December 2021
CELEBRATING
50 YEARS IN
SINGAPORE
Page 14
LONG-TERM
LEARNING IN
SUSTAINABILITY
Page 4
BUILDING
CAPACITY FOR
PEACE
Page 10
I am convinced that whatever the future of education looks like,
that UWC will play a very important part in shaping it.”
Faith Abiodun, Executive Director of UWC International
speaking at the Kishore Mahbubani Speaker Series Reimagining
Learning event: Celebrating the UWC mission on 13 December
2021. Read more on page 15.
02
50 YEARS UNITED
Carma Elliot CMG OBE,
College President
03
HAPPY GOLDEN
JUBILEE
A message from Prime
Minister Lee Hsien
Loong
04
ENGAGING WITH
COMPLEXITY
A short history
of sustainable
development learning
06
THRIVING
THROUGH
SHARED
PURPOSE
Interview with Nick
Alchin, Head of East
08
ARTS
SHOWCASE 2021
Creativity continues
across the College
10
BUILDING
CAPACITY FROM
POSITIVE PEACE
Extracted from White
Paper 1
12
NURTURING
STUDENT
AGENCY
Blended learning =
best of both worlds
14
CELEBRATING
50 YEARS IN
SINGAPORE
There is more in us
16
UWCSEA
TIMELINE
Our journey 1971–2021
18
PLACE-BASED
SUSTAINABILITY
LEARNING
Extracted from White
Paper 2
20
COMMUNITY IN
BLOOM
NParks awards East
Campus Platinum
(with Diamond)
21
CREATING
CAPACITY FOR
PEACEBUILDING
Launching the
UWCSEA IfP Toolkit
22
SEE! SEE!
OECD report on
Beyond Academic
Learning
24
MEET THE
MIDDLE SCHOOL
PRINCIPAL
Welcoming Gretchen
DePoint
25
INSPIRATION FOR
TRANSFORMATION
Challenging student
artists
26
WRITE FOR
RIGHTS
An opportunity for
advocacy
28
SUPPORTING
INCLUSIVE
CLASSROOMS
There is more than
one way to be a
UWCSEA family
30
ALUMNI VALUES
IN ACTION
AWARDS
Taking the mission to
the world
32
TELLING OUR
STORY
50th anniversary book
celebrates UWCSEA in
Singapore
COVER IMAGES
Front: East Campus
Giving Day
Back: Straits Times
15 December
December 2021
Dunia is published two times a year by UWC South East Asia. Reproduction in any manner in
English or any other language is prohibited without written consent. Please send feedback to
dunia@uwcsea.edu.sg.
Editors: Sinéad Collins, Renée Gallant, Jason Gan and Kate Woodford
Photography: Janrius Rogers, Joseph Tan and members of the UWCSEA community
Design: Selina Low
UWCSEA Dover is registered by the Committee for Private Education (CPE), part of SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG)
CPE Registration No. 197000825H | CPE Registration Period 18 July 2017–17 July 2023 | Charity Registration No. 00142
UWCSEA East is registered by the Committee for Private Education (CPE), part of SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG)
CPE Registration No. 200801795N | CPE Registration Period 10 March 2017–9 March 2023 | Charity Registration No. 002104
Printed on 100% recycled paper with environmentally friendly inks | MCI (P) 095/02/2020 | MKT-2122
Read. Publish. Share. Subscribe.
Visit the newsroom of UWCSEA:
perspectives.uwcsea.edu.sg
OPINION
50 Years United
By Carma Elliot CMG OBE, College President
This term has been a wonderful start to the celebration of our
50 year history in Singapore, and as I reflect on the collective
activity that has taken place alongside all of the ‘business as
usual’—the learning, the teaching, the operations and the
care—I am grateful to be a part of such a wholeheartedly
committed community.
There have been so many opportunities for us to be ‘together
in purpose’ this term. At the Alumni Reunion in August, we
kicked off our 50th celebrations in earnest and gathered
together, virtually, some 700 alumni from across the globe.
While rekindling connections with former classmates and
teachers, our alumni were also keen to explore what the
College is today, and to understand how they can give back
by continuing to live the mission in their lives beyond the
College. The UWCSEA Alumni Values in Action Awards were
launched that weekend, and the awardees announced during
Founders Week at the book-end alumni event, our Holiday
Reunion. It was humbling to see the ways in which our 19
awardees are making a difference in their communities,
supporting inclusion, peace, sustainability and community
wellbeing.
Activity around the theme of peace gathered pace in
September, with the launch of our first White Paper Educating
for Peace: UWCSEA’s Mission for Future Peacebuilders. UWC
Day, on 21 September, was celebrated across both campuses
by students and staff. That evening, I was honoured to host
series namesake Kishore Mahbubani on the East Campus for
a conversation examining perspectives on peace in front of a
small audience of students and staff, and a much wider online
audience. The messages of peace and the importance of the
role of youth in the process of peacebuilding are continuing
to spread, as the video recording of that discussion has
continued to gather audiences in the intervening months.
While we will have more to share on this topic later this year,
we were also pleased to announce UWCSEA’s partnership
with National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Asian Peace
Programme (APP) at the event.
In a fitting culmination of our theme of Peace, the UWCSEA
Initiative for Peace Toolkit was then launched at the end of
September, and we welcomed alumni students and staff in an
online event which served to highlight the importance of this
programme, and the impact that initiatives such as IfP can
have on the lives of young people and their communities. We
have funded an experienced IfP facilitator to take care of the
nascent programme, which we hope will grow to become a
global network of IfP events, each having profound and long
lasting personal impact on participants.
