U3A Singapore launches five Learning Communities
Following its official launch on 31 Mar 2014, U3A Singapore started five learning communities. Each of these learning communities meet monthly and engage in collective leaning on a specific subject. Typically each LC will have 10-25 members and is led by a facilitator who has expertise in the subject matter. The learning process is largely informal and participative. In the tradition of U3As worldwide there are no admission requirements, no examinations and every effort is made to ensure that each session is a meaningful, yet a fun and enjoyable learning experience.
1. Peaceful Warrior : This learning community focuses on personal development through a series of films and discussions. Each film is classic, specially chosen for its inspirational value and wide acclaim. This LC had its first meeting at Sophia Centre on 21 Apr 2014 featuring a discussion on the film Peaceful Warrior lead by Quek Joo Hock. The film’s title and message was the inspiration for the naming of this learning community.
2. Nature Rambles : The Nature Rambles learning community held its first outing on 27 Apr 2014 at the McRitchie Reservoir led by Halimah Majubee. She took the trouble to reki the route with her three sons and facilitated nature learning with an on-route quiz. This came complete with print-out sheets of 20 colour photos of various exhibit descriptions, each with one or more key words blanked out for the participants to guess/seek answers. She even offered a prize for the one with the highest no. of correct answers.
3. Money Matters : The purpose of this Money Matters learning community is to promote financial literacy and learning amongst members through talks, forums and individual sharing. It addresses various practical financial issues and coverage will include investing, insurance, estate planning, etc. The Money Matters Learning community first session was on ‘Your Savings – how to stretch this over our retirement years” and was held on 1 May 2014 and facilitated by SACE VP DannisTeo, a businessman and seasoned investor.
4. Mental Fitness : People are generally more aware of the need for physical fitness than mental fitness and the latter is even more critical as one ages. This learning community helps participants to achieve greater mental fitness through using recent brain research to explore how we look, see, think and act. Facilitated by training guru Adrian Teo who specialised in competency-based training, the first session on “The intra-psychic process of learning” was held on 6 May 2014.
5. SSM – Photography : SSM stands for Sight, Sound and Motion and Photography is the first area of focus for this learning community. The 3-stage hands-on approach starts with 1) a field trip to take actual shots, 2) download and re-work in own time, and 3) review session to share experiences and pick up tips and techniques. The first session was held on 17 May and facilitated by seasoned media professional To Chee Kan, an avid filmmaker, audiophile, photographer and film enthusiast.