International School Magazine - Autumn 2021

MAGAZINE AUTUMN 2021

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The Last 90 Days: How do Leaders ‘Leave Well’?

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Autumn 2021

International School THE MAGAZINE FOR INTERNATIONAL EDUCATORS

Contents

EDITORS Mary Hayden Jeff Thompson editor@is-mag.com www.is-mag.com

MANAGING DIRECTOR

4

Steve Spriggs steve@williamclarence.com

Resiliency through Relationships

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International School is an independent magazine. The views expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent those of the magazine. The magazine cannot accept any responsibility for products and services advertised within it.

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Student well-being: introduction of well-being classes at Robert College in Istanbul

Features 4 Resiliency through Relationships Graeme Scott 6

The Last 90 Days: How do International School Leaders ‘Leave Well’? Richard Eaton

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When international school leadership needs to break with the legacy and context of the past Rob Ford

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After the Flood Richard Pearce

Leading, teaching and learning 16 Bilingual education needs to be targeted toward learning Richard Mast 18

Changemakers for sustainable development in schools John Cannings and Alex Catallo

MAGAZINE

Changemakers for sustainable development in schools

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The OECD Global Competence Framework: a Critique Therese Andrews

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Using Nietzsche’s theory of knowledge to interpret educational assessment James Cambridge

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Process over outcomes: extraordinary possibilities within Early Years education Matthew Silvester and Gregory Biggs

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The importance of developing character traits through the teaching of Habits of Mind David Bauza

From the schools 36 Student well-being: introduction of well-being classes at Robert College in Istanbul Margaret Halicioglu 40

Agile minds, learning hearts, humble spirits: curriculum innovation during the pandemic Nicholas Forde

AUTUMN 2021

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Student well-being: introduction of well-being classes at Robert College in Istanbul page 36.

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Autumn 2021 | International School | 3

Features

Resiliency through Relationships

By Graeme Scott

L

earning is all about connections and relationships. disengaging with discourse, switching off their cameras, Research tells us that students of all ages need at and focusing instead on their gaming careers. least one adult at school that they can connect with on a deeper level if they are to thrive and be Regression or Progression? successful (Rimm-Kauffman and Sandilos, 2011). Back in The predominant concern we read about in the 1997, the National Longitudinal Study media seems to be around how much of Adolescent Health (Klein, 1997) curriculum content has been missed Deep, caring sampled 12,000 US students from during the pandemic, and therefore how Grades 7 to 12 and found that those disadvantaged our students are and will relationships are who reported a feeling of connectedness be in the future. But let us also consider a powerful and with a caring adult in school were less for a moment the additional skills, likely to be involved in every single risk positive influence dispositions and capacities students have area studied (including suicide ideation, developed throughout this period, such on our students. early sex, violence, substance abuse). as independence, resilience, adaptability, Those students who have close, positive organisation, self-management and more. and supportive relationships with their Pre-Covid, one popular criticism of teachers tend to attain higher levels of achievement this generation of students was that they struggled to (Rimm-Kauffman and Sandilos, 2011). More recently, complete extended tasks and lacked resilience. How do Sacks et al (2020) linked positive academic outcomes we test the accuracy of with the relationship between student and teacher, this assumption, when while Longobardi et al (2020) found that a teacherwe would not knowingly student relationship that is characterised by closeness, and deliberately impose affection, and support is associated with higher levels of prosocial behaviour in that student.

We can therefore be fairly certain that deep, caring relationships are a powerful and positive influence on our students. Covid-19 deprived many young people of these critical relationships, or at best replaced them with a virtual version. For some this worked out: particularly those students who were comfortable online, had access to suitable technology, and had teachers who understood how best to connect digitally.

However, many students admit to withdrawing from the online format,

4 | International School | Autumn 2021

Features genuine hardship on our children? Covid-19, while clearly horrific and hugely disruptive, has actually given us an opportunity to see how our young people handle tough and uncertain times. Our children have been presented with a major plot twist, and although some have genuinely and understandably struggled, most have come through and a number have even thrived. But none have fallen by the wayside purely because of a lack of curriculum coverage. Relevant and updated content is critical of course, and skills are worthless without it, but in times like these, less is more when we consider curriculum content, and more is definitely more when it comes to relationships.

An Alternative Lens?

Instead of teachers being evaluated primarily according to the academic results of their students, why not assess their skill in building meaningful relationships with their students? How about the ways teachers have prepared students to cope with adversity, to be comfortable with ambiguity and to adapt to a new normal? As we have seen, research illustrates that these have a greater potential long-term impact on a child’s future than almost any other factor (Sacks et al, 2020).

While building initial trust is paramount, caring relationships with students should not only be warm and fuzzy. There is a need to hold students to account, to continue insisting on high expectations, and to challenge them to reach goals they may not have even attempted without the gentle but deliberate nudge provided by great teachers. Powerful one-to-one coaching does not require an extended amount of time. Just 5-7 minutes is enough for a meaningful conversation to let a student know that you care about them, you know them as a person not just as a student, you know they are capable of more (as we all are), and you will support them as much and as little as they need to reach their goals.

Synchronicity Closes the Gap Recent findings in neuroscience have revealed a phenomenon known as conversational synchrony (Koole & Tschacher, 2016; Paxton & Dale, 2017; Gordon, Tranel & Duff, 2014). In observing the brain function of humans engaged in conversation, scientists have found

that humans begin to mirror each other behaviourally and physiologically. This mirroring, known in neuroscience as synchronicity, has long been observed as a beneficial outcome in the therapist-patient relationship, but the role of synchrony in interpersonal conversation is an exciting development. The mirroring that occurs during successful interpersonal conversations includes matching of breathing rate, movement patterns, and convergence of word choices and speech patterns. Fascinatingly, as conversationalists achieve synchrony with each other, their underlying brain physiology begins to change.

Important regions of the brain called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the right temporoparietal junction form stronger connections with each other as conversational partners engage.

Students will tell you that they tend to perform better in classes where they have a closer than usual connection with the teacher, but going beyond that and constructing purposeful 1:1 conversations that focus on the ways we learn, our work habits and attitudes to learning will pay significant dividends and position our students for success. ◆

Graeme Scott is an independent educational consultant and Chairperson of The MARIO Framework, following a career in educational leadership spanning over 30 years and 5 different countries. ✉ graeme@marioframework.com

References

• Gordon R G, Tranel D and Duff M C (2014) The physiological basis of synchronizing conversational rhythms: The role of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Neuropsychology. 28(4), 624–630.

• Klein J D (1997) National Longitudinal Study on Adolescent Health. Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). 278(10), 864-5.

• Koole S L and Tschacher W (2016) Synchrony in psychotherapy: A review and an integrative framework for the therapeutic alliance. Frontiers in Psychology. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.00862/full • Longobardi et al (2020) Student-teacher relationship quality and prosocial behaviour: the mediating role of academic achievement and a positive attitude towards school. British Journal of Educational Psychology. 91(2), 547-562 • Paxton A and Dale R (2017) Interpersonal movement synchrony responds to high- and low-level conversational constraints.

Frontiers in Psychology. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01135/full • Sacks et al (2020) Relationships with Caring Adults and Social and Emotional Strengths Are Related to High School Academic Achievement. Child Trends. https://www.childtrends.org/publications/relationships-with-caring-adults-social-emotional-strengthsrelated-high-school-academic-achievement

Autumn 2021 | International School | 5

Features

t s a L The s y a D 90 How do International School Leaders ‘Leave Well’?

By Richard Eaton

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n spite of the old adage ‘star t with come before the year’s first major recess. the end in mind’, planning to leave These are realities of leadership in one’s role can be far from the international school settings. thoughts of educational leaders at the In school year 2020/21, after seven beginning of the new school year. This privileged years as the Director of an is understandable, established German par ticularly given the international school, I began reflecting current challenge of I was one of those adapting to everwho decided to on several pertinent fluctuating COVID-19 step away from my questions: How does one post. When coming regulations. Yet at take initiative to leave the same time we to the role in 2014, intuitively know as well? How can departing I immersed myself international school in a useful book by heads support transitions Michael Watkins leaders that in the that benefit the entire first months of the (2003) called The new term we may First 90 Days: Critical community? already be asked Success Strategies for by our boards or New Leaders at All supervisors about Levels. Surprisingly, our intentions for the next school year, however, in spite of high turnover in or obliged for personal reasons to take international school headship (Hawley, a decision about our future; some will 1994, 1995; Bunnell, 2016), there is a have less control over matters. Hard dear th of literature on strategies for news regarding contract renewal may leaders aspiring to ‘leave well’ and, while 6 | International School | Autumn 2021

Littleford (2014), a leading consultant in the field of international schooling, has practically addressed the theme of the headship transition, his perspective is board-centric, whereby the outgoing head is depicted as someone who needs to be managed.

Resultantly, with my leadership coach at Making Stuff Better (MSB), a British-based coaching consor tium for educators, I began reflecting on several pertinent questions: How does one take initiative to leave well? How can depar ting heads suppor t transitions that benefit the entire community?

What should be my priorities in the last 90-days? The answers came slowly at first, but an oppor tunity to share my ideas with colleagues through MSB’s Mastermind course – an online group coaching and support service for leaders – led to a list of ‘Strategies for Depar ting Leaders’ hoping to maximize their last 90-days on the job. I will explain each in turn.

Features

Strategies for Departing Leaders

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Slow down, look forward, reassess Leaving should be about looking forward. To achieve this, one needs to slow down. This means resisting the temptation to launch initiatives you may not be able to finish. This will prevent your successor from inheriting fragmented projects, and will allow you the opportunity to reassess how you are spending your time. For example, you may want to begin focusing on handing over certain day-to-day duties to people who can manage them during the period of transition. This too will help your successor, as they will not need to fill your shoes right away, allowing them time to thoughtfully consider which specific tasks to take on, and those they will delegate. Talk widely about why you have slowed down and are reassessing; it will help stakeholders understand that you are not ‘phasing yourself out’, which has a negative connotation. Rather, you are laying the foundation for the new leader to be effectively ‘phased in’. This is the essence of a forward-looking approach.

2

Channel negative energy into appreciation Missed opportunities and regrets are part and parcel of school leadership, work and life, and can be sources of negative energy. Rechanneling any lingering disappointment about your headship experience will help your departure be more graceful. Take time in your last 90 days to appreciate the opportunities your role has given you, the people you’ve been surrounded by, and the place that has been your home. Even something as simple as appreciating a commute that, soon, you won’t be making every day, can release the positive, uplifting kind of energy you are likely to need as you traverse your last 90 days.

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Be realistic—this is an opportunity Leaving is still hard. One needs to be realistic about this, embrace the challenging aspects of the process, and accept that there will be some

discomfort. There will be those sad to hear you are going, while others are likely to be indifferent, or even critical of you as the end draws near. See this as a chance to grow and better understand the aspects of your leadership and professional persona that were effective, and those that could still be refined. This is a learning opportunity.

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Have a shared plan The best, most professional departure is a well-coordinated one.

Once the decision to go is made, the first step is developing a plan. A good transition plan features a variety of input. In my case, I spoke to key stakeholders at all levels in the school whose perspective I valued. Their feedback contributed to a plan for my last 90 days that included notes and documentation that could be used by my successor. Key communication deadlines for openly sharing news and information regarding my transition with teachers, parents, and extended stakeholders were incorporated. In senior leadership meetings this timeline and other aspects of the transition plan were monitored. Collective review of communication that would be shared in-house and would be shared publicly helped to establish a healthy discourse.