And then to the culminating event of this term, Founders
Week. It began on Monday, 13 December with another
inspiring Kishore Mahbubani Speaker Series event—a
conversation with Faith Abiodun, the incoming Executive
Director of UWC International for which I was joined by two
of our High School students, Ruth and Anthony. Faith was
inspirational on so many topics and really connected with our
students. He shared that for him “UWC is possibility—plus
agency” and that he hopes students will both see what can
happen, and know that they can make it happen. It was an
inspiring glimpse of the future of our global movement, and
of the discussions that will take place in the UWCSEA Forum
Learning to Shape the Future, which will take place in late
April. We were so pleased to welcome so many in the UWC
global community to the event, which was Faith’s first public
appearance in his new role.
On Tuesday afternoon we began our first ever Giving Day
with a splash when 50 Dover staff jumped into the pool to
kick off the 30 hours of giving! I enjoyed baking 1,500 cookies
with parent volunteers on both campuses, and had the joy
of handing them out on our birthday, joined by scholars,
students and members of the leadership team. The whole
2 | Dunia December 2021
College community came together to support scholarships
and there were multiple staff and student challenges
across the College. The generosity of our community was
overwhelming with more than $450,000 raised by 735
donors in support of UWC scholarships. Our sincerest
thanks to everyone who was able to support this special day,
which will fund a number of scholars to experience a UWC
education, including a young woman from Afghanistan.
Wednesday then marked 50 years to the day since former
Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew opened the College on Dover
Road. We were fortunate to receive a congratulatory video
message from current Prime Minister Lee himself, which you
can read alongside my own, or view the video on our 50th
anniversary website. It is a remarkable honour to have a
message acknowledging the special history UWCSEA has with
Singapore, and of the value that is placed on our contribution,
as a school and as a community. We hope to remain closely
connected with Singapore; we know that we will continue to
be inspired by our host country for the next 50 years.
And then we launched our highly anticipated 50th
anniversary coffee table book, 50 Years United: The Story
of UWCSEA in Singapore, with service and other Singapore
partners and friends joining us in the Dover Campus Library.
The book is a wonderful collection of stories and memories
in recognition of UWC’s intimate connection to Singapore’s
story. I am grateful for the care that went into creating such
a thoughtful record of our story, our achievements and our
inspiration.
When our College opened in 1971, we effectively turned one
school in Wales into a global movement, now 18 schools
strong, a global community united by our common mission
and a vision for inclusion and equity. How wonderful to
celebrate together in such rich and meaningful ways.
A birthday message from
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
15 December 2021
My warmest congratulations to UWC for 50 successful
years in Singapore. Fifty years ago UWC was set up as one
of the first international schools in Singapore educating
the children of expatriates posted here. Since then UWC
in Singapore has grown into an established and trusted
educator. It has 5,600 students from over 100 nationalities
and successful alumni all over the world. UWC’s success is
intertwined with Singapore’s development and progress.
Throughout this journey the College has made valuable
contributions to the wider community especially through
your vibrant service programmes.
These last two years have been very difficult for everyone
because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, it’s been
tough on the international community here. You have had
to comply with strict travel restrictions. Some families
have endured long periods of separation from members
abroad. The economic uncertainties have also heightened
local-foreigner anxieties in our society which you may have
personally encountered. I would therefore like to thank the
international community here for standing shoulder-to-
shoulder with Singaporeans through these difficult days.
Thank you for contributing to the economy and society
and for being part of the extended Singapore family. We
welcome you and value your contributions. We hope you
will integrate well into our society and wish you and your
family a productive and happy stay here. Singapore will
always be an international hub, open and welcoming to
ideas and talent and we thank UWC for helping to make
Singapore a good place for expatriates to live and work.
I look forward to the College continuing to play a valuable
role in Singapore for the next 50 years and beyond. Happy
Golden Jubilee.
December 2021 Dunia | 3
Adapted from UWCSEA White Paper 2: UWCSEA
CHANGEMAKERS: Placing sustainable futures at the
heart of a school
Although always an implicit part of the school’s approach to
education, the concept of sustainability as a goal was named
in the UWC mission around twenty years ago, as the science
and understanding of the extent of the world’s environmental
challenges grew and as the economic consequences of
rising inequality became apparent. These dual challenges
both threatened the UWC movement’s ultimate goal of
promoting peace through the education of young people who
are inspired and equipped to take on the responsibility of
building healthy societies. Over subsequent years, the case to
incorporate sustainability into the education at the College as
a more explicit aim has become even more compelling.
In 2005, UWCSEA helped drive the international UWC
movement to adopt sustainability as one of its twin goals.
The school itself adopted sustainable development as a key
part of its operations in 2007, at the same time developing its
first College Environment Policy to drive its integration across
the school.
However, in the decade before this, the College had already
made a start, by designing an integrated Humanities course
called Grade 6 Global Concerns. At the time the College was
a secondary-only school, and this introduction to History
and Geography set out to explicitly link learning in key
concepts for each discipline with a deepening of students’
understanding of the development challenges facing
communities throughout Asia.
Ellie Alchin, now Director of Teaching and Learning at
UWCSEA Dover, taught the Grade 6 Global Concerns course
in 1995, shortly after it was developed by a team of teachers
who had also been instrumental in establishing the Global
Concerns service programme. Alchin says the course was
conceived as a way for incoming first-year UWCSEA students
to become more informed about the issues facing the Global
Concerns service partners that they would be engaging
with throughout their time at the school. “If students were
supporting Jakarta Street Kids GC, for example, the course
was intended to help them to be more effective, because
they were—while still learning important concepts of history
and geography—able to understand some of the interrelated
issues facing communities linked to the GC partner—poverty,
inadequate health care, housing in slums—and be able to take
more informed action later on.”
