DEVELOPING
SELF
DETERMINATION
page 8
FOSTERING
BILINGUALISM
AT UWCSEA
page 4
INSPIRATION
FROM THE
OUTSIDE
page 12
December 2019
A strong influence on the students at UWC is undeniably the
teachers. Our teachers are good. They’re qualified, they can
teach. Obviously. But there’s so much more to our teachers than
that—they’re almost as eclectic as the students. Passionate,
inventive, and all-embracing. I don’t know what sort of dark
machinations UWCSEA utilises to find such characters for
teachers, all I know is that it works.”
Stella Mackenzie, Grade 11 student,
speaking at the UWCSEA Open Days in September
02
REFLECTIONS
OF A
NEWCOMER
Carma Elliot CMG OBE,
College President
04
FOSTERING
BILINGUALISM
Understanding the
options
08
DEVELOPING
SELF
DETERMINATION
An effective approach
to nurturing both
wellbeing and activism
10
BEING WELL
Shedding light on
youth mental health
12
INSPIRATION
FROM THE
OUTSIDE
Emerging patterns in
students’ personal
growth experiences on
outdoor expeditions
14
UNDERSTANDING
SERVICE IN THE
EARLY YEARS
Learning experiences
start in K1
16
SPOTLIGHT ON …
UWC Day a rallying
call for change
17
LEARNING TO
STAY SAFE
A proactive
approach to student
empowerment
18
THE EXTENDED
ESSAY JOURNEY
World Studies
EE encourages
interdisciplinary
research
20
INNOVATIVE
SPACES
East Campus Black
Box Theatre
22
CULTURE OF
GIVING
Philanthropy in our
community
24
LIFE AFTER
UWCSEA
Pushing boundaries,
inspiring peace
25
GREATER THAN
THE SUM OF ITS
PARTS
Students reflect on
their journey to WMC
26
SAFEGUARDING
BIODIVERSITY
Conserving tropical
rainforest and plant
species in Malaysia
28
“SO
AWESOME, SO
WONDERFUL!”
Imagine Dragons: a
circus extravaganza
and so much more
COVER IMAGES
Front: East Campus
CultuRama
Back: Dover Campus
UN Night
December 2019
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Editors: Courtney Carlson, Sinéad Collins, Nabilah Husna Bte Abdul Rahman and Kate Woodford
Photography: Sabrina Lone and members of the UWCSEA community
Design: Nandita Gupta
UWCSEA Dover is registered by the Committee for Private Education (CPE), part of SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG)
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Visit the newsroom of UWCSEA:
perspectives.uwcsea.edu.sg
By Carma Elliot CMG OBE
College President
As we head for the end of term, I have
been reflecting on the things which I
have been part of as a new UWC family
member, and which have had the
biggest impact on my thinking. Chief
among these, in November, I attended
the governance meetings for UWC
International at UWC Atlantic College
in Wales. Those of you who have seen
photographs will know that the very
first of the United World Colleges
has its home in a medieval castle on
the Atlantic coast. It is a dramatic
setting, with a distinct feeling of Harry
Potter and Hogwarts, and indeed
our deliberations had some of that
dramatic intensity, with the long-term
sustainable future of the movement our
main topic of conversation.
But in the midst of that intensity, there
was a moment that for me defined
what it has been to join UWCSEA
and the UWC movement. In the 14th
century dining hall, visitors from
around the world gathered together
to raise their voices in a song in the
Welsh language, which we learned
phonetically as we went along. It was
a rousing anthem, celebrating the
culture and spirit of Wales, and though
I’m sure there were some who found
their tongues challenged by the double
consonants and, to our ears, flattened
vowels of this ancient Celtic language,
everyone found celebrating the spirit of
Wales easy. It was very moving to see
and hear everyone joyously embracing a
culture not their own, and for those few
moments everyone in the room was
Welsh (or wanted to be!).
It put me in mind of the UN Night and
CultuRama celebrations at UWCSEA
in Singapore. In the same way, we see
students perform dances that are not
from their own culture, and there is no
sense that the South African dance is
only for South Africans, or that Irish
dancing is only for the Irish. The idea
that all cultures are accessible to those
from other cultures is profound; that we
can know and understand each other
to the extent that there is no proof of
passport required to participate in a
celebration of a culture or nation—that
is truly liberating. In this age where fear
of cultural appropriation can sometimes
(and often rightly) make us question
our right to participate in some cultural
expressions, it is encouraging to see
our students work together and slip
into cultural celebrations that are not,
strictly speaking, their own.
Why does the UWC community do
this so easily when other communities
can’t? The answer lies in the
relationships between individuals and
groups that is at the heart of the whole
UWC ideal. Lester B. Pearson said in
1964, “How can there be peace without
people understanding each other; and
how can this be if they don’t know each
other?” UWC is about bringing people
together so that they can start to
know each other; and in knowing each
other, they come to understanding;
and with understanding comes not just
acceptance but celebration. It seems so
simple, and yet so necessary.
During the meetings at Atlantic College
I was frequently asked for reflections
on my first months at UWC. How was
I finding UWC? Of course the answer is
that I am finding it fascinating and am
enjoying it immensely. I explained that I
was spending time meeting individuals
and groups to build my understanding
of UWCSEA and more closely define
my role as President, and my potential
contribution to the College. I have
attended meetings with government
Ministers; spoken in the Primary School
about adoption, and the perspectives of
an adopted child in class; and delivered
a keynote speech at the Women in
Leadership in Education Conference in
Hong Kong. I have met with incredibly
generous donors and senior volunteers;
and spoken to individual students about
their interest in a diplomatic career. And
I enjoyed the riotous alumni reunion in
my first few weeks, which gave me the
opportunity to meet and hear from a
small number of our far-flung alumni
who returned to Singapore to celebrate
‘milestone’ anniversaries this year.
What all these interactions had in
common was something that is my
biggest takeaway from my first few
months at UWCSEA: the quality of
the relationships in our community
is truly very special. Both within and
between stakeholder groups there is
trust and respect, and a strong sense of
community shaped by a commitment
to mission. It is a community which
is purposeful and seeking positive
impact in all that it does. Of course
there are occasional tensions—that is a
function of a community holding itself
to account. But fundamentally, we rely
on the quality of our relationships to
ensure the peace and sustainability
that is our common purpose. This
is what allows us to have the more
Reflections of a newcomer
Lester B. Pearson (1964). “The Four Faces of Peace and the International Outlook: Statements”, McClelland and Stewart.