Effectively, a distributed approach kept the transition on track, kept extended ownership of the plan, and supported good communication.

5

Stay available, keep listening, and be responsive I also appreciated that my departure might be destabilizing for some, particularly those whose day-to-day roles were closely intertwined with mine, and/or those who had been dependent on me for personal and professional support. By being open, accessible, and available to these and other colleagues, and by listening to hopes and concerns associated with leadership change, I was able to responsively incorporate new ideas and perspectives into transition planning, elevating my own professional learning and, hopefully, that of others throughout my final days in office.

Autumn 2021 | International School | 7

Features

Taking it Further – due to the sensitivities associated with My list of strategies for the last 90 less-amicable departures – occasionally days is by no means complete. I had taboo subject. The latter point raises left leadership roles before, and each critical questions for boards and school experience was different. As such, it communities. Avoiding conversations is useful to recall that Watkins (2003) about how leaders, or even teachers, are recommends pairing one’s approach to expected to organize their departures the first 90 days with the can make transitions of all situation they are entering. types more complicated, The same could be said precarious, and ultimately Taking initiative less successful, bringing us of the last 90 days. I had, for instance, chosen to full circle. While transitions during the step away from the role of out of an organization Director, but would remain leaving process may lack the urgency of an active advisor to the the first 90 days when also enabled me the seeds of your success school, and perhaps had more incentive to ‘leave failure are being sown to ‘let go’ with or well’ than a head whose (Watkins, 2003), the last contract was not renewed.

90 days provide individual confidence I also knew my successor, leaders the opportunity and had ample time to to leverage their agency work with them face-toin a way that stabilizes the face during my last 90 days, which is not people, systems, programs, and schools always the case in international schools. they have worked to build and maintain.

Thus, it could be said that my strategies, Taking initiative during the leaving which where beneficially influenced by process also enabled me to ‘let go’ with MSB’s coaches and courses, matched my confidence, clarity, and comfort, supporting unique situational context as an outgoing my own mental and professional wellhead in one European international school being, and hopefully that of other setting. I share them not as universals, but community members. In this sense, the to inspire further consideration of this leadership transition may also be an often messy, sometimes unpleasant, and under-theorized area of focus for those 8 | International School | Autumn 2021

interested in the social-emotional balance in educational communities, and given the added pressures of contending with the on-going pandemic, provides additional rationale for further professional discourse and research. ◆ Dr Richard Eaton attended an

international school growing up in the Netherlands, where his mother taught; he has since worked as a teacher and leader in schools across four continents.

✉ eatonr@ymail.com

References

• Bunnell T (2016) Teachers in international schools: a global educational ‘precariat’?

Globalisation, Societies and Education. 14(4), 543-559.

• Littleford J C (2014) Head Transition/Entry Plans: Risks and Opportunities. Littleford & Associates, LLC. August 2014.

• Hawley D B (1994) How long do international school heads survive? A research analysis (part I). International Schools Journal. 14(1), 8-21.

• Hawley D B (1995) How long do international school heads survive? A research analysis (part II). International Schools Journal. 14(2), 23-36.

• Watkins M (2003) The first 90 days: critical success strategies for new leaders at all levels.

Boston: Harvard Business School.

Features

Autumn 2021 | International School | 9

Features

When international school leadership needs to break with the legacy and context of the past

By Rob Ford

I

n January 2019, I stood with a group of school leaders in a very wintery and cold Moldova, talking about how we approached school leadership in England compared to Eastern Europe. ‘So, education is generally dysfunctional and chaotic in England?’ the nodding heads of teachers and school leaders in Chisinau, all agreeing with the question their Eastern European colleague had just put to me once I had finished speaking. My reply was ‘not exactly’ and I certainly hadn’t set out to convey that impression when I spoke then about the systems, changes and reforms in England over the last decade. I had in fact set out to illustrate the dynamism, innovation, energy and leadership of the English education system, which we were leading on in my own UK-based school of Wyedean. We had this in abundance, and in many inspirational examples is an education system to be admired globally – especially compared to post-Soviet societies where the pull away from authoritarianism, particularly in the public services, still had a way to go.

I had felt very confident in fact when comparing the approaches taken in countries like England to Eastern European countries in areas of leadership, school

10 | International School | Autumn 2021

improvement, teaching and learning, safeguarding, curriculum, diversity and well-being, to name but a few.

My mind quickly did a reflective spin on its rolodexlike recall over the last 30 or so minutes as I blustered a very poor Hugh Grantesque Englishman abroad impression. I was sure that what I had said was not how the questioner had described back to me but I soon realised that the system, processes, practices, culture, direction and vision of education in England must seem very alien to group of educators where a centralised ministry of education still has so much sway: a system where leadership is often summed up by one word, ‘Soviet’, where public workers can be seen as more akin to civil servants, and public buildings and infrastructure are still in urgent need of capital investment. On the plane home, I reflected on making sense of what has been happening to education in England for so many years, in almost a permanent revolution of constant new ideas and innovation, all against the very real backdrop of severe underfunding and a chronic lack of investment across the board.

One of the reasons I am a passionate advocate as a global educator is that there are so many ideas and innovations to be gained through cooperation and collaboration between systems around the world.

The dedication and professionalism of teachers is also something that

Features reality, this has not always happened.

One of the strengths of the English system was how school improvement had been given back to schools and school communities to lead in the system. The article I Used to Preach the Gospel of Education Reform. Then I Became the Mayor by President Obama’s former chief of staff and later mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel on how he reformed the Chicago school system, is worth a read. He believed in the power of school leadership as one of the main drivers of reform in schools. He highlighted the need for principals to be autonomous and have flexibility, which would then establish the right culture and team within an institution. In the current pandemic, where local communities and schools have been given the autonomy of a degree of decision-making in a clear, unambiguous national framework, as we had in Moldova from the ministry, is illustrated a self-evident truth about where the transformative power of positive change and educational gains in our local community schools come from.

The Canadian education writer and leadership guru, Michael Fullan, in his book Nuance, also advocates the need for the type is always inspirational to have the privilege to see if I of leadership that is genuinely leading self-improving am invited into a classroom in the UK or abroad. This schools. Fullan argues that as we enter the 2020s, left such an impression on me as a career challenge education is becoming less effective in its central role that when the opportunity came to take up the role of producing the better citizens we need and want, of Director of Heritage International School, the first especially when schooling seems no longer up to the international school in Moldova and a potential game challenges faced by learners in the 21st century. New changer, I took the very difficult leaders, or ‘nuanced leaders’ as he decision to leave the wonderful describes, will be characterised he community of Wyedean as principal says by those who can get beneath The world is becoming to start a new chapter in my career the surface in what he proposes will more demanding at the as a school leader. ‘leverage deep change for the better’ very time that regular I want to return to the idea of (Fullan, 2018).These leaders are able ‘Soviet’ leadership (management) to motivate, and mobilise as they schooling is standing still which seemed to crop up in so have the best knowledge for solving – actually going backwards complex problems: many discussions. There is a legacy as fewer and fewer students of the Soviet Bloc that still lingers ‘The world is becoming more understandably in this part of the and teachers buy into what demanding at the very time that world. I remember having a similar regular schooling is standing still – they are required to do. conversation with the eminent actually going backwards as fewer academic Professor Maria Mendel, and fewer students and teachers buy in Jagiellonian University, Krakow in into what they are required to do’. the autumn of 2017. Professor Mendel, a fellow of both I believe strongly as a school leader that a selfthe University of Gdansk and Johns Hopkins University, improving school-led system allows the development of is well placed to comment on this model still pervading leadership that writers like Fullan call for, and the system in education in Eastern Europe. Where her research of education is developing which tackles the problems has been particularly prominent recently though, is in and purpose of education in the 21st century. The offering a different lens to view the neoliberal model disengagement of young people from curriculums and of education in the UK and the USA. It was supposed schools could be reversed if they were listened to more to release greater freedoms and leadership based on carefully regarding some of the issues that are at the schools and their communities 10-15 years ago but, in forefront of their minds. These include the uncertainties Autumn 2021 | International School | 11

Features

Saving time and energy reducing your PSHE planning What is Jigsaw?

The Jigsaw teaching programme is a comprehensive and original scheme of work covering all aspects of Personal, Social, Health Education as required by the Independent School Standards (guidance, paragraph 2.12 2019), and including statutory Relationships Education at Primary and Relationships and Sex Education at Secondary (DfE Guidance 2019).

How is Jigsaw PSHE structured?

Every year group studies the same Puzzle at the same time at its own level, lending itself to a whole-school approach.

Can we measure progress?

Attainment descriptors (working at, towards and beyond) for every Puzzle make progression clear and assessment straightforward, to maximise and evidence learning.

How does it fit into my school?

Designed as a whole-school programme, Jigsaw enhances growth-mindset culture and builds ethos; enhances a sense of belonging and community; values every child and is inclusive, and nurtures positive relationship with self and others, all conducive to learning.

What is core to Jigsaw PSHE? The authentic focus on emotional and mental health is underpinned by mindfulness philosophy and made real by mindfulness practice being embedded in every lesson. This empowers students to regulate their own emotional states and choose their responses, impacting positively on behaviours and self-esteem.

What is the end result?

Students gain knowledge and insight into themselves, others and the world they live in and become discerning and resilient global citizens.

Success Story: Impact of Jigsaw:

We have also seen children developing confidence, especially when it comes to speaking about their feelings. The children are also better tuned in to, and more mindful of, the feelings of their peers and also the impact their own behaviour can have on others. This has supported children in strengthening their relationships with others.

With particular reference to our Early Years children, it has helped to develop their skills in all areas of PSED including Making Relationships, Self-Confidence and Self-Awareness, and Managing Feelings and Behaviour.

Louise Everson Head of Primary International School Breda

Jigsaw has helped to develop the language and vocabulary skills of children, enabling them to better express themselves.

Learn more at jigsawpshe.com 12 | International School | Autumn 2021

Features of Climate Change, university places, job insecurity and better mental health: issues that should be prioritised and supported. If the relentless focus of schools stopped being about competitiveness, or living on an outdated failed dogma and a fearful obsession with narrow data targets, and instead a more holistic collaborative approach was allowed, a self-improving school could then lead on this for wider benefit.

Teachers would want to stay and new teachers would join in the system, instead of leaving in droves, if they felt they were respected, listened to and allowed to practise teaching for the very reasons they came into the profession; to make a transformative learning and life difference in the lives of young people. In addition, before someone cries ‘standards’, the best examples of selfimproving school systems led by nuanced leaders show that accountability is much stronger because of personal integrity, professionalism, trust, respect and a common sense of shared purpose in the school and its community.

Too many ‘surface leaders’ provide short-term false clarity and allow these problems to keep manifesting. This style of leadership would perhaps have been more fitting for the Soviet management system back in the heyday of the USSR. I have been fascinated with Eastern Europe, thanks to inspiring teachers, since I stood on the Berlin Wall in front of the Brandenburg Tor as a student on a history trip just weeks after the Wall opened on 9 November 1989. Leading the first international school in the postSoviet republic of Moldova thirty years after those momentous events of 1989-1991 was more than the challenge I had been seeking after leading Wyedean, in the UK. I have spent a lot of time in Russia and Eastern Europe through international education work over the years. I therefore took the advice of a colleague in the field and avidly watched the HBO series ‘Chernobyl’ based on Serhii Plokhy’s brilliant book (see Jack, 2019).

