The event, dubbed ‘Level it up Teaching exposition, featured teachers from private and government basic and higher education institution. Faculty and student participants were immersed in a day of sharing of teaching experience with premium to Student-Centered Teaching and Learning and Assessment.
The event, held on October 22, at the ADM-207B was geared towards encouraging the institutions to appreciate the evolution of education and pitch the best practices in teaching and assessment at specific levels.
Music educator, conductor, and curriculum designer Mr. Arjay Viray said that the exposition provided platforms for the teachers to learn and adapt to new approaches and modalities in terms of teaching. “One of teaching’s greatest cliché is that teachers are lifelong learners, but we didn’t have platforms encouraging this principle for many years. Being able to be in front of your peers and be vulnerable has been a dreaded scenario by most teachers. Seeing co-educators who are more open to these exchanges and interactions excites me as we move forward. I often hear in literary/writing workshops that a sign of a writer’s maturity is when one starts reading the works of their peers, but more importantly, when they start endorsing others’ works – for others to read. I believe that is the closest I felt to my experience during the Teaching Expo. I learned a lot, and I hope others also learned from me,” he said.
It was his first time attending a teaching exposition. Mr. Viray was pleased to be part of something historical for FEU-IE and CTL such as launching seminars that would redefine education. “As a new faculty member of FEU, I honestly had some reservations and resistance with SCL, specifically with the learning areas that I teach – Music and Creative Writing. I used to believe, like many others before, that you can experiment and explore, but in the end, there are already effective ways to teach Music and Creative Writing (or any of the Arts, for that matter) in place. But as I go deeper into the semester, I can now see that SCL is not actually “another” modality, theory, model, or approach. SCL is actually the intersection where A) the models and theories that resonate with me as a teacher and B) the learning experiences and approaches that I deem necessary and applicable to a particular class/learning area – meet. So I wanted to participate in the Teaching Exposition to validate this myself. And to do that while also learning from others (and having fun with fellow educators) was truly a great experience.
The TEXPO provided participants with a unique opportunity to agree on a shared vision and practical action suitable for the students while also encouraging them to rethink their attitudes toward education and explore new approaches to global challenges through exchanging ideas. TEXPO was initiated by the Institute of Education-Center for Teaching and Learning as part of the annual celebration of Teacher’s Month. (Regine Mae M. Altoveros, CTL Teaching Assistant)
