VOICES

Keys School Manila is proud to be a progressive school that champions interdisciplinary learning. These can be some big words and maybe even new concepts to a parent bringing their child to school for the first time. So what does it mean exactly?

Interdisciplinary means combining two or more disciplines, or multiple subjects. This is ideally done by allowing students to make connections between disciplines or by guiding students through themes. By studying thematically, students are able to bring ideas or concepts, and solutions or systems from all of their subjects and apply these to a task at hand. 

Progressive learning gives great emphasis on learning by doing, and is often centered on a theme, and so it goes hand in hand with interdisciplinary learning. The environment for progressive schools allows for more movement, collaboration, and experimentation. Furthermore, in a progressive learning environment, students are taught critical thinking from a very young age. They are encouraged to set goals, to think independently, to experiment, and to problem solve.

In a classroom, this might look something like this:

• Having a theme like: “Who am I?”
• This theme allows students to immediately relate to and remember what they are learning because of the vested interest in that it is meaningful to them. 
• The theme can tackle geography in that children have to know where they are in their country, and where their country is in the world.
• It can tackle history by diving into students’ family histories and perhaps the migration of different family members.
• It can tackle mathematics by asking students to discover the communities in which they live and how many people live there with them or how far their city is from another.
• It can tackle science in the pursuit of an understanding of their current physical development and ability.
• And so on…

A single theme can open the door to a wide variety of topics that students can pursue and need multiple disciplines to properly pursue. The ultimate result is this: 

• A love for learning. By encouraging students to be curious, to experiment, and to keep asking questions, they can develop a passion for learning and an ability to make connections from multiple disciplines that is necessary in many real-world situations.
• Comfort in uncertainty. Because the pursuit for answers is never a clear path, and perhaps not even a single right answer, students are comfortable in uncharted waters. Students are not afraid to go in depth, to borrow and or consolidate ideas, and to think out of the box. These traits become very useful in adult life and in a professional or work setting.

Open mindedness and development of grit. Knowing that answers may come from areas they have not yet studied or ideas not yet pursued, students learn to be very open minded. They look and understand multiple perspectives and viewpoints, and they are open (prepared even) to be wrong and to work by themselves or with others to try again. Both are very important for success in their adult lives.

To learn more about what your child is learning or might learn at Keys this school year, connect with our Admissions team at to 0917-167-5397 or admissions@keys.edu.ph.