2 | Dunia December 2019
OPINION
difficult conversations and to still dance
together the next day.
The central relationship in our
community is the student-teacher
relationship. In schools, there is always
a lot of discussion about teachers: how
we know when they are successful;
how to look beyond grades and scores
to measure their impact on students;
and how we ensure that all teachers
receive useful feedback that supports
their professional learning. Governors
recently spent time with educational
leadership discussing our approach
to teacher professional growth.
Throughout the conversation, what was
never in question was the importance
we all attach to that central student-
teacher relationship.
As in all things, it is good to use students
as a touchpoint. Earlier this term, I heard
students speak at Open Days about
their experience at UWCSEA. Each of
them, in different ways, spoke about
the influence their teachers have had on
them. Sometimes they described the
sparking of passion in a particular subject.
Sometimes they spoke of a life lesson a
teacher supported them through. Each
time, the significance of that relationship
shone through. An alumnus recently
described one of his teachers in the 80s
(who only left the College a few years
ago) as the person “who gave me the
skills that made it possible for me to
survive life, then and now.” What an
extraordinary compliment.
I finish my first term at UWCSEA with
a strong impression that it is the nature
of our relationships that make us who
we are. The relationships between
individuals are at the heart of the UWC
mission and our College is doing much
to provide that the individual becomes
the universal. The Māori culture has an
expression “He aha te mea nui o te ao.
He tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata”
(What is the most important thing in
the world? It is people, it is people, it is
people). UWC has always known that
and knows it still today.
UN Night Māori haka dance
December 2019 Dunia | 3
Paths to bilingualism Bringing life to a family language plan
An interview with Pilar Jimenez, Head of Home Languages
and Teacher of Spanish, Ellie Alchin, Director of Teaching
and Learning at Dover Campus and Oscar Gallego, Head of
Languages A, High School Spanish and Home Languages
Coordinator at East Campus.
It will come as no surprise that while UWCSEA is an ‘English
medium’ school, where the main language of instruction
is English, we are a multilingual community. It almost goes
without saying that our community has a complex language
profile. Our mission-driven admissions policy asks us to
bring together as diverse a cohort as possible with the aim of
promoting intercultural understanding.
Recognising that to successfully achieve our mission, we
need to do more than simply enrol students with diverse
backgrounds, passports and language profiles, the five-
year UWCSEA strategy launched in 2018 identified further
developing our capacity in Diversity and Inclusion as a key to
long-term success. The increasing complexity of the language
profile of our learners had already prompted the introduction
of the highly regarded Home Languages Programme (HLP)
on both campuses, as well as the extension of the English as
an Additional Language (EAL) Programme into our Primary
Schools. The work of bringing the UWCSEA Strategy to life is
in furthering our understanding of, and consciously selecting
and embedding, approaches to language learning that are in
line with our mission and the needs of our community.
This year, part of this work on Dover Campus has meant gaining
a deeper understanding of our community’s language profile
so as to make better informed decisions around allocation of
effort and resources. A survey, sent to Dover parents in Term 1,
revealed that 58% of the respondents communicate at home
in two or more languages. And that between them, the 831
families who responded (representing 1,138 of the 3,000 Dover
students) speak an astounding 94 different languages at home.
Further, while 42% of families only speak one language at
home, that language is not always English.
Complex profiles = complex aspirations
This very complex language profile inevitably gives rise to
an equally complex set of expectations around language
learning. Driven by our desire to understand more fully the
expectations of our community, the same survey asked
parents what matters most to them (for their child’s language
education), to which the top five responses were:
1. Learn a foreign language
2. Maintain a home language as well as learn English
3. Learn two foreign languages
4. Develop sensitivity in communicating with speakers of
other languages
5. Study a home language within the school day instead of
learning a new foreign language
There are many considerations that go into the mix of
creating, maintaining and developing bilingualism in
children—whether they are learning a language which is
spoken at home or not. For many, the idea of learning an
additional language is an exciting proposition, while others
hope that their children will be able to attain a high level of
competence in two or more languages—if they would only
apply themselves at school, and if only the school would offer
that language in the timetable for younger students.
Eowyn Crisfield, a specialist in bilingualism, language learning
and teaching, and bilingual education visited Dover Campus
for four days in November. Coinciding with a professional
learning day, Eowyn conducted workshops and training for all
teachers and, in a session with parents, shared her research-
based approach to successfully raising a bilingual child. For
those who were not able to attend her evening session, this
interview focuses on sharing some of Eowyn’s insights and
strategies for families based on our UWCSEA context.
For simplicity’s sake, Eowyn uses the term bilingual to mean
two or more languages, and we have adopted this approach in
this article.
Exploring definitions
For many, being bilingual carries the aspiration to ‘speak
like a native—with complete fluency and an impeccable
accent’, making it an ambitious aim for bilingual families
raising children away from home, let alone for learners whose
parents are monolingual. But some definitions are more
pragmatic, incorporating both competence and functionality.
One definition, admittedly on the functional end of the scale
but perhaps useful for context, comes from Carder (2007),
who defined bilingualism as “the ability to understand and
use two (or more) languages in certain contexts and for
certain purposes.” However, with so many in our community
already bilingual, it is likely that many families will be
seeking what Harley (2013) and Grosjean (1997) describe as
‘productive bilingualism’, which is the ability to competently
express thoughts and speech in more than one language.
Whichever definition you prefer, setting parameters looks and
feels much more achievable than the lofty ‘indistinguishable
from a native speaker’ aspiration, particularly for the potential
bilinguist, since we learn best when we understand the reason
for learning and have a realistic goal in sight.
INTERVIEW
4 | Dunia December 2019
Developing ‘native speaking’ proficiency in a language
can be likened to developing mastery in a skill such as a
musical instrument, dance style, or specific sport. It takes
multiple and sustained opportunities to identify interest,
experimentation to select a specialism, followed by expert
instruction, continued skill development, some reflection,
and many more hours of practice in all types of settings and
contexts, to truly excel. And only the most motivated will
pursue the skills to true mastery.
But how does mastery happen? The answer lies in
intentionality. It requires identifying a goal and planning a
realistic pathway to achieve it. And, if necessary, revising the
goal along the way.
Which brings us to the idea of a Family Language Plan.
Family Language Plans, according to Eowyn, are not just
for families with aspirations of ‘native level’ proficiency in
multiple languages. While she believes it as an essential
ingredient in sustained success for families with complex
language profiles, Eowyn recommends all families set out
a Family Language Plan, even if the goal is communicative
competence in a second language. That way everyone knows
what they are aiming for.
