What is Learning Journeys ?

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Learning Journeys aim to instil in our students, pride in Singapore’s achievements, to help them understand Singapore’s constraints, challenges and opportunities, build their confidence in our future, and nurture a sense of belonging to Singapore.

Inherent in the concept of Learning Journeys is the belief that every trip undertaken by the pupils out of the school is an important learning experience that will link the theoretical with the experiential - injecting life and meaning to the learning so that it becomes real and concrete. By visiting key installations in Singapore, the students will get see the principles and theories learnt in the classroom and textbooks applied in real life situations, and understand that meritocracy, hard work, the desire to excel, and readiness to take calculated risks have allowed us to overcome many constraints and turn challenges into opportunities.

Learning Journeys (LJ) in schools
Learning Journeys refers to all trips out of schools which teachers and students embark on together to extend and enrich the educational experience. Besides helping to make real and concrete what has been learnt in schools, LJ will broaden the mental horizons of students and contribute to their total development.

LJ are not relevant to National Education only. Schools’ LJ programme can be made more meaningful and relevant to our students when they plan the visits with multiple learning objectives in mind. With the recent emphasis on a multi-disciplinary approach, and the need to derive optimal educational benefits from every educational activity, schools can undertake these visits as an integral part of the formal curriculum, enhancing the learning experience of students.

What constitutes a Learning Journey?
A programme is considered a Learning Journey (LJ) as long as it fulfils any two of the four criteria below.

• Instilling Pride in Singapore's Achievements
• Understanding Singapore: Its Challenges and Opportunities
• Building Confidence in our Future
• Singapore is Our Home

All the programmes offered by our partner organisations cover at least two of the above criteria. In fact, most fulfill three, if not all four. The added advantage of visiting these sites is that they have already incorporated NE learning objectives into the programmes offered. In addition, there are also resources provided to complement some of the programmes.

Should schools decide to design their own programmes for LJ, they must ensure that the programmes satisfy at least two of the four criteria. Schools should also consciously weave in NE in the learning objectives.

While LJ has a National Education focus, a multi-disciplinary approach should be adopted so that the out-of-classroom learning experience is maximised and all relevant and possible learning points are incorporated. For instance, the visits to the key national institutions should impart NE messages as well as provide lessons in history, science, geography and other fields of study. Learning Journeys, therefore, is a unitary programme with multi-faceted value that contributes to the total development of the child. They are to be regarded as an indispensable teaching tool that is a part of the learning continuum which will help chart the life journeys of our young.

There are three categories of Learning Journeys for National Education, as shown in the diagram below:

1. Learning Journeys to partner organisations
These are programmes offered by national institutions and public installations that have come on board to participate in the LJ programme. These organisations have specially designed programmes that incorporate NE learning objectives and some also offer resources to complement the programme.

2. School-initiated Learning Journeys
These are grounds-up programmes initiated and organised by schools such as trails and visits to heritage sites. The schools take ownership of these programmes and customise them to cater to their students’ needs. Schools-initiated learning journeys are becoming increasingly popular, and schools either design and carry out the programmes themselves, or work with other government agencies and commercial operators.

Schools are reminded to engage Singapore Tourism Board (STB) licensed guides and to contact the management or owner of the sites they intend to visit to avoid disrupting the day to day operations and activities there.

3. National Heritage Tours (NHTs)
These are tours to important heritage sites in Singapore such as Chinatown, Little India, World War II sites, and the Singapore River. Designed by the Curriculum Planning and Development Division, these NHTs come with resource packages that contain guidelines on how to conduct the tours, comprehensive background notes for teachers and suggested worksheets for students. The worksheets have been specially designed to supplement the syllabus (like extension activities), and help students to better appreciate what they have learnt in the textbooks.

For more information do find them under our list of LJ programmes.

Taking your students on National Heritage Tours
You may also contact Mdm Siti Dzhawieyah at 68796828 or email: Siti_Dzhawieyah_Sujaee@moe.gov.sg.

Who should go for Learning Journeys?
Students from Primary 4 to Secondary 4 should be given the opportunity to go on various LJs at least once per year.
(Primary schools can choose to involve Lower Primary P1-3 in Learning Journeys as well)

For Pri 4 to Pri 6, students would be expect to go on 3 Learning Journeys (1 per year), of which at least one must be a NHT to one of the following.
i) Kampong Glam                        ii) Little India                             iii) Chinatown

For Sec 1 and Sec 2 (Lower Sec), students would be expect to go on 2 Learning Journeys (1 per year), of which at least one must be a NHT to one of the following.
i) Fort Canning & vicinity             ii) World Word II sites                 iii) Civic District

For Sec 3 to Sec 4/5 (Lower Sec), students would be expect to go on 2 Learning Journeys (1 per year), of which at least one must be a NHT to one of the following.
i) Museum Precinct & vicinity       ii) Central Business District          iii) Singapore River

Thus, at the end of their secondary education, students would have experienced at least 7 LJs (including NHTs) and would have a better understanding of the different facets of Singapore.

In line with the JC CCA/CIP review in 2005, JCs and CI will have autonomy in deciding the extent to which LJs should be integrated into their NE curriculum to best meet and respond to the needs and interests of their students.