Plokhy places the Brezhnev stagnation across the whole of society in the USSR in a system unable to allow any form of impact leadership except failed dirigisme management. This is at the heart of why such a human disaster occurred in 1986. As post-Soviet countries like Moldova develop, even 30 years on, that Soviet legacy still has a strong pull. Therefore, in March 2020, as the Covid crisis hit and schools were forced into lockdown, the need for true leadership and innovative thinking was never greater. In Moldova, we proudly demonstrated in our innovative response to the crisis that the actual paradigm shift was not necessarily a ‘digital revolution’, but a powerful agency in schools to adapt and find solutions – even to something as existentially threatening as the pandemic – and still navigate the organisation and

community through this crisis with hope, optimism and vaccinations.

Anyone in education in 2021 knows how important hope for a better future is as a fundamental tenet of schools. The lessons are there to be learned for those societies in which schools and communities have been let down by ambiguous and conflicting directions from central ministries in a legacy of fragmentation and competition between schools: fragmentation and competition that weakened the ability to find a wider response and trust in leadership. For Moldova, 202021, and all education systems, questioning which bits of the original ‘normality’ we should ditch and which we should keep when we are through the pandemic, could represent a real breakthrough from legacies of the past, providing a more hopeful future for young people going into the new decade. Our leadership in schools will need to be less saddled with failed systems and labels of the past, ‘east and west’, and be able to embrace the opportunities of a rapidly changing global educational landscape. ◆ Rob Ford is Director of Heritage International School in Chisinau, Moldova, a long-term British Council Schools’ Ambassador and previously Principal of Wyedean School, Gloucestershire, UK. ✉ robert.ford@heritage.md

References

• Emmanuel R (2019) I Used to Preach the Gospel of Education Reform. Then I Became the Mayor. The Atlantic. February. Policy Makers Need a New Path to Education Reform - The Atlantic • Fullan M (2018) Nuance: Why Some Leaders Succeed and Others Fail. New York: Corwin Press.

• Jack A (2019) Podcast of interview by Andrew Jack of Serhii Plokhy about his book ‘Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy’. https://www.pushkinhouse. org/ph-podcast/a-history-of-a-tragedy

Autumn 2021 | International School | 13

Features

After the Flood

By Richard Pearce

A

s the pandemic has passed through its many phases, different in each country, the common cry has gone up: ‘What will be the New Normal?’ For some that stability is still far ahead, but enough time has passed for us to reflect on what we have seen, how we have reacted, what has worked and what hasn’t. What is happening as the new Northern hemisphere school year gets underway in many international schools?

International schools need to meet the expectations of Western parents and faculty at the same time as satisfying local governments and parents, so they always have built-in tensions; this time the divergences may be a matter of life and death. The privileges which often belong to expatriates or to the local elites who seek ‘international’ education are painfully clear in this crisis. While rich nations strive for complete vaccination of the domestic population, and build the same expectation in their expatriate communities, the host nations in which those schools are embedded may be struggling for even initial injections.

14 | International School | Autumn 2021

The image of the community of an induction programmes are impeded and international school has never been the conversations around the coffee so clearly dissociated from the host machine are denied? In our schools nation. How is this working out? Can the pre-term period for new teachers your ‘community engagement’ extend is crucial, but both the timing and the to donating doses of vaccine? How degree of integration of the sessions are can a school express problematic. And all its commitment to those thoughtful, caring, In the classrooms, transition programmes, vaccination in a society which doubts its value, aiming to bring children the needs of or even denies the into close enough existence of the disease? social distancing contact to form new In the classrooms, friendships – how go against many can we do that? How the needs of social distancing go against many schools have an of our dearest many of our dearest Adventure Weekend principles of schooling. close to the start of principles of Learning is a social the year, to establish schooling. process, and education community spirit and as we practise it relies give the new child a upon establishing social sense of belonging, and relationships between teacher and can it be run while Covid rages outside? students. On the domestic scene ‘working Online learning programmes have a from home’ has been a widespread long history, and in the last two years success, but virtual communication is many international school teachers have better at the maintenance of working worked far beyond their normal bounds relationships within a team than at of duty to become effective distance initiating them. How does a brand new teachers. But most programmes that were employee become one of a team, when readily available have been developed

Features within a single country and they may not be appropriate for our diverse communities. And how do teachers feel, after labouring in an unfamiliar mode to construct online courses, if these are now to be replaced by yet another compromise between contact and virtual teaching?

What have we found ourselves doing for the first time, in our teaching and in our organisation? Have we adopted new practices or been barred from old ones in ways which still make sense when schools normalise? How did it feel? And can we imagine how it felt to our various students? The same things may feel differently to different people. We do new things because they feel good to us in our local scale of Good; the Sony Walkman was invented in Japan to avoid disturbing the peace of others, but adopted in the West to promote the enjoyment of the wearer. Similarly, masks have been adopted widely, but often Westerners have been motivated by self-interest as much as by communal responsibility. How about class sizes, and distancing: how have children reacted to these experiences?

Smaller working groups have permitted more personal attention, but we may have lost opportunities for collaborative working which we had before.

Research: an opportunity to take stock Robinson-Neal (2021) suggests that it would pay to study the changed outcomes of schooling in four areas: academic achievement, psychological consequences, teachers’ practice, and pre-existing

There was never a time when it was more important to appreciate the ‘foreignness’ of a student inequities. The fourth area is a cultural matter; children who are already unable or unwilling to profit from their schooling may have suffered disproportionately. In international schools this applies to those who have difficulty communicating with teachers, and those who are or who feel apart. Just as language initially separates those with fluent English from those with language needs, so cultural conventions such as the relationship between teacher and student may be assumed by the teacher but still to be learned by some students. There was never a time when it was more important to appreciate the ‘foreignness’ of a student who has grown up in another educational culture.

‘International’, the description kindly given

by English-speaking schools to those from other countries, does not begin to acknowledge the alienation they often feel from the school’s ways and its norms.

Digital teaching may in a way have given some relief, however. Where classroom language has been a hurdle for a student to surmount, it has long been useful to offer material in print or online which can be studied at the student’s own pace.

Digital communication gives time for

comprehension and reflection, and it allows questions to be asked privately where a student would have been illequipped or too shy to ask in class.

If this is a glimpse of what technology could offer for future pedagogy, let us look very carefully and see what has worked and what we can build into future practice.

It will also reveal vulnerabilities of our teaching and perhaps of the assumptions we make about students’ various abilities to benefit. So let us, for once, pause in our eagerness to ‘celebrate’ what went right for some, and face up to what may have gone wrong for others. Then we can share good practices, looking beyond the myth of a single ‘best practice’, and each pick out what suits our students and situation best. I feel sure that International School magazine will welcome our open collegial sharing of what we have learned, successful and unsuccessful. ◆ Dr Richard Pearce has taught for many

years in and about international schools, and has researched and written on how students negotiate cultural adjustment in a new school.

✉ rldpearce@gmail.com

References

• Robinson-Neal A (2021) Reflections on Educational Practice: COVID-19 Influences. Academia Letters. Article 176. doi.org/10.20935/AL176. (Accessed 22.9.2021)

Autumn 2021 | International School | 15

Leading, teaching and learning

Bilingual education needs to be targeted toward learning

By Richard Mast

M

any schools in China are presenting themselves to the community as bilingual. This is seen as a highly desirable position both educationally and in marketing terms. However, the view that as long as the students are taught English, all will be well, is not showing the level of success that has been assumed and desired, raising the question of what is bilingual education and how can it be successfully implemented? The most obvious component in this context is the teaching of

1

he learning of language is not a T universal process The learning of Chinese is done by a process very different from the learning of English. When teaching English, we cannot assume equivalency in pedagogy.

2

A focus upon English Literature is not helping Look at the international Chinese language course and it does not take long to realise that the course is usually English Literature under another name. Yes, there are novels and poetry from the host country and the students answer in their native language, but how it is taught, what is expected and how it is assessed are totally western culture-based. Teaching English for this end point is not working.

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It cannot be assumed that because students learn English in the local schools they will be able to transition into a bilingual environment Students do learn English and they learn an effective form of English to suit purposes which are valid and appropriate for the hundreds of millions of students in

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Chinese language. A school implementing the national curriculum goes a long way to achieving a central aim of bilingualism as well as recognising and honouring the culture of the community. The teaching of English is another matter.

It is not possible to unpick all of the factors and their implications for the teaching of English to children of a completely different culture. It is important, however, at least to identify the components that are impacting implementation and the ability to succeed, which is what this article will do. the local schools. However, in a bilingual school they will be expected to use a form of English that is not the same as their experience (and that of the Chinese teachers, administrators and parents).

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Translation is not the same as interpretation It is too easy to assume that all the words used in the teaching, learning and assessment for an international curriculum have exact equivalency in the host country language. It is also easy to assume that the characters used in Chinese to represent the words convey identical meaning to their meaning in English. Neither of these assumptions is valid.

In addition, even if there is an equivalent word and the characters are aligned, it cannot be assumed that students will interpret the words in the same way.

The student is highly likely to respond to the word in a different way. For example, the way Chinese people describe and explain is completely different from the way expected by western teachers. The Chinese student only knows how people in China describe and explain. This cannot be ignored or dismissed.

Leading, teaching and learning

What form of English should be taught and how can students entering at Year 10 and beyond be prepared in time for the demands of Year 12?

The English that is needed The premise for a bilingual school should have two components: 1. Conversational English 2. English needed for teaching and learning The need to converse in English is important, but this does not mean dismissing or ignoring Chinese. English, as a language, represents western culture and as such should not be seen as supplanting the language of the community. Both languages have a place and must be considered of equal importance and prevalence. There are also very good pedagogical reasons to ensure that Chinese is a central language component even when lessons are led by foreign teachers.

When it comes to planning for the teaching of academic English, we have to build from the components that are essential for learning in all subjects at all levels.

There are key pedagogical components that shape and dominate teaching, learning and assessment in international education. They include: • The prevalence of verbs in the way we describe learning outcomes, teach and assess learning.

• The types of questions we ask and the way we express them.

• The use of English that is expected in the way students are expected to respond to teaching, learning and assessment situations.

We use approximately 160 verbs in our pedagogy and curriculum documentation. If students enter the school at a young age, there is time to ensure that they learn the verbs and develop the strategies needed to respond appropriately. However, when students arrive in Year 10,

11 or 12, the timeline is too short. Other approaches have to be undertaken. The learning of verbs has to be prioritised, coordinated and guaranteed. A shorter list has to be generated, based upon the requirements of the subjects being taught.

Alone, the teaching of these English verbs is not enough.

As signalled earlier, there is no guarantee that the students have equivalent words in Chinese to fall back upon. Nor is there a guarantee that their interpretation is what is required. This has to be addressed not only in English but also in Chinese language. This is bilingual education working for educational benefit.

