Dunia June 2016

Graduation 2016

Initial findings of the impact study

Forum on transition to university

June 2016

Term 3 edition

By Chris Edwards

Head of College

A long time ago, a young, dark haired

English teacher found himself at a large

Education Fair in a famous capital city.

His job was to promote the School

at which he had just started working.

He proudly took from his bag a large

photograph of his school’s most famous

alumnus—a well-known contemporary

businessman—and was about to put it

on his display board when he happened

to look at the school exhibiting next to

him. On seeing the first three images go

up on his neighbour’s board—Jawaharlal

Nehru, Winston Churchill, Lord Byron—

the young teacher sheepishly put the

contemporary businessman back in the

bag. Truth was, the neighbouring school

seemed for all the world to have made

a more significant impact on the lot of

humanity. And so the young teacher

decided instead to promote his school

by standing enigmatically in front of

a blank, blue display board which he

fervently hoped would be seen by

potential parents as a beguiling, Zen-

like invitation into a realm of infinite

possibility. He failed. The parents

ignored him and queued up in front of

the school where the famous people

had gone.

His hair a little less dark than it used

to be, the same teacher became rather

excited on hearing a tale that would

enable him and his new colleagues to

delve deep into the realm of impact.

This story went well beyond the

pictures of the great and good that

adorn school walls. The UWCSEA

Board of Governors had been reflecting

profoundly on a mission statement that

was admirable but seemingly ethereal:

it spoke not to educational experience

but impact. Do we really unite peoples,

nations and cultures through the force

of education, and will they strive to

make the future more peaceful and

sustainable? Could one really tell if

we were doing any more in this field

than other schools with very different

mission statements? So, since the prime

objective of the governing body is to

ensure the school fulfils the mission,

and since the mission is all about

impact, the question had finally become

“what is the impact of the UWC mission

on students and on society?”

Measuring UWC’s impact

A plan was hatched. Four principles

would guide our thinking: we would not

measure input or output, but rather

would focus on impact; our study would

be a longitudinal study, and setting

the parameters of that study would

be a study in itself; yes, there would

be a drive towards quantitative data,

but we needed an in-depth qualitative

study in the first instance; and we also

needed help.

The help soon came in the form of

Research Schools International led

by researchers from the Harvard

Graduate School of Education. Dr

Bruno della Chiesa and Dr Christina

Hinton, along with Sylvia Malo based

in the International Office and Vanessa

Christoph in Germany, were mightily

interested in what we wanted to do

and happy to involve other UWCs,

namely: UWC Red Cross Nordic,

UWC Waterford Kahmlaba and

UWC-USA. The buzz became louder

both in Harvard and Singapore, and

then a donor (who wishes to remain

anonymous) most generously offered

to fund an exploratory year. This was a

thrilling and liberating turn of events.

We were set to go.

Exploratory year

Along with the dry but essential

components of any major research

undertaking, interviews were also

conducted with alumni and students

by researchers and the scholar-in-

residence, Dr della Chiesa, during his

visits to the College. These interviews,

along with attendant surveys proved

especially insightful in an exploratory

year and gave us clear indicators of

where we might look in the future for

impact. We are grateful to everyone

who took part in these sessions: they

were invaluable not least because they

were far from the identikit sessions one

might have expected from a College

with so strong a mission.

Honing the research questions proved

fascinating, challenging and a lot of

fun as senior colleagues engaged with

the researchers in rich conversations.

Eventually we came up with

the following:

What ethical values do current

and former members of the UWC

community think are important

and developed as part of a UWC

education?

Do current and former members of

the UWC community think that they

have developed, or are developing,

these ethical values?

How has the school informed the

development of these ethical values?

What examples can current and

former members of the UWC

community give of how these concepts

are manifested in their lives today?

Given the short lead in time and

exploratory nature of the project, I

think we can say that this was a mass

participation event. 2,365 students

and alumni from the four UWCs were

involved, with 677 of the alumni and

over 1,000 of the students coming

from UWCSEA.

In addition to face-to-face interviews,

a set of somewhat sinister sounding

DEVELOPING ETHICAL PEOPLE

Initial findings of the impact study

‘thought experiments’ were conducted

with students and alumni. Some of

you may be familiar with the Veil of

Ignorance experiments—to which Kant,

Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau and Jefferson

have all contributed—whereby one

determines the morality of an issue by

jettisoning one’s abilities, tastes and

position within the social order. If you’d

like to try a thought experiment for

yourself (though this one is not a veil of

ignorance scenario), here’s one we used

on students and alumni:

A man has robbed a bank, but instead

of keeping the money for himself, he

donates it to a poor orphanage that can

now afford to feed, clothe, and care for

its children. You know who committed

the robbery. If you go to the authorities

with the information, there’s a good

chance the money will be returned to the

bank, leaving a lot of kids in need. What

do you do?

The answers were of course interesting,

but more interesting for us was hearing

alumni and students connecting with

and reflecting on their UWC experience

as they went about wrestling with

the problem.

Initial findings

The first fruits appeared last month

when a draft report was circulated.

The Initial Findings for UWCSEA are

most encouraging. Intercultural/global

awareness of students at UWCSEA

is very high, and crucial notions of

‘tolerance’ and ‘respect for all’ are

pervasive. Students believe UWCSEA

has helped them to develop ethical

values, while UWCSEA values and

respondent values are aligned.

Qualities alumni and students report

developing most during their time at

UWC included compassion, empathy,

being open-minded, respect, social

responsibility and how to care for

others. Interestingly, when discussing

ethical decision-making, alumni in

particular associated ‘understanding

context’ most strongly with being

able to make ethical decisions. This

supports the evidence that our students

and alumni are extremely aware of

alternative perspectives to their own—

surely an important part of the ‘peace

and sustainable’ future that we are

aspiring to. One of the alumni put it

best: “I think that just going to school

and constantly interacting with people

of different races, classes and identities,

I learned more about social justice,

equality and tolerance than many of

the workshops and lectures I’ve had in

college. [It] really opened up my eyes

to the diversity of the human (not to

mention UWCSEA) experience.”