The development and subsequent evolution of the course
into the Middle School ‘EngHum’ (integrated English and
Humanities) programme which is still very much alive today is
a hallmark of the College’s pioneering approach to curriculum
development. This early adoption of concept-led, place-based
and mission-aligned learning proved to be foundational for
the College’s future; the transdisciplinary, holistic course
design was an early model which informed the multi-year
curriculum articulation project, which in turn led to the
adoption of a concept-based model for teaching and learning.
Sustainable development is also core to the IB Diploma,
which UWCSEA introduced in 1977 as part of becoming a full
member of the UWC movement. While courses across the
Diploma explore topics linked to sustainable development,
the transdisciplinary Group 3 and 4 course Environmental
Systems and Societies (ESS) is an exemplary model for
learning in this area. The ESS course, currently available
at Standard Level (SL), explores concepts such as applied
Engaging with complexity
A short history of long-term sustainable
development learning
FEATURE
4 | Dunia December 2021
systems thinking within Environmental Science. Students are
challenged to understand how each part of an ecosystem
interacts with and impacts other parts, as well as the entire
system. This provides a framework to understand the ethical
and socio-political aspects of societal issues, evaluate and
measure their impact on people and the environment, and
grow students’ understanding of ecological footprints and
understanding of important critical thinking tools such as
systems thinking.
In 1999, UWCSEA was at the forefront of the development of
this increasingly popular IB course. High School teachers Ellie
Alchin (who was teaching a school based transdisciplinary
course called IB Science, Technology and Society) and Gary
Seston (who was teaching an IB course called Environmental
Systems) to an IB workshop to write, and then pilot,
what would be adopted as the curriculum for the new IB
ESS subject. Subsequent growth in the popularity of this
subject, originally called Ecosystems and Societies, reflects
the increasing importance of these concepts and skills for
students who will join the workforce of the future. Alchin,
who served as the IB Deputy Chief Examiner for the ESS SL
course for a decade, was most recently part of the global
team who completed the development of the HL ESS course,
which will be piloted by the IB in a number of schools from
August 2022.
The College’s continued focus on transdisciplinary curriculum
development has contributed to the successful integration
of sustainability topics throughout the UWCSEA learning
programme from Kindergarten to Grade 12. Following years
of development to create a concept-based K-12 written
curriculum for four of the five elements of the UWCSEA
learning programme—academics, service, outdoor education
and personal and social education—Sustainable Development
was recently named as one of the five mission competencies
in the UWCSEA Guiding Statements.
UWCSEA’s Guiding Statements defines the Sustainable
Development mission competency as being demonstrated
by an individual ‘engaging with complexity, understanding
multiple futures, taking the role of steward and developing
sustainable solutions within environmental, social, economic
and political systems.’ The development of the exciting new
Grade 9 and 10 UWCSEA courses over the coming years,
which have progress towards the mission competencies at
the heart of their intended learning outcomes, are further
examples of how the College’s long-term approach to
curriculum development continues to evolve in line with the
needs of students, by encompassing sustainability initiatives
and student activism as part of the learning.
Most recently, the College has adopted a definition of
sustainable development derived from the 1991 report Caring
for the Earth, subsequently refined by the Global Footprint
Network: “Wellbeing for all, within the means of nature.”
This definition is measurable and achievable, both of which
are important for a school whose students are in the first
stage of their lifelong learning journey, and encapsulates the
approach UWCSEA takes to the challenge, which is to offer a
way forward and to consider how to make sustainable choices
when weighing up decisions across all areas of education and
throughout life.
Download White Paper 2:
UWCSEA CHANGEMAKERS:
Placing sustainable futures at the
heart of a school
Photo by Janrius Rogers
December 2021 Dunia | 5
Thriving through
shared purpose
Nick Alchin took up the role as Head
of UWCSEA East in January 2021. One
year into his appointment, the East
Campus community will be familiar
with his name—hundreds of emails
have been sent in his name as we
navigate the pandemic—but many will
not yet have had a chance to meet the
passionate educator.
His commitment to UWCSEA and the
UWC mission have fueled 12 months
of thoughtful leadership focused on
encouraging the development of both
students and staff as agents of positive
change in the world. He is a believer in
the power of shared purpose and hope
that comes from being a part of the
UWCSEA community with its collective
responsibility to our shared mission.
Dunia asked him to share a little more:
Dunia: What would you describe as
the challenge of leadership? How
does this influence you in your role
as Head of Campus?
Nick: There’s the need to hold and
wrestle with valid opposing ideas and
behaviours—while at the same time
sticking to our mission and values. It’s a
bit of a paradox as it means attempting
to find space and occasion to be
humble and strong, decisive and open,
confident and vulnerable, tough and
compassionate, detached and sensitive,
symbolic and substantive. It means
being absolutely fair, while also being
sensitive to particular circumstances.
And so on. Leadership is difficult, and it
should not be presented as being easy.
We can always do better, and frankly,
this complexity is why we sometimes
get it wrong. But we keep trying!
I tend not to think about myself as an
individual leader, and find it easier to
think about how I can contribute to and
shape the leadership of the College. We
need all the qualities, and sometimes
we have to recognise that no individual
can carry them all at once—so the
team is really the fundamental unit
of leadership. My focus is on trying to
create tighter networks of connections,
internally and externally. This takes
time, and requires enormous trust
and resilience and belief—but it’s
worthwhile and we’ll end up more
robust and resilient as a result.
What are some of the long term
innovations that you are most
excited about being a part of bringing
into life at UWCSEA?
There are many changes underway.
