To be a great teacher one has to be creative, embrace technology, do more and talk less.
Those are the words of Kenyan science teacher Peter Mokaya Tabichi who won the 2019 Global Teacher Prize in March.
Tabichi is known to give away 80 per cent of his monthly income to help the poor. In a region where drought and famine are frequent, 95 per cent of pupils hail from poor families, almost a third are orphans or have only one parent, and many go without food at home.
However, Tabichi turned the lives of his students around in a school with only one computer, poor Internet connectivity and a student-teacher ratio of 58:1. His story of using sports to unite students from various tribes also speaks volumes of how education is more than what is done within the classroom.
Tabichi will be in Malaysia on Nov 23 as he will join impactful leaders at the Leaps of Knowledge Conference at JW Marriott in Kuala Lumpur.
Others lined up for the event, organised by FrogAsia, are Teach for Malaysia Alumnus, Soonufat Supramaniam; international psychologist, life coach and 2019’s Young Global Leader Dr Anjhula Mya Singh Bais; child and family development specialist Racheal Kwacz; educationist, consultant and trainer Puan Sri Sherina Aris; and Malaysian-born artist and architectural designer, Red Hong Yi.
Leaps of Knowledge is an annual conference for students, teachers and parents organised by FrogAsia and supported by YTL Foundation. This conference is targeted at making a difference in classrooms and communities as well as contributing to the education infrastructure in Malaysia.
Over the past five years, Leaps of Knowledge has seen 20,000 attendees nationwide.
Attendees will take part in sharing sessions by impactful speakers and teachers and get involved in workshops to upskill themselves in teaching and learning techniques.
“This year, we want to bring it back to the heart of what it is all about. Our HEART values are very important because they come back to what we do and why we do it. We are here to make a difference,” said Lou Yeoh, FrogAsia’s executive director.
“We have seen many teachers and schools that have been transformed since embarking on a journey with us on our platform. We have a larger story and we have a lot more to offer.”
She added when FrogAsia first started and was new in Malaysia, technology in government schools was not what it is today.
“It was a huge mindset shift for someone to adopt something new, especially new technology.
“After seven years, we built a huge community of teachers who finally tried it, really loved it and began advocating it, while pioneering usage along the way. They started to connect and meet, find a purpose together as well as help and learn from each other. We were inspiring them before but now we are celebrating how they inspire us,” added Lou.
Tickets are being sold at RM260 each. Kindly visit www.leapsofknowledge.com for more information.