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Connext ASEAN Japan, Winter Trip 2015
on Wednesday, 20 May 2015. Posted in 2015, Connext ASEAN
On March 21st to 22nd, 2015, the growing APU Connext ASEAN circle hosted a 2-days camp at Horuto Hall Satellite Campus, Oita, Japan, which involved 21 students as both teaching assistants and organizers. The participants of the camp included first and second year students of both public and private high schools – Uenogaoka High School and Iwata High School of Oita prefecture, Japan. Sharing the same purpose with the other Connext ASEAN camps, this event aimed on spreading the ASEAN knowledge, improving English and specifically, to provide a self-analysis and development program in order to prepare the students for the higher education.
The camp activities can be summarized in three elements – teamwork, community, and self-analysis. Students from both schools – with their public and private school perspectives, got a chance to interact with each other through self-analysis and career design activities as well as a group presentation project based on readings on ASEAN countries, in order to stimulate their interest on this particular area. The whole camp was conducted in English as it was intended to provide a chance for the Japanese students to practice their spoken English.
The camp activities can be summarized in three elements – teamwork, community, and self-analysis. Students from both schools – with their public and private school perspectives, got a chance to interact with each other through self-analysis and career design activities as well as a group presentation project based on readings on ASEAN countries, in order to stimulate their interest on this particular area. The whole camp was conducted in English as it was intended to provide a chance for the Japanese students to practice their spoken English.
The two-day camp received positive testimonials from both the circle members and the participants. The teachers of Iwata High School stated that the camp was a great addition to the school program, to be exact, to cover the lack of active learning in the normal school days. Apart from that, the involvement of university students was another positive point as they can develop closer interaction to the high school students.
“By being a facilitator in this camp, I understand that lack of confidence in using English is not only the problem of Japan but in countries with English as a second language. However, it could be overcome by encouraging the students to open up and relax while communicating in English”
-Buy, Mongolia
“Japanese school students are not used to having group works. So in this camp, I found that being a facilitator means that I am playing an important role to help the students connect and overcome their shyness”
-Kloy, Thailand
Learning from the experience gained at the camp, Connext ASEAN camps are undoubtedly a right place to develop leadership, mentoring, and organizational skills as well as a medium to connect with the community. If you are interested in becoming a part of the action, you are always welcome to join our programs on
www.connextasean.org