Some structural ones are plain to
see, some cultural ones are far less
visible—but the most recent significant
change that I can point to is perhaps
the way the College is approaching
the extension of our High School
programme and the new Grade 9
and 10 programme, which continues
the concept–based interdisciplinary
approach of our K–8 programme.
At East, and across the College, we’ve
collectively created an environment in
which thinking, debate and evolution
is encouraged, and that has helped
us to create a community focused on
improving our education for peace and
sustainability. And this will—as we have
already seen—continue to produce
agents of change in the world who will
bring our mission, our shared purpose,
to life in ways we haven’t even
imagined yet.
I am also looking forward to continuing
the progress we have made on inclusion
and wellbeing—much of this work is in
its infancy at the moment but from the
foundations we are building, or probably
better phrased as reconstructing, I
am hopeful that we will achieve a real
difference in the life of our community
and which we will be able to share more
broadly as educators, and with the
wider world through the actions of
our students.
What brought you into education?
As with so many things, there was a lot
of serendipity. As a teenager, I signed up
to work in America at a summer camp
for children with special needs, and
returned for many summers. I enjoyed
it, and was good at it and so when I was
later looking for what might allow me
to pursue the things I love, I was drawn
back to that experience of working
with young people and bringing out
the best in them. So after short stints
as a computer programmer and as an
actuary, I returned to university to train
as a teacher. And I have never wanted to
do anything else.
You’re what we affectionately call a
member of the ‘boomerang club’—
you were at Dover Campus and then
left for a period before returning to
help establish the East Campus High
School in 2011. What compelled you
to return, and to stay on and lead the
school?
Ellie, my wife and I were lucky enough
to join Dover as our first international
school in 1996. An odd place to spend
a honeymoon, but there you go. I
taught Maths, Computing and Theory
of Knowledge (TOK). Arriving more by
INTERVIEW
6 | Dunia December 2021
good fortune than by design (this was
in the days before schools had websites,
virtual tours or online interviews) we
had applied to jobs advertised in a
newspaper, in search of an adventure.
The six years we spent in Singapore
were a formative experience for both
of us. Ellie is now Director of Teaching
and Learning at Dover and we count
ourselves blessed to have started our
international teaching careers there.
Following Dover, I spent a few years
at the International School of Geneva,
then seven years at Sevenoaks School in
the UK as Head of Maths and Director
of IB. From there, we moved to Kenya
and taught at the Aga Khan Academy in
Mombasa where I was Dean of Studies.
I came back to UWCSEA to the East
Campus because despite being at other
fine schools, I didn’t see anywhere
with equally powerful aspirations and
capacities to implement. And that
remains my reason for being here
still. All young people have incredible
potential and this school nurtures
that in a very inspirational and—to
my mind—quite unique way. This is
made possible by the staff, who are
unparalleled. They are here for the
same reasons as I am; we share the
same purpose and hope in a very
powerful mixture. It’s a cliche I know,
but it is genuinely humbling to be part
of this community.
Quite literally, you ‘wrote the book’
for IB Theory of Knowledge and have
been deeply connected to the IB
organisation for decades, including
serving as Chief Assessor globally
for TOK and a stint as Vice Chair of
the IB Examining Board. That’s quite
a lot to be proud of. We’re interested
to know which professional
achievements have meant the most
to you as an educator?
You know, there was a time that I would
have talked about some of the things
I’ve been involved in, and been really
proud of some of them. Aside from
the work with the IB—which you’ve
been fairly thorough in researching!—I
would perhaps have named some of
the opportunities I’ve had to contribute
to the teaching and learning of critical
thinking. The Clothmaker Schoolteacher
Fellowship at New Hall in the University
of Cambridge was fascinating, reviewing
of programmes for Critical Thinking in
schools. I was also pretty proud of being
accepted to lecture in Critical Thinking
at Nanyang Technological University
and California State University during
my first stint in Singapore.
But as I get older, honestly the
moments are more about individual
students and colleagues, and the times
when I feel I’ve been able to make a
difference to them. Sometimes you
know because they tell you; more often
than not you just watch them grow,
respond, adapt and change and you
just think, “I was a part of that in some
positive way.” That’s a good feeling. And
sometimes you just don’t know, but you
take it on faith. I read somewhere this
idea that ‘the meaning of life is to plant
trees under whose shade you will never
sit.” I love that I think it’s what schools
do. I’m still in touch with some of the
kids from those summer camps, for
example. They are now adults with their
own families—and that sort of thing is
what keeps me going.
I guess having my own kids now nearly
finished school also makes me see it in
a whole different way. I didn’t think I
ever would have put it this way without
this question but I guess I feel quite
parental about work now in a way that
I wouldn’t have done a few years ago—
with all the opportunities and problems
that parenting brings, which are many
and profound, as most readers here
will know.
You’re a prolific blogger, how do you
find the time?
Well, I don’t know about prolific—it’s
one post each week as a way of sharing
ideas about interrelated aspects of
education, culture and schooling. Or
perhaps not just sharing ideas, but
also using the blog as a way to clarify
my thoughts by pinning them down in
written form. I like the discipline of it, if
nothing else.
About Nick
Skill you learned for the love of it
Unicycling
Skill you’ve not yet mastered but
would like too
One-armed press up
Three pieces of creativity that
inspire you
Poem: Snow by Louis MacNeice
Book: Look To Windward by
Iain M Banks
Book: Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
Of all your qualifications, which was
the most satisfying to gain?
Further Maths A level. Loved it,
unreservedly, from start to end.
When you eat at a Singapore
hawker stall you choose...
Rojak
You relax by…?
