Jacob Tan hosted the National Institute of Education, Singapore's 16th CJ Koh Visiting Professor, Prof Justin Dillon, Professor of Science and Environmental Education at University College London, on the school's campus to show him how the school has been intentional in creating a scholastic experience where nature is encountered daily rather than a field trip out of school. Accompanying him was Dr Trivina Kang, NIE's Chief Strategy and Partnerships Officer.
"The student guides Yu Jay and Philippa from the Eco Club took Prof Dillon and Dr Kang on an Eco-Stewardship Tour where they learned how our students experience national environmental goals such as the City in Nature vision, OneMillionTrees movement, and 30 by 30 goal within a school context," as Jacob's LinkedIn post states.
The group walked through the mini "Bukit Timah Nature Reserve" (a rainforest garden between two classroom blocks), the mini "Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve" (a freshwater wetland habitat in the school), the mini "Pasir Panjang Nursery" (a plant nursery that propagates endangered forest tree species), and the mini "Eco-Link" (an ecological corridor that is being reforested to connect the Rainforest and The Wetland).
Prof Dillon was given the chance to transplant 32 seedlings of Sweet Basil onto the farming modules in the Indoor Farm and scooped out 1 kg of compost from one of the six Food Digesters. He added the compost to the soil mix and used it in the transplanting of 12 seedlings of Dendrolobium umbellatum from the germination tray to their planter bags. The Professor also planted a unit of Dendrolobium umbellatum at the Rainforest Extension to enhance the ecological connectivity between the eco-habitats in school.
During his visit, Prof Dillon engaged in conversation with Eco Club students and Geography teacher Ms Lye Zhen Xi to find out more about youths' perspectives towards sustainability and the future.
The day before he visited the school, Prof Dillon gave his public lecture on "Sustainability and The Future of Education" at NTU@One North Auditorium to an audience of school leaders, teacher leaders, and representatives from NIE, Academy of Singapore Teachers, Curriculum Planning & Development Division, and Ministry of Education, Singapore (MOE) HQ.
"How does science influence the way I look at climate change?" he wonders. "How can we address the wicked problems through Science Education? How can we make time to teach sustainability effectively?"
While many schools are implementing various projects and initiatives, Professor Dillon finds that there should be a stronger national coherence and urgency to engage the next generation.