Flying high from the masthead of

UWCSEA is Social Justice. This concept

incorporates such complex notions as

equal rights and opportunity, as well

as a strong sense of responsibility to

society. A Grade 9 student might have

a slightly different understanding of

this concept to a seasoned alum, but

Augustine of Hippo and Thomas Paine

would recognise and, doubtless, rejoice

at the kind of thinking taking place

in the community. How wonderful if

the current Grade 9s still feel this way

when, working in major corporations,

banks, NGOs and their own companies,

they might make manifest their

current beliefs. (And early signs

suggest cynicism infects UWC alumni

rather less than world-weary readers

might think).

A significant majority of alumni believe

that their ethical values are manifest

in their daily lives, and that they are

contributing to a better world either

through their career, their everyday

actions and interactions, or volunteer

work. “Because of my UWCSEA

experience, I work for a non-profit

organisation which helps shape globally

competent students and teachers …

I work with diverse schools … almost

as if I’m trying to bring ‘UWC’ to those

schools!” Another remarked, “I like to

think the little things I do every single

day contribute to a better world …

Just the other day my mum praised

me for volunteering at an organisation

in Singapore … ‘It’s normal,’ I replied.

The only reason I think it’s normal is

because UWCSEA made it normal …

I firmly believe that the world would be

a better place with more of us.”

There are so many more inspiring

examples of how the UWC experience

has stayed with our students and

alumni and how they are having a

positive impact on the world as a result.

The complexity of the relationship

between their experience at school

and their behaviour in the real world

is not to be underestimated, but we

are beginning. Now we await the full

report. Once that is received there will

be further discussion at College and

UWC international level. The hope is

we will build a longitudinal study that

will incorporate an ongoing partnership

with the Harvard Graduate School

of Education.

Nehru, Churchill and Byron surely

earned their place in the story. But in

terms of UWC alumni, let’s also ask

about the homemaker in Idaho, the

volunteer in Jakarta, the girl in Grade 9.

In what quiet and wonderful ways

might they be developing their thinking

and changing this world for the better?

And in what way is UWC a part of that

tale? And finally, how might UWC

improve its practice in the light of this

new information so that we all live

happily ever after?

That, as my mother used to say, is a

story for tomorrow night.

Defining learning: becoming a

By James Dalziel

Head of East Campus and

Stuart MacAlpine

Director of Teaching and Learning

East Campus

It might appear self evident that every

school has learning at its core. Some

would wonder what could possibly be at

the core of a school if it’s not learning.

But the truth is that many schools focus

on teaching strategies, on the learning

environment or on exam results when

they talk about learning: these become

proxies that can distract from a school’s

core purpose, which is to stimulate an

internal change that is taking place

within our students—their learning.

Defining and developing a shared

understanding of learning is critical

for any school. The definition should

arise out of a school’s shared culture

and context and, most importantly,

should help us to understand the

difference between the actual internal

learning that is taking place (within

people) and the external conditions for

learning that may (or may not) be in

place around us. Martin Skelton, a well

known educationalist and founding

director of Fieldwork Education, often

uses a medical analogy to explain

the difference between focusing on

conditions for learning, and learning

itself. Imagine a hospital that focused

on “things that help health,” rather than

patients’ “health”:

Surgeon 1: Was the operation a success?

Surgeon 2: Yes, I did everything I was

supposed to: scrubbed before surgery,

completed the procedure as described

in the textbook, debriefed with staff,

and it was a complete success.

Surgeon 1: How is the patient?

Surgeon 2: Oh, well, he died.

Unfortunately, this is similar to some

conversations we have heard in schools

around the world: “I taught a great

lesson but for some reason, some kids

didn’t get it,” or “I love that teacher’s

classroom, students always look

engaged and he uses popsicle sticks

to randomise questions, so kids must

be learning.” To help every member of

our community learn, we must focus

on learning itself before looking at

conditions for learning. This helps our

teachers and students identify the

learning taking place. In this way, when

we evaluate our practice, we make a

professional transition from ‘‘how did

the teaching go?” to “what learning

took place for students?”

At the College, our definition of

learning is:

Learning is a life-long process in

which learners engage with and

reflect upon information and

experiences to construct new or

modify existing understanding as

well as develop and apply skills and

qualities.

The student definition is:

We learn all the time. We learn

about things, how to do things and

to understand things. Sometimes

we learn something new;

sometimes we are getting better

at something we’ve done before.

When we learn we change the way

we think and feel.

A good definition of learning can make

an enormous difference to students. This

example from a Theory of Knowledge

(TOK) class highlights when a student

was learning about ‘ways of knowing’

and how to use them to explore how

we ‘know’ something to be ‘true.’ This

example is paraphrased but real.

“Because this is skill, and it is new for

me, it still feels really awkward. I just

need more practice with a partner to

build habits around this. I understand

the concept of ‘ways of knowing.’ I know

the different ways of knowing in TOK—

that was easy I just make an acronym

school with learning at its core

with an online anagram maker. So, I

guess what is most important is to get

some more practice and feedback on the

skills until they are a bit more solid.”

The student in this case is able to

participate in this kind of sense making

and self direction in part because

students and teachers both know about

learning and have a clear definition of

what it is in our context.

Great schools define greatness by the

learning of their students. Great schools

have a common and culturally-accepted

definition of learning woven into their

cultural fabric. Students and teachers in

great schools use this language to make

sense of what they are doing, and assume

congruent behaviours. Great schools

focus on actual learning gains and are not

distracted by perceived improvements in

the ‘conditions’ for learning.

