14th ASEF Classroom Network Conference

On 27-30 November 2018 in Helsinki and Espoo, Finland, over 100 participants which consisted of policy-makers, scholars, pedagogical experts, education leaders and innovative secondary, high and vocational school teachers from 45 ASEM countries explored and shared good practices on the field of gender equality and STEM education, as well as its possible impact on the society.

The 14th ASEF Classroom Network Conference (#ASEFClassNet14) brought together over 100 participants including policy-makers, scholars, pedagogical experts, education leaders and innovative secondary, high and vocational school teachers from 45 ASEM countries.

Through panel discussions and lectures from experts on the topic, the participants enriched their understanding of gender and participated in debates and discussions to highlight why gender equality in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) is crucial today. Most importantly, it encouraged participants to debate how school leaders and governments can introduce initiatives to encourage more girls to study STEM in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Encouraging Learning Beyond the Regular School Curriculum

Considering the value of integrating creativity, critical thinking, and team work in learning process, every year ASEF ClassNet Conference encourages teachers from Asia and Europe to propose and collaborate on projects that can empower students, with opportunities to learn beyond the regular school curriculum. This year 6 outstanding ASEF ClassNet School Collaborations were shortlisted from 19 Collaborations and awarded with Gold and Merit Awards at the 14th ASEF ClassNet Conference in Finland:

Gold Awards

• Let’s Stroll in the Streets: This collaboration invited students to team up to reveal history of streets in their neighborhood and countries.
• Entrepreneur’s Bazaar: This collaboration created opportunities for students to experience the full cycle of operating a retail business from a start-up through simple real business initiatives.
• Rivers – An Elixir of Life: Through this collaboration students learned about lives of people living near rivers to understand civilizations that are formed around rivers.

Merit Awards

• The Power of Songs: Using a range of ICT tools to develop digital skills, students explored the power of music to empower lives and societies around the world.
• What Matters in Your Life? 2017: Through this collaboration students explored deep questions on aspects related to life that they find important in four levels – individual, community, national and global.
• Uniquely Us: Publish It!: Students explored and learned about photo journalism and anthropology to study, document and share stories of their home country with participants around the world.

These 6 School Collaborations involved a total of 692 students, 53 teachers from 41 schools in 22 ASEM partner countries.