SPBSQ TRAVEL AND TOURISM CLUB—— EXPLORE THE WORLD

According to the 2018 Deloitte Millennial Survey, 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t been invented yet and 65% of children starting school would one day have jobs that do not exist right now. So how do we prepare our students for such an uncertain future? Although the development of technical skills remains important, a new way of thinking says the development of soft skills is our bigger challenge for the future. These skills include building confidence, interpersonal skills, ethics and integrity, and critical thinking.

The Travel & Tourism Club strives to arm students with knowledge that connects them with the rapidly evolving real world. They are taken on a virtual tour of the world to learn an appreciation of our natural resources and gain an understanding of cultural and historical context that reaches far beyond their familiar frame of reference.

During the past year, we touched on a wide range of topics. We started off with extending our knowledge of the world - learning about the 7 continents - the natural resources, the people and the history of particular countries on each continent and comparing the new knowledge with what was already familiar - life in China, or perhaps countries that students had already visited. Learning about the modern 7 World Wonders was particularly inspiring for the students.

Students had the opportunity of being travel agents and advising their “clients” on various aspects of a destination of their choice. Japan proved to be a very popular destination this year! They also prepared marketing material, which included brochures, posters and presentations.

To understand the importance of local tourism, students planned a day excursion for their classmates to attractions in Shanghai. This included drawing up a practical itinerary as well as preparing a budget. This project highlighted the many and varied quality tourist attractions in this vibrant city that we are lucky enough to call home!

Other popular topics included strange food around the world where students got to share some of the weird and wonderful foods that they had eaten, interesting festivals around the world which included the Harbin International Ice Sculpture Festival, and adventure tourism around the world which left students feeling fearful and excited in equal measure.

Arguably our most important topic this year was conservation and we spent a considerable amount of time covering various aspects of the subject. Eco tourism in Sri Lanka and the Maldives helped students to understand the important role tourism can play in the conservation of the natural environment. Learning about ocean conservation not only highlighted the plight of endangered marine species, but also made students aware of the causes and effects of global warming. This learning was taken beyond the classroom with students acquiring alternatives to plastic straws and contributing to waste management at home by sorting their own garbage.  Finally, on Earth Day the students gave a short presentation to the entire school about plastic pollution and how we can all contribute to a healthier planet.

Although students’ homework counted toward their final grade, the various projects that were assigned throughout the year made up the biggest part of the evaluation. Through these projects, students could apply their knowledge and in a practical way demonstrate their understanding of the topics. Criteria included the knowledge of the subject matter, presentation skills, participating in a team, design elements and quality of presentation material. Their final project, presenting a “bucket list” of 5 destinations, showed how students had grown throughout the course of the year, not only in their knowledge of travel destinations, but also in their confidence as presenters.

Simon: “I think this class is amazing. I learned so many interesting things.”

Ryan: “During this course, I had the opportunity to travel the world in my head and expand my knowledge.”

Kimmy: “I learned about many topics in this class - different countries, foods and interesting places. I also learned that we should protect the Earth. It’s a nice class.”

Flower: “I saw many beautiful places in this class. And I learned to refuse plastic.”

Soraya: “After this class, I started to appreciate the unique and spectacular culture of each country.”

Owen: “I think this class is perfect. We learned many new things about different countries. It is a really nice class.”