Beliefs in Action Issue 6: Critical & Creative Thinking

Developing Minds Developing Character Developing Community

To Educate for International Understanding

Issue 2 01: Inquiry and Reflection 02: Critical and Creative Thinking 03: Curiosity and Open-Mindedness 04: Professional Development

Beliefs in Action Highlights from our Community

The ‘Paint a Future Project’ The Paint a Future project was founded in 2000 by artist Hetty van der Linden, who paints alongside children in disadvantaged situations all over the world. Van der Linden asks each child she meets to paint their dreams and to imagine that the paintbrush is a magic wand that they can use to make their dreams come true. Renowned artists from the child’s home country are then inspired by the children’s drawings and use them as inspiration for their own creative works. These paintings are then sold, and with the proceeds, the children’s dreams become a reality.

ISA students became involved with the opening of the ‘Paint a Future’ Gallery as a service project, which was divided into two parts and meant two field trips. The first part of the project was for students to visit the gallery, where they met Van der Linden and saw the artworks that have been created by various artists in over 15 countries, each telling the story of a child in need. The artist from each country travelled to an area in need within the country and interviewed the children there about their dreams. The painter then created a painting to reflect the children's dreams. At the studio, ISA students selected a few art pieces that spoke to them and that they wanted to tell the story of at the opening of Van der Linden’s gallery.

Taking place in October, the second part of the project involved students 'speaking' for the paintings. ISA students shared each child’s story with visitors to the gallery opening, discussing the history and meaning behind each painting. Not only were students able to push their boundaries by educating themselves about each artwork and publicly speaking about them, but they were also able to act as a voice for the children in need, giving ISA students the opportunity to reflect on each story and how it relates to their own lives and learning experiences.

CAS Coordinator Julia Watson was keen to point out the benefits of ISA students sharing these stories: ‘this was a very interesting opportunity for the students to be involved in an Art Gallery opening, but also to engage in sharing stories of real people.’

“This was a very interesting opportunity for the students to be involved in an Art Gallery opening, but also to engage in sharing stories of real people.”

- Julia

Watson

Visiting Musician Inspires Lower School Students “Music is the universal language of mankind.”

Through music, we are able to make connections and bridge cultures, which is an integral part of the music programme at ISA. To inspire students' passion for music, Lower School students were recently joined in their music lessons by a special guest, visiting musician Estevão Marques.

Estevão is a musician, educator and designer of the Marakatu, a homemade musical instrument made from a trolley and kitchen equipment and filled with instruments from his native Brazil. He joined students from Pre-School to Grade 5 in music classes, as well as the Grades 4&5 choir. He introduced students to the many rhythms and songs from Brazil and our young musicians had the opportunity to play instruments such as tambourines and spoons.

Estevão emphasised the important connection between music and storytelling and the unique ability of music to bridge cultures: "this is a meeting between the children of the world and Brazilian popular culture. In class, we reinvented songs, dances and rhythms that are played in folk festivals - this is the richness of folklore, it is always alive and being recreated!

Together, we explored body percussion, musical spoons and melodies that tell stories."

Grade 12 Students Celebrate Extended Essay Milestone Grade 12 students recently celebrated handing in their Extended Essays, an important milestone in their final year at ISA. The IB Extended Essay is a requirement of the Diploma Programme (DP) which requires students to conduct an independent, self-directed piece of research, culminating in a 4000-word essay. It gives DP students the opportunity to investigate topics of interest and passion to them, ask questions and make connections between all of their past learning experiences, as well as develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills that will serve them well in the future.

Taking time to stop, reflect upon our learnings and celebrate our successes is a key part of developing our minds and maintaining a growth mindset, and so, to mark the special occasion, the PTA and ISA faculty and staff came together to organise a special celebration for students during the school day.

Held in George Junior’s Cafeteria, the occasion included plenty of food and snacks and allowed students the chance to come together to celebrate this important stage of their academic journey. Well done, Grade 12!

‘One Small Visit’ Movie Screening ISA was honoured to have ISA Alumni Anisha Abraham visit our World Theatre for a private screening and moderated discussion of the film One Small Visit, which she co-produced.

The 30-minute short film relays the true story of Anisha’s immigrant Indian family who unexpectedly passes through the tiny Midwest hometown of Neil Armstrong in the wake of the ’69 moon landing and the civil rights movement and ends up on the doorstep of the Armstrong home. The movie is about two very different families finding connection and shared humanity, a testament to small acts of openness and kindness.

Every member of the ISA community is encouraged to question, make connections and critically reflect on the world around them.

Anisha’s story and unique perspective gave our community an opportunity to reflect as one on themes such as race and identity.

Debbie O’Hara, ISA’s Adult Learning Coordinator and organiser of this community learning opportunity, said: “stories are powerful; they enable us to connect to others and make sense of our shared world. Stories have the ability to take facts, wrap them in human context and allow us to build empathy. Stories are tools for empowerment, empathy and a deeper understanding of the complexities we face in our world.

Thank you to Anisha Abraham for treating us to a screening of her short film, ‘One Small Visit’. We are grateful for the opportunity to understand a slice of history through her story, a story that had us consider themes of race, belonging and identity and how human connection can build community.

We also thank Anisha for donating a copy of her book, ‘Raising Global Teens: A Practical Handbook for Parenting in the 21st Century“. It is available to our whole community through the Upper School Library!”

“Stories are powerful; they enable us to connect to others and make sense of our shared world. Stories have the ability to take facts, wrap them in human context and allow us to build empathy. Stories are tools for empowerment, empathy and a deeper understanding of the complexities we face in our world.”

