Art is my daily ‘food for thought.’  | Ms. Teresa - Visual Arts Teacher

VFIS is a unique learning environment, with an innovative vision to bring the best of Finnish education together with Vietnamese learners. It reminds me of when Singapore revamped their education system with MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), to integrate research findings that the two most important qualities students need to have when they graduate are creativity and flexibility. Later, Singapore began recruiting for Kindergarten teachers with a minimum qualification of a PhD! I was teaching at the University at the time, and that announcement blew me away! It was pincode for me! They understood that when you give the best to the youngest - it makes a substantial difference in who the child becomes. That’s why I applied to teach at VFIS. Sharing the wealth of my experience does make a difference in the lives of young people today.

At VFIS, I have alot of freedom to innovate. My curriculum emphasizes creativity and imagination, and I give students choice in how to express their voice through visual language. These are essential life skills, and develop the foundation for how they can navigate a rapidly changing modern world. 
I am particularly interested in the developmental stage when children turn nine years old – a time when children begin to sense their independence and gradually separate from the protection of their parents. Many children tend to "daydream," which, in the eyes of adults, may be mistaken as laziness. But our research shows something different. It is a wonderful sign of imagination. If nurtured properly, these children can grow into creative individuals who contribute positively to society. I hope that the example we set at VFIS for how extensively we value and nurture creativity through the arts, crafts, music, home economics, drama, and extra curricular experiences, will help parents learn to value the role the creative arts play as essential life skills, and partners to academic study. 

To me, VFIS is a pioneering educational experiment– a place that emphases creativity across many subjects, but also nurtures character, attending to one’s emotions, imagination, communication, and self-directed learning. For me, the arts are the gateway to unlocking all those infinite possibilities.