Key considerations when making a plan include:
1. Which languages do you want your children to master,
and why?
2. Which level of mastery are you aiming for in each
language? Are you going to be satisfied with attaining
Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) or are you
prepared to support your child in the long-term and far
more difficult task of attaining what educators describe as
Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP)?
3. Are you open to these goals changing in the future, for
example if you move country?
4. Have you identified your available support network—and
what else may be required to achieve your goal (i.e.,
schools, family members, tutors, travel)?
5. Realistically, how much time, effort and money are you
willing or able to invest?
Developing bilingualism requires commitment above and
beyond arranging lessons and having conversations at home
and with family. Students can accomplish amazing things,
provided they are supported by their families, and given multiple
opportunities to learn and apply (practise!) their learning.
How can parents support their children?
Find as many ways as possible to regularly use the languages
being learned, whether your child is a ‘foreign language’ learner
from a monolingual background or a bilingual student who
speaks multiple languages at home. Strategies and activities,
based on the age and needs of the child, both in the classroom
and outside, in a variety of contexts are crucial, including:
• Talking about language to raise interest in language
learning, awareness of how language functions in society
and cultures, and the benefits of bilingualism
• Encouraging a caregiver to speak to the child in the target
language
• Consuming media – reading, listening to audiobooks, or
watching movies and TV shows together in the target
language (subtitles on)
• Learning the language yourself and practising it with
your child
• Arranging playdates and other social interactions with other
children and families who speak the target language
• Encouraging your child to share what they are learning, or
to teach you
• Ask them to take you through their completed language
homework
• Regular (possibly immersive) exposure during holidays
– using the language in context, extending the limited
settings of home and classroom, can make a big difference
Academic literacy skill-focused classes such as our Home
Language Programme are often a key part of the support
infrastructure for students from a bilingual family. Classroom
instruction is, however, only one element of a successful family
language plan. Even the most tailored programme is going to
have limited benefit if the learner is not able to make use of
the language in authentic contexts outside the classroom and
the more transactional language exchanges that typify day-to-
day use at home. Families who are aiming for CALP proficiency
will need to create further opportunities for their child to use
the language in authentic academic contexts.
Family commitment comes first
Can children realistically become bilingual if the family
only speaks one language at home?
The answer to this depends on what is meant by being
bilingual and, to a large extent, the commitment outside of
school that the family is able to make. Individuals who come
from a monolingual family are able to become bilingual if
they have enough exposure to the additional language. This is
where Carder’s (2007) definition of bilingualism—“the ability
to understand and use two (or more) languages in certain
contexts and for certain purposes”—is likely to be more
achievable, for everyone involved.
Eowyn described the need to provide a foundation of solid
infrastructure and long-term, consistent support with
demonstrable benefits to the learner. Because sometimes the
benefit of learning another language is not as obvious to our
children as it is to the adults around them!
What are some of the most effective ways for children
from monolingual families to learn languages?
Immersion has proven to be very effective, but is not always
possible or practical. Sending a monolingual child to a
school with an immersive bilingual programme—where they
study 50% of their subjects in the target language—can
lead to bilingualism for students from a monolingual family.
However, a variety of factors influence outcomes, including
how much exposure to the language children will have
outside their classroom, and how motivated the students are
to learn and use the language. Because our students come
to us with such diverse linguistic backgrounds and goals,
immersive bilingualism is not a suitable model for UWCSEA.
How often do children need to practise a language in
order to become bilingual?
This largely depends on the level of proficiency you are
aiming for. Communicative ability is very different to an
ability to use the language to study and communicate in an
academic context.
Families who are monolingual and wish their child to become
bilingual in a language they are learning at school typically
find they are required to make an enormous commitment
outside of formal schooling if they decide they want more
than ‘communicative bilingualism’ for their child. Eowyn
presented research suggesting that an individual can attain
BICS-level proficiency in 1 or 2 years if they are immersed in
a language. Being able to use a language at a level of CALP
proficiency, where students make meaning and communicate
academic tasks in the language, i.e., hypothesise, justify,
classify, infer, can take between 3 and 9 years in an immersive
language learning environment.
Options for monolingual families
6 | Dunia December 2019
Can children retain a home language(s) if much of their
formal learning is in English?
Yes, those who come from a bilingual family are able to retain
their bilingualism if they have enough exposure. If one parent
speaks to the child consistently in one language, another
speaks in another and the child speaks a third language (in
the case of many UWCSEA students, English) at school, it
is perfectly possible for them to grow up speaking three
languages with BICS-level skills—though in reality, English
may still end up being their dominant language.
Whilst they can retain communicative proficiency, children
will not develop CALP proficiency in their home language
without deliberate, sustained effort. This is especially
challenging when they are not learning all their subjects in
that language at school, or are not able to use the language in
their day-to-day life outside of transactional exchanges with
parents or caregivers at home.
If you could debunk one myth about learning multiple
languages, what would that be?
A common misconception is that it is much better to learn
languages when we are very young. While it’s true that
children’s brains have a higher plasticity and it can often be
easier for them to learn another language than it is for an
adult, this is often expanded to encompass the notion that
young children are sponges for absorbing languages and that
you just need to immerse them in the right environment and
expose them to as many languages as possible if you want
them to grow up multilingual.
Unfortunately this belief is not supported by evidence.
Humans have a finite capacity to absorb different languages,
and age-appropriate proficiency in a dominant language is
essential for cognitive development. A four-year-old being
exposed to five languages at once is unlikely to develop age-
appropriate proficiency in any of the languages.
Students can grow up to be bilingual if they are exposed to
two (or even three) languages at home in the early years.
The key here is ‘exposure’ to the languages. A child will not
become bilingual with a couple of hours a week of exposure in
a language; it requires sustained and regular opportunities to
use the language.
Is it advisable to learn more than one additional language
if you are already learning English and have a strong
home language? Should you take the opportunity to learn
another as a foreign language?
This depends entirely on the child, and on your family
situation. Consider a bilingual five-year-old, who speaks
Japanese and French with their parents, but who is new to
English. They attend an English-medium school while in
Singapore and are receiving EAL support there. If it is likely
they will return to Japan in two years, Chinese lessons may
not be the best option. Instead, it would be better for them
to focus on learning English while maintaining Japanese and
French.
Compare this situation to a Grade 11 scholar, fresh off the
plane from Colombia, coming from a Spanish-speaking school
where she learned English as a second language. While having
to cope with all her subjects in English, which is her second
language, she is eager to retain her connection to her cultural
identity. For this student, it makes sense to continue to
develop her Spanish at a high proficiency (which keeps open
the option to return to Colombia to study) and to take English
as a second language subject, rather than trying to pick up a
third language.
