“
I would like to be remembered for listening, caring about students' academic growth and personal growth, and believing they can do more.
“
Skye G, 26 January 2022, Singer/songwriter Adele talks about how her English teacher inspired her
was visited almost 4,500 times, by 300 members… who together completed 1,000 research activities… and posted 1,150 comments discussion forums...
M,
What new insight or research has helped you to grow as a leader in your school?
"[…] Having regular check-ins to see […] what is working and what isn't and adapting the plan accordingly which means listening to honest feedback and not just forcing your idea on staff. Making sure changes brought in are actually going to improve pupil progress will prevent unnecessary workload on teachers, such as changing something for the sake of it.”
“As a school, we came up with a mental wellbeing community and we always share suggestions based on a given situation. For exam preparation and unknowable exam conditions, we came up with what we call strategy of the week. Every week we come up with a strategy to deal with anxiety. This is shared by the homeroom teachers to their tutors and practiced every morning for a full week.”
We held a Live Conversation on emotional intelligence and wellbeing, with panellists Svetlana BM and Katina G as our speakers – watch a recording of the session here.
“The live conversation was indeed a fruitful event where we learned quite a few new things. Thank you very much to the organizers of the event and all the participants.”
Can A, Science teacher, Turkey
Emily Obalah K, Tanzania Performing like a champion - in the Olympics and in the classroom Erin E and Silvia MC Obalah K and Vidysagar G
“To me, Global education is the ability to understand the world is becoming a small village. The ability to appreciate and try out different cultures, the ability to connect a given culture to the people it belongs to and still appreciates and value it.”
Obalah K, Maths teacher, Tanzania. January 2022 in What does a 'global education' mean to you?
"Coming from a country where the constitution recognises 22 official languages and about 121 languages are spoken across the country, one realises the impact the mother tongue of the learner may be having in the learning process of the student in the class room."
Mandeera B, English teacher, India February 2022 in Can understanding how language shapes the way we think help us relate to other language speakers better?
“Most of the students are more aware of global issues more than regional ones. The current students are more interested in what is happening in the world and social media is providing most of their [answers]”
Panel activity results: Global Education and Cultural Awareness
"I use the Mentimeter application to learn the current emotional states of my students. It can be described as a modified "Mood Meter" image through GIFs. I would like to state that I observed the students were surprised when they were asked how they felt at the beginning of the lesson. I guess it was something they weren't used to."
"Students are more expecting and willing to talk of mental health issues, childhood neglect and trauma, gender issues, and feel very strongly about these topics and are ever ready to debate and discuss these topics, and to strongly support each other , but this is not the case with disabilities. I think there is an underlying sense of fear and hence acceptance in this case will take time before they feel connected to this topic."
In April we held the webinar Education and crisis: teaching refugees and teaching about refugees with Martha Hewison from INEE and Milay Dermish from The Sirius Network. Martha spoke about refugees and their rights to education, and Mialy spoke about how to teach about refugees and showed materials from UNHCR. This was followed by both speakers briefly sharing the stories of their teaching journeys, and a Q&A.
Emotional Intelligence Cambridge CODA wins Best Film at the Oscars: can this help raise awareness of disability? Mark B and Damascene N Dhara M and Vaishali AI really like hearing about stories related to Chemistry and Math myself. For students sometimes it is seeing something and realising they know something about it because of what they are learning. The best thing recently was when one of our lab technicians showed me and my class the picture of an electron. His background is Physics and he now off to work for a University professor who is doing some research with CERN.
Sharon E, Science & Maths teacher, UAE. April 2022 in What makes a great article or news story to share with students?
"To commemorate World Book Day, our free book library was inaugurated in the secret garden at our school. “Take a book, leave a book” is a free booksharing initiative where anyone may take a book or share a book to spread the joy of reading."
Pooja B, Head of Primary, India. April 2022 in World Book Day
"It is our duty, to consciously identify the interests of our learners and then provide what to read in the areas of their interest and we will positively see the students who dislike reading develop a love for it with the right texts and learning support."
Samson M, Global Perspectives teacher, Zimbabwe. April 2022 in Is every student able to develop a love of reading?
Thomas H, Czechia
How will the study of History benefit students at school and their personal development?
