9 QAs with Liger Learning Center: How to Build a Strong Interest in Science Learning

 

Jeffrey Holte, Director of Education at Liger Learning Center. Photo: AOMPUL/Som Panha

Editor’s Note: Founded in 2012, the Liger Learning Center has been providing supports and facilities of free and assisted education to many Cambodian students through unconventional curriculum you can hardly find in traditional school across the country. The center’s Education Director, Jeffrey Holte sits with AOMPUL to discuss about the center’s philosophy and mission, as well as his perspective on the country’s science education.

AOMPUL: Could you give a brief introduction about the Liger Learning Center?

Holte: Our school is a boarding secondary school for students from all over Cambodia We have 110 students from two cohorts with equal number of boys and girls. One of the focuses of our school is to build and help create change agents for Cambodia. Students will graduate and move on to make a big difference in Cambodia in a positive way. A lot of work we do is STEM-related and entrepreneurship.

AOMPUL: A research found that Cambodian students tend to perceive science subjects as less interesting than social science subjects, what is your opinion about that?

Holte: I have a very strong feeling about that here in Cambodia. I think some people feel that science and Math are too difficult subjects, and I don’t think they have been made interesting enough.

So some people feel it’s kind of boring, and that’s very difficult, but it is also very interesting if you actually participate in Engineering; if you actually do real science, which is actually very interesting. Once students are engaged in actually doing these things, and involved with something real in their community; if they see how STEM can relate to people in Cambodia, it would become very interesting, and then I think everything will switch.

AOMPUL: From your perspective, what do you see as the lacking points of the science classroom in Cambodia nowadays?

Holte: I have been here in Cambodia for around four and a half year, and I’ve been to many schools in this country. I think it (the lacking point) is the opportunity to experience more science, to do more science experiment even in the school.

So if they are studying Chemistry, instead of just having it on the board is to be able to do Chemistry experiment. That’s difficult, and I know everyone has tried very hard, and part of it is just the resources that aren’t available either microscope, or laboratory equipment. Some of the schools here that I have been to don’t have electricity, you know!

AOMPUL: Compared to science classroom in Liger Learning Center, what could be the difference?

Holte: We have more resources, for one thing, and we also have a philosophy that is a little different in that we believe to learn very effectively, to learn sophisticate things, you have to experience them.

We build into our philosophy experience that when you experience something, you remember and you know it better. Here is an example, we have the resources for those students who study Geology. We can take a bus and take a group of students, and they could climb a mountain, and learn about how Cambodia started (formed)...so we have that opportunity.

AOMPUL: What could create the classroom environment that will encourage students to be more interested in learning about science?

Holte: There are two things I can think of.

One is to really encourage and have teachers who are passionate about Math or about science. If you have the passion inside of you, then you could pass it on to students.

And the second thing that is very important is to have an open mind about how people learn (rather than) having the idea that teaching is writing something on the chalkboard, and telling student information about science.

The teacher can do other things now – experiment, discussion, two-way communication, and having students be more a part of the learning as oppose to teacher telling students what to do and what to know. That... if you are open to it by being looking at different ways of teaching, then everything can change.

AOMPUL: What are the good qualities that the teacher should obtain to teach science to students more effectively?

Holte: If you are going to be a science teacher, my opinion is that you need, mostly number one, is a passion. You as the science teacher should be interested in science.

The other thing is to think that you do not have to be an expert. If you are teaching Physics, you do not have to be a Physicist. You have to know how to teach, and you have now a lot of resources to help you become a good teacher not just in Cambodia, but from the whole world.

Another quality of a good science teacher is somebody who can connect the content to the student’s real life – How would it be interesting for them? Why do they need to know about science? Your job is to know how to effectively get that idea about science, and how to effectively help your students to understand that.

AOMPUL: How about the student? What should they do to get the most of their science classes?

Holte: One is to figure out how to be curious. Good student is open and want to know about the world, and is willing to ask questions. If you ask questions and think critically about your questions, then you start to find out and analyze, and become a much better educated person.

Of the things you need to know for the rest of your life, one need to be open, listen to people, ask yourself a lot of questions about the world, and then school and everything are much more interesting.

AOMPUL: How could the parents help?

Holte: As a parent, they should give kids an opportunity to explore the world, to ask a lot of questions, and a parent has to be a role model. They need to do it too. They should not just tell their children about what to do, and stop their children questioning them about the world when they are curious about it.

AOMPUL: Regarding the teacher, the student, the parents, how could you come up with a conclusion about building a strong interest in science learning?

Holte: My conclusion would be that passion and curiosity develop science interest in the world. Do not kill the interest in science. It is a big responsibility for the teacher, and the parents in maintaining the student’s interest in this area.

Science is one of the most important subject areas, which is easily killed by making it boring, by making it painful. If the school or parents could develop that interest, students would naturally want to know more and more about science that some would become a doctor, some would become a computer scientist and so on.

(This interview is edited for length and clarity)

by SOM PANHA