But other bilingual students who are learning English are
eager to learn a third language. For many of these EAL
students, the foreign language class is the one lesson where
they feel that they are at the same level as everyone else. For
these students, learning a new language can be a great way
for them to feel successful.
If families intend their child to study in their home
language at university, what are the considerations? Is it
realistic?
In order to be admitted to the university course of their
choice, students need a strong CALP-level knowledge of
their home language. Further, to be able to successfully
move to living in their home country, they will need both
communicative ability and cultural understanding to adjust
to being surrounded by native speakers—perhaps for the first
time in their life.
If this is a likely scenario for your family, a family language
plan will help you proactively plan to keep this option
open and achievable for your child. In addition to the list
of support activities, some families also consider engaging
conversationalists, arranging any required tutoring to be done
in the home language or even planning with their child for a
gap year or ‘working holiday at home’ that will enable them
to hone their language skills before they start university.
Recommended further reading
Eowyn Crisfield’s blog: www.crisfieldeducationalconsulting.com/blog
Baker, Colin (2014) A Parents’ and Teachers’ Guide to Bilingualism
Nacamulli, Mia. (2015) TED-Ed, The Benefits of a Bilingual Brain
References
Carder, M. (2007) Bilingualism in International Schools: A Model for
Enriching Language Education. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters
Grosjean, F. (1997). The bilingual individual. Interpreting, 2(1-2), 163–187.
doi:10.1075/intp.2.1-2.07gro
Harley, T. A. (2013). The psychology of language: From data to theory. New
York: Psychology Press.
Keeping a home language alive
December 2019 Dunia | 7
DEVELOPING SELF DETERMINATION
An effective approach to nurturing both wellbeing and activism
By Nick Alchin, High School Principal
and Deputy Head of Campus,
East Campus
Greta Thunberg’s inspiring activism
may pressure reluctant politicians into
meaningful steps on climate change.
She is rightly a role model for many
young people around the globe and
it was hard not to admire her bravery
and eloquence, when she said to global
leaders at Davos in January, “I want you
to panic. I want you to feel the fear I feel
every day.”
However, fear and panic can be toxic, and
while it may spur some like Thunberg to
activism, it may simply paralyse others.
I am not alone in worrying that fear is
not generally a helpful motivator, and
can lead to apathy and despair; in 2017
the American Psychological Association
reported that our psychological
responses to climate change, like
conflict avoidance, helplessness and
resignation, were growing. So much
so that climate psychiatry is emerging
as a new specialism for mental health
professionals. As BBC journalist and
emerging science researcher Britt Wray
notes in her 2019 TED Talk, they are
getting work at a time when some
high schoolers don’t want to apply to
university any longer, because they can’t
foresee a future for themselves.
That 1.4 million school students went on
strike in March to protest about climate
change shows they feel they have few
other options left; Wray describes this as
students around the world … “screaming
for change in the piercing voice of
despair.” ‘Despair’ is, I suggest, not what
we want, and it not itself likely to lead
to sustainable change. Our challenge
remains to educate students so they
know the facts and to guide them so
they develop energetic activism rather
than slip into paralyzed apathy.
At UWCSEA, as we discuss how we can
best equip our students to deal with
what sometimes seems like a tsunami
of distressing news and events, we have
found that activism and wellbeing both
rely on three things (taken from Ryan
and Deci’s Self Determination Theory)
1. Autonomy: the feeling one has
choice and willingly endorsing
ones behaviour
2. Competence: the experience of
mastery and being effective in
ones activity
3. Relatedness: the need to feel
connected and belongingness
with others
There’s a lot to say about these, which
were initially identified over 30 years ago
by Ryan and Deci in their impressively
persuasive body of work. And if these
ideas seem suspiciously like the Dan
Pink’s from Drive or Martin Seligmann’s
from Flourish, that’s no coincidence.
Ryan and Deci’s work pre-dates and
underlies these two much more well-
known authors, and many others, who
have made their own versions of these
ideas accessible to a wide audience.
These abstract principles can very
effectively guide thinking and actions
on very practical issues. They are how
we can feel able to act in meaningful
ways in the world; by connecting with
like-minded people; by being competent
to effect change; and by having the
autonomy to direct our own lives.
These are foundational to both action
and wellbeing.
As I’ve explored the topic of wellbeing,
I’ve come to see this issue of ‘activism’
as intimately linked to ‘wellbeing’.
Neither quality is one you can seek
directly; in fact both emerge from the
three underlying elements. We describe
the way we deliberately attend to the
cultivation of these principles in our
community as the UWCSEA Culture
of Care and Wellbeing outlined on the
facing page.
Over the previous school year, the
leadership teams have clarified and
made explicit our thinking. And even
after a few weeks of this school year we
were already seeing the power of these
three principles. As the year progresses,
we continue to look for opportunities
to embed these principles into life on
campus, reviewing and tweaking as we
go. For now, I am hopeful they may
provide an effective way of addressing
twin goals of wellbeing and activism, but
in an optimistic way. Watch this space.
References
Thanks to Ellie Alchin for making the link between self-determination theory and activism.
Barclay, E. (2019) Photos: kids in 123 countries went on strike to protect the climate. Vox | Neuding, P.
(2019) Self-Harm Versus the Greater Good: Greta Thunberg and Child Activism. Quillette | Clayton, S.,
Manning, C. M., Krygsman, K., & Speiser, M. (2017). Mental Health and Our Changing Climate: Impacts,
Implications, and Guidance. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association, and ecoAmerica. |
Ryan, R. and Deci, E. (2017). Self-Determination Theory Guilford Press | The Guardian Our house is on
fire Fri 25 Jan 2019 | Wray, B. (2019) How climate change affects your mental health. TED | University
of Rochester Medical Center, https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/community-health/patient-care/self-
determination-theory.aspx 11 Dec 2019
FEATURE
Nick’s blog, On
Education, shares his
thinking and ideas:
8 | Dunia December 2019
UWCSEA culture of care and wellbeing
Connected
We feel connected when we feel
known by others, heard by others and
cared for by others. This means we
seek to provide opportunities so that
we feel:
Cared for, and that we have
opportunities to care for others;
United by a strong sense of
shared purpose
At UWCSEA, we aspire towards a culture of care where there is a shared commitment to cultivate wellbeing. While we
acknowledge that feelings of wellbeing are personal and will vary between individuals, the College is responsible for providing the
conditions for community wellbeing to flourish. This includes opportunities to feel connected, autonomous, and competent—for
students, staff and parents alike.
