High School SPOTLIGHT ENGLISH

SPOTLIGHT What makes you an outlier?

concept

h i g h.

"out • li • er ARE THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN GIVEN OPPORTUNITIES...

...AND WHO HAVE HAD THE STRENGTH AND PRESENCE OF MIND TO SEIZE THEM.” ― MALCOLM GLADWELL, OUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS

BUILDING NEW TOOLS TO FACE REAL WORLD PROBLEMS Never have the motivations for an innovative education been as clear as they are today, in the context of a pandemic. The VUCA world which in English stands for Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous - is the world we live in. Old tools, models and standards that were once safe, are no longer able to solve today's challenges. You have to change your mind.

The challenge is for people of any age.

Those who have teenage children, however, experience additional anxiety.

The "professions manual" no longer exists.

Harvard and Stanford universities announced changes in their admission processes. Google no longer asks for a college degree when hiring a new talent to the team No sector of the Economy has a guaranteed seat on the train of the future. Solid brands and businesses must reinvent themselves to adapt to changes in the way we start thinking or relating, guided by new challenges (look again at Covid as an example) or technologies.

But, you probably chose Escola Concept because you share with us an optimistic view of it all!

It is in the middle of this scenario, with so many uncertainties, that the greatest learning opportunities lie. Therefore, we are very excited to introduce you to the Escola Concept High School program, which we will call Concept High!

The first classes will start in 2021, in the schools of Ribeirão Preto and Salvador. Concept will also launch Pre-High School next year, in São Paulo.

This special program, for the Grade 9 learners, is a transition year that is still considered to be part of Middle School in Brazil, but for international curriculum it is already considered to be part of High School.

This edition of SPOTLIGHT magazine shines light on this new learning stage that closes the Basic Education cycle, and presents details about our academic proposal, authors, books and ideas that inspired us to develop the project. There are even interviews with students who are about to cross over this border with us.

Let’s advance together!

ESCOLA CONCEPT

MANIFESTO Imagine educational settings where learners are at the center… Where learners are at the heart of every decision that is made...

And that lifelong learning is at the core of every educational philosophy that exists in the myriad of schools that inhabit our cities.

Imagine schools where what you learn is connected to a larger purpose... Where school and the world come together as one...

And where there is relevance between what is being learned and the problems the world is facing.

A curriculum where solving the 17 UN Goals for Sustainable Development is what learning is all about. A place where educators and the community as a whole come together to mobilize change, to be makers, doers, and cutting-edge thinkers.

Can you imagine what education re-imagined would look like? Can you imagine all the places that we could go to if this were to be the new normal?

Stop imagining and be part of the change!

Allow yourself to dive into the learning journey and submerge yourself in the learning process. Allow yourself to discover, make connections, explore, think, and wonder about what we don't know. Let's humble ourselves to the process and to the experiences…

Allow yourself. Give in. Don't resist change or else change will resist you. Let’s understand how we can be part of the solution! Change has been framed in a curriculum with 4 pillars that will pique your curiosity and spark action: sustainability, digital fluency, collaboration, and entrepreneurship.

From Early Years and now into High School, Escola Concept will equip you with the right tools to solve real-life challenges.

And they will lead you to wherever you want to go.

Trust the journey!

WATCH THE VIDEO MANIFESTO!

Make way for the …

CONCEPT

HIGH

High School at Escola Concept, which has already earned the nickname of Concept High, has arrived with everything! The first classes will begin in 2021, with the current 9th-grade learners from the cities of

The teaching pillars remain the same:

Ribeirão Preto and Salvador. We will keep

Sustainability, Collaboration,

growing with this group, year after year,

Entrepreneurship and Digital Fluency. With

until in 2023 we will have Concept’s first

a focus on preparing the learners for life

graduating class, and celebrate the

and the world of work, the High School

completion of the Basic Education cycle.

program has expanded to include new

In 2022, Concept High will start in São

partnerships, resulting in four diplomas,

Paulo.