Running / gym / yoga / reading
Language you wish you spoke
Chinese
Travel experience you’d repeat
Touring Namibia with young kids.
Board game or card game?
Neither
The superpower you’d most
like to have
To teleport, taking people and
luggage with me
Visit Nick’s blog
Education, Schools and
Culture to explore more:
December 2021 Dunia | 7
ARTS
SHOWCASE
Grade 4 Celebration of Music
MS Rock Show
Artist-in Residence Shayne Phua
in Junior School Art classes
Grade 3 Knee Pots showcase display
The Short Form High School Drama Showcase
DOVER CAMPUS
Photos by Joseph Tan
UN Night
COMMUNITY NEWS
Across the campuses, artistic pursuit and energy has
continued to flourish throughout Term 1. From Primary
School students engaging in music lessons and visual
art workshops to the student energy and enthusiasm
on display in the annual cultural showcases that are
UN Night and Culturama, our students and staff have
been engaged and enthusiastic participants in the arts
across the academic and activity programme.
We’re hoping we will be able to invite parents to
experience the arts programme on campus in Terms
2 and 3 and will continue to share our students’
successes online.
High School Drama Kathakali workshop
CultuRama
Middle School Rock Show
High School Student-led Drama Production
Photos by Janrius Rogers
EAST CAMPUS
Unplugged
Defining peace
The first fundamental aspect of determining how peace
education might be built into learning starts with a definition.
This may seem a simple step, but peace can occur across
many levels. There can be peace within yourself or in
your family, peace within a community and, at its largest
consideration, peace between countries.
Peace may also take many different forms in practice. Positive
peace is when the attitudes, structures and institutions that
underpin peace are in place, function well and a society is free
of violence. Negative peace is “the absence of violence and
the absence of fear and violence” according to the Institute
for Economics and Peace, a non-profit think tank. However, in
this state, while a society may be free from violence, its peace
structures are still fragile and lack the necessary frameworks
to support it into the future.
This in turn can result in a peace deficit, where the peace
a society has gained can’t be sustained in the future by its
internal socio-economic development and the institutions
and support networks needed to maintain peaceful societies1.
At UWCSEA, students examine all potential aspects of
peace, but the focus is on giving students the understanding,
skills, and knowledge to help them build the structures and
relationships that can help support peace into the future.
“There are lots of definitions of peace. And the most common
idea is that peace is the absence of war, that idea of negative
peace. But when we think about peace at UWCSEA, and when
we talk about peace education, we’re really talking about
positive peace,” says Alchin.
The programme is designed to link to the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goal 16, to “promote peaceful
and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide
access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and
inclusive institutions at all levels.”
As a pillar of the school’s educational philosophy, it helps
guide the teaching approach across the Primary, Middle
and High Schools, and enables peacebuilding to be woven
into many different subject areas in all grade levels. Peace
is also one of the “Five Ps” that the United Nations uses to
conceptualise sustainable development, and this definition
therefore interlinks peace education with other important
Mission Competencies, like Sustainable Development, and
Interpersonal and Intercultural Understanding.
Building capacity
for positive peace
Reference
[1] Positive Peace Report 2020: Analysing the Factors that Sustain Peace, The Institute for Economics and Peace, 2020 https://www.economicsandpeace.org/
wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PPR-2020web.pdf
Peace education is what we do and how we do it, not just what children learn.”
Ellie Alchin, Director of Teaching and Learning, UWCSEA Dover
Excerpted from UWCSEA White Paper 1: EDUCATING FOR PEACE: UWCSEA’s mission for future peacebuilders
Broader than a single subject, peace education at UWCSEA aims to instil a deep understanding of what peace is, the different
ways peace can be achieved, and to embed peace throughout a wide range of learning opportunities.
“Peace education is what we do and how we do it, not just what children learn,“ explains Ellie Alchin, Director of Teaching
and Learning at UWCSEA Dover. “Peacebuilding is not a standalone curriculum because it fits into so many different areas
of the school. There are elements of peace education in the personal and social education curriculum, there are conceptual
understandings relating to peace in the humanities curriculum. It’s explicitly taught in global citizenship and global politics, and
in IB and (i)GCSE history. It’s also built into the service curriculum, and anywhere that students learn about sustainability.”
At UWCSEA, peacebuilding is something that is explicitly taught and considered to be critical to the foundations of a healthy
community and society. It is an act of service, but it is also considered to be a core understanding and disposition that helps
people achieve peace personally and in complex, real-world situations.
FEATURE
10 | Dunia December 2021
From definition to practice
The definition of peace has an important impact on the way
that peacebuilding is incorporated into the curriculum. The
programme begins with the definitions, and then explores
three key layers—or rings—of building peace. These layers
help shape the way that peace is taught from K1 to Grade 12.
The first inner ring of peace is personal peace, which starts
with the ideas of identity, including an understanding of who
a student is, their cultural self and a sense of self awareness.
The middle ring is the concept of interpersonal peace. This
relates to interpersonal relationships and the acceptance
of differences, including an ability to appreciate different
cultures, so that people know how to interact with each other
and can understand each other’s different ideas of community
peace. The third and outer ring is the concept of global peace,
which includes international conflict, the role of youth as
agents of change and advocacy, and peace building in the
wider global sense, including how we build the systems and
structures that lead to a more peaceful future.
At UWCSEA, the inner ring begins with our youngest students
in K1 and guides curriculum development and service and
activities throughout a student’s life at school. As students’
develop, the focus moves outside their immediate circle and
learning expands to in age-appropriate ways to connecting
with others and the community, and concepts that support
these. In the outer ring, peacebuilding is explored through
understanding of historical conflicts, through global politics
and global citizenship courses, and again through the
activities and service programmes. Students who choose to
focus on peacebuilding in High School can also participate in
the Initiative for Peace (IFP), UWCSEA’s flagship peacebuilding
education programme.