The nature of UWCSEA’s holistic learning programme means that we look forward to responsibilities in each of the five elements.
In turn, this can create pressure points over the course of a school year and so these principles are best understood over a period of
time, rather than at any specific moment.
Autonomous
We want to feel we can self-regulate
our actions, where possible, and make
our own meaning of events. This
means we seek to create a culture so
we feel:
Empowered to make choices
with regard to our own individual
wellbeing
We have opportunities for self-
awareness building and reflection
Competent
A sense of competence arises when
we feel effective and that we can
continually develop craftsmanship
around our work. We recognise that
our ambitions to seek excellence
across a broad range of educational
experiences places significant
demands on us, and we understand
and recognise that we cannot all be
experts in all areas. We seek to create
conditions so that we feel competent
because we are:
Supported in achieving growth
Able to match the demands on us
with our capacities
December 2019 Dunia | 9
BEING WELL
Shedding light on youth mental health
Photos provided by:Nüwa
FEATURE
With increased global attention paid to the nuances
and complexities of mental health and mental illnesses,
UWCSEA has been actively discussing and contributing to
external conversations on wellbeing, to understand how
it is shaped within the context of young people’s lives.
The College’s strategic commitment to wellbeing is
ultimately woven into the UWCSEA culture of care and
wellbeing (see page 9), and different elements of our
learning programme. A strong central pillar of this is
the focus on enhancing personal growth and resilience
of our students and school community. Whether this is
done through counselling or peer support, or through
awareness-building events and activities that the College
initiates and supports, its effects ripple out to our
students, staff and parents.
One such event was a recent community dialogue,
HeART of the Matter, held to coincide with Mental
Health Awareness week in October. Over 60 members
of the UWCSEA community gathered at IDEAS Hub
on Dover Campus to explore art therapy and its uses
in mental health and emotional recovery. The event
featured a variety of student-led arts activities, and
two panel discussions featuring Adrian Pang of theatre
company Pangdemonium, Joshua Gooley, neuroscientist
specialising in the effects of sleep deprivation, child
psychologist Emma Waddington, youth worker Joe Chan
from REACH youth services and other specialists in the
field of arts therapy.
Said Danielle Solk, Art Teacher at UWCSEA Dover
and one of the co-organisers of the event, “I wanted
to do something that would help the students while
highlighting the usefulness of the arts in sustaining
wellbeing. The arts are often viewed as a secondary
subject despite their enormous importance in giving
young people a voice.”
She continued, “It’s really important that kids see their
parents learning about this at the same time so that if
the time comes that people want to talk about it, it’s a
normalised subject. Everybody is affected in one way or
another—whether it’s them directly, or people they know,
or their family members.”
Mental health is not a ‘good to have’: it’s a must-have.
UWCSEA recognises how necessary it is to remain at
the forefront of institutionalising practices that promote
mental health, to ensure that all in our community are
well taken care of.
10 | Dunia December 2019
By Hanmin Lee, Grade 12, Dover Campus
The first time I remember hearing the words ‘mental health’ in a classroom was in Grade
7. My life skills teacher taught us that, just as we’d see a doctor for colds or use plasters
for cuts, it was important to care for our mental wellbeing. As my 13-year-old self did
with most things, I assumed I was still years away from having to worry about it.
High School came, however, which was when I began noticing more and more people
around me feeling strained. For some of them, it seemed like they had entirely
forgotten what it was like to be themselves. That point also came to me a few years
ago. I felt plagued with emptiness and a sense of complete disconnection from
everything around me.
There wasn’t a concrete reason for me to feel this way—I had great teachers, financial
security, friends and family. But for some reason, an intangible something left a gaping
hole inside me. I always knew help was there for me, but I decided that staying silent
was the best option.
It was overwhelming trying to hold in everything. I think the reason so many of us try
to keep things in is that, at some point, we assume we’ve lost our merit to ask for help.
Only when I broke my silence and reached out for help did I start to piece together
what was actually going on in my head. After having conversations with the people
around me, I realised that my perception of mental health couldn’t have been more
wrong. I found that ‘me too’ were the most comforting words in the world, and the
more ‘me too’s I heard, the less reserved I became.
I’ve taken a more active stance on mental health over the past few months, and
I’ve been surprised at just how many people have had a story to share with me. I’ve
noticed that, in an odd way, mental illness is like the clubs we have in school—you
don’t really pay attention to who’s there at first, but take a closer look and you’ll
be surprised to find the most unexpected people as members. Anyone can join,
regardless of where they’re from or how old they are. This ‘mental health soc’ has a
catch though—every single member is tricked into
thinking that they’re the only member, no matter
how many of us there really are.
We’re all a part of the same, wider community,
and let’s be honest—it’s a stressful community to
be in sometimes. But it’s also what gives us those
dearest little qualities to hold onto whenever we’re
overwhelmed. Our minds are supposed to be
messy, and it’s natural for us to make the wrong
choices sometimes. Honesty alone is by no means
a guaranteed cure for mental illness, but it’s
something that points us in the right direction. I’m
sharing this for the sake of my past self, the people
who have shared their experiences with me, and
those who find themselves struggling
right now—let’s work towards an open
community, where our actions are
driven by compassion and acceptance.
Asking for help
INSPIRATION FROM THE OUTSIDE
Emerging patterns in students’ personal growth experiences on outdoor expeditions
By Christopher Wolsko, PhD and Michael Gassner, PhD,
Oregon State University - Cascades (OSU)
Findings from the ongoing longitudinal investigation into
UWCSEA’s Outdoor Education programme are demonstrating
substantial and consistent changes in students’ skills and
qualities. This update offers a glimpse into the elements of
the UWCSEA learner profile that students report they are
developing most, and points to how the College’s Outdoor
Education curriculum in the Middle and High School provides
the avenues for this growth.
About the OSU study
This comprehensive evaluation aims to understand the
effectiveness of UWCSEA’s expedition programme, by
attempting to answer some challenging and complex
questions on the emotional, psychological and overall
wellbeing impact of our Outdoor Education programme
on our students. We hope it will give us further insight
into what we have observed anecdotally and learned
through experience: that outdoor education experiences
have a positive, long term impact on students that stays
with them and is transformational.