Great schools review their definition

of learning and keep it up to date,

both with research and with practical

examples from the precise context

of the school. They are disciplined

in their focus on the definition and

conditions that affect learning and hold

colleagues professionally responsible

in conversations to differentiate the

conditions for learning from the actual

learning itself. They also are tenacious

collectors of learning data not in terms of

quantity, but instead in terms of quality.

Quality learning data (high quality

evidence of student learning gains) can

only be planned, opportunities provided,

and evidence collected and analysed

if there is a high degree of shared

understanding and accuracy regarding

the desired learning and the numerous

ways that students might demonstrate

learning gains in knowledge, skill,

understanding or dispositional learning.

So if the idea of a learning-focused

school seems like a tautology, this

may go some way towards explaining

why staying focused on learning can

be difficult and complex, but is no less

necessary and rewarding for that.

To make education

a force to unite people,

nations and cultures

for peace and a

sustainable future

To make education

a force to unite people,

nations and cultures

for peace and a

sustainable future

To educate

individuals to embrace

challenge and take

responsibility for

shaping a

better world

ﬁ

HOLISTIC

EDUCATION

Because

UWCSEA

PROFILE

LEARNING

PRINCIPLES

This diagram explains how the elements of the

UWCSEA Learning Programme fit together.

The Learning Principles define the conditions

that help to support student learning and are

based on our definition of learning.

By Mike Staples

Director of Activities and Sport

Dover Campus

With over 4,000 students taking

part in some kind of sporting activity

at UWCSEA each week, we can be

reasonably confident that the majority of

the UWCSEA community believe in the

positive role that youth sports can play in

education. Fair play, teamwork, humility

in success and grace in defeat are all

important aspects of such an education

but outside of College, where sport is

big business entertainment, a ‘win at all

costs’ culture can sometimes give our

children a conflicting set of values as well

as make it hard for us as parents to make

sense of what, in essence, youth sport is

all about.

Of course,‘what sport is all about’ can

be very different for each of us and

our children.

This was brought home to me at a

parents’ sports forum some years ago,

at which we were focussing on what

direction one of our sports programmes

could take in the future. At one end of

the debate, training ten times a week to

MAKING SENSE

OF YOUTH SPORTS

achieve the highest levels of performance

was an expressed aim; while at the other,

taking part for fun, health and fitness was

the most desired outcome. Parents were

surprised at the considerable distance

between their points of view (as were we

initially), but the discussion was positive

and highlighted what we all should have

realised. This and similar conversations

like it were the catalyst for broadening

the range of opportunities and differing

pathways UWCSEA offers in recreational

and competitive sports, the result of

which has been a doubling of student

participation in our programmes in the

last four years.

Whilst lifelong fitness, personal

achievement, perhaps an NCAA

scholarship or, purely fun and enjoyment

are all reasons to take part in sport, at

UWCSEA we hope for something less

tangible; essentially through the powerful

medium of sport we strive to help young

people develop their values, learn how

to make better moral judgements,

distinguish right from wrong, and acquire

a disposition to do some good in

this world.

Keeping these lofty goals in mind

when our children don’t perhaps make

the progress we hoped for, a referee

makes a ‘bad’ call, the coach makes a

‘questionable’ decision, or our child’s

team lose a championship game is

sometimes easier said than done.

Personally I thought I would always see

this broader picture and I would never

show ‘Soccer Dad’ tendencies. To my

dismay during and after my daughter’s

first representative game I found myself

giving her advice, dissecting her game

and even chatting over team tactics with

the coach! Was I, the Head of Sports at

UWCSEA, becoming my daughter’s worst

sporting nightmare? It hit home, as a

parent of kids playing sport, how easy it

is to get too emotionally involved in ‘their

game,’ despite the best of intentions.

My experience and those of sports

‘mums and dads’ are increasingly

examined by sports governing bodies,

sports coach associations and teachers.

There is a line of thought in some that

suggests, as parents, we should be

allowing our children much greater

ownership of their own sporting

experience than we currently do. In his

TED talk ‘Changing the Game in Youth

Sports,’ NCAA Soccer Coach, John

O’Sullivan talks about the reasons for

a 70% dropout rate by US kids from

youth sports by the age of 13. The key

reason being that the adult emphasis

on performance and results has led to

adults over-criticising children. Children

in turn are afraid of making mistakes, are

subject to ‘cuts’ and selections, do not

receive equal play time and are finding

that all the fun has been taken out of

what should have been an enjoyable

learning experience. In short, the adults

sometimes need to just let the kids play.

‘Parent training school’ also didn’t

prepare us to know precisely what level of

physical development our children should

attain at different times in their lives.

Knowing when our babies would start

to eat, sleep or walk, let alone how fast

our children should run the 100 metres,

when they should be able to catch a

ball or score a goal can be (and likely

should remain) a mystery. Sometimes

this ‘not knowing,’ in sporting terms,

can cause what John O’Sullivan calls ‘a

race to nowhere.’ The ‘race’ being the

desire by us as parents for our children to

do more and more at a younger age to

reach their potential. Longer and longer

training hours, early specialisation in

one sport, excessive rewards for winning

and inappropriate types of competition.

Built on research into children’s physical

maturation the Canadian ‘Sport for Life’

Movement provides us with a useful and

wide ranging insight into what is sensible

at all ages whether you are aiming for an

Olympic gold or a healthy, active lifestyle.

Their long term athlete development

(LTAD) stages, based on physical and

cognitive maturation advocates: early

years fun, a broad physical literacy, late

specialisation and intrinsic goal setting.

Their ‘end game’ being peak performance

in an athlete’s 20s and continued lifelong

physical activity into ripe old age.