Mother Tongue Theory Mother Tongue Theory argues that to be able to learn another language successfully, the student has to master their mother tongue. For the students to be successful in an international education setting, the foundation has to start in Chinese Language. The learning verbs need to be taught in Chinese Language first. The verbs need to be presented with characters that convey not only the meaning that is expected within Chinese culture but also the meaning(s) that appear in all the subjects the students will be experiencing. This is complex but critical.

Added to the difficulty is that the Chinese Language teachers may not know the verbs in the way we do.

They are not practitioners of western curriculum and so even if presented with a verb, they are not necessarily experienced in its application in teaching and learning. For this to be addressed, they need to be trained in western pedagogy in relation to teaching Chinese language. Access to the language of learning through both languages has to be the foundation for bilingual education. Teach the students how to learn – language is the key. ◆ Richard Mast trains Chinese and foreign teachers and administrators in China and Australia. ✉ rmast617@gmail.com

Autumn 2021 | International School | 17

Leading, teaching and learning

Changemakers for Sustainable Development in Schools

By John Cannings and Alexandra Catallo

A

ndrew Watson in the last issue capacity building and empowerment: the of International School magazine ability to be both creative and adaptive. highlighted that the world is close to a tipping point, citing the work Why was there a need for of Johan Rockström and Will Day. Both Webinars on ‘Case Studies for argued that in the next ten Change’? years the world is going The authors of this article, The webinars to face a number of social Alex Catallo and John provided and environmental issues Cannings, agreed with many because of climate change, participants with of the views that Andrew and some of these changes expressed, and decided to opportunities may be irreversible. Andrew run a series of webinars to to discuss further suggested that highlight what practitioners issues with the in the classroom are doing schools have a critical role in helping to avoid this grave to bring about a paradigm presenters situation and that there shift within their schools for needs to be a ‘Renaissance Sustainability Education. We in Education’. This view is one that felt this would complement the academic many writers would agree with (see, for discussions of Sustainability in Education instance, Hargreaves, 2008; Sterling, 2008; that we have both experienced.

Ackoff and Haynes, 2010). As Andrew In presenting his Golden Circle, Simon also argued, we need a more fundamental Sinek (2005) shows us that finding your change in thinking and an education purpose, or your ‘why’, is crucial if others that embraces a holistic approach, are going to be inspired to join you. By including systems and design-thinking ‘why’, Sinek means: What’s your cause? and complexity. Education needs to be What’s your belief? Why do transformative and needs to encourage you get out of bed in the morning? And why should anyone care?

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The why is our belief system, it roots us in authenticity and genuine attachment, it is powerful and it also explains why some organisations and some leaders are able to inspire, when others can’t.

Sinek explains that, for success, we have to connect not just the head but also the heart. By connecting our thinking to our belief systems people are generally attracted to beliefs that align with their own.

Our WHY? We recognised early on in the webinar series that we have a shared core belief; that it is time for a shift from philosophising about sustainable development, towards a practical need for urgent social transformation. We need a cognitive shift – to take all the thinking and worrying of the last sixty years regarding Earth’s future and our place in it, and turn it into something that transforms what we do at the chalk face and how our students act when they emerge from it. In the webinar series, that ‘Why’ brought others to us, not because what we had to say was ground-breaking, but because they also believe in a need for action in schools, they had reached a tipping point as well – how can we do things differently? Others shared our belief that something needs to change.

The webinars provided participants with opportunities to discuss issues with the presenters and included a wide range of people with interests in education (students, teachers, school administrators, parents). Geographically, participants ranged from China in the East to Scotland in the West.

Below, we provide a brief summary of the key lessons learned from the webinars.

Leading, teaching and learning

What lessons have we learned?

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The need for common understanding of terms such as sustainability One of the things that has become increasingly obvious throughout the webinars has been the lack of a shared language and understanding of the term ‘sustainability’. That has been hardly surprising as academically there have been at least 50 different interpretations of the word (University of Leicester, 2021). In our final webinar we invited participants to share their definitions, and while there was a slight difference in semantics, there were many commonalities in the language used. There was agreement regarding our

2.2

The Doughnut Economic Model In 2009 Johan Rockström led a team of international scientists to determine the nine planetary boundaries that regulate the stability and resilience of our planet. The scientists proposed quantitative planetary boundaries within which humanity can continue to develop and thrive for generations.

Crossing these boundaries increases the risk of generating large-scale abrupt or irreversible environmental changes. The boundaries include factors that are familiar today: ocean acidification, freshwater consumption, chemical pollution. Kate Raworth is the architect of the Doughnut model (Figure 2) which she developed while working for the charity Oxfam, linking social foundations with the planetary boundaries that were established by Rockström’s team of scientists. She recognised that social boundaries need to be factored into building a

Figure 2: Doughnut Economic Model

role as a species in respecting and working with each other, in a way that everyone can continue to benefit from. This implies a healthy respect for other species and for the environment that we share. In addition, there was agreement about there being a personal responsibility for change.

Lucy, one of the school student participants, defined sustainability as ‘We must change so that we can live our lifestyles indefinitely’, while Dr Michael Johnston, Assistant Head of School at Frankfurt International School, stressed the need for common language in a school and, ideally, succinct terms that could be understood at all levels of the school. sustainable future.

Raworth has been working with the city of Amsterdam and is using the doughnut to restructure its thinking, policies and future design. The city of Amsterdam looked at their future planning through two scales, local and global (what happens in the local community, and the global-universal issues that we all face) and two domains: social and ecological.

Jennifer Brandsberg-Engelmann, an IB Business Management teacher and leader of the Sustainability Action Lab at Strothoff International School, adapted this model using these lenses and their core questions to consider school sustainable development. She posed the question ‘What would it take for our school to thrive?’, using the lenses to help focus sustainability in her school (Figure 3).

The lenses force us to distinguish symptoms from cause. For example, if the symptom is that we have plastic trash everywhere and so we need to recycle more plastic, the root cause of that problem is actually our human relationship with plastic, that we view it as disposable when it isn’t. So – if plastic is not disposable then we cannot throw it away. Recycling does not cure the problem: in fact putting recycle bins in locations has been found to increase plastic use because it alleviates our conscience. This framework helped Jennifer’s school to look at issues such as the sourcing of school uniforms and the school’s attitude to the forest surrounding it.

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An overarching model or philosophy to guide the school There are tools and models to help educators and students in developing a systems approach to decision-making. We have been fortunate to have had exposure to two of those models: the Compass Model and the Doughnut Economics Model. Both models help to give an overarching view of sustainability and structure a class approach to decision-making as well as a whole-school approach.

2.1

The Compass Model This model has been adopted by over 160 schools around the world. The Compass model fits the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the four domains: Nature, Economy, Well Being and Society using a compass rose as a basis (see Figure 1). It is argued that any complex or wicked problem that the world faces can be analysed through these domains. It stresses the interrelations between the various domains. The model encourages systems thinking about complex issues and has developed a wide range of tools and lesson plans for use in K-12 schools globally.

Figure 1: Compass model

Figure 3: The lens of the doughnut model applied to a school context (Brandsberg-Engelmann, 2021)

Autumn 2021 | International School | 19

Leading, teaching and learning

3

What tools did we find to support teachers in schools?

Compass Education We mentioned above that Compass Education offers a wide range of materials for use at all levels of schools. Dr Michael Johnston, a faculty member of Compass Education, recommended par ticipants to join the group and get access to them.

Youth Mayors Guide The Youth Mayors Guide is a free guide funded by the Erasmus+ scheme and developed collaboratively

by United World College (UWC) Maastricht, Strothoff International School, UWC Rober t Bosch College, UWC Red Cross Nordic and the International School of Brussels. The material is organised into four categories and designed to help students take action.

The categories used in the guide follow a servicelearning design cycle: Investigation, Planning and Designing, Taking Action and Sharing. It provides over 50 different skills and techniques to help students in both preparing and carrying out action. The material is geared more to secondary level, but tools could be adapted for younger students.

This guide is accessible and usable for anyone who wishes to use it.

Using the SDGs as tools Aurelia McNicol from Collège Alpin Beau Soleil in Switzerland uses the

4

SDGs as a tool to drive school projects. Aurelia uses simple activities such as baking to explore the SDGs. One such task was about the source of the food on your plate. She asked questions of the students such as: How would your decision-making process change if each item you had for breakfast also contained the human and ecological cost locally and globally? Aurelia explains that if we live in a transparent world where information is clearly shared, rather than the opaque world we live in now, our decision-making will change.

This prompted a group of students to demand that the school have a meatfree day. Aurelia organises communitybased activities that are focused on sustainability (see Figure 4).

Figure 4: from a presentation by Aurelia McNicol

Having a support network: Aligning your Why We have learned that finding a suppor t network is an essential component to building a cognitive shift. To discuss and drive ideas and projects, to maintain momentum, finding the like-minded energy in your school is very impor tant.

Through the webinar series it was clear that many teachers felt alone in their quest to educate for a sustainable future. Building a network is one of the most positive aspects of our webinars in developing an international network of likeminded people who can suppor t each other.

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5

Changemaker’s personality One important characteristic has been the changemaker’s personality. They have of course been knowledgeable, but more importantly they have been enthusiastic, they have the ability to talk with everyone, to engage with all members of the school community (students, staff, administrators and parents) and inspire them. They have been flexible in their thinking and opportunistic: seeing opportunities in school and turning them to their advantage. Above all they have led by example and aimed to empower their students. Ingrid Delange, a Maths teacher from China who presented, typified this approach.

Otto Scharmer said in a recent presentation: ‘The superpowers of the future will not be found in Washington or Beijing... they will be the individuals who are re-aligning systems’ (Scharmer, 2021). In other words they are the changemakers – but many of us just don’t know it. ◆

Leading, teaching and learning References

The superpowers of the future will not be found in Washington or Beijing... they will be the individuals who are re-aligning systems

• Ackoff R L (2009) Interview with Phyllis Haynes on YouTube. youtu.be/MzS5V5-0VsA • Brandsberg-Engelmann J (2021) A Deep Dive into the Doughnut Economics Model. Presented in the series of webinars Case Studies for Change.

• Compass Education. compasseducation.org • Delange I (2021) Eco Roots. Presented in the series of webinars Case Studies for Change.

• Hargreaves L (2008) Whole School Approach to Sustainable Education. Pilot projects for Systemic Change. www.developmenteducationreview.com/issue/issue-6/whole-school-approach-eduation-sustainabledevelopment-pilot-projects-systemic-change • McNicol A (2021) Case studies in integrating the SDG’s with and beyond classrooms, a selection of Illustrative examples. Presented in the series of webinars Case Studies for Change.

• Raworth K (2017) Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist. London: Random House.

• Raworth K (2021) www.kateraworth.com/2020/04/08/amsterdam-city-doughnut/ • Scharmer O (2021) Lessons from A Year of Disruption: How to Build Transformation Literacy for the Years Ahead. Presented at Regenerative Confluence conference, Hawkwood College, 10 May 2021.

John Cannings is based in Switzerland, and

• Sinek S (2005) The Golden Circle. London: Penguin Books.

✉ cannae40@gmail.com

• University of Leicester (2021) Unpublished lecture notes from Concepts in Sustainability course. University of Leicester. www.le.ac.uk

is a workshop leader and examiner for the IB, an author and a faculty member of Sused.org, which promotes sustainability in schools.