The researchers are experts in experiential education and
social psychology. The benefit of a longitudinal study lies
in the ability to analyse patterns that emerge over time. It
gives us an in depth perspective on student learning and
over the last few years has affirmed the role that resilience,
commitment to care, and communication play during
expeditions. Findings shared each year offer glimpses of
emerging themes, and have already helped us to refine
our programme. For example, the decision to redevelop
the Grade 8 expedition into “one continuous journey”
was affirmed by students insights and onsite programme
evaluation work by the researchers. The research also
provides insights into some of the interdependencies
between elements of our learning programme. Data
collection will continue for another two years.
Resilience
At the forefront of students’ experiences across all expeditions,
resilience manifests in multiple ways: individually, socially, and
physically. It is most often reported when facing challenges,
especially new ones. Whether cognitive, emotional or physical,
students most often comment on:
• being optimistic and confident when faced with challenges,
• persevering in the face of those challenges,
• having courage in unfamiliar situations
• a perceived ability to transfer some aspects of resilience to
life outside of the expedition
The five-day Grade 7 kayaking trip around Pulau Sibu stands
out. As one student reflected:
I am able to successfully meet new challenges in my life
because after going to the Sibu trip I learned that if I get my
mind to do something out of my comfort zone, I can do it and
it [sic] absolutely worth it. I feel like I have also become more
of a risk-taker because I would’ve never challenged myself to
go rock hopping when the current of the ocean was strong.
The Sibu programme also encourages students to work
together, and to take care of one another in challenging
circumstances. This results in the simultaneous cultivation
of resilience, collaboration and commitment to care.
Interestingly, students perceived that these traits were much
better experienced on the outdoor education trip than in a
school setting. This speaks to the value of allowing students
to experience and further develop profile traits outside the
normal school environment:
This trip made me more caring about others and how to
make the world a better place … I managed to [be] social
with various people on the trip making me aware of people’s
problems and understanding them as we have more
interaction on trips than class. This also gave me a chance to
be in the other person’s shoes for a while.
12 | Dunia December 2019
Commitment to Care
Caring for the natural world is a key characteristic that the
expeditions seek to develop. This is particularly prevalent in
students’ reported experiences on the Grade 6 expedition to
Pulau Tioman, which has a great deal of time spent in nature
undertaking different, but relatively short duration activities
on their five-day itinerary. This time outside, whether on land
or in and on the water, is very meaningful to students. An
appreciation for nature, if not explicitly an aim of the Tioman
trip, is certainly something students experience. Many
students commented on the impact that the Juara Turtle
Project had on them.
We were in a rainforest and on the water for most of the
time, I felt like “Wow, this is the world we live in and it isn’t
just the city that we see every day … I felt passionate about
the environment and that I want to become more involved in
helping the environment … when we visited the turtle centre,
I found myself really concerned about the environment and
even felt like crying after watching a video of the plastics that
a turtle ate, which is something that I could never imagine
myself to do if I have not gone on this trip, as I felt myself as
part of this natural world.
And another student:
I am committed to helping the environment and animals.
Whilst on the Tioman trip we learned a lot about turtles and I
felt a deep connection to them. Weirdly enough, on the same
day, my mother found a turtle crossing the street that was
abandoned with scars on its nostrils which led to deformity.
Ever since we have been taking care of him and love him so
much. I feel that it is my duty to help animals any way I can,
and the environment.
Some students expressed a desire to take what was learned
beyond Tioman while mentioning how very meaningful the
trip was to them.
I felt more passionate about shaping a better world during all
the learning we did on sea turtles and all the consequences
they have to face due to the increase in human development.
I guess I have more of the urge to spread awareness around
to others so that they can take action and responsibility in
helping to save the turtles.
Scan the QR code to learn more about the
methodology and to read previous updates.
Scan the QR code to learn more about
UWCSEA’s Outdoor Education Curriculum.
Communication,
Collaboration, and
Self-Management
A full 11 days, the Grade 8 trip is a significantly longer
expedition, and offers students the opportunity to interact
with peers from both campuses, as well as in unique cultural
environments. These enhanced challenges especially
encourage resilience, communication, collaboration, and self-
management. In a reflection that is representative of many
from the same year group, one student’s comment illustrates
a progression in collaboration and communication outside the
classroom environment:
I have been able to work with many people throughout this
trip. I have seen this because we always had to be in groups
for different things such as the cooking or the rafting.
Especially during adventure week. This has really pushed
me to collaborate with different people I don’t usually talk
to and it has also helped me to learn a little bit more about
the people in my class. I have been able to communicate
with everyone and work effectively. At the beginning, it
was a little bit hard, but as we had to put this skill into more
practice, it became easier and it was also really fun.
In a common theme across grades, another student described
the significance of learning outside the classroom:
Not only have I bonded with my mentor class as a whole, but
there are a few people in my class who I’ve been more involved
with, expanding my usual group of friends. Most of my close
friends are not even in my class this year. But all it needed was
time, and a different environment, other than school. Doing
activities where we were supporting each other was crucial. At
the end it brought us all together, and people noticed the good
in me as well, which made me want to carry on that relationship
more strongly, feeling trustworthy and balanced all at once.
The conditions of the expedition that pushed students
to communicate and collaborate also encouraged self-
management. Appropriate to students’ development, the
Grade 8 trip affords the opportunity to cultivate this trait:
I think being in Chiang Mai taught me a lot about having to be
independent, especially in adventure week. We had to cook
our own food every day, and set up our bivvies pretty much on
our own, otherwise we wouldn’t have food to eat or a place to
sleep. Also when we were out during the day we had to use our
own initiative to help each other and work together.
RESEARCH
December 2019 Dunia | 13
FEATURE
Understanding service
It’s a typical day in K2 (if there is such a thing). Students are learning about ACRES (Animal Concerns Research
and Education Society), the Infant School Global Concern (GC) in connection with their Unit of Study ‘Feathers,
Fur and Fins.’ With a focus on endangered animals, Mr Matthews, a Grade 4 teacher and ACRES volunteer, has
visited the class to speak to the children about the organisation. Later that afternoon Lucas happens to lose his
tooth. Before bed, he writes a letter, “Dear Tooth Fairy, can you please give me money to help ACRES Animal
Rescue Centre?” The generous tooth fairy fulfils his wish. Lucas is able to give his tooth fairy money to ACRES.
By Keri Benefield, Primary School Service Coordinator
and Robert Adcock, Infant School Curriculum Coordinator,
Dover Campus
This anecdote describes age-appropriate action by just one
of our students as a result of our service learning curriculum.
