Imagine a classroom with no walls, where instead, trees provide a natural border of sorts, and air conditioning and lights are replaced by fresh air, breezes and unfiltered sunlight. Where children are free to jump, climb and make a mess – all on a normal weekday at school. Outdoor learning has long been a popular concept in Scandinavia, with children encouraged to develop their critical thinking and learn about nature and biodiversity through play and activities in real-life settings. Some of...

“I am Hugo, and I’m pretty sure I’m the first ever person in my family to get my brain rotted,” says Hugo Lee, a nine-year-old student at Lion’s Club International School in Tin Shui Wai. It might sound odd to boast about having a rotten brain, but Hugo and his classmate, 10-year-old Jesswin Kerung, proudly compete to list as many slang words as possible. They rattle off words that parents of toddlers and young teens may already know: “skibidi”, “rizz”, “negative aura”, and the hottest slang at...

Long before public and private school systems existed, the world’s first classrooms were almost all faith-based – from European monasteries in the Middle Ages to schools that integrated religion with secular learning throughout the Reformation and Enlightenment. Today, faith-based schools – be they Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim or otherwise – continue to offer rigorous academics alongside moral and spiritual instruction, laying a foundation for learning that nurtures both...