Alex Catallo is based in Budapest as a

Biology teacher, Theory of Knowledge examiner and Education Designer at sused.org.

✉ alexandra.catallo@gmail.com

• Sterling S (2008) Sustainable Education. Towards a deep learning response to unsustainability. www.developmenteducationreview.com/issue/issue-6/sustainable-education-towards-deep-learning-responseunsustainability

• Watson A (2021) Towards Sustainable Education. International School. Summer 2021, 4-5. issuu.com/ williamclarence/docs/is_summer21/s/12812565 • Youth Mayors Field Guide tool kit. sites.google.com/uwcmaastricht.nl/youth-mayors-curriculum/toolkit

Autumn 2021 | International School | 21

Leading, teaching and learning

The OECD Global I Competence Framework: a Critique

By Therese Andrews

n 2018 the OECD assessed the concept of Global Competence for the first time as part of the triennial PISA assessments. Released in October 2020, the results of the assessment demonstrate social reproduction, with more powerful social groups benefiting from a framework developed by a small group of Western educators. Despite the power that the OECD holds, and the influence of the PISA assessments on government globally, educators should be cautious in their enthusiasm to adopt and embed the framework in their own schools.

The PISA assessments are administered on a threeyear cycle, with tests in three literacy domains (mathematics, reading and science) and, since The results of 2012, one cross-curricular the assessment competence per cycle. The cross-curricular competence is demonstrate subject to selection based upon social it providing information on how prepared students are for a) reproduction, with full participation in their society more powerful and b) lifelong learning as well as needing to be innovative. social groups Whenever a new crossbenefiting from curricular domain is selected for assessment by PISA, it is a framework subject to a development developed by a phase before it is piloted.

Prior to 2018, cross-curricular small group competencies assessed by PISA include collaborative problem solving (2015) and creative problem solving (2012).

The selection of global competence for the 2018 cycle was announced in 2016 and was justified with reference to continued digitalisation, global inequalities, migration and matters associated with developing communication technology. In contrast to the three literacy domains of the PISA assessments, the innovative cross-curricular domains lack a robust research base which simultaneously drives forward the way we think about assessing students whilst also introducing a new concept for assessment prior to universal consensus of the concept being achieved.

As a result, the issues with the 2018 framework are plentiful. At the time of release, global competence as a concept lacked universal consensus, such that now the definition used by the OECD in the framework is what global competence is considered to be, rather than a starting point to inspire

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Leading, teaching and learning further discussion. In addition, the narrow definition propagates global elitism and the framework itself focuses on prejudices and xenophobia rather than on global issues, with social and political issues absent from the framework entirely. Furthermore, while recognising the need to drive assessment methods forward, the OECD is a driver of free market education policy which can create contradictory and incompatible effects within national education systems. The use of only a small group of experts in the development of the framework (seven in the first stage and only four in the second stage, along with a project team from Pearson) has resulted in a biased and ‘un-global’ framework for assessing global competence.

The assessment was only administered digitally, with those countries unable to participate digitally thus unable to participate at all, which is rather ironic given the intention of the framework. Only twenty seven countries and economies participated in the assessment, and only eleven of those twenty seven were OECD countries, suggesting that the expert panel who developed the framework, while representative of the OECD, may not have been representative of those who participated.

There has also been criticism in the academic literature of the value that ranking countries and economies to encourage competition has in enhancing global competencies. Additionally, there is no mention in the framework or results about whether global competence is a relative phenomenon in which achieving competence relies on others not achieving it. More than thir ty countries opted out of the assessment, despite par ticipating in the assessments for the three literacy domains. Various reasons were given for non-par ticipation, including not wanting to place an additional burden on schools and some suspecting a hidden agenda.

The original framework and assessment were written in English and subsequently translated into 90 languages and dialects. PISA assessments are administered in the language of instruction, and the translation from English combined with the general lack of visual clues and emphasis on reading in the assessments could have disadvantaged many countries and economies, particularly countries with high numbers of migrants who may not be native speakers. This would have been exacerbated by global competence being a new domain that hasn’t been embedded into education systems.

The consequences of these decisions for the resulting framework and assessment are serious. Educational reform lies with those who have power, which does not always serve the people most impacted. To assess a domain such as global competence which is connected to cultures, without employing a diverse group of experts who are trained in unconscious bias in the development phase has meant that a rhetoric surrounding global competence has developed which enhances the position of the global

Twenty seven countries and economies participated in the assessment, and only eleven of those twenty seven were OECD countries elite. Using the development of this domain to include the underrepresented voice of the global south is a missed opportunity. Unsurprisingly, the countries and economies that performed best in the assessment were all part-anglophone, with Singapore, Canada, Hong Kong (China) and Scotland (UK) at the top end of the table.

At the bottom end were Thailand, Panama, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Morocco and the Philippines.

The critique outlined here can serve as an example of how new initiatives, policies and assessments should be considered ahead of rushing to implement them in schools where there may not be a national education system to follow. It is easy to be inspired into action when an exciting new initiative is launched, particularly from an organisation such as the OECD, but ensuring that anything new being introduced will enhance learning for our students, rather than provide a biased view based on Western values and viewpoints, is key. While many international schools do represent a global elite, we should take the opportunity to educate for inclusion and equality rather than further propagating social reproduction of the elite. ◆ Therese Andrews is Director of Curriculum Innovation at Thomas’s Battersea Senior School, London, having previously taught internationally in both Shanghai and Boston.

✉ ta649@bath.ac.uk

Autumn 2021 | International School | 23

Leading, teaching and learning

Nietzsche’s theory of knowledge to interpret

Using

educational assessment

By James Cambridge

T

he British educational theorist Basil Bernstein argued that the relationship between school subjects and the real world was akin to the difference between woodwork and carpentry. Whilst carpentry is a body of professional knowledge and practice, woodwork should be seen as a filleted version selected and organised for the purposes of teaching, learning and assessment. In other words, pedagogical knowledge is an interpretation of real-world knowledge. It contrives

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oppor tunities for students to perform cer tain tasks in a par ticular sequence so that they can learn knowledge, skills and attitudes. Oppor tunities are also contrived that enable such learning to be made visible, so that par ticular behaviours can be observed, and these observations can be used to assess levels of educational attainment.

This brings to mind a statement made by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche, jotted down in his philosophical notebooks and published in The Will

to Power, that ‘there are no facts, only interpretations’. The attribution of this statement to Nietzsche is fairly well known but it also appears to be misunderstood by many commentators.

It may help to inspect the passage from which it is taken: ‘Against positivism, which goes no further than the phenomenon and says, ‘there are only facts’, I would say: no, facts are precisely what there are not, only interpretations. We can establish no fact ‘in itself ’ … In so far as the word

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Educational assessment is a shared, socially constructed enterprise.

‘knowledge’ has any meaning at all, the world is knowable. It may however be interpreted differently; it has no hidden meaning behind it, but rather innumerable meanings which can be assigned to it. Hence “perspectivism”’ (Nietzsche, 2017: 287).

Here, Nietzsche is introducing a theory of knowledge (epistemology) which he identifies as perspectivism. As Jonas (2009: 158) puts it, perspectivism ‘does not mean that Nietzsche thinks a human being can ever have a perspective that is not possible to improve. Even the most sophisticated perspectives can potentially be refined an infinite number of times. The essential point is, however, that Nietzsche’s perspectivism is meant to deny our notion of ‘‘objective’’ knowledge (as a God’s-eye, perspectiveneutral perception), not preclude knowledge and truth altogether’.

This idea is impor tant when applied to the field of educational assessment. I am sure that it is accepted that we cannot read the mind of the candidate directly.

The best we can do is to contrive

a situation in which the candidate performs a behaviour (this could be writing an answer to a question or performing a physical task) which can then be used as evidence of educational attainment. However, this chain of events requires a number of interpretations to be made.

A subject guide or specification is an interpretation of an academic discipline, rendered into a form of pedagogised knowledge that can be reproduced for teaching, learning and assessment.

Teachers interpret the subject guide or specification to inform their teaching, and learning involves the students making their own interpretation of the knowledge reproduced by the teacher.

An examination paper is an attempt by the principal examiner to interpret the specification as set down in the syllabus or subject guide. A mark scheme is an attempt by the principal examiner in cooperation with other senior examiners to interpret the examination paper. The candidates need to interpret the examination paper in terms of their interpretation (or more likely their teachers’ interpretations) of the syllabus in order to compose their responses.

The assistant examiners marking the paper must interpret not only the mark scheme but also the candidates’ responses to the question paper. It is to be expected that assistant examiners would obtain guidance from senior examiners who are team leaders on interpretation of the mark scheme. Hence, informed by his/ her interpretation of the mark scheme, the assistant examiner’s role is to interpret the candidate’s interpretation of the examination

paper (which is itself an interpretation of the syllabus). Everything here appears to be the interpretation of another interpretation.

The problem of interpretation has been studied in some detail in the context of the history of science. In his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Kuhn (1970:122) points out that, while he does not suggest that scientists do not characteristically interpret observations and data, ‘each of these interpretations presupposed a paradigm. They were par ts of normal science, an enterprise that... aims to refine, extend and articulate a paradigm that is already in existence... examples typify the overwhelming majority of research. In each of them the scientist, by virtue of an accepted paradigm, knew what a datum was, what instruments might be used to retrieve it, and what concepts were relevant to its interpretation. Given a paradigm, interpretation of data is central to the enterprise that it explores.’

Hence, science education involves induction of the learner into acquisition of a par ticular paradigmatic interpretation of the world. With a paradigm to inform interpretation, the learner can transform data into information. As Kuhn (1970: 111) 

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Leading, teaching and learning expresses so eloquently, ‘[L]ooking at a contour map, the student sees lines on paper, the car tographer a picture of a terrain. Looking at a bubble-chamber photograph, the student sees confused and broken lines, the physicist a record of familiar subnuclear events. Only after a number of such transformations of vision does the student become an inhabitant of the scientist’s world, seeing what the scientist sees and responding as the scientist does.’

This brings us to the hear t of the matter. Educational assessment is a shared, socially constructed enterprise.

Principal and assistant examiners are engaged in a dialogue concerning educational standards and the limits of what is acceptable in a candidate’s response to an assessment item.

Such dialogue is not restricted to establishing which ‘facts’ the candidate is required to reproduce. It will be more sophisticated than that because it is likely to address not only the extent of subject knowledge to be displayed by the candidate, but also the forms of words to be used. Command terms or action words such as state, list, define, describe, explain, compare, contrast, calculate, analyse, predict and evaluate, among others, indicate to the candidate the form that each response should take. By reference to a negotiated mark scheme, the assistant examiner interprets the candidate’s response according to the evidence of what the candidate has written (assuming a written examination). Fur thermore, the mark scheme must be sufficiently flexible to account for interpretation of the unexpected because therewill always be ways in which candidates can say things that are not specified in the mark scheme (often referred to as ‘Words To That Effect’/WTTE in a mark scheme) or a candidate may leave gaps for the examiner to fill (identified by the label ‘Benefit Of Doubt’/BOD in a mark scheme).

Pedagogical knowledge is an interpretation of realworld knowledge.