One of the five elements of the UWCSEA Learning
Programme, the Service programme is directly linked to our
mission and begins with our youngest students. While the
donation of Lucas’ tooth fairy money directly supported one
of our GC partners, all our students are involved in learning
opportunities that are created within our curriculum and
linked with College and Local Singapore-based community
service projects. UWCSEA’s links with our community—
whether College, Local or Global—are an integral part of our
written Service curriculum, which describes age-appropriate
learning outcomes that are achieved through opportunities
for participation in each grade level.
While the context of service learning is different in each
grade, and looks different in practice between our two
campuses, the curriculum standards remain consistent
throughout the College. All students, regardless of campus,
or grade-level or learning activity, are striving for learning in
each of the three standards.
K–12 Service Curriculum Standards
1. Awareness: By developing awareness, skills and qualities,
individuals can become determined global citizens who
recognise their ability to enact positive change.
2. Sustainable Development – Systems Thinking:
Individuals and groups can plan to engage effectively
in the sustainable development of local and global
communities.
3. Taking Action – Being Changemakers: By taking
informed, purposeful action, individuals and groups can
References
Ricard M (2015), Altruism: The Science and Psychology of Kindness, Atlantic Books, London | Alexander J (2019) The Danish Way of Parenting: What
the Happiest People in the World Know About Raising Confident, Capable Kids, TarcherPerigee | Berger Kaye (2010) Knocking Down the Walls! Service
Learning Ideas and Process, CBK Associates, Los Angeles | United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, Article 31, https://www.ohchr.org/en/
professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx
act as changemakers, contributing to the sustainable
development of local and global communities.
While the standards are consistent across the College,
conceptual understandings and benchmarks differ between
school sections and grades. Naturally, ‘enacting positive
change’ and ‘plan to engage effectively’ as expressed in the
standards above, will manifest differently according to a
child’s developmental understanding.
So what does it look like in action? The examples from the
Dover Infant School on the opposite page illustrate the
carefully designed learning experiences that support the
teaching of specific concepts and benchmarks. The K–12
Service Curriculum Standards which are used to shape these
experiences were in turn influenced by Catherine Berger
Kaye’s ‘Cycle of Service Learning’, which describes how
the learning emerges: a process of initial investigation and
preparation leads the student to take considered action,
which is followed by reflection and, finally, consolidated
through demonstration (Dunia, December 2018, pages 6-7).
Indicators of success
A true indicator of learning is the transfer and application
of understanding into different situations, both in and out
of school. For Lucas, in his K2 year, his learning transferred
to his tooth fairy experience and donation. This will look
very different for a Grade 11 on Project Week. While not all
students will go on to pursue a career that could be described
as ‘in service’, our Service curriculum is designed to help
students develop an understanding of the power of service. It
specifically hopes to empower UWCSEA students to recognise
where they can (and should) take action for good, and to
demonstrate that they can, individually, take responsibility
for, and contribute to, shaping a more peaceful world with a
sustainable future. Regardless of their life path.
14 | Dunia December 2019
K1 Local Service:
Child at Street 11
Conceptual Understanding:
The way an individual
takes action can lead to
an outcome that supports
individual or group
wellbeing.
Benchmark: Take action and
reflect on its outcome.
Learning experience: In K1,
students explore the ‘Child’s
Right to Play’ as expressed
in the United Nations
Convention on the Rights of
the Child. They enact this by
designing play experiences
for children from the
Singapore preschool Child
at Street 11. Students from
this organisation are invited
to interact with K1 students
on our campus over four
Discovery Time sessions. For
each visit, K1 classes take
turns to host the Child at
Street 11 guests and guide
them through activities.
In addition, K1 students
visit a local supermarket
to purchase healthy snacks
to share with their guests
before they arrive.
Throughout this service, K1
students practice kindness,
patience and responsibility
with their new friends.
K2 College Service:
Our School Community
Conceptual Understanding:
By thinking about others
in their community,
individuals can develop skills
and qualities that build a
sense of fairness, kindness
and respect.
Benchmark: Practise
actions that are fair, kind and
respectful.
Learning experience: In
their first Unit of Study,
‘Our School Community’,
K2 students inquire into
actions that are fair, kind
and respectful. They gain
an awareness of the roles
and responsibilities of
specific staff members,
including cleaning staff,
groundskeepers and
Sodexo cooks.
After meeting these
individuals and learning
about the value and
importance of their roles
in our College, K2 students
prepare a special thank
you in order to express
their respect and gratitude.
Students take action by
brainstorming ways to thank
the staff while reflecting on
things that they have learnt
about the staff members,
making the action personally
relevant.
G1 Local Service:
Lions Befrienders
Conceptual Understanding:
By investigating systems
within natural and built
communities, individuals
can identify possible needs
and consider actions for
sustainable development.
Benchmark: Brainstorm and
analyse possible actions for
the sustainable development
of a community.
Learning experience:
Grade 1 classes make weekly
visits to Ghim Moh Lions
Befrienders, visiting the
centre every five weeks
on approximately six visits
across the year. Prior to
the visits, students develop
an awareness of how
the organisation serves
senior citizens through
presentations from teachers.
The students then interview
their Lions Befrienders to
collect information on the
types of activities they would
like to do throughout the
year. This enables students
to plan actions based upon
informed and relevant
choices for both parties.
Emphasis is placed on
reciprocity: engaging in
service benefits us as well
as our partners as we learn
from them and broaden
our perspectives and
understanding of the world.
Infant School Global
Concern: ACRES
Conceptual Understanding:
The way an individual
takes action can lead to
an outcome that supports
individual or group
wellbeing.
Benchmark: Share action
with the goal of inspiring
others.
Learning experience: In
K1, the GC connects with
the Unit of Study ‘Living
and Non-Living’ in which
students define ‘living’ and
‘non-living’ and explore the
common fundamental needs
of living things.
In K2, the Unit of Study
‘Feathers, Fur and Fins’
explores the similarities
and differences between
different animals through
direct observation,
questioning and research.
Students then consider
how these features support
survival, and the GC is
introduced as students
explore how they contribute
to the survival of animals
in Singapore.
In Grade 1, ACRES is linked
to the Unit of Study ‘Animal
Habitats’ when students
learn about humankind’s
responsibility towards
animals and their habitats.
December 2019 Dunia | 15
The spirit of “Generation Greta” flows through the UWCSEA community every day, but was especially evident at the UWC Day
celebrations across both campuses on Friday, 20 September. Themed ‘Climate of Change’ this year, UWC Day is a chance to honour
and put into practice the values and mission that unite the UWC community around the world—of peace, sustainability, positive social
change and a better world.