while three of them are international: Concept School/MEC Diploma, Global

The Concept High program will offer the

Citizen Diploma, AP Capstone Diploma

learners a continuity of the methodology

and AP International Diploma (read more

that was present in the previous segments,

about the diplomas below).

where the student is at the center of learning and teaching is integrated through

The learner will have personalized

projects. The formation is bilingual,

learning, within an individual mentoring

consisting of English and Portuguese.

program that involves self-knowledge,

Mandarin is taught as a 3rd language in

while monitoring a track of studies and

São Paulo, while Spanish is offered in

complementary activities that are based

Ribeirão Preto and Salvador.

on their interests and objectives.

What about the CURRICULUM? The most frequent question for parents is

One of the fundamental points of the

understanding where the Concept High

high school learning process is to

School stands out the most. Concept's

encourage learners to develop critical

curriculum follows the academic content

and analytical thinking about facts and

guidelines of the BNCC (Base Nacional

other cultures, transforming academic

Comum Curricular), and is integrated with

knowledge into action, and making it the

other proposals that focus on the

change they want to see in the world.

development of global citizenship; social engagement and intercultural skills.

And yes, thinking pragmatically, after completing the program the learner will

According to Tony Wagner, a renowned

be prepared to participate in the

educator at Harvard University, there are 7

selection processes of both national and

skills that learners need to develop to survive

international universities. With four

and excel in the 21st century. He has defined

academic diplomas, and above all, a

these as “survival skills� and include critical

desire to be a lifelong learner, they will

thinking and the ability to solve problems,

be off to a great start and history will

which are skills that have been highly

tell the rest.

integrated into our High School program.

"The world doesn't care about what you know, but what you can do with what you know."

Tony Wagner

1 HIGH SCHOOL, 4 DIPLOMAS "I could tell you I got lots of A'S and Bs. Or I could tell you how a project collecting trash off of beaches influenced my goal to be plastic neutral."

Preparing the learner to follow their studies in Brazil or in the world, with a sense of autonomy, socio-environmental responsibility and love for learning, is in summary the objective of the Escola Concept’s High School Program.

The learner, during this period, will have opportunities to participate in proposals that aim to obtain four diplomas. Get to know a little about each one of them.

Diploma Concept Upon completion of high school, the learner who reaches the level of approval in all subjects of the program, will receive the high school diploma from Escola Concept, and participate in the graduation ceremony. This diploma is recognized by the Brazilian Ministry of Education.

Global Citizen Diploma The Global Citizen Diploma (GCD) is a diploma developed by a group of international schools in Europe and Asia that saw the need to recognize the learner for their involvement in global projects, whether part of the curriculum or on their own initiative.

To receive this diploma, the learner must present the history of the projects in which they were involved, like a mini-thesis, relating to values and competencies such as well-being, community, communication, leadership and management.

Depending on the chosen area and the depth of the thesis, this diploma may be a Certificate, Diploma, or Diploma with Distinction.

AP Capstone AP Capstone™ is a diploma program based on two AP (Advanced Placement) courses, lasting one year each: AP Seminar and AP Research.

These two AP courses will be taught in our high school by our educators, during the regular class period. This will bring high expectations to learning, as they present situations that are compatible with those that university students experience in their first year of college.

Instead of teaching knowledge of a specific subject, the AP Seminar and the AP Research use an interdisciplinary approach to develop critical thinking, research, collaboration, time management, teamwork and presentation skills.

AP International Diploma The AP International Diploma (APID) is recognized worldwide and awarded to learners who demonstrate exceptional achievements in a variety of disciplines.

To obtain it, it is necessary to study specific content in different subjects, that are divided by areas. At the end of the year, learners take a test and are evaluated on a scale of 1 to 5.

The minimum average needed to pass is 3. Above 3.25 the diploma is awarded with honor and above 3.50 with distinction. This course can be used as credit at both international and national universities. It is worth mentioning that the test is made by the same institution that conducts the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) tests in the United States, the College Board.

