It has been a busy week. The team at AST continues to work overtime to provide us with a rich experience. Monday, we met with the Executive Director and Branch Director of AST. I enjoyed learning about their career paths, which affirmed that Singapore invests in its teachers. If desired, all educators can advance their careers with full support from the MOE.
After our meeting, Shing Fang and Kai En explained the Singapore Learning Space (SLS), an advanced version of Canvas and Blackboard. The interface is user-friendly and serves as a home for the needs of all students and educators. Afterward, the team took us to our first Michelin Star restaurant Keng Eng Kee Seafood. We tossed Yu Sheng, a Chinese New Year dish representing good fortune. The experience felt like a family get-together as we shared aloud our wishes for each other.
In the afternoon, we visited the US Embassy. It was a pleasant experience to meet Rafik Mansour, Deputy Chief of Mission, and his team overseeing Fulbright.
On Tuesday, I met with Peter GN, Senior Specialist in Dance at the Arts Education Branch. We had a wonderful chat regarding the dance scene in Singapore and methods to bring dance into the core curriculum in schools. The value of dance education is the same in US and Singapore schools and reflective of how dance is perceived across the globe in academia. Across the country, music, theater, and visual arts are offered as part of the core curriculum and graduation requirements for students. Dance is typically offered in specialized performing arts schools or as after-school programming, which limits student exposure to the holistic benefits of dance education. I am offering a PD for the arts curriculum design department and local teachers on 2/25.
Shedding Skin in Arts Education: The Power of Developing a Holistic Learning Environment to Address a Students Lived Experience
liana conyers 