Elementary students at Nibras International School in Dubai, celebrated International Education Day in a unique way.
Grade 2 teacher, Nastasha Van Staden, led a project where several teachers connected their students to students from around the world to learn more about their different education systems and classes. Many of the enthusiastic teachers reached out to former colleagues to create this unique experience for the students.
Students from Grade 2 through to Grade 5 at Nibras virtually connected to similar aged students in South Africa and Thailand. They proudly spoke about Nibras and shared details of their everyday life, structure of their classes, and the projects they are working on. Teachers encouraged them to share their favourite subjects and what they aspire to be when they grow up. Some students even learned how to greet each other in another language.
“The idea of this project was to connect kids globally. Today we connected with the school in Thailand where I used to work, and it was absolutely amazing,” Van Staden said. “Students had so many interesting questions about weather, classes, and hobbies, and they also learned how to count in Thai. Afterwards, students asked to reconnect again as they have made new friends today. This short experience had led to something new.”
Students found many similarities and differences in their everyday life. They realised most of them have the same subjects in school and go to school in the morning hours. Although the pandemic has impacted school life, they all showed that their enthusiasm for meeting new people remains strong.
“The International Day of Education has given us an amazing opportunity to connect with children from around the world. As our students made these connections, they discovered many similarities and differences. This has been a truly authentic experience where children from around the world connected virtually to understand what it means to be globally minded,” said Althea Edmondson, Head of Elementary at Nibras International School.
“I learned today that students in Thailand learn the same things as we do. I want to talk to them again one day and learn more about their school,” said Kathrina, Grade 2 student at Nibras International School