Why should Concept learners take optional international degrees?

Because they deliver much more than grades. They help the learner tell their story, while providing unique opportunities for engagement in personal, academic, cultural, sports, technological or community projects.

Its methodologies favor metacognition (reflection on learning), and the interrelation between course content. They also develop other skills that learners may showcase when they apply to universities outside the country, or in Brazil, during the application process.

THE PRE-HIGH SCHOOL PROGRAM Grade 9 is a special year. In the Brazilian curriculum matrix, it is part of Middle School. In international schools, it integrates High School. Thinking about how to define it, we concluded that it is a hybrid, and a year of transition to what we call Pre-High School.

In Grade 9, learners continue to participate in programs that aim to expand their sense of agency. Throughout Middle School, they engage in programs such as Ted-Ed Club (for public presentation), Build Your Own Start-Up (entrepreneurship), Pathways (digital portfolio development), and Service Learning (community services).

Lessons that are focused on specific contents - such as literature, mathematics, and history - gradually become more complex. The Grade 9 educators begin to familiarize students with questions and projects for international AP diplomas and Global Citizen Diploma (GCD), as well as for Brazilian entrance exams, the "vestibulares".

It is also worth noting that the partnership with Stanford University and their Wayfinder project begins in Grade 9. Escola Concept will adopt the Wayfinder toolkit, that is thoughtfully incubated on the design thinking process to guide a journey of selfinvestigation, research and interviews.

Our teenagers will be challenged to discover what is meaningful and relevant to them.

Let's begin the Pre-High School with the next finish line in mind!

, L L A R AFTE S E O D T WHA ?

N A E M PBL

LET'S HEAR WHAT THREE MIDDLE SCHOOL LEARNERS HAVE TO SAY ABOUT PROJECT-BASED LEARNING AND HOW THEY HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING THEMSELVES THROUGH THIS ACTIVE AND ENGAGING LEARNING APPROACH.

One recent project I participated in was about evolution. We looked at evolutionary concepts and theories.

We studied the evolution of the British Empire and the English language, while focusing on the evolution of mathematical concepts and patterns over time. Based on what we’ve learned, we thought about creating a photonovel covering a little bit of all of this.

GABRIEL AZEVEDO CARDOSO GRADE 9 CONCEPT SALVADOR

Project-based learning means... having more autonomy and control over what you are doing. It also means planning and projecting your idea into something concrete and innovative with the purpose to impact and inspire people!

The project I liked the most was from 2019 when we created a giant cell. The cell structure was a geodesic dome, something we looked at and analyzed in math class.

Because of its size, anyone could enter and leave the cell at any time. Inside the cell, there are organelles (mitochondria, centriole, lysosome, Golgi apparatus, etc.).

We created each organelle during Art class with a lot of love! We also described each organelle in our Language classes.

Anyway, the good thing about working with projects is that we combine what we learn in each subject into a single project with total autonomy.

We fit the Portuguese language into the creation of the script, the Spanish language into the creation of the characters, and the Sciences in the theme were covered by the story, and so on. As one of the school's values is autonomy, the learners had complete control in what we were doing. We planned ourselves, created the script, characters, story, and edited. We divided ourselves into groups for a hands-on approach.

MARIA EDUARDA DIAS The project I liked the most was the last one that we concluded, and I am learning a lot of new things about the topic of Economics from this project. In this project, we are focusing on the following question: “How can we help socially vulnerable young adults be more educated and prepared for their future careers helping the economy grow?”.

We connect the Global Goal #8 (decent work and economic growth) with the situation of socially vulnerable people.

Within this idea, we did several brainstorming activities, lots of research, watched videos and discussed in groups to go deeper into this subject.

During the Festival of Learning, we will present our idea and the whole process that we have gone through so far. With all this, I’ve learned a lot about the situation of socially vulnerable people, and I had very interesting conversations with my class that made me very engaged and excited about this project that we are developing.