"There's a reason context is often built as part of an understanding in many subjects. History should not be just memorising dates and times and names and places but a study of human behavior, interaction, etc across contexts. Inquiry-led, student-centred research using history to understand big ideas expands student thinking within and across the curriculum."
“Every Monday morning, when we have circle time in the Reception class and Year 1, the students talk about their weekend and how they spent it. I,then, ask them to choose one of their activities and draw a nice big colourful picture of it. Then I encourage them to write one short sentence/phrase as to what they did. […] Then they can independently read out what they have written and this makes the five-six year olds very, very proud of the achievement"
In our In the News Discussion, we were talking to Panellists about the pros and cons of staying in the same school...
"Change is a risk for all the professionals around the world. For this reason, I usually prefer to maintain the same role in the education context and transition through responsibilities smoothly."
"'Change is inevitable, growth is optional', rightly said. As a facilitator change is good with the scope of development and new learnings. But from a child's lens frequent change of teachers leads to discomfort and restlessness. Change of schools without much disturbance in past and future jobs is a well balanced change."
Dhara M, Head of School, India Arunhati M, Germany benefits of copywriting in primary classrooms Mandeera B and Alison F Lynsey C and Mandeera B Viola B, Global Perspectives teacher, Italy/Albania
"[There] are different types of critical thinking. From children exploring social dilemmas to carrying out scientific investigations. Most take a bit of planning and a bit of a 'hook' to get the children interested and 'thinking'. […] An example of using CT to explore social justice issues might be something as simple as telling a story and getting the children to share opinions on this. […] Some great critical thinking discussions have come up from this."
Alison F, Early Years teacher, Jordan. June 2022 in Critical thinking for Early Years Learners
"Critical thinking is something we try to teach explicitly as students get older but the best way to start is to ask questions and get the students actively thinking. What is the question if the answer is clouds?/ What colour is today and why?/ Link these 3 words; ball, house, sandwich. Kids love these as starters and they just practice applying and transferring simple ideas."
Lynsey C, Global Perspectives & TOK teacher, Malaysia. May 2022 in How can critical thinking be embedded in lesson plans?
"As long as some variety of Bloom's taxonomy skills or any taxonomy skill of learning is implemented, students may get their critical thinking done without being told its critical thinking. That's how we taught Calculus. We never told the students it was calculus."
Eric P, English teacher, China. August 2022 in Activity results: Critical thinking
"If we can embed [sustainability] into our everyday learning and all subject areas, it will be one of the most powerful ways to get our younger generations to make positive changes. In this way too, the children sometimes become the experts who know more than the adults. I know some of my children go home and lecture their parents on reusing and recycling. Giving them this knowledge empowers our children.”
"We have our weekly assemblies wherein our students share positive experiences of their achievement or experience with other students and thus bring in some peer motivation and enthusiasm. This year, three students wrote their first books and we inaugurated those books and made them available for students to read in the library"
In August we held a Live Conversation on implementing critical thinking. Panellists Silvia MC and Lynsey C shared their expertise on the importance of critical thinking in all subjects and levels and tips for creating a framework to implement a critical thinking curriculum in your school. You can watch the full recording and discussion here
Alison F, Jordan Ministers of Education pledge to integrate sustainability and climate change in education at COP26
Ian M and Farhat D
Thomas H and Vaishali A
“In our school, we take reflection very seriously. We do not see it like an extra activity which has to be completed at the end of the term, but we see it as a different way of learning, or a different tool of learning, and embed reflective thinking and practice in all that we do. we incorporate structured reflective activities through various ways like reflective journals, online blogs, social networking. We also use scaffolding , and grade descriptors to reflect upon the task and assess progress.”
Jaya S, English teacher, India. July 2022 in How can teachers best support student reflection?
"I have a personal reflection diary where I write the objective of different phase of the lesson ( starter, lesson activities which is differentiated, plenary, students achievement) that I want to achieve. I also add the comment about drawback of the lesson and activity to improve" Maya D, Primary teacher, Bahrain. July 2022 in What would be on your personal reflection checklist?
"For the primary classes (Years 2-4) we normally cut out speech bubbles. Students then use two/three of such "bubble-paper" cut outs and write what they grasped the best and what they are not very confident in. […] Teachers then put them up on a cork board. Teachers go through the bubbles and plan lessons for the next school year accordingly."