Of course while there are these pointers

helping us to make sense of youth sports,

there is no perfect plan. As such it is fine

and important that each of us personalise

our own sporting involvement. The

likelihood is that physical activity will

contribute to our children having longer,

healthier lives and we as parents should

try to give them as broad a range of

physical opportunities as is possible while

they are young. Additionally, as the adults

our children emulate the most, we should

probably try to model healthy practice

and positive values ourselves. Inevitably

there will come a time when our kids will

make their own choices. It is up to us to

decide when we let go completely—but

let go we should. In the meantime simply

making sure that our children know that

we love watching them play

sport, might perhaps be the

most effective thing we can do.

References

Canadian Sport For Life:

http://canadiansportforlife.ca/

Changing the Game in Youth Sports

- John O’Sullivan at TEDxBend:

https://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=32n1JHaDTg4&authuser=0

Read more about the Shadow

a Student Challenge:

http://www.shadowastudent.org

Meet the Dover Campus Infant

Leadership Team

Carla Marschall was appointed as the

Assistant Head of Infants at UWCSEA

Dover in August 2015. She came to

Singapore from Zurich, Switzerland,

where she oversaw curriculum

development and implementation

from Pre-K to Grade 8. Prior to living

in Switzerland, she worked in Hong

Kong and in Berlin, Germany as a PYP

Coordinator and Primary Vice Principal.

Carla holds a Masters in Elementary

Education from Columbia University’s

Teachers College and a second Masters

in Applied Educational Leadership and

Management from the Institute of

Education, University of London.

Lynda Scott was appointed as the Vice

Principal of Infant School at UWCSEA

Dover in August 2014 and from August

2015, stepped into the role of Head of

Infant School. She began her career as

a teacher-director in a pre-school in

her hometown of Terrigal, on the New

South Wales central coast in Australia.

In 1991 she left Australia for a two-year

adventure to teach in Kuala Lumpur.

Now, with 26 years of early childhood

teaching and leadership experience in a

variety of international school settings,

she has settled in Singapore. Lynda

holds a Bachelor of Education in Early

Childhood and a Masters of International

Education (School Leadership).

2 Gandini, L. (2012). “History, Ideas and Basic Principles.” In C. Edwards, L. Gandini, & G. Forman (Eds.), The hundred languages of children (3rd

ed., pp. 27-71). Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

tightly aligned to the United Nations

Programme for International Student

Assessment (PISA), the triennial

international survey which aims to

evaluate education systems worldwide

and hits the headlines every few years

with new winners and losers in the

international limelight of Mathematics

and Literacy scores.

The ISA offers us the chance to compare

our students’ Mathematics and

Literacy scores against a large cohort of

international school students’ scores and

reflect on what this might mean for us.

Of all the tests available, it offered the

College the most suitable information:

it is based on a cohort of international

school students rather than a specific

national system; we can compare the

scores directly with PISA scores from

the huge range of countries sampled by

the UN; it tests composition of writing

which few tests do; and it has a robust

parental report.

Obviously there are limitations to what it

can tell us. As with any assessment, the

ISA merely gives a snapshot of a child’s

knowledge, skills and understanding at

one particular moment in time and the

results are best read as “plus or minus

10 percent.” For an individual student,

the ISA results offer one data point

for triangulation alongside other key

indicators such as the child’s teacher’s

observations of his/her learning and the

teacher’s professional judgement. These

multiple data points help us to build a

well-rounded and informed view of each

child’s learning progress.

ISA and PISA scores seem to offer simple

answers to a complex problem. But

as the saying goes “for every complex

problem, there is a simple answer; and it

is wrong.” The kind of learning that ISA

measures is best described as ‘necessary,

not sufficient’ for the kind of world your

children deserve. The recent Turning the

Tide report by the Harvard Graduate

School of Education which Chris

Edwards wrote about in Term 2 edition

of Dunia, reinforced how universities are

seeing learning more holistically and in

the light of values, skills and qualities

like those in the UWCSEA profile. In

a more automated world it is ethical

engagement with complexity that will

be required: the attributes our holistic

learning programme seeks to build in

students. These are the qualities that are

not only necessary but also sufficient.

I write in a year in which Google’s

DeepMind computer defeated world

champion Go player Lee Se-dol, a feat

that cognitive scientists said would be

impossible because Go relies on such

intuition and complexity that it cannot

be solved algorithmically: they were

wrong. The ISA helps us understand

only one very small but important part

of the learning puzzle and it can never

replace the holistic view of a student

that only teachers, parents, students and

a multitude of opportunities to display

learning can provide. The world is a

complex place, and those who are ready

to flourish will need more than ever

the skills and qualities of our UWCSEA

profile, to create not just an efficient

future world, but a fair and humane one.

Assessment in an holistic education context

By Stuart MacAlpine

Director of Teaching and Learning

East Campus

These are interesting times to live in

when it comes to education. The general

public is more concerned with the role

of education, as the world around us

changes rapidly and the definition of

what it means to be ‘well-educated’

expands to incorporate far more than

standardised test scores, exam results

or even university degrees. We all want

to live in a peaceful, sustainable world,

where our children can flourish, and

humanity can make good, fair choices

about what is important—and we are

wondering how education can help our

children shape that better world.

Educational researcher and writer

Professor Dylan Wiliam points out in his

recently published, Leadership for Teacher

Learning, that the nature of the jobs our

children are going into is rapidly changing

as routine jobs become automated:

America has lost more manufacturing

jobs to automation since 2000 than

were lost in agriculture over the entire

last century (Wiliam, Leadership for

Teacher Learning 2016). Even complicated

routine jobs are vanishing—an example

Wiliam gives is that computers are now

more effective at diagnosing prostate

cancer from biopsies than board

certified urologists.

Given this landscape, where does the

general public look to know how things

are going in education? In some cases,

they look to standardised assessments

and the International Schools

Assessment (ISA), the assessment

all UWCSEA Grade 3 to 10 students

recently sat, is just such a score. It is

For links to more information

on the ISA as well as

resources from UWCSEA,

please see eDunia.

