biology is live at the EARJ – first two weeks

It is always exciting for a new teacher to start at a new international school. At the EARJ, I have immediately felt warmly welcomed by the staff, parents and the students.

There is something vibrant and kind in the culture of the school, and many people went out of there way to connect with me and talk about their interest in biology and the science department in general at the EARJ.

Not only that, the students immediately engaged with some interesting biological questions. I gave my ib bio class a so called ´Ubuntu challenge´.

Ubuntu is an South African cultural concept, which essentially means togetherness or unity. It is specifically expressed by a sense of identity through social roles, and not through ones own achievements.

The use of ´Ubuntu challenges´ in education was pioneered in South Africa by educational researcher team led by Baken Lefa at the University of Cape Town.

An ´Ubuntu challenge´ video made by previous students illustrates the main principles:

At the EARJ, students were challenged to come up with a method of measuring the speed of a nerve impulse travelling through a human body.

https://youtu.be/WyAjbxE-Yk4

This is a clip showing their progress. I will upload a full explanation upon request.

Very happy to be an active member of the EARJ!