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Photo by Joseph Tan
Learn more about peace education at
UWCSEA explore our web pages on
Educating for Peace and download the
White Paper:
Modified from Crawford and Shelit (2012) for UNICEF
UWCSEA rings of peacebuilding
December 2021 Dunia | 11
By Tim Lovatt, Head of Digital Learning, Dover Campus and
Adrienne Michetti, Head of Digital Learning, East Campus
Tim took his daughter to the Museum of Ice Cream last week.
It’s the offensively pink building on Dempsey Hill that offers,
amongst other things, ice-cream tasting counters. There, she
was faced with a seemingly impossible dilemma; Chocolate
Chip, or Strawberry? For what seemed like an eternity, she
dithered over the choice and, with much reluctance, chose
strawberry. Tim smugly took his chocolate chip and they sat
down on some offensively pink seats. Almost immediately,
his daughter was reaching over, scooping out his chocolate
chips and mixing them into her strawberry ice cream. Whilst
mourning the loss of the chocolate, he was nevertheless
impressed with her simple solution to get the best of
both options.
Best of both
Ice-cream based stories aside, why shouldn’t our students be
able to access the best bits of every opportunity? When it
comes to learning, we should be curating, nurturing, creating
and delivering the very best educational experiences for
our students, taking chocolate chips, strawberry and gula
melaka, throwing in some mochi and making a supercharged
experience that has all the best ingredients. And even better,
if they don’t get on well with some of those, switch them with
their own favourites.
In education, this process is called Blended Learning. At
UWCSEA, we define blended learning as an approach which
combines elements of online and face-to-face learning, which
increases levels of student agency and ownership over the
learning process. As stated in our UWCSEA learning principles,
increased agency and ownership allow for higher quality and
more relevant feedback, leading to more meaningful learning.
The term “blended learning” has been around for decades, but
technology and the pandemic have accelerated the uptake,
relevance and understanding of blended learning, paving
the way for a transformation in the way that schools could
work. Here at UWCSEA, we are pushing these boundaries,
augmenting our already outstanding teaching and learning
practices with blended learning approaches and digital tools
to create the very best learning experience for our students.
Blended Learning approaches also allow us to collect valuable
evidence of learning which in turn helps to inform teaching
and learning practices. Through ongoing and purposeful
professional learning, innovation and collaboration, we are
making this a reality and developing even more ways to
embed our learning principles in classrooms and beyond.
Reimagine the learning process
Walking through classrooms at UWCSEA, you would likely
see students using a variety of media to access their learning;
video, text, audio, interactive simulation, and the ability
to choose the one that helps them learn most effectively.
You might see students choosing their own route to their
learning destination, engaging with resources that they can
pause, rewind and revisit in ways that are best suited to
them. Instead of doing homework, you may find students
completing pre-learning, so they come to the class equipped
with knowledge and ready to challenge their understanding,
debate their points of view on an issue or practice their skills.
Picture a lesson where students are investigating 3D printing.
Students can choose from curated resources to introduce
them to the topic—a magazine article, a podcast or a video.
Using CAD software they can pick an assignment to design
which tallies with their level of confidence in the tools
and their personal interests (fashion, sports, engineering,
etc). They then have access to a tutorial (which they can
re-watch at any time) showing them how to print their
design. Throughout this process, there are opportunities for
collaboration, feedback, reflection and 1-1 teacher interaction,
each enhanced by blended learning approaches.
Nurturing student agency
How taking the best of digital and face-to-face learning
can empower students and enhance learning
OPINION
12 | Dunia December 2021
Or, picture a Maths lesson where students are learning about
surface area. To begin, students submit entry tickets to show
what they have learned or practiced from a self-paced video
from earlier in the week. Based on students’ responses, they
might then have choices about what particular skill they need
to practice or learn next. One group will measure models
such as cubes and paper towel rolls, covering them in foil to
test their calculations; another group uses a leveled, self-
paced online game to apply learning to different contexts;
yet another group conferences with the teacher to re-work or
reinforce the formula for the surface area of prisms, and one
last group watches a tutorial—at their own pace—on how to
calculate the surface area of cylinders.
These are just a few examples of what a blended UWCSEA
experience is like. There are many other possibilities of what
blended learning experiences might look like, and we are
continuing to experiment and explore with those that best
meet our students’ needs.
Follow passions
Our students are fabulously different from each other. They
will go on to thousands of different careers in hundreds of
different industries, and part of our role as adults is to support
them in the discovery of their passions. A teenager cannot be
expected to know if they want to be a journalist or a patent
attorney if they haven’t been able to dig deeper into the
things they love doing. What is contained in school curricula
is, by design, the trunk of a tree of knowledge that branches
out almost infinitely into countless avenues of knowledge.
Blended learning at UWCSEA offers opportunities to scamper
down some of these branches and experience the view, giving
them choice and ownership over their learning path, pace
and content.
Building on that analogy, the IGCSE Science curriculum
requires the students to understand the fundamentals of the
human heart and blood. Our blended approach gives students
not only this foundational trunk of knowledge, but offers
students the chance to choose some branches to explore.
Maybe a student is interested in sports and can access a
deep-dive into the relationship between fitness and cardiac
output. Their classmate may want to investigate the public
health implications of fast-food advertising or analyse the
correlation between cardiovascular disease and diet. Another
student might want to look at white blood cells and find out
more about how mRNA vaccines work, and perhaps work
with a partner who wants to apply their knowledge to combat
health misinformation. The possibilities, like the career paths
that could emerge, are endless, and when combined with
well curated resources can produce truly inspirational and
powerful learning experiences.