By Nick Alchin

High School Principal and

Deputy Head of Campus

East Campus

“Comparison is the thief

of time.”

Theodore Roosevelt

I am very proud to have my own

children attend the school where I

work; they are getting a wonderful

education. As well as being taught

by caring, passionate, articulate

teachers, they are surrounded by an

extraordinary cohort of peers (and

we know, especially in High School,

that peers are as important as parents

for influence). They are being taught

to balance natural high ambitions for

themselves with broader concern for

others; and developing the intellectual

insight to understand that the two are

not actually so different. So I see my

children’s values being shaped; their

minds and bodies being stretched. It’s

all good?

It is all good. But there is also a loss,

for some students. It’s one that I have

seen in numerous conversations; other

parents have confirmed it, and there

is a really important message for our

community and for us as a society.

The loss is that surrounded by a large

number of high-capability, driven

students, many perfectly good students

will feel completely average, or worse,

failures. Small wonder that self-image

can take a knock, at least initially. And

it’s understandable really—the cognitive

shortcut we use to answer how am

I doing? is how am I doing compared

to people I know? rather than how

am I doing compared to reasonable

standards? Experience tells me that

our students tend to go on to do very

well—but they don’t feel that way here

when looking around themselves.

Of course the same is largely true

for adults too. We tend to compare

our jobs, salaries, status to others

around us, forgetting that globally we

have far greater good fortune than

the majority of the world, now, or in

history. We should know better—but

for our students, all they have is the

reference point of school; and this can

mean that the standards they use are

so absurdly high that what would have

been very good or excellent in some

previous schools is now average. That

many of our typical students would

be academically outstanding at most

other schools is confirmed by teachers’

anecdotal impressions and objective

ISA data. The situation is not helped

by what can be an unhealthy focus on

Oxbridge or Ivy League colleges as the

only valuable post-school destinations

(just for the record; for most students,

even some brilliant ones, they are not).

The knock-on consequences of this are

many and well documented; shallower

learning; a lack of joy in learning and

possibly further afield, a narrowing of

intellectual curiosity; poor sleep habits;

low self-esteem. At the extreme levels,

students can lose their way completely.

What is the answer? Well, we need

to recognise that there are broader

social and cultural themes here, and

understand that students pick up all the

messages from school, peers, home,

and more widely. Simply discussing

these matters has to be a good

start. For our part, we are seeking to

mitigate against this through our focus

on growth, and effort/approaches

to learning rather than simply raw

attainment and our emphasis on criteria

for success rather than rankings. The

truth, however, is that none of this will

work if we push students for top grades

rather than maximum commitment;

if we insist students get tutoring even

when they do not need it; and if we

constantly praise ‘smartness’ or ‘talent’

for its own sake. The oft-quoted list of

practices that ‘require zero talent’ here

is, for me, profound.

Zero talent required: qualities for growth

These require zero talent:

1. Being on time

2. Work ethic

3. Effort

4. Positive body language

5. Energy

6. Positive attitude

7. Passion

8. Being coachable

9. Doing extra

10. Being prepared

This is the kind of language we should

be using. Far from being against talent,

these are the kinds of qualities that

will create it and allow it to grow,

rather than simply label it. And once

created, these are the qualities that

will ensure talent is put to good use,

for the betterment of all, and not just

used as a trophy. These are the qualities

that should be the staples of our

conversations with students.

By Alice Whitehead

Grade 1 Class Teacher and

Primary School Global Concerns

Coordinator

Dover Campus

Service is at the heart of the UWC

mission. An understanding of why and

how we help others is an integral part

of the learning experience at UWCSEA,

and part of what drives our graduates

to become ‘aware, able and active

contributors’ in the global community.

But what does this look like within the

learning context of our Infant School

children, aged 4–7 years?

The Dover Campus Infant School has

supported Mumbai Mobile Creches

(MMC) since 2003, linking the Global

Concern with the curriculum, holding

fundraising events and hosting colleagues

from MMC on visits to the College to

share practice. This relationship was

nurtured by the previous Infant School

Principal, Chris Fensom and continues to

develop today. It is through our links with

MMC that the children learn to initiate

actions and to make a commitment to

shaping a better world.

MMC develops and maintains care

programs for children of construction

workers in Mumbai, India. These mostly

migrant men and women work long

hours, and with the help of MMC, are

able to ensure their children are cared

for during the day. MMC’s programme

ensures that the children’s educational,

nutritional and health needs are

addressed. Donations from Dover Infant

School and the UWCSEA community

play a part in helping MMC to fund

their programme, meeting needs such

as covering teacher salaries and buying

educational resources.

As students in our Infant School begin

to become aware that some people

outside their immediate community

need support, a challenge presents

itself. How do we support young

UWC learners to make a meaningful

connection to the lives of people living

4,000 kilometres away?

As a past student of UWCSEA Dover, a

teacher in Grade 1 and the Coordinator

of Global Concerns in the Primary

School, this is a question that holds

deep importance to me. I believe the

answer lies in giving students the

opportunity to form a relationship with

an organisation like MMC; integrating

learning more about them through

day-to-day classroom activities and

talking often about the people whom

they support. Once children learn about

projects like MMC and why they exist,

often the next, very natural question is

“How can we help?”

Meaningful opportunities to take

action, followed by an understanding

of the results of the action are also

an important part of this process.

This academic year the Infant School

students collected over 200 stationery

sets for the children at MMC. These

were delivered to the project and

distributed throughout their centres. In

February, I took some of them with me

on a visit, sharing the experience with

the Infant School children on my return

through video and photographs. The

significance of conducting a collection

of something tangible, like pens and

pencils, is important for younger

learners as this enables them to make

a more direct connection to their

own lives.

