A group of 37 students who are doing Diploma in Early Childhood Education from MI College have concluded a five-day study tour in Sri Lanka. This was the first study tour undertaken by early childhood trainee teachers of MI College.
The study tour was held from November 17-22, 2013 and the purpose of this activity was to deepen the knowledge and skills of the early childhood trainee teachers. In this regard, the students visited three preschools in Kandy, namely Gateway International School, Kandy Grammar School and Al Imran International School. They also visited classrooms for observation and interacted with the early childhood educators and students.
One of the highlights of the study tour was an information session held on November 19th, at the students’ residence, by Madam Hazeera Jawhar, the Principal of Al Imran International School. She highlighted on what makes folk tales easy for language teaching and gave wonderful tips for story telling in classrooms. Through the insightful session, the students realized the importance of folk tales in developing children’s language and the power of stories.
After staying in Kandy for the first three days, the students returned to Colombo and visited the Ladies College where early childhood education courses are also run. There was a good exchange of ideas and experiences between the students of Ladies College and the students of MI College.
In summary, the study tour offered experiential encounter with teachers from different schools and helped to understand the pedagogical approaches used in preschools. It was a good initiative from MI College which broadened the trainee teachers’ thinking about teaching in early childhood classrooms. Apart from this, the students experienced life in a different society and have fond memories from the tour that would remain forever.
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