GRADE 8 CONCEPT SÃO PAULO

Project-based learning means that you are able to connect the different school disciplines within an idea or problem, making it possible for us to have this main theme of the project seen from different areas of knowledge such as History, Arts, Mathematics, and others.

We not only develop our knowledge of the subjects but also our conflict resolution skills, group work, and creativity, for example.

One recent project I participated in was on mental health. And within this subject, we managed to connect Science, Music, History, among others, while learning more about this problem, developing different solutions, and always working in groups.

One recent project I participated in was helping a restaurant adapt their delivery services during the quarantine. The chosen restaurant was having problems with its packaging because it was very simple.

So, we studied marketing and design to understand how we could create a more presentable packaging.

LUCAS MELLO CIOSAKI GRADE 9 CONCEPT RIBEIRĂƒO PRETO

Project-based learning means a very interesting approach, as the project serves as a context for us students.

When we learn from a book, we have to memorize the content without knowing the importance of it, or why it is being taught. When the subject is applied in a simulation or real-problem situation, it makes us more committed, as it is more interesting to solve something than to memorize content written on a sheet of paper.

We also studied chemical reactions and the periodic table, in order to understand the differences between the properties of the materials so we could select the most suitable. In other words, we learned a lot of content, however, this content was inserted within the context of creating a new package for a restaurant.

The project I liked the most was a project from Grade 6, when we created an electronic game. This project was very special to me because it made me discover my passion for game programming.

I also learned a lot from the Cosmology project, which connected many things about the history of space and the history of life on Earth. In the process, we went through many theories, such as Kepler's Theory and Isaac Newton's Theory of Gravity.

what makes you an

OUTLIER? The start of a new chapter in life is always exciting, and the beginning of High School is no different. It is an important transition phase to adulthood, which brings new challenges and learning opportunities, and is usually accompanied by the constant strive for acceptance in the group and the paradox of following others or daring to be different.

To celebrate our new High School Program, Escola Concept has selected a special gift for all Middle School graduates, that will help them understand more about themselves and the journeys they decide to take in life. The gift chosen is the book “Outliers: The Story of Success�, by Malcolm Gladwell, that tells us how success is more related to effort and to what people do with the opportunities they get than to the idea of natural talent.

“...If you work hard enough and assert yourself, and use your mind and imagination, you can shape the world to your desires.” ― Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success

In his book, Gladwell analyzes some of the most successful names of our time, like Bill Gates, Joseph Flom, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and The Beatles, to find out what makes them outliers. This illuminating reading takes us through experiences and research that shows some major aspects of success that are usually overlooked.

One of them is the idea that if you dedicate yourself to a task, and practice continuously for a certain amount of time, you’ll master it. That is the 10,000-Hour Rule, that challenges us to trust more in our own hard work and ability to shape our future.

The author also shows us that our background, family legacy, culture, and past experiences play a huge role in our outcomes later in life. Where we came from, matters. And a good opportunity, when harnessed, will inevitably pull others.

out • li • er a person or thing differing from all other members of a particular group or set.

Our learners will find in this book some valuable lessons about persistence and how to overcome their own limits. They will see how some of the main social-emotional skills that we develop at Escola Concept are fundamentally connected to the path to a life of constant learning and achievements.

Escola Concept is getting ready to launch a High School Program focused on change-makers, with personalized learning tracks and professional experiences. We want our learners to create the tools that will tackle the challenges of this new world. We want our learners to become outliers, and we can not wait to get started.

“Success is not a random act.

It arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities.” - Malcolm Gladwell, Outliers: The Story of Success

Habits of Mind in the business world Our learners, families, and educators already know: whether it is in school or the family routine, that the Habits of Mind are very useful tools for the development of a social relationship based on reflection, empathy, clarity in communication, and focus on problem-solving. The most recent book on the subject, "Leading Learning Organizations with Habits of Mind", by Arthur L. Costa and Bena Kallick, takes the Habits of Mind into the context of the professional world.