Mumbai Mobile Creches

Connecting our youngest students to service

One of the students in my class, Fergus

Benefield, took this even further and

went to visit some of the MMC centres

during the March holiday. Fergus and his

mum Keri spent several days in Mumbai,

visiting two of the centres where they

spent time getting to know the teachers

and children. Fergus enjoyed teaching

the children how to make chatterboxes

and paper planes and he shared some

new games like Duck Duck Goose.

Keri recognises, as do all our families,

the importance of the Service

programme at UWCSEA. And whilst

it wouldn’t be possible (or suitable)

for all Infant students to visit MMC,

Keri believes that their visit was an

extension of their family values, in

which doing things for others should be

a part of everyday life. She believes, as

we do, that it is important to nurture

this from a young age. Our service

programme has been deliberately

structured to enable even our youngest

students opportunities to develop and

deepen their understanding of both

their shared humanity and how they

can effect change for good by their

own actions.

When Fergus spoke about his

experience he was quick to point out

the similarities between the children

he met and the children at UWCSEA;

“They play too!” he said. He also felt

that the organisation did important

work by keeping the children safe

during the day and helping them

learn. It was fantastic to watch Fergus

enthusiastically recount his trip with

his peers, and in return, the children’s

interest in the project grew. Reflection

is a crucial step in service learning, and

Fergus made a heartwarming digital

recount of his journey. It was great

to be able to share this with all the

Infant classes as it helped to deepen

the understanding our children have

of the children in Mumbai attending

MMC centres.

Lucas Ghai, another child in my class

is planning a trip to visit MMC with

his mum in October. When I asked his

mother Yvonne why she was taking

him she said, “Our kids grow up in

such a privileged way … We think it

is really important that from an early

age our kids learn to appreciate this

and also understand that they have an

opportunity as well as a responsibility

to make a difference.” This year Lucas

brought his birthday money in to me

and told me it was for MMC. When I

asked him why he said, “My bedroom

is full of stuff, I don’t need any more!

There are people in the world that

need things.”

One of the things that sets a UWCSEA

education apart from others is the

authentic and real integration of service

into the curriculum. As children move

up from the Infant School to the Junior

School, there are further opportunities

to connect with the Service

programme, in Singapore and beyond.

The grade-level Global Concerns

projects continue to help students

foster an understanding and, more

importantly, a desire to support others

in our global community and to take

action to help shape a better world.

Photos from Alice Whitehead and Keri Benefield

… Knowing all of you extraordinary people, I can say that in our lifetimes we … will encounter plenty of moments

where we feel that we have ‘made it,’ much like today … By all means, we should appreciate those moments, for we

put our heart and soul into them, but let that not make us complacent…

Equally so, many people will have sky high expectations of us, … but let’s not spend time getting hung up

on what others expect of us and instead, make the most of the meaning we create.

Class of 2016, this array of actions, experiences and memories that we made over our time here,

that is the foundation of who we are. That is our inner freedom, and finding it, may not be

an easy task. But once the time comes that we truly do find our inner freedom, let us not

let it go, for that inner freedom is what will guide us as we journey across the path

through life, this time without the option of so easily turning back.

And so … Class of 2016, I wish that we have enough insight to, against

any challenge the world presents us, embrace it to become … the

embodiment of our lifelong passions, joys and dreams amongst any

type of adversity lying in our way.

In ten years time, when we reunite … there will be one

common thread that will link us together, and that is

our undying UWC spirit to stay true to ourselves,

fight for what we know is right, and remain the

brilliantly unique, Phoenix-loving graduates

from the charming old place sitting on

1207 Dover Road.

By Raphael Bijaoui

Speaker for Class of 2016

Dover Campus

GRADUATION 2016

To view videos and additional

photos from the graduation

ceremonies, visit eDunia.

504

Graduates

Scholars

Nationalities

… Looking back at the last two years and considering both what we’ve witnessed around the world and what we’ve

experienced here—as students at UWC but also as members of the wider global community—I think that we are

compelled to ask: “What have we learned? And what are we to do with that learning?”

Now I’m not going to pretend that I know the answer to that question, or suggest that our generation somehow

has solutions to all the world’s problems. But I do truly believe that we, as a cohort, have something special to

offer. When you consider who we are and what we have achieved during these extraordinary two years—

what we have achieved as individuals but more importantly what we have achieved collectively—it’s

not difficult to imagine the opportunities we will have to drive change in the future.

And as we look to that future with the hope of change on the horizon, we can draw

inspiration from what Barack Obama said in 2008. He said: “Change will not come if

we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones

we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

Here today, we are 177 students from over 40 countries all across the

world. We represent a multitude of races, ethnicities, and beliefs.

We are individuals defined by our own values and the values

of the UWC community.

We are, all of us, imbued with a strong sense of

purpose and, by virtue of our experience here,

uniquely equipped to contribute to our

communities and the world as a whole.

We are the class of 2016!

By Blake Bullwinkel

Speaker for Class of 2016

East Campus

“Digital learning should not

be separated from other ways

of learning. It is a tool, just like

playdough, sand, or paint.”

Seán McHugh, Digital Literacy

Coach, UWCSEA Dover

Since the implementation of

the extensive digital technology

programme throughout UWCSEA in

2010, the College has adopted a view

that while technology is important in

today’s digital age, it is only relevant

if it enhances learning. This has led

to implementation of a cutting edge

approach to pedagogy and teacher

practice within a technology-rich

learning environment. Indeed, it was

this commitment that saw UWCSEA

recognised as an Apple Distinguished

School for 2014–2016, and before

that named the 21st Century Learning

International School of the Year.

