from start to end and in the process they learned skills like teamwork, time management, and communication. By including every student, Eugene provided each of them with an equal opportunity to learn and grow and consequently, they became more engaged, motivated, and confident.
Madam Yap Ming Yee, Head of the Economic Unit; Madam Buvaneswary D/O Subramaniam, Head of the Mathematics Unit; and Madam Amutha D/O Rakwan, a chemistry teacher; from Puterijaya Secondary School shared how they fostered a culture of collaboration amongst themselves and the importance of leadership and trust between peers after attending a CCI Educators’ Retreat organized by Global Peace Malaysia.
Madam Buvaneswary encouraged collaboration amongst her colleagues, discussing the need to teach and nurture at the same time saying, “What we need to do is teach and at the same time nurture good qualities in the students.” She added that as a result, students are more creative, interactive, innovative, and are eager to start their lessons. “They changed and when you see students like that, you change too.”
