MGCNLCA Community Fosters Growth in the First-ever Festival of Lifelong Learning
The MGC New Life Christian Academy (MGCNLCA) community learned with each other and fostered a growth mindset as they listened to international educational experts at the first-ever Festival of Lifelong Learning (FLL) held on campus last November 23 to 25.
In the course of three days, 154 parents, 322 junior high school students, and 157 teachers listened to Aga Chojnacka-Al Atat, Kimberly Mitchell, and Kailyn Fullerton as they shed light on the current issues in the world of holistic education.
The festival was based on two themes: the learning within us and the learning around us. Each day had three sessions with three breakout rooms. Chojnacka-Al Atat spoke in the auditorium, Mitchell in the lecture hall, and Fullerton at the 7th floor gym.
Throughout the festival, Chojnacka-Al Atat spoke about understanding values-driven life and learning, exploring the 22 attitudes, dispositions, and strategies for the 22nd century, and seeing with our hearts, thinking with our hands, and acting with our heads.
Inquiry Partner Mitchell, meanwhile, engaged everyone with talks about appreciative inquiry, aesthetics, and the major differences between traditional and inquiry-based classrooms. She concluded each day with a hands-on activity like art, journaling, and liberating structures.
Focusing on sharing different approaches, Fullerton discussed three topics: grounding our energy and attention in kindness and compassion, understanding stress in the body and strategies to help us regulate when we feel overwhelmed, and celebrating the joys in life by cultivating gratitude.
“I had the best time. Not only was I able to share something that I was really passionate about, which is inquiry-based learning, philosophy, and writing, but I was able to learn so much from all of you. I really am grateful to the students for getting out of their comfort zones, doing something a little different today, and taking some risks,” expressed Mitchell.
Students, teachers, and parents who attended the FLL also found it insightful.
Sofia Alexa Sy of Berea shared, “Activities like rock painting were the things I really liked, instead of just sitting on what I expected to be just an hour long lecture–we did a little task related to its main message.”
Junior High School teacher Jerome Lim added, “I used to think that this was an activity for developing me as a professional. Now I think that it's for my personal growth since the attitude of "lifelong learning" is a universal attitude not just for school or for a profession but also for life in general. I've learned that we sometimes need to take things slow and be mindful in our observations in life, that in order for us to be effective and efficient in what we do, we need to take our time and be mindful in whatever endeavor we take."
“It was enlightening for us who grew up in a traditional way of learning. It was informative and encouraging to get out of our comfort zone. I think an inquiry-based classroom will raise curious leaders and thinkers. It will teach the students to have initiative and be less dependent on others to give them the answers to their questions and their needs," said Grade 11 parent Gilerose Go.