Understanding how best to utilise

technology for our youngest students

is the basis of a new international

study currently being carried out by

Debi Keyte-Hartland, an educational

expert in early years learning. The study,

titled ‘Meaning-Making and Digital

Languages: Technology as a Creative

and Expressive Language’ involves

schools in the UK and Sweden as well

as UWCSEA in Singapore. The study is

examining how digital technology can

be used with young children through

creative and expressive approaches in

an enquiry-based setting, by exploring

real, virtual and imaginary contexts

including 2D and 3D dimensionality,

graphics, sounds, musicality, dance,

drama and storytelling. This approach

recognises that there are multiple—

often simultaneous—ways of seeing and

thinking. As a result of our participation,

UWCSEA is collaborating with schools

around the world, ensuring we are best

placed to further embed the appropriate

use of technology to support learning

throughout the Infant years.

Lynda Scott, Head of Infant School,

Dover Campus explains, “Kindergarten

to Grade 1 is a unique time for a child’s

learning journey. At a time when

they are still developing their reading

and writing, as well as their verbal

communication skills, digital technology

can help bridge the gap when it comes

to documenting their experiences. For

instance by encouraging students to film

themselves and their friends playing in

the sand and then later narrating what

they are doing and why, thinking and

learning is made visible. This provides

a wonderful window into their world.

Other examples include using iPad apps

to create stories, keeping an online

learning journal or digitally capturing

their work and providing their own

voice annotations.”

Supported by UWCSEA’s Annual Fund,

Debi has run two workshops with

Infant staff on Dover this academic

year, focusing on how teachers and

teacher assistants can use technology

to encourage creative expression and

enhance the enquiry-based style of

learning we embrace in our Infant

School. The first focused on developing

digital documentation so as to be able

to engage parents with students and

teachers in a three-way process. By

creating more effective tools through

which parents can understand their

child’s learning journey this not only

allows parents to see more of what

their child is doing, but also gain a

deeper understanding of why they

are doing it and gain greater insights

into how their child thinks and learns.

The second workshop (illustrated in

the photo below) examined the use of

different forms of digital media and

tools within the classroom to enhance

curriculum. Both workshops showcased

best practice from around the world

that have been found to enrich learning.

To complement this work, the Infant

School will launch a new platform

for sharing learning called SeeSaw

in August. Designed to capture the

learning journey for K1–G1 students,

this innovative app empowers students

to independently document what they

are learning in school. This will enable

parents to be more closely involved in

their child’s learning journey, seeing

how their child progresses over time,

and support this learning at home.

The UWCSEA Annual Fund is managed

by UWCSEA Foundation. Gifts of

any amount enhance the exceptional

experience and high standards

of UWCSEA.

Creating windows

for student expression

Effective use of digital tools in the Infant School

By Paul Turner

Middle School English Teacher and

Tech Mentor

Dover Campus

“We live in a time when the very nature

of information is changing: in what it

looks like, what we use to view it, where

and how we find it, what we can do

with it, and how we communicate it. If

this information is changing, then our

sense of what it means to be literate

must also change.” (Warlick, 2005)

This was written over 10 years ago, and

the environment in which children are

growing up continues to change at a

rapid pace. In order to stay relevant and

effective, educators and curricula must

evolve, and the inaugural ‘reThinking

Literacy Conference,’ held in April 2016

at UWCSEA Dover in partnership with

21st Century Learning International,

was an opportunity to engage with

what that evolution might or should

look like.

Our students, to varying degrees, are

online—most are consuming content

online, many are communicating online,

and some are producing content online.

In her keynote presentation at the

conference, Kristin Ziemke, an inspiring

and passionate educator and author,

asked the audience to remember the

most recent website they had visited,

and then to think of the dominance of

visual texts in the content we consume

online. She reminded us that we are

responsible for educating our students

in how to analyse and interpret images,

just as much as text. As a Middle School

English teacher, what I appreciated was

that Ziemke went beyond presenting

the specifics of applications and devices

that can be used in the classroom; her

commitment to her students’ learning

was evident, and the tools, as far as she

is concerned, just form part of what

good teaching is today.

This appeal to the pedagogy, rather

than the “flash” of technology,

was reinforced by Dr Troy Hicks, a

professor of English at Central Michigan

University, who highlighted in his

address that educators must have

clear intentions when they introduce

new modalities into their courses.

Each decision must be based on a clear

vision of how the modality will extend

and challenge existing literacy skills.

In our English classes, we want our

students to be able to engage with any

text in a consciously critical manner,

understanding audience, purpose,

structure and meaning. We want our

students to be able to effectively

communicate their ideas, using the

medium of their choice, with a clear

understanding of the techniques at

their disposal to deliver their ideas

with clarity. These intentions can be

realised in numerous ways, and Dr

Hicks reminded us that, although our

courses must engage with the changing

definition of literacy, any change must

be carefully considered and purposeful.

I have been to conferences on

technology in education where the

focus has been more on the technology

than the education. With UWCSEA as

a partner in this conference, it was not

a surprise that pedagogy, rather than

the latest technology, was at the core

of the discussion about contemporary

literacy. As a newcomer to the school,

and in my role as Tech Mentor for the

Middle School English Department, I

have been impressed with the clarity of

vision when discussing the integration

of technology into the classrooms,

one which consistently returns to the

question, “Will it improve teaching and

learning?” This is what educators care

about the most, and this was clearly

woven into the fabric of the ‘reThinking

Literacy Conference.’

As educators, it is our responsibility

to educate children to be literate in

the world that they live in now, and

effectively prepare them for the world

they will live in later. The ‘reThinking

Literacy Conference’ provided us with

an opportunity to engage with the

‘how’ inherent in this responsibility, and

was a stimulating, enriching experience

for all who attended.

References

Warlick, David. “The New Literacy.”