Through workshops, science experiments, a spot of community gardening, exhilarating performances and informative displays,
the College community came together to put into motion the values of sustainability which we espouse daily.
SPOTLIGHT
UWC DAY
A RALLYING CALL FOR CHANGE
SPOTLIGHT ON …
LEARNING
TO STAY SAFE
A proactive approach
to student empowerment
Why do students need to learn about Safe Behaviours?
At UWCSEA, keeping children safe is everyone’s responsibility.
This extends to a responsibility to ensure our students are
equipped to make sense of the world around them and to
make decisions that maximize the safety of themselves and
others. It is based on the foundation of developing respectful
relationships, in keeping with our belief that all children and
young people have a right to:
• be treated with respect and to be protected from harm
• be asked for their opinions about things that affect their
lives and to be listened to
• feel and be safe in their interactions with adults and other
children and young people
• understand as early as possible what is meant by ‘feeling
and being safe’
FEATURE
By Carla Marschall, Head of Curriculum Development and Research, and Lia Gould, Child Safeguarding Lead
In response to the needs of young people who are learning to navigate our increasingly complex world, safeguarding practices
across educational institutions, including international schools, have continued to evolve. At UWCSEA, long-term members of our
community will recognise some of the more visible measures we have introduced in the past several years in response to our ongoing
commitment to ensure the wellbeing of our community. The list is extensive and includes such things as: security registration of
all campus visitors, spot checks of ID while on campus, running all local and overseas trips through our CIMS database, revised
guidelines on taking and sharing photos of students, displaying designated safeguarding lead posters, the move to Google messaging
for instant messaging communication with students, and even the introduction of a bus tracking app by transport provider Yeap.
While we do our best to ensure the campuses are safe environments for the children and young people in our care, part of our
systemic response is the proactive empowerment of our students. This has been enhanced by the integration of Safe Behaviours
learning as part of our Personal and Social Education (PSE) curriculum. As part of our PSE Strands Personal Safety, Digital Safety
and Healthy Relationships, elements of the Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum have been modified for our unique school
and national context and added to our programme. This world-class, evidence-based child safety programme, developed by
the South Australian Department of Education, is used by a number of international schools around the world. Adapted after
careful review of available resources, it provides UWCSEA with a robust international benchmark for safeguarding learning.
What does this look like in the curriculum?
Safe Behaviours learning has been integrated from K–12,
as part of our PSE curriculum. When introducing concepts
around Safe Behaviours, teachers use age-appropriate
language and accessible, relevant activities to explore the
themes of having a right to be safe and making choices to
keep ourselves safe.
Within these themes, there are four focus areas, which are
examined in growing complexity in accordance with the age
of the learners:
1. The right to be safe, e.g., understanding the rights of
the child
2. Relationships, e.g., understanding what positive, healthy
relationships look like
3. Recognising and reporting abuse, e.g., what constitutes
unhealthy or dangerous situations that put young people
at risk or in harm
4. Protective strategies, e.g., assertive communication and
problem-solving strategies to navigate potentially risky
and dangerous situations
Scan the QR code to access age-specific
factsheets for parents, guardians and
care givers.
December 2019 Dunia | 17
The EE Process
To support students in their EE journey, we have developed a
year-long process that provides them with the information,
inspiration and insights that they need to be successful. To
introduce the EE in Grade 11, we like to assume that students
have no background knowledge regarding the EE; that way,
all students receive the same foundational information at the
same time. The process begins with an introductory assembly
early in Term 2 of Grade 11 where we answer common
questions about the EE such as: What is it? How does it work?
How long does it take? Which subjects can be used? What
are the deadlines? Students are then encouraged to start
thinking about topics they’d like to pursue before attending
two different carousels.
Heads of Department prepare to host carousel sessions,
which offer a 20-minute glimpse into what an EE looks like in
their specific subject area. Ahead of the carousel process this
past year, I ask teachers to help create examples of research
questions on the same topic but through the lens of different
academic subjects.
Stimulating topics and questions
The sample topic I gave was bees. Yes, bees. It’s a topic which
I hold near to my heart; as the most important pollinator
of food crops, it’s essential that we keep the honeybee
population alive and thriving throughout the world. I wanted
to know how our teachers would formulate a research
question around the subject of bees, so I posed this question:
“Pretend I am a student who wants to study a passion of
mine: bees. My problem is that I don’t know which subject
area to select for my EE. What type of question could I
research if I were to register in your subject area?”
I received many responses from a wide variety of subject
areas, but the two that stood out the most for me were the
ones submitted for a WSEE:
• To what extent do wildlife documentaries employ the
language of bias in their descriptions of behaviour amongst
bees? (English A and Biology)
• What are the ecological and commercial opportunities for
the adoption of stingless beehives in Singapore? (ESS and
Business Management)
The various examples—of both single subject and WSEE
research questions—help to stimulate students’ thinking
around potential topics.
Carousels and research skills
As they attend the carousel sessions, the students learn more
about their options. For instance, students attending a Language
A carousel learn that there are three different categories that
can be explored; in a History carousel, they will learn that their
topic must focus on the human past and be at least ten years
The Extended Essay journey and interdisciplinary
By Uzay Ashton, EE Coordinator and Teacher of High School English, East Campus
The Extended Essay (EE) is an integral part of the two-year IB Diploma Programme (IBDP), making up one-third of what is
known as the IB Core, comprised of the EE, Theory of Knowledge (ToK) and Creativity, Activity, Service (CAS). At UWCSEA,
we introduce IBDP students to the EE in the middle of their Grade 11 year. Over the course of the next 12 months, students
conduct independent research on a topic and subject area of their choice, demonstrating their passion and intellectual initiative
by writing a 4,000 word paper worthy of any first-year university course.
In 2016, the International Baccalaureate introduced the World Studies Extended Essay (WSEE) which “gives students the
opportunity to undertake an interdisciplinary study of an issue of contemporary global significance” (“Interdisciplinary Essays”).
Since then, full diploma students around the globe have been looking into ways in which they can combine their passion for
two diverse subjects and apply it to one of six areas of study: conflict, peace, and security; culture, language, and identity;
environmental and/or economic sustainability; equality and inequality; health and development; or science, technology, and
society. The opportunity and challenge to identify and investigate an interdisciplinary topic has led to some fascinating EEs
in recent years—and has also inspired teachers to support students in finding a unique research question that sparks their
intellectual curiosity and personal passions.
FEATURE
18 | Dunia December 2019