- Debbie

O’Hara

ISA Success at MUNISH Conference

Inspiring and developing young minds is what teaching and learning at ISA is all about, and students are encouraged to question, make connections and reflect on their own learning, both in and outside of the classroom. In November, ISA students were given the opportunity to further develop their problem-solving skills by taking part in MUNISH, the Model United Nations Conference hosted by the International School of the Hague.

MUNISH is one of the biggest MUN conferences in Europe, and ISA participated with fifty ISA MUN students alongside over 600 students from 40 schools around the world. ISA students were delegates representing the Russian Federation, Egypt, Malaysia, Cuba, and Nepal. Our students were recognised as some of the most prepared and engaged during the conference, further building the stellar reputation of our MUN program. In all, our delegates won 6 out of 17 best delegate awards- the most of any school participating in the conference. Please join us in congratulating Louis Conqueret, Amelia Dorner, Matthew McCartney, Charlotte Burke, Eli Gimenez Xarpell, and Pieter Versloot for their best delegate recognitions. Many of our students earned runner-up and honourable mention awards.

In addition, three of our students, Tanguy Lacroix, Jemma McLean, and Julia Collier, acted as chairs who directed the debate as student officers in their committees, while recent ISA graduate, Jain Pacelli, was also tapped as a senior chair because of her performance at MUNISH last year. Most importantly, all of our students thoroughly enjoyed the conference and were wonderful ambassadors for the ISA community.

Tanguy said: “MUN is an opportunity for me to apply my knowledge to real-world issues and collaborate on forging comprehensive solutions. It has allowed me to develop a passion for diplomacy, which I will pursue in my further studies. I recommend MUN as it has truly aided me in gaining a global perspective to problem-solving, and strengthened my communication skills as a student while giving me a plethora of opportunities for leadership and personal involvement.”

Mary Lowe, the ISA MUN student advisor, said: “what I love most is that through MUN, many students find confidence and leadership skills many didn’t know they had, and I see how this expands their understanding of what is possible for them in the future.”

Youth Organized Conference of Peace and Sustainability Ten Global Politics students from grade 11 recently travelled to Israel to participate in the Youth Organized Conference of Peace and Sustainability hosted by the Eastern Mediterranean International School.

The first year of IB Global Politics has two units of focus: the first is "Power, Sovereignty and International Relations," and the second is "Peace and Conflict” and, prior to the trip, students were studying political case studies about Israel and Palestine. The Conference of Peace and Sustainability was an enriching addition to the regular curriculum and allowed students to make connections with what they have been learning in class, giving them the opportunity to have a tangible and authentic learning experience by participating in a peace conference.

ISA’s mission is to educate for international understanding, and our students were able to work alongside and develop connections with other young people from Israel, Palestine, Gaza, and Jordan, as well as other international students, to develop a deeper understanding of a very complex and nuanced issue. The conference was a connecting experience for all participants, allowing ISA’s Global Politics students to gain a unique insight into the conflict between Israel and Palestine and the world of global politics through first-hand experiences on the issue.

Global Politics teacher and trip organiser Sean Kelly wanted to emphasise the benefits of the trip for ISA students: “there were lots of things that surprised me throughout the week we spent in Israel, but what sticks out the most was the performance of our students. We were very intentional about building a stacked itinerary to get as much out of our time as possible, and their ability to take in all of the culture and history, contribute to the conference, share stories and engage with so many of the other participants, and build closer bonds with each other was what surprised me the most. They were tremendous ambassadors of the ISA community, and I was extremely proud of them all.”

Overall, the students had an amazing opportunity to discover the beautiful country and culture of Israel and they came back with an enlightened perspective on the world.

“We were very intentional about building a stacked itinerary to get as much out of our time as possible, and their ability to take in all of the culture and history, contribute to the conference, share stories and engage with so many of the other participants, and build closer bonds with each other” - Sean

Kelly

Grade 5 Engineering Unit Students in Grade 5 have recently been working on an Engineering Unit of inquiry in class. To round out the unit, students were challenged to design and create a structure based on a real-world need or design problem.

Along the way, they learned all about the design process from start to finish, what happens when variables are changed and how to work within time constraints, allowing them to flex their problem-solving and critical thinking muscles, as well as ask questions, make connections and reflect on their past learning.

They also reflected upon the role of engineers in society as well as what it means to provide solutions to the world’s wants and needs.

Ultimately, students were inspired to come up with some creative prototypes for their designs, including an outdoor home for a Guinea Pig!

Grade 4 Poetry Jam

What better way to round off a unit of inquiry than by holding a poetry jam to celebrate all of your hard work and creativity? That’s what Grade 4 class 4JC did!

Grade 4 students have recently been studying writing poetry as part of their unit of inquiry, with their learning culminating in their hosting a poetry jam event for an audience of their parents.

Writing celebrations are a wonderful way to inspire student learning, as well as give parents the opportunity to engage in their child’s learning journey. Everyone was impressed by the quality of the students writing and their ability to verbalise the key features as well as compliment each other with constructive and positive feedback. 4JC did a wonderful job of hosting the jam, and the poems they wrote and delivered were diverse and unique.

4JC’s teacher Jessica said: “while inquiring into poetry, students were developing many aspects of their writing craft but especially word choice and "painting a picture" with words for their readers.

The poetry jam provided them with an authentic audience and an opportunity to develop their confidence as presenters.”