Singapore Annual Lasallian Formation Day 2023
by Errol Chang, staff member, St Patrick’s School.
The day started with a simple breakfast when the 700 plus staff from 6 schools gathered at St. Joseph’s Institution on 10th March 2023.
After the opening prayer lead by Bro Paul Ho, Bro Jose Mari Jimenez welcomed all participants by sharing about how he was inspired to be a teacher and encouraging the audience to care for our students.
The participants then broke out for their respective sessions based on their years of service in a Lasallian institution. The various breakout sessions saw the participants taking part in various learning activities.
• Year 1: Coffee shop talk on Founder’s life
• Year 2: Botanic Gardens based activities on the Virtues of Gravity, Silence and Humility from the 12 Virtues of Lasallian Educator.
• Year 3 to 5: Sports based activities on the Prudence, Zeal and Patience from the 12 Virtues of Lasallian Educator.
• Year 6: Arts based exposure with reflections on Conduct of Schools.
• Year 7: Discovering the evolution of Lasallian education in Singapore around Bras Basah area
• Year 8: Exploring the Lasallian DNA through discussion and use of ChatGBT
Here are some reflections by the participants:
In choosing a plant to represent the Virtue of Humility: “To represent humility, our group chose the Chinese Chives. Usually seen as a humble and common garnish, but we learnt that the flowers are actually very pretty… (this) shows that the humble daily work that we (educators) do which will eventually flourish and bloom to be something pretty (our students).” (A Year 2 reflection)
On the Virtue of Patience: “We have years of experience to develop our emotional regulation and restraint. During the games, we all went through various feelings of embarrassment, anxiety, excitement, frustration but did not let it affect our behaviour or actions or interactions with our peers much. I would like to work on being more understanding with my students and their understanding of their emotions rather than reacting to their actions.” (A Year 3 reflection)
On the Conduct of Schools: “The idea that even boys whose behaviour are not at the role-model level are given duties and responsibilities to discharge or prove themselves. It suggests that we need to provide more equitable opportunities for student empowerment/leadership.” (A Year 6 reflection)
The Lasallian Formation Day ended with a large group consolidation and sharing of a meal.
