SHIFTING EXPECTATIONS
The world is rapidly changing, and so is our perception of things. Factors that make people successful and happy continue to evolve; and likewise, expectations in education are also shifting:
Academic excellence vs lifelong learner
Transfer of knowledge vs discovering opportunities
Drilling, rote memorization vs hands-on, problem based learning
Unified syllabus vs personalized learning tools
Model answers vs open ended questions
How do we prepare our present and future generations to thrive in this transforming world? CEL aims to find out by breaking the boundaries of education...
OUR VISION
With the conviction of educators, the vision of entrepreneurs, and the desire of parents, the Catalyst Education Lab seeks to create positive learning experiences to nurture lifelong learners, and equip students with the resolve and attributes to tackle real world problems.
WHO WE ARE
CEL is a Hong Kong based non-profit organization. While we are still in our formative stages, CEL is fortunate to have to the engagement of not just our partner schools, but also support from a group of advisors with entrepreneurial and education backgrounds. CEL’s set up includes:
Principal Roundtable – formed by the senior leadership of our partner schools that will help determine the overall direction of the foundation
Advisory Board – consisting of experts from diverse field to not only provide advice, but also to view education from multiple perspectives
Teacher Fellow Community – all teachers who have participated in our events or activities will become our fellows
OUR PARTNER SCHOOLS:
Chinese International School
Diocesan Boys’ School
Logos Academy
Marymount Secondary School
St. Paul’s College
St. Stephen’s Girls’ College
While working closely with partner schools, we welcome other schools and teachers to participate in our activities. Our goal is to help all students in Hong Kong, especially those from underprivileged schools.
OUR BELIEFS
The Catalyst Education Lab was established with the following beliefs:
Education should be enjoyable and stimulating;
Students should learn in an engaging and hands-on environment where they will be inspired to recognize their talents and identify their interests;
We connect our six partner schools with learning resources and approaches from education experts, and support the schools’ efforts to immerse these concepts into their classrooms;
CEL will serve as a collaborative community where our partner schools pool ideas, identify problems, and jointly develop solutions;
Professional development is a significant feature to help resolve some of the current challenges and introduce mindset change;
We resolve to create open source material and content that will be made available for all schools in Hong Kong to help advance education level in the city.
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTION
Make use of teaching tools to make the content from text books livelier and easier to comprehend. Ultimately, with more exposure to different kinds of teaching tools, teachers can develop their own tools to enhance their lessons in the future.
Utilize hands-on projects and self-development tools to help students identify their interests and talents. Place greater emphasis on the learning process, instead of focusing solely on end results.
Develop customized and personalized learning tools (through AI or online community, for example) so children can self-learn and be motivated to learn by themselves. These tools can then support classroom teaching, and allow students to explore areas of their own interest.
Through professional development, empower teachers to strengthen relevance between classroom learning with real-world issues, and support students to solve problems that they can relate to. In time, teachers can develop own curriculum and augment teaching methods.
ACTIVITIES
July-August 2017 – MIT STEAM camp @ CIS
January 2018 – Catalyst Education Lab was established
March 2018 – CEL and leadership group from six partner schools attended J-WEL week activities in Boston
April 2018 – CEL teacher fellows visited CIS
May 2018 – STEAM Camp PD at The Harbour School
May 2018 – CEL teacher fellows visited DBS
May 2018 – CEL teacher fellows visited SSGC
June 2018 – Teachers from six partner schools attended J-WEL exchange in Boston
July 2018 – CEL teacher fellows had general curriculum meeting at SSGC
July-August 2018 –MIT STEAM camp @ CIS
August 2018 – Scratch Workshop with Mitch Rescind
October 2018 – J-WEL week activities in Boston
November 2018 – Joined School Teacher Development Day at MSS
December 2018 – Workshops at partner schools led by David Birnbach from MIT
April 2019 – J-WEL week activities in Boston
June 2019 – J-WEL Exchange activities in Boston
August 2019 –MIT STEAM camp @ CIS
