(extract from Handout)
- Content and Skill Development: Microfinance as a Development Strategy
- Kiva's Website: http://www.kiva.org/about
- Videoclip (from Youtube): Frontline/WorldKivaPBS
- Critical Thinking: Students decide who should get their loan
- An Audience for students: Fund raising
- Life Long Learning: Kiva account for life
- Engaging the Real World: Empathy in Development Economics
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Our Observations and/or Takeaways...
From Kwai Yin:
It's a very good illustration of relevant opportunity that links learning to authentic application.
I thought the clip was a good introduction - to provide the context of the whole engagement: Right from the beginning, students learnt that it was going to be a meaningful engagement since they were going to help someone (in real life!). Indeed, the website provided clear explanation and guided them step-by-step what to do. It's like just-in-time training for them and students really had the opportunity to apply what they learnt.
On the other hand, I think we do not lack such opportunities in Singapore. The only challenge here is, such organisations/ agencies do not position their organisation 'objective' such that it provides a win-win situation like what we find in the kiva website. Of course, the teacher also plays a critical role to authenticate to ensure the organisation/ agency is not a scam
From Irfan:
I am impressed with the efforts put in by the school, and the teacher in particular, to really educate his students on the concept of microfinancing and how it is something that can be closely tied in with a social enterprise. One key takeaway that I would observe is the immense opportunities that such an integration would provide, and benefits and learning points that it can offer to both the teachers and students. I'm not too sure whether this concept would work over here in Singapore, and SST specifically, but I guess one would definitely like to look at a similar conceptual model to begin with. And then to bind all this up together with CBL...now that I think is definitely a recipe for a good learning platform.
Hmmm, perhaps the ADMT department's proposed work on 'The Elderly Challenge' would be something that SST can start of with? It is of a similar conceptual model, where an integration of content knowledge and some form of a social endeavour (not necessarily a social enterprise) is combined. Let us see how it goes in Semester 2 then!
Kin Chuah: Similar to the Curator of a Day, this project provides a real-life learning experience for the students. I have no doubt students by the end of the day know what micro-financing is about but also learn about empathy, critical thinking and communication skills.
Impressed!
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