What next?
This is only the beginning of the journey. Exploration and
professional learning is ongoing for blended learning, both
at UWCSEA and beyond. We will take the very best bits
for our students, and take them in the direction that aligns
with our mission and values, developing students’ UWCSEA
mission competencies in a targeted and effective way.
This might be, for example; further blending of service and
outdoor education experiences with the academic curriculum;
elective micro-units which students can access in their own
time according to their own interests; student leadership
and content creation for courses; modules or experiences
produced by our partners, GCs or wider community—or
maybe something else entirely. But if one thing is certain, it’s
that we’re not going to have to choose between strawberry
and chocolate chip.
Photo by Joseph Tan
December 2021 Dunia | 13
Centred on our mission and connected
through our theme There is More
in Us, our year-long celebration is
focused on a series of community
events involving students, staff, parents,
alumni and our global community of
partners. Kicking off with the Alumni
Reunion in August 2021, we managed to
pack much activity and discussion into
Term 1 before we turned to Founders
Week. Running 13–17 December,
activities centred on celebrating our
deep connections with Singapore, the
place that made us.
In April 2022 we look forward to the
UWCSEA Forum themed Learning to
Shape the Future as the capstone event
in our anniversary year. It is both an
exciting year of celebration and an
opportunity to recommit to our vision
of what a better world can be.
Celebrating
COMMUNITY NEWS
LAUNCH ACTIVITIES
Alumni Reunion
20–22 August
Campus
Dressing
14 | Dunia December 2021
years in Singapore
FOUNDERS WEEK
13–17 DECEMBER
We continued to Reimagine Learning
in conversation with two special
guests in an ongoing series of
discussions aimed at bringing fresh
perspectives and new thinking to
our community in the lead up to the
UWCSEA Forum.
Perspectives on Peace:
a conversation with
Kishore Mahbubani
21 September
Series Patron Kishore
Mahbubani joined College President
Carma Elliot in a discussion on peace
as a final event to mark the UWCSEA
community celebration of UWC Day
in Singapore. UWC Day is celebrated
across the UWC movement annually
on 21 September, in honour of the
UN’s International Day of Peace.
UWCSEA was proud to announce a
partnership with National University
of Singapore’s (NUS), Asian Peace
Programme (APP).
Celebrating the UWC
mission: a conversation
with Faith Abiodun
13 December
In this special event,
marking the start of UWCSEA’s
50th anniversary Founders Week,
Faith Abiodun, incoming Executive
Director of UWC International, joined
UWCSEA High School students Ruth
and Anthony and College President
Carma Elliot in a wide-ranging
discussion on the relevance and future
of the UWC movement and mission.
Our global audience was part of
an inspirational conversation that
touched on the need for educational
models to evolve and become
accessible to, and celebratory of,
students from a range of educational
backgrounds. They also explored the
importance of student agency and
trust as opportunities for capacity-
building.
Thank you Singapore
9–21 September
Our College would not be the same place without
having made its home in the unique and vibrant
global hub that is Singapore. On 15 December we
took a full page in the Straits Time to say Thank You
Singapore. The back cover of this magazine reflects
a version of this ad and the QR code will link you
through to the outdoor campaign which ran in bus
shelters around both campuses carrying messages of
thanks to the community in which we live and learn.
Giving Day
14–15 December
UWCSEA celebrated our first-ever Giving Day
on the College’s 50th birthday with a series of
challenges and activities across both campuses.
In just 30 hours, we were able to raise over
SGD$450,000 from more than 730 donors to
support the UWC Scholarship Programme so as to
extend our mission to make education a force for a
more peaceful and sustainable future.
We set a goal to raise enough funding to provide
access to a UWC education for at least two
scholars, including one female scholar from
Afghanistan, and are thrilled that with the generous
support from across the UWCSEA community, we
will be able to now support these scholars with the
gift of a UWC education!
Giving Day was not only a demonstration of
generosity by parents, alumni, staff and friends
of the College, it was also a testament to the
collaborative spirit and sense of community that is
a hallmark of being a part of the UWCSEA family.
Book Launch
16 December
Our coffee table book was launched in an event in
the Dover Main Library on 16 December—please
see page 32 for a full report, and to read more
about the message of congratulations and thanks
that Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
extended to UWCSEA on the occasion of our
Golden Jubilee.
December 2021 Dunia | 15
1972
Singapore International School is
opened by Prime Minister Mr Lee
Kuan Yew as an associate member
of the UWC movement, with the
support of UWC President, Lord
Mountbatten and the International
Secondary School Study Committee.
1971
1975
1974
The first United Nations evening
celebrates the College’s multicultural
community with food, national dress,
music and dance. UN Night on Dover
and CultuRama on East continue
to be annual highlights of student
performance and celebration.
Singapore International School
is renamed UWC South East Asia,
becoming a full member of the
UWC movement and triggering a
number of developments, including
preparing to welcome our first UWC
scholars.
By 1974 Marathon Day, which had
begun in 1972 as a series of madcap
events to raise funds for a number
of service initiatives, was raising
over $10k through a week of activities
including spaghetti-eating contests, a
48 hour game of bridge–and a student
remaining up a tree for 36 hours.
1992
1991
1994
Footprints replaces Mengembara as
the student publication dedicated
to College travel experiences.
Primarily focused on Project Week,
these reflections provide a wonderful
tribute to the power and potential of
this unique UWCSEA experience.
The first student expedition
travelled to the Lamdon School
in Leh, Ladakh, another step
in cementing a relationship
that now spans more than 30
years and reaches across both
campuses.