The reliability of educational assessment depends on the consistency of examiners in their interpretation of examination materials and candidates’ responses. The sources of this reliability are diverse. Partly, assessment reliability is assured by selection of suitably qualified examiners with experience of teaching to a given specification, but reliability is also assured by examiners being in receipt of relevant training in how to interpret and implement the mark scheme. Whilst it is difficult to calculate the exact propor tions, the most impor tant component in the

assurance of reliability may well be the tacit knowledge that is conferred on an examiner by being part of a wider community of practice in which par ticipants interpret similar candidate responses in broadly similar ways. Many examiners may give the appearance of working in isolation, but quality assurance comes from examiners’ par ticipation in shared discourse which is decentred and socialised. The sociology of such a dispersed community of practice could make a fer tile area of academic study. How is discourse reproduced? What is the role of the team leader in the management and reproduction of discourse? How can online professional relationships in the context of educational assessment be maintained, strengthened and made more effective? Further research on such topics seems likely to yield informative insights in this impor tant area for both national and international examination systems. ◆

References • Bernstein B (2000) Pedagogy, Symbolic Control and Identity: Theory, Research, Critique (Revised edition).

Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

• Jonas M E (2009) A (R)evaluation of Nietzsche’s Anti-democratic Pedagogy: The Overman, Perspectivism, and Self-overcoming. Studies in Philosophy and Education, 28 (2), 153-169.

• Kuhn T S (1970) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Second edition, enlarged). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

• Nietzsche F (2017) The Will to Power: Selections from the notebooks of the 1880s. (Translated by R K Hill and M A Scarpitti) London: Penguin Classics.

26 | International School | Autumn 2021

Dr James Cambridge has worked

in Britain, the Middle East and Southern Africa in a variety of educational contexts including science teaching, assessment, evaluation, curriculum development, initial teacher education and continuing professional development.

✉ global.education.today@gmail.com

Leading, teaching and learning

Cognita Schools is a group of 85 schools in 12 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

JAMES CARROLL, DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION COGNITA SCHOOLS

As Cognita Schools’ Director of Education, my job is to ensure that our family of schools across the world are doing everything in their power to give their children the best possible education.

Over the past 15 months, we have launched CENTURY’s AIpowered learning tool in 47 of our schools. While our journey with AI started during the pandemic, it has now become an important part of teaching and learning in our schools more generally. This academic year alone, our pupils have answered over 5 million questions on the platform.

When I was first introduced to CENTURY in June 2018, I remember thinking that the use of AI to help teachers make purposeful interventions and to bring learning to life for students almost seemed a bit too good to be true. In July 2019, we ran a pilot at North Bridge House and saw great potential in the platform and how it could bridge learning from the traditional classroom to extended study at home.

Fast forward to 2021 and we have launched CENTURY in 47 of our schools, across Spain, Switzerland, UK, Brazil and UAE. One of the biggest challenges was figuring out how to take our people on this digital journey. Not only were we navigating remote learning for the students during a global pandemic, but this was all new for our teachers in terms of professional development as well. We had to be flexible and look at the needs of each of our individual

schools to determine the training and support they would need to turbocharge remote professional development.

Since our schools all had very different starting points, we focused on building connected school communities to provide peer support and navigate the changes together. For example, Hastings School in Spain has built a solid digital strategy and vision over time, and they’ve been able to share their expertise with schools that are earlier on in their digital journey.

We identified a year group or a department that could spearhead the implementation, because cascading early experience was highly effective. Our Digital Education Advisors work closely with colleagues in schools to identify pioneers and champions within the classroom, which has really enabled us to build momentum, rally the teams and move schools on at a pace that suits them, all while delivering that highquality online learning experience.

One of our main areas of focus over the next two to three years will be looking at how we can further develop our digital professional development offering to help teachers use the data provided to them through EdTech to make purposeful interventions and bridge the learning gap after

Find out more at century.tech/is21

a very disruptive period.

CENTURY will play a clear role in that because the way the platform provides data is second to none. You can look at group level, then at a school level, and then teachers can also look at it down to the class and individual student level.

From a teacher’s perspective, having immediate access to the depth and breadth of data CENTURY provides reduces time spent collating it through other means. Access to high-quality resources, the auto-marked question banks and the ability to automatically personalise learning can all play a role in minimising teacher workload. It all supports our final focus: to use technology not only to boost academic outcomes, but also to improve student and teacher wellbeing.

We’re in a really great position now to be able to take what has been such an amazing tool during the pandemic, and to look at how it’s going to drive learning within our organisation going forward.

Autumn 2021 | International School | 27

Leading, teaching and learning

Process over outcomes:

Extraordinary possibilities within Early Years education

By Matthew Silvester and Gregory Biggs

T

here is growing frustration among practitioners and leaders across the education spectrum relating to how the process of learning is being placed as of secondary importance to the summative outcomes of the process. Now, more than ever, we see the open questioning of the relevance of summative judgements that increasingly seem to define the lives of children as discrete categories, without appreciating their broader context, personality, and the characteristics that each child is developing. A question arises from reflecting on the process vs outcome debate when considering how we design learning journeys for young people: Is the cart leading the horse?

28 | International School | Autumn 2021

This debate can be broken down to three areas for consideration: ‘What is learnt and taught?’; ‘How is it learnt and taught?’; and ‘Why is it learnt and taught?’. Increasingly, there is a body of opinion that believes that these three areas of consideration are out of balance. Improving learning journeys in the Early Years relies on a process of learning made up of meaningful and appropriate experiences and interactions (the ‘how’ learning is happening); a focus on the outcomes of learning (the ‘what is learnt?’) skews this balance. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) Profile (Department for Education, 2021) illustrated this effect; curriculum narrowing and a lack of focus on the child’s ongoing learning

Leading, teaching and learning was the result. Teaching to the test became the Years community is so content for the predominantly curriculum (the ‘why’ and ‘what is being learnt?’), outcome- and goal-oriented framework for Early ‘with a significant loss of focus on learning, step by Years (the EYFS) being defined as a curriculum? step.’ (OFSTED, 2017). With all the extraordinary Does purposefully interrupting children to tick off a possibilities this period of human development offers, judgement seem child-focused? Does the ability to a curriculum for the Early Years needs to be broad, demonstrate a tripod grip really do children justice deep and enriching. when considering their lifelong learning journey?

Curriculum is a key measure in Learning is an ongoing, incremental educational quality. The rapid expansion and cumulative process, and curriculum of international schools (Hayden & is a lived experience, for both learners Early Years relies and teachers; this experience is a key Thompson, 2013) and Early Years settings around the world, and the on a process of indicator of quality. An Early Years increased understanding of the curriculum supports teachers to lead learning made meaningful learning as children explore importance of the first five years of life, have highlighted the need for up of meaningful their environment, express their a curriculum to ensure that young ideas and intentions, and extend their and appropriate experiences and interactions, laying children experience ambitious learning journeys and get the best start to the foundations for the future learning experiences and journey of each child. The structure life and education. The EPPSE project (Taggart et al, 2015) clearly shows that of a curriculum needs to support interactions quality of education within the Early teachers within the process of leading Years is central to both improving learning, shaping the child’s experience ongoing learning and development and of, and within, the curriculum. A improving learning throughout schooling and beyond. contemporary international Early Years curriculum Working with hundreds of schools and Early Years can ensure that the scope and sequence of learning settings globally, and having the privilege as parents and development is rigorous and appropriate, but also asking on behalf of our own children in Early Years, understand and accept that different contexts will we regularly hear a common response to ‘What scaffold learning journeys in different ways. It needs curriculum does the school learn and teach with?’ ‘We to accept and encourage personalisation to specific use EYFS’ is the answer contexts, understanding this to be a key aspect of used by most. Why implementation. If successful, it is it that the Early will be the starting

Autumn 2021 | International School | 29

Leading, teaching and learning

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Leading, teaching and learning

point for implementation and be further supported by ongoing reflective practices and professional dialogue used to embed the curriculum and improve learning. The EYFS, with its significant focus on outcomes, might not be providing this.

But it should also elevate the process of ‘how’ the curriculum is learnt and taught. Children, within the earliest years of life, are powerful and proficient learners with ‘a maximum predisposition for learning’ (Tickell, 2011: 92). By actively interacting with the world around them through play, children’s experiences, alone and shared, strengthen and develop their brain architecture as neurons connect, communicate and collaborate. Breadth, depth and the quality of children’s experiences and interactions have a ‘decisive influence’ (Arnold et al, 2007: 6) on brain architecture (Goswami, 2015; Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2018; Pascal et al, 2019; OECD, 2020); high-quality experiences and interactions improve learning and development, now and in the future.

Young children learn in a holistic way, encompassing

the development of the whole child. Early learning domains are ‘inter-related and mutually reinforcing’ (OECD, 2020: 12) and complement each other, with experiences in one domain strengthening learning and development within and across the other domains (Goswami, 2015; Pascal et al, 2019; OECD, 2020). To improve learning, a contemporary Early Years curriculum could accommodate and encourage this holistic approach to learning. Young children also exist within an ‘environment of relationships’ (National Scientific Council on the Developing Child, 2004). It is within this environment that children increasingly become aware of their own intentions, feelings and thinking, and begin to understand that other people have motivations, beliefs and perspectives that are different from their own. This development of a sense of other is the basis of social interaction and an essential foundation in the development of international mindedness.

As international educators, are we truly realising each learner’s potential by continuing to be influenced by summative outcomes against a defined profile, right at the start of their learning journey?

Perhaps reconsidering curriculum can offer balance between the ‘what’, ‘how’ and ‘why’ of learning and teaching in Early Years, and provide an appreciation of learners’ broader context, personality and the characteristics each child holds within from the beginning of such a journey. ◆ Matthew Silvester is Curriculum Manager for the International Early Years Curriculum (IEYC)

✉ matthew.silvester@fieldworkeducation.com Gregory Biggs is Divisional Director at Fieldwork Education ✉ gregory.biggs@fieldworkeducation.com

References • Arnold C, Bartlett K, Gowani S and Merali R (2007) Is everybody ready? Readiness, transition and continuity: Reflections and moving forward. Working Paper 41. The Hague: Bernard van Leer Foundation.

• Department for Education (2021) Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage. London: Department for Education.

Retrieved from: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-framework--2 • Goswami U (2015) Children’s Cognitive Development and Learning. York: Cambridge Primary Review Trust. Retrieved from: https://cprtrust.org.uk • Hayden M and Thompson J (2013) International Schools: Antecedents, current issues and metaphors for the future. In R Pearce (ed) International Education and Schools: Moving Beyond the First 40 Years. London: Bloomsbury Academic [pp 3-24] • National Scientific Council on the Developing Child (2018) Understanding Motivation: Building the Brain Architecture That Supports Learning, Health, and Community Participation. Working Paper No. 14. Retrieved from www.developingchild.harvard.edu • OECD (2020) Early Learning and Child Well-being: A Study of Five-year-olds in England, Estonia and the United States. Retrieved from: www.oecd.org • OFSTED (2017) Bold beginnings: The Reception curriculum in a sample of good and outstanding primary schools. Retrieved from: www. gov.uk • Pascal C, Bertram T and Rouse L (2019) Getting It Right in the Early Years Foundation Stage: A review of the evidence. Watford: The British Association for Early Childhood Education. Retrieved from: www.early-education.org.uk • Taggart B, Sylva K, Melhuish E, Sammons P and Iram S (2015) How pre-school influences children and young people’s attainment and developmental outcomes over time. Retrieved from: www.gov.uk • Tickell C (2011) The Early Years: Foundations for Life, Health and Learning. An Independent Report on the Early Years Foundation Stage to Her Majesty’s Government. London: Department for Education. Retrieved from: www.gov.uk

Autumn 2021 | International School | 31

Leading, teaching and learning

The importance of developing character traits through the teaching of Habits of Mind

By David Bauza

As educators, we must be aware of the profile of the learners that we meet in our classrooms.