This is our reading suggestion for this phase that goes from Grade 9 to 12, when students start thinking about their career choices. Below, we share the preface to the book, printed in this publication with the authorization of the authors, in its original language, English.

"The greatest discovery of any generation is that human beingscan alter their lives by altering the attitudes of their minds."

Albert Schweitzer, M.D. Watch the dynamics of a vibrant organization and you will observe that there are commonalities below the surface of the productivity.

This book aims to capture those common skills and processes through a set of dispositions, 16 Habits of Mind, that will operationalize your commitment to communication, problemsolving, cooperation, and innovation today and in the future.

THE PURPOSES OF THIS BOOK ARE AS FOLLOWS: To provide support for businesses, schools and corporate organizations as they transform themselves from "business as usual" to modern organizations that desire to grow, to create new and improved products and processes, and to sustain themselves over time.

To support the concept of businesses becoming learning organizations. We used to think that having a defined amount of content knowledge prepared people to enter a career and to be productive. Given the volatility of change, modern organizations realize that they must become communities of continuous learning that includes both mental and emotional resources.

To describe, define and provide examples of self-directed leadership as self-managing, self-monitoring, self-modifying, monitoring others and managing others.

To provide a set of 16 dispositions referred to as "Habits of Mind" that can pervade the language and culture of the learning organization, the dispositions that leadership embodies, and the decision-making and problem-solving competencies of all members.

In Chapter 1, we set the stage for why we need to pay attention to creating a learning organization, one that is continuously adapting and adjusting to an ever-changing world.

The organization learns best when the culture establishes a sense of trust, cooperation, inclusion of diversity, and norms that guide the behaviors of the people within the organization.

Chapter 2 provides a prelude to the descriptions of the Habits of Mind in Chapters 3-6. This chapter introduces you to the Habits of Mind and provides a backdrop for understanding what they are, where they came from and intentions for their use. We focus specifically on metacognition (thinking about your thinking) because it is the executive center for all of the habits.

In Chapters 3-7, we introduce each of the habits. We provide a summary description, suggest reflective questions to stimulate your learning, and offer tips for how to use each particular habit in multiple situations.

Chapter 8 focuses on how to grow these habits in ourselves and with others. Usual metrics for growth are not helpful because in most instances it is a combination of habits that are working in a given situation. For example, when you are solving a problem, you may start by questioning and posing problems (page 13) which may lead to applying past knowledge to a new situation (page 32), to gathering data with all your senses (page 38). Therefore, rather than developing a complex matrix of possibilities, we suggest prompting self-reflection and assessment.

In Chapter 9, the research in neuroscience, specifically about how the brain operates when learning, provides a strong case for why the Habits of Mind are so powerful.

We examine nine of the 16 habits with greater research-based depth and show how these habits are important for all human beings in all walks of life— whether at a meeting, at a social event, or making a choice about which might be the best automobile to purchase.

The brain can depend on these habits to serve as a GPS system for knowing what to do when confronted with problems or challenges, the answers to which are not immediately apparent.

Chapter 10 returns to the learning organization and focuses on the role of leadership in the organization. We suggest that leadership is not seen as positional but rather as a set of actions that anyone in the organization can initiate.

Leadership is not owned, it is behaved.

CASE STUDIES To illustrate how Habits of Mind is found throughout modern schools and industries, three case studies are offered as examples. While they are annotated to illuminate the use of the Habits of Mind, the underlying habits should become obvious to the reader after reading through this book. The first case study is from the Stryker Corporation, producers of hospital and health testing equipment.

The second case study illustrates the use of the Habits of Mind from the perspective of an architect. The third case study provides an examination of the use of Habits of Mind in an educational setting. A fourth case study is also included as an invitation to you, the reader, to find examples of the Habits of Mind in an interview with a restaurateur.

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