Arundhati M, Primary teacher, Germany August 2022 in How can teachers best support student reflection?
"I believe music is a branch of mathematics that focuses mainly on sequences and shapes. Kids who are exposed to music at earlier age get to learn how the way patterns are formed using sound waves instead of numbers. Once they have learned the law and logic of how sound wave patterns are arranged then their brain gets the idea of how the pattern is formed."
"As a teacher we are mostly thinking about ourselves how we are adapting to changing scenarios. […] In my observation [students] have a lot of knowledge about new things in science and technology and other areas. One of the factors is the time they spend on social media and internet. If we think about what they are thinking, doing and what is their perspective then the other way round it will be helpful for us to adapt."
Alison F and Cidreck J Lynsey C and Arundhati M In October, Thomas H, Pooja B and Lynsey C, joined a meeting between assessment and publishing colleagues at Cambridge University Press and Assessment, and shared their opinions on the future of education, curriculums and publications."There are a number of activities that our school line up, meant to prepare students for their future careers. Two times in every academic year we have career days which are meant to showcase the goals and talents in line with their future aspirations. Experts from different fields are invited to talk to the students on the same. We also do career guide to align the students and improve subject performance based on the career aspirations too."
Cidreck J, Pimary teacher, Malawi. October 2022 in How does your school prepare students for work?
"Usually A Level students do not immediately enter work life but those who go abroad for studies mostly work due to high expenses. Developing qualities to enter work life is extremely important as in this uncertain situation one should be able to support oneself. Now adays apart from school many students try to learn skills like free lancing, coding, etc"
Farhat D, Science teacher, Pakistan. September 2022 in How does your school prepare students for work?
For Professional Development resources and recommendations, take a look at the discussion What resources have helped your professional development?
"Our school is one of the greatest victim of Climate change. In the past five years, the school has been making tremendous strides to reduce the effects of global warming by planting a lot of trees each year. Not just planting the trees but also ensuring that the trees are well taken care of and are being sustained."
"Our teachers have appointed pupil Energy Monitors in each class, on a rotation basis. These students leave the class, after checking if lights, fans, smartboard and electrical equipment are left on. They switch them off and report the same to their classmates, on their return to the class. This has resulted in creating awareness towards conserving energy."
Other top comments to round off another fantastic year of collaboration:
“Appreciating students bringing in new information to class not only gives them confidence but helps them explore their interest and think about the integration of various area opening up new areas in research”
Farhat D, Science teacher, Pakistan. November 2022
"Having been deprived of all team activities for the last two years, the children had become too introverted and withdrawn. After a brief hiatus, all students at our school participated in the much-anticipated annual sports meet this year. To be honest, it was quite overwhelming to see students work in teams, compete with each other, and vent out their reserved energies on the field. Sports are extremely crucial in building skills and helping students become more focused in the classroom as well."
Roshni C, English teacher, India. December 2022 in Sports, social skills and health: World Cup 2022 and physical education
Julia C and Dhara M Jaya S and Michael M
Look out for our exclusive Panel Webinar on Sustainability in Schools, coming January 2023!
“If we want our students to be change agents, and contribute to this world then we must focus on sustainability. We must sensitise our students to the complex global issues and encourage them to think of ways in which they can contribute to these issues. some of the resources that I continue to use and seek inspiration from are pasted below. So planning lessons around SDG goals, or encouraging students to discuss global issues the content that they explore in class is a good way to start thinking about sustainability.”
Jaya S, English teacher, India. November 2022 in Sustainability in your teaching
"[…] I often hear the phrase 'It doesn't matter, there's nothing we can do' while students and teachers leave all the lights on in the classroom when no one is there, have multiple devices that they burn through and need to recharge multiple times a day, engage in unsustainable eating practices, purchase single-use bottles of water daily […] When we run these big whole-school projects, we look at the big transnational issue, but don't do much to put it in a local context. So a lot of opportunity is lost or simply wasted because so few people actually see their own practices as being unsustainable. The issue isn't awareness. There is plenty of awareness. The issue is self-awareness, selfreflection and simply caring."
Thomas H, English teacher, Czechia. December 2022 in Sustainability in your school