We are preparing future generations for professions that do not yet exist 32 | International School | Autumn 2021

T

wo centuries after the Industrial Revolution that compar tmentalized knowledge into subjects due to the needs of the new factories, the so-called 4.0 Industrial Revolution has star ted to challenge the progress of better education in the future, expecting students to develop cer tain skills and become exper ts in collaboration, open-mindedness, critical and divergent thinking and to be able to solve complex problems.

As the Delors repor t (1996) indicated, education should emphasize cer tain types of knowledge that are essential to sustaining human development

(learning to know, to do, to be and to live together). These Four Pillars of education, and in par ticular pillar number 3 (learning to be) set the origins of the necessity for the development of character traits or vir tues as an essential par t of the educational journey.

As educators, we must be aware of the profile of the learners that we meet in our classrooms. We are preparing future generations for professions that do not yet exist, and learning can now be done anywhere at any time just by having a connected device in our hands.

Adolescence is known to be a period of confusion and psychological vulnerability.

Leading, teaching and learning

Character education as well as the development of positive habits of mind must become an educational approach that is based on observing the way in which learners ‘produce knowledge rather than reproduce knowledge’ (Costa & Kallick, 2008).

The 21st century lifestyle demands the emergence of life role models, and character education as well as the development of habits of mind and vir tues in classrooms should be able to build a community amid a more than ever globalised world.

Looking at the real purpose of education, knowledge has become superficial, since it can be accessed from anywhere and at any time. The learning process should target the ability to ‘do’ and to ‘reflect upon’ as well as to develop cer tain skills or attitudes that will allow learners to interpret and analyse the knowledge acquired and use it in a meaningful and purposeful way. These can be the socalled 21st century skills which are intended to help students keep up with today’s modern

and ever-changing world. In addition to in the development of cer tain vir tues the development of skills, in order to be (intellectual, moral, civic and performance successful learners must develop a list of vir tues) that constitute the five blocks attitudes towards learning that will guide of character development that have a them on how to behave intelligently tangible outcome for any school in its when confronted with context since they help problems. Attitudes in shaping the character and dispositions are Character traits of the students, allowing the driving force of the them to make welldetermine ‘the learning process, as informed choices about is very well explained their behaviors and way that a person around self-regulation. in the metaphor of the Learning River normally responds The truth is that an (Claxton, 2017) increasing proportion to desires, fears, of young people are These lists of attitudes, also called ‘habits of growing up without a challenges, mind’ (Costa and Kallick, commitment to the core 2008) refer to intellectual ethical values needed opportunities, behaviours that humans to inform and energize failures and show when they the conscience. So, what experience dichotomies makes a student an successes’ or uncer tainties, and can effective problem-solver? help us to respond well What are the traits that to the challenges that a student should develop we meet with in life. These intellectual to be successful in their learning journey? behaviors, also called character traits, In Learning and Leading with Habits of determine ‘the way that a person Mind, Costa & Kallick (2008) propose a normally responds to desires, fears, list of 16 habits that have been identified challenges, oppor tunities, failures and in successful professionals from a variety successes’ (Pala, 2011). These attitudes of fields: star ting with being a persistent are closely linked with important and resilient learner, understanding that Aristotelian principles indicating that during their learning journey learners in order to flourish as individuals in a will have to face fear, frustration, and society, students need to be suppor ted discomfort; realizing that the learning

Autumn 2021 | International School | 33

Leading, teaching and learning process has a ‘pit’ (Nottingham, 2010) that ‘illustrates the steps that can be taken to move from surface-level knowledge to deep understanding’, and putting in place strategies like ‘stuckness routines’ (Griffith & Burns, 2014) or learning how to ‘fail well’.

The learning process should also be based on a reflective cycle that guides students through a process of description, feeling, evaluation, conclusion, and action by considering alternatives and consequences.

Educators should be encouraged to implement reflective practices in lessons like Kolb’s learning cycle, and visible thinking routines like ‘slow looking routines’ (Tishman, 2017) that will ‘produce active cognitive oppor tunities for meaning-making and critical thinking that may not be possible through highspeed means of information delivery’ which depicts the world in which we live.

Developing characters traits such as empathy, teaching about perspectives and points of view, and inviting students to ‘halt, engage, anticipate and replay’ (HEAR listening method) allows them to stop and focus on a problem and then listen to other ideas and reflect on them. Teaching empathy allows for the transformation of individual lives for the better and helps to bring about positive social change in schools.

Using inquiry-based lessons is a corner stone for these habits

34 | International School | Autumn 2021

to be developed over time. The ability to pose powerful questions that invite reflection and provoke deep and critical thinking, helping students to conduct problem-related research. Questions should be used that go beyond the curriculum and require the use of previous and interdisciplinary knowledge so students can make natural links with many areas of knowledge and are initiators of creative thinking; questions that trigger emotional responses (moral dilemmas, ethical issues) and encourage collaboration and debate.

All in one, and as Mar tin Luther King once said: ‘The purpose of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education’. ◆

Dr David Bauza-Capart is Assistant Head: Teaching, Learning and Curriculum at Jumeira Baccalaureate School, Dubai and a member of the IB Educators Network.

✉ dbauza@jbschool.ae

Ö youtube.com/channel/ UCG5ydq1gwyX7-WO8p_6Gj_g

References • Claxton G (2017) Deep Rivers of Learning. Phi Delta Kappan. 99(6), 45-48.

• Costa A and Kallick B (2008) Learning and Leading with habits of mind: 16 essential characteristics for success. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. • Delors J et al (1996) Learning: the Treasure Within. Paris: UNESCO. • Griffith A and Burns M (2014) Outstanding Teaching: Teaching Backwards. Tokyo: Osiris.

• Nottingham J A (2010) Challenging Learning (1st ed.). Alnwick, Northumberland: JN Publishing.

• Pala A (2011) The Need for Character Education. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies. 3(2), 23-32.

• Tishman S (2017) Slow Looking. The Art and Practice of learning through observation. London: Routledge.

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From the schools

Student Well-being Introduction of well-being classes at Robert College in Istanbul

‘W

By Margaret Halicioğlu

hat is the main function of schools?’ This seems to have been a common question, sometimes unspoken, during the past two years, especially with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated reliance on distance learning, which has meant a reduction in or even a loss of elements which we considered so essential for schooling such as practical work, social interactions, and team work. While certainly schools need to ensure the academic education of their students, and their students’ readiness for tertiary education and/or work life, it is becoming more and more clear that schools must also focus on the well-being of students for their long-term success as contributing members of society. We need to help students prepare for the challenges life will throw at them. A student’s EQ (emotional intelligence) is at least as important as their IQ if they are to thrive. Morris (2015) suggests that children’s happiness and well-being are more important than academics. As Kristjan Kristjansson succinctly puts

36 | International School | Au-

it, in the foreword to Morris’ book (2015), ‘schools are meant to prepare students for the tests of life rather than just a life of tests’.

We need to help students prepare for the challenges life will throw at them.

Well-being across the school Even before the pandemic, Robert College had elements of student well-being interwoven throughout the school year. We need such elements: our students come to us after taking the national Turkish 8th grade exam and are highly academic, competent and competitive individuals.

In particular, our senior students – approximately half of whom apply abroad with its associated stress and uncertainty, while half choose to stay in Turkey with the marathon, two-year preparation at cram schools for the Turkish university entrance exam – need activities to improve their well-being.

Thus, there are monthly events on the day that represents their class: so, the graduating class of 2022 will have a well-being event on the 22nd of each month. One example is the day-long cyclothon, with students released from classes to participate in the cycling ‘race’ held in the center of the school, Marble Hall.

Another example is a boat trip on the Bosphorus, going to one of the local islands for the day: creating an opportunity for students to relax, do some fun fieldwork on the island, and build memories in their final year before graduation. It was felt, however, that these special events were not enough for what Robert College wanted to achieve for its students. tumn 2021

Above: Robert College Cyclothon.

Well-being curriculum Well-being classes In the academic year 2020-21, Robert College Ian Morris’s book ‘Teaching Happiness and Well-being in introduced a well-being class for its two youngest grade Schools: Learning to Ride Elephants’ was a great guide levels: Lise Prep (all students new to the school who during the development of our curriculum, and remains enter after 8th grade, with a preparatory English year a road map for the development of our well-being before they progress to 9th grade) and grade 9. This was initiatives across the school. in recognition of the need to support our students to The LP curriculum includes: deal better with life’s challenges, and to help • ‘The Resiliency Toolbox’, populated with basic skills them flourish. related to mindfulness, meditation practice and ‘being It was challenging to find time for this class in a in the present’; packed schedule of other classes, largely mandated • ‘Body’, which focuses on physical well-being skills, such by the Turkish Ministry of Education. The ISC Research Wellbeing Repor t (2021) The ISC Research Wellbeing Report (2021) suggests that in order to improve wellbeing in suggests that in order to improve wellbeing schools, changes need to be in schools, changes need to be made to made to traditional school structures and organisation. traditional school structures and organisation.

This is something that Rober t College school leaders recognised prior to this repor t as they found a creative solution to the as having a balanced and healthy diet, sleeping well and scheduling challenge. The one-hour weekly well-being exercise. It also covers other related topics such as diet, class is taught in English, and includes whole class body image issues and the impact of technology on discussion, reading, and written reflections – so it was sleep patterns; incorporated into the regular English lesson for the • ‘Emotions’, including the journey from mood to action; Lise Preps (LP), with the well-being teacher going in and empathy; alongside the regular teacher to lead the lesson. For the • ‘Mind’, with topics like ‘learning to learn’ and resilience. grade 9 students, a weekly one-hour slot was available The grade 9 curriculum also covers four units: in the schedule but academic depar tments were keen • ‘Passions and Curiosity’, which focuses on career to assimilate this extra hour : again, the school leaders pathways and approaches, and how we identify with others; determined that the impor tance of student well-being • ‘Relationships’ focuses on interactions with others should be the priority, and so the time was allocated for with a specific emphasis on romantic relationships, the well-being class. introducing some basic concepts such as Autumn 2021 | International School | 37

From the schools intersectional feminism, dating violence and gender roles; • ‘The World’ which focuses on topics such as ‘consumerism versus sustainability’; • ‘Technology’ which has a big focus on social media and its effects.

Inviting alumni to contribute to some of these elements proved very successful, and often inspiring for our ambitious students. For example, their seeing that not all graduates follow the stereotypical career path and that some choose areas of work such as organic farming, following a passion for cooking and becoming a celebrity chef, or working for NGOs, provides an open door for students to explore such avenues, should they wish. During the lessons, we hope that students will find something new that they can incorporate into their lives, and which will foster their personal well-being.