1996
The iconic “Air Con Pool” is drained
bringing an end to kayaking and
student antics. A tent was raised over
the space in 1997 and the space was
filled to create today’s plaza in 2015.
The Tent Plaza is a central gathering
point on both campuses.
Middle School ‘EngHum’
(integrated English and Humanities)
programme is launched in the
College’s 25th anniversary year
which was marked by a Global
Concerns conference and UWC
International meeting.
2008
A five-year building and
refurbishment programme on
Dover Campus concludes with the
opening of the new High School
Block. Mirroring the transformation
of Singapore, the campus has
modernized while maintaining
reminders of the past.
2011
UWCSEA East opens its doors
to welcome 400 students in our
temporary campus in Ang Mo Kio,
as construction of a state-of-the-art
second campus in Tampines begins.
2016
2012
Mr Heng Swee Keat, then
Minister for Education, officially
opens East Campus in Tampines.
The newly constructed campus
is re-awarded the Building and
Construction Authority’s Green
Mark Platinum award.
Our 500th scholar graduates from
UWCSEA. Thanks to the generous
support of the UWCSEA Foundation
an increasing number of scholars have
been welcomed into our community.
By 2024 over 1,000 scholars will have
graduated from UWCSEA.
1976
1977
Our partnership with MINDS—
Movement for the Intellectually
Disabled of Singapore is
established. Students make their
first visit to Tampines Home, now
mindsville@napiri.
1984
A lavish production of The King and
I delights audiences. UWCSEA’s
strong tradition of performing
and visual arts continues through
our extensive arts programmes,
which are delivered in our numerous
performance and gallery spaces
across both campuses.
1980
In 1977 UWCSEA became the
first school in Asia to offer the
IB Diploma, introduced as part
of becoming a full member of the
UWC movement. A-Levels are
discontinued in 1981.
Perhaps a catalyst for the
development of our bespoke
Outdoor Education curriculum,
Beluntu, our United World Centre
in Johore, is closed after 10 years. In
addition to expedition experiences,
many academic departments used the
site for study projects and field trips.
2005
2002
OPUS is held for the first time at
the Victoria Concert Hall. It later
moved to the Esplanade, where
Dover students and staff still
perform in this annual concert.
1998
1997
The decision to become a K–12
school results in a period of
construction, including the Primary
School block, a new boarding house
and the Roy Bennett Theatre.
The first Initiative for Peace (IfP)
conference, Youth Connecting Youth
to Create Peace, is held. Now a flagship
programme at UWCSEA, IfP has inspired
numerous alumni to pursue careers in
peace and conflict resolution. The IfP
Toolkit for youth groups and schools
was launched in 2021.
Community support launched Project
Aceh, a 10+ year commitment in the
wake of the December 2004 tsunami
which included the Tsunami Education
Fund (TEF), a long-term financial
support programme for tsunami yatim
piatu (tsunami orphans) to encourage
them to complete High School.
2018
East Campus celebrates
10 years of educating for peace
and a sustainable future.
2017
2020
Restrictions imposed due to
COVID-19 transform life on
campus. Social distancing, masks
and several periods of home-based
learning pose unprecedented
challenges, particularly to our
Boarding community.
2021
UWCSEA celebrates 50 years
of UWC in Singapore with
a year-long programme of
celebrations and impact events.
UWCSEA East achieves CIS/
WASC accreditation, following
the successful accreditation
of Dover Campus in 2012 and
allowing both campuses to offer
the UWCSEA High School Diploma
in addition to the IB Diploma.
Place-based
sustainability learning
FEATURE
No school focused on sustainability
would confine their lessons to the
classroom, but at UWCSEA our entire
campuses have been co-opted into
providing students of all ages real-life
learning opportunities linked to the
UWC mission.
While many in our community will
be aware of the Greenmark Platinum
Super Low Energy accreditation which
has been awarded to both campuses by
Singapore’s Building and Construction
Authority, and some will have adopted
and perhaps even installed a solar
panel or planted tree in support of our
student-led initiatives, there has been
quiet and extensive progress towards
consolidating the unique educational
opportunity that the facilities on both
campuses provide for our students.
The next steps in creating a mission–
aligned education based on the premise
that students can learn more effectively
by immersing themselves in real-life
experiences that are relevant to them
is a collaborative project to provide
deliberately planned opportunities
for students to bring their classroom
learning to life on campus. A key factor
in taking this place-based approach to
planning learning experiences is the
switch in how the campus facilities are
utilised; rather than simply providing a
venue for learning, the buildings—and
those who manage them—are reframed
as direct contributors to the education
of the students by providing relevant,
real life examples.
Student agency and shared purpose
Each campus holds myriad potential
for place-based real-life application
of classroom lessons: the way they
are designed or remodeled, lit, cooled,
landscaped, managed and cleaned—
ensures that students are surrounded
by real-life examples of sustainability
in action. Over the past decade, our
students have been involved in the
planning and development of the
campuses, and now contribute ideas
to improvements and refurbishments.
Further, there are programmes in place
across many of the elements of our
learning programme for students to
contribute to the sustainable operation
of the campuses.
At Dover, for example, the Solar
for Dover student group designed a
live dashboard to help monitor the
solar fields on that campus, while
the Solar for East team have made
over 80 classroom presentations
on environmental management to
students of all ages. Both campuses
also have a live solar lab, supporting
hands-on environmental engineering
and science lessons.
Adapted from White Paper 2: UWCSEA Changemakers: Placing sustainable futures at the heart of a school
Photo by Joseph Tan
18 | Dunia December 2021