Students were released from classes to participate in the cycling ‘race’

Well-being teachers The Head of Counselling readily agreed to lead the development and delivery of the well-being curriculum and the training of the teachers. Teachers who were interested in being part of this exciting development were invited to apply to join the Well-being Team. There was a high level of interest in this, even though it meant teachers were agreeing to take it on in addition to their regular roles: this showed the level of commitment to the initiative. It was felt that having teachers from a range of backgrounds and experience was important, especially during the development of the programme, since they would bring different strengths to this home-grown curriculum. The four selected teachers became known as The Well-being Circle, and met weekly to plan the next week’s classes, review the previous week’s classes, and generally reflect on the process.

Well-being classes during the pandemic The vast majority of the well-being classes in the 202021 academic year took the form of distance learning, with a few in hybrid format.

To say this was not the ideal format for the introduction of well-being classes is an understatement. An evaluation by students was conducted towards the end of the year and, not surprisingly, a recurring theme in the feedback was that the

students wanted to DO things related to their wellbeing, not LEARN ABOUT how to do things related to their well-being. In spite of this, it was clear that these students do now have an awareness of how they can contribute to their own well-being, and they enjoyed the more relaxed, reflective pace of the class.

Plans for the future Since the academic year 2021-22 is starting face-toface, the well-being teachers are excited to have the opportunity to incorporate well-being activities into the lesson plans: such as getting out onto our fantastic, forested campus, experiencing the flora and fauna, and doing simple yoga moves together, rather than talking about the benefits of yoga.

Planning for the following years has already started, with well-being lessons to be introduced into 10th and 11th grades in the following academic year. The idea of a carousel approach is also on the table: having well-being teachers who rotate through the classes, so that they teach their specialist areas. There is also discussion about the possibility of creating a leadership post of Head of Well-being, someone who will focus on the well-being of the whole community, not just the students.

Conclusion In the previous issue of International School magazine, Keeling and Wigford (2021) clearly articulated why well-being matters more than ever, referring to the ISC Research project on well-being in international schools (ISC Research, 2021). Yes, the time is ripe for all students to be supported in their well-being, which is being openly discussed and planned for in schools.

At Robert College, one of our five Core Values is Balance, which fits perfectly with what we are trying to achieve in the well-being programme. Does your school mission include any reference to students’ wellbeing? If not, maybe it is time to consider it. Happiness, contentment, and the ability to deal with life’s challenges: let’s go back to the initial question of ‘What is the main function of schools?’ When we focus on students’ wellbeing, we are helping them to be happier individuals, and ultimately that will have a positive effect on their learning.

It’s a win-win situation. ◆ Dr Margaret L Halicioğlu is Dean of Student Affairs at Robert College, Istanbul. ✉ m.l.halicioglu@gmail.com

References

• ISC Research (2021) Wellbeing in International Schools. The 2021 Report. Available via https://iscresearch.com/reports/ wellbeing-international-schools/ • Keeling A and Wigford A (2021) Why Wellbeing Matters More Than Ever. International School. Summer, 6-9.

• Morris I (2015) Teaching Happiness and Well-being in Schools: Learning to Ride Elephants. 2nd ed. London: Bloomsbury.

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From the schools

Agile minds,learning hearts, humble spirits: Curriculum innovation during the pandemic

By Nicholas Forde

40 | International School | Autumn 2021

T

he prevailing global conditions over the last eighteen months have forced all organisations to consider their strategic aims, operational delivery and overall fitness for purpose.

The notion of the ‘pivot’ has been well covered (Guillén, 2020) in the context of businesses adapting their practices to ensure their short-term survival and promoting long-term resilience. For schools and school leaders, particularly those in fee-paying schools, there has been a tension between, on the one hand, maximising a ‘business as usual’ approach wherever possible and, on the other, adjusting teaching and learning to comply with the health and safety measures imposed upon us by government and health bureaucracies.

In particular, one visible sign of the immediate impact upon International Baccalaureate (IB) schools has been the cancellation of extra-curricular and experiential learning programmes which form an integral part of the holistic philosophy of

the IB. At the ISF Academy, Hong Kong (academy.isf.edu.hk), very early on, during intermittent periods of school closure and online learning, we redoubled our efforts to staying the course towards meeting our ambitious strategic priorities. This included asking what was possible in the area of curriculum development.

At ISF over the last decade we have harnessed an exciting range of curricular offerings. The foundations for us are our IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP), a strong commitment to Chinese-English bilingual language education, as well as experiential learning. Students in Grades 6-10 are able to complement their MYP with a number of school-based courses which provide enrichment with a particular emphasis on research and scholarship.

Students can study classical languages and pursue university level scientific research in collaboration with tertiary academics.

We have also recently taken our first steps to embed maker education in both the Primary and Secondary schools. All of these programs fall under what we term our ‘Shuyuan’ programme – envisaged

From the schools

We introduced some planned breaks to screen time which we termed ‘creative learning afternoons' as a ‘school within a school’, a learning sanctuary for students studying alongside a ‘master’.

The problem: finding the time For a high achieving IB school, taking a pragmatic approach, many of these additional Shuyuan programs have naturally had to carve out time and space towards the end of the school day.

Although we now have an impressive suite of school-based ‘honours’ courses (such as Chinese Classical Literature, Comparative Classics, Comparative Politics, Mathematics for Engineering, and Latin) offered to Grade 9-10 students as part of the regular timetable, many Shuyuan courses occupy the same space as co-curricular activities. In addition, for many years on Wednesday afternoons we had also offered a small number of enrichment activities which students in Grade 6-8 could opt into as part of what we called ‘Big Learning Afternoon’.

Students had to reach a certain level of attainment and effort in their mainstream subjects before being able to access these courses. They would then be allowed to attend, and would come out of their MYP lessons on those afternoons. It was an imperfect solution implemented at a time when the Secondary School was much smaller. However, there were a number of problems. Firstly, access: not all students could participate. Secondly, many parents did not want their children to miss out on their mainstream lessons.

Finally, for those students who did participate, there was a tension about missing out, and similarly for teachers who could not progress assessments or substantive content with students away from class. The key question for us was: could we create a Wednesday afternoon electives programme which was open to all students, without significantly affecting the allocation of time to the regular curriculum? The existential battles for ‘turf and time’ in schools were on full display here!

The incubator: online learning and the lack of international travel Although a strategic priority to reconsider our approach to enrichment, events

during the pandemic created an even greater sense of urgency for change.

Between March and June 2020, during extended periods of online learning, we realised that students and teachers found lengthy screen time enervating. With most students confined to their homes, and with concern for both teacher and student well-being, we introduced some planned breaks to screen time which we termed ‘creative learning afternoons’.

Here we encouraged students to take

a break from their screens and pursue an individual passion for the afternoon, something which they could reflect upon during the process and share with others.

Students learned new skills (from juggling to baking) and were given an opportunity to share the process and results with family and peers.

In addition, with the cancellation of most international travel in the summer of 2020, all of our overseas summer extension programs were grounded.

Here, we pivoted to ask teachers to offer campus-based activities focused around their passions which would seek to go beyond the curriculum. Take-up and participation from both teachers and students was extremely promising.

The aim: access and passion From these experiences, in August 2020 we set about planning the next chapter in curriculum innovation. We called this Hao Xue. Taken from the Confucian Analects, Hao Xue is a term which represents a passion for learning and the desire to learn from others.

This enrichment programme for Grades 6-9 seeks to nurture students’ creativity, critical thinking and a lifelong love of learning, and to strengthen mental, physical and social health and well-being. Our tagline for the program was ‘Agile mind, learning heart, humble spirit’, which sums up the passion for

learning which can come from within and from learning from others.

Within Hong Kong, in the sometimes over-programmed lives of adolescents by their parents, we wanted the courses on offer to reflect domains which connect students with the wider world. Teachers were asked to volunteer to offer courses which reflected their interests and passions in one of six domains. Courses would not be assessed in the formal sense, but students would be expected to reflect on their experiences as par t of our student reflection records. F

Figure 1: The Hao Xue ‘domains’

Autumn 2021 | International School | 41

From the schools

Time and turf

With courses proposed, we returned to the challenge of finding the time.

By focusing on using two lessons on a Wednesday afternoon we wanted to give status to the programme by rooting it prominently in the regular student schedule. As a school with a bilingual vision and mission, languages receive more curriculum time than other subjects. In order to achieve this, we adjusted our lesson timings in Secondary School to 70 minutes, and then re-negotiated new curricular

allocations with Heads of Faculty.

Overall, the loss of time was minimal for most subject areas. We have embraced an approach that all subject areas could access this time, and opt into the programme to help enhance curricular provision. This has helped with our Chinese and Arts Faculties who both saw some diminution in curriculum allocation, but have responded positively by offering a range of Hao Xue courses from their subject areas.

GRADE 6

GRADE 7

GRADE 8

GRADE 9

GRADE 10

MYP

MYP

MYP

MYP

MYP

Hao Xue

Hao Xue

Hao Xue

School-based electives

School-based electives

Hao Xue

Hao Xue

Hao Xue

Hao Xue

Personal Project

Supervised self-study

Supervised self-study

Figure 2: the continuum: Hao Xue and overall curricular provision between Grades 6-10

Results We have star ted the academic year with just under 70 Hao Xue courses running on Wednesday afternoons, catering to 600 students in Grades 6-9. We were suppor ted by Edval, our timetabling provider, using Edval Choice for students to select their options. We then allocated students to courses on the basis of three equal preferences. We were pleased to have students placed in their selected choices in almost all cases. The majority of courses run for half a year, and for two lessons a week, with a small number of courses running for two lessons a week and for a full year. Impor tantly, many of these courses are offered to

42 | International School | Autumn 2021

all of the Grade Levels, thus offering oppor tunities for ver tical interaction between students.

Next steps Our attention now turns to the next iteration of Hao Xue. Feedback from students and parents has been overwhelmingly positive, but many have asked how courses might seek to consolidate skills over a year or two.

We would expect there to be some perennial favourite courses on offer (for example, practical activities in the Makerspace, textiles, film making and digital design have been extremely popular in the first iteration) and some

courses in future would perhaps offer intermediate or advanced options.

The courses have relied upon teacher passion and interest, so ensuring that this principle remains at the hear t of the staffing will be impor tant as we build for the future. Having six domains to categorise the courses also allows there to be an overall coherence to the program. We are considering, too, how our Grade 5 Primary students might experience Hao Xue as part of the transition program from Primary to Secondary School.

Overall, where does Hao Xue fit into our overall curriculum ‘garden’? (Ross, 2000). We have always wanted to balance our IB programme offerings, and provide space and resources for other courses to be cultivated. Whereas previously these were on the periphery, we have now placed enrichment front and centre.

With our mission being focused on development of independent minds, Chinese virtues and a global outlook, Hao Xue provides full access for students to go beyond the mainstream: something not to be underestimated for parents seeking added value in curricular offerings. ◆ Nicholas Forde is Principal of Secondary at The ISF Academy, Hong Kong.

✉ nforde@isf.edu.hk

References

• Guillén M (2020) How businesses have successfully pivoted during the pandemic.

Harvard Business Review. Available from: https://hbr.org/2020/07/how-businesses-havesuccessfully-pivoted-during-the-pandemic • Ross A (2000) Curriculum: construction and critique. London: Falmer Press.

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