Scholastic Administrator Magazine. April

2005. Web. 21 May 2016.

reThinking Literacy Conference

Strive to belong, not fit in

An excerpt from the non-fiction essay

It’s a feeling that has plagued each one of us at some point

in our lives—not fitting in … Feeling left out and not being

able to fit in is a problem that all kids have faced at least

once in their lifetime … A recent survey showed that 40% of

teenagers felt pressured into trying to fit in with other kids

at school. These days fitting in has become a top priority

for many teenagers. Significant amounts of energy are put

into trying to meet the expectations of someone other than

themselves.

What does ‘fitting in’ even mean? Does it mean the same

thing as belonging? Brene Brown, author of The Gifts of

Imperfection and research professor at the University of

Houston says, “Fitting in is the greatest barrier to belonging.

Fitting in, I’ve discovered during the past decade of research,

is assessing situations and groups of people, then twisting

yourself into a human pretzel in order to get them to let you

hang out with them. Belonging is something else entirely—it’s

showing up and letting yourself be seen and known as you

really are.” And so it becomes even more clear that to ask

someone to fit in is to actually tell them to change something

about themselves … Instead we should be focusing on

encouraging teens to be themselves, stay true to their values

and aim to belong rather than fit in …

Friendship plays an important role in a child’s development.

Children learn many social skills from a young age and are

able to build many connections …But healthy friendships

don’t usually form from cliques … A clique is very exclusive,

people are either ‘in’ or ‘out.’ … Rather than trying to fit into

a clique we should be encouraging friendship groups. In a

friendship group, members don’t have to be alike or share

the same hobbies. They don’t have to constantly worry

about being kicked out of the group for the way they act. In a

friendship group kids can ‘belong.’ …

There is no instant solution to making good friends, but it’s

important to know that you have to be patient. Work on

bettering yourself, find a passion that you can focus on. Join a

club or a sports team where you can form healthy friendships

while staying true to yourself. It may be a long journey and

there are going to be challenges along the way but when you

find a friend that accepts you for who you are and what you

believe in, that friendship is going to last, you will be happier,

and you will feel like you belong.

… Now is the time for parents and other role models to play

a bigger role in guiding teens towards building a sense of

belonging … and to encourage strong friendship groups. It is

important for young people to not lose their sense of self and

personal values and be strong enough to not let society define

their identity.

By Caitlin Moor, Grade 8

By Heidi Foster, Grade 7 and

Khushi Raju and Carlotta Menozzi,

Grade 6

East Campus

A community of word lovers, that’s who

we are—the team behind Off Tangent,

the first Middle School literary magazine

at East Campus. The whole experience

of producing our first issue has been

wonderful for our team. Imagine, the

first day, everybody walking inside the

room, scared and nervous. And then,

slowly figuring out that everybody loved

the same thing: writing.

Being in a community that loves reading

and writing makes you feel at home.

It’s almost as if we are united by one

single, long piece of thread that runs

through our hearts. Our love for words,

the thread that binds us, is what makes

us a family.

A journey off tangent

The first day of the activity, we were

all shy and nervous as we stepped into

Ms Paula [Guinto]’s comfortable and

inspiring classroom. We had no idea

how much work we had ahead of us

or how big a project this was going to

become. We first defined what a literary

magazine was, and after the first few

meetings filled with introductions

and explanations, that is when the

magic started.

Once we defined what our literary

magazine was going to be, that helped

us understand what we really wanted to

become. We knew that we wanted art,

wanted design, wanted something poetic.

We wanted a literary magazine that was

home to stories, opinions, creativity and

voice. We had a unique task that had

never been carried out at East Campus

before; showcasing the writing and

artistic talent of our Middle School.

Also, before starting the process

of creating the magazine we had

to understand what it meant to be

trustworthy, respectful, loyal and have

integrity. Our team had to be respectful

of people’s work and make sure that

people felt comfortable submitting

and sharing their pieces. We valued all

the art in the magazine and treated

it with respect. Integrity was the key.

Making the literary magazine was

really magical, from being a stack of

stories, to creating the most precious

final product.

We then thought of our name, Off

Tangent. We spent a lot of time picking

a name. In fact, there were quite a few

options floating around, and then, Ms

Paula suddenly said “Off Tangent!” We

all gave her a weird look not knowing

what it meant. This is what she said

“Off Tangent, you know, we are quirky

Photos by Jabiz Raisdana

Changes

The view from my window is ever changing

The art of my life repainting

My heart beating at a different rhythm

Body breathing in a different pattern

Reflection shows a changed person

Adapting, adjusting, bearing burdens

Am I here, or is it someone unknown?

Am I veiled, hiding the human of old?

Changes are taking me to exquisite places

I am learning from experiences and changes

Making me cry or making me sing,

I am no longer the person I was before

Adjusting is the trait I once bore

Up, down, I’m spinning all around

Flying high, falling to the ground

I am alien to myself and others now.

The process is ending, now I am changed

I may differ, but I’m not strange

Now I am a dreamer who achieves

Now I am a believer who believes

No dual sides, just one human

Leaving shadows, turning towards the sun

Accept the modifications to life

For with changes, I will strive.

By Raniyah Basheer, Grade 6

and unique, not mainstream.” We all

took a liking to it and agreed on it.

So Off Tangent it was. And is. Weeks

and weeks of hard work were put

into making the magazine. From

creating submission forms for writing,

photography and art, to reviewing

the submissions and choosing

pieces, to emailing writers, artists

and photographers, creating a logo,

designing a cover, finding a publisher

and more. There were so many

leadership opportunities where people

got to step up and take on different

challenges as Mr [Jabiz] Raisdana and

Ms Paula had a lot of faith in us and let

us do a lot of the decision making.

The financial side was difficult though.

Part of our team was working on

getting the money to make all of this

possible including the launch party at

the end. Getting the money was going

to be hard, and we knew that. We were

new and nobody knew how well we

were going to go and what quantity we

were going to sell. The Finance Team

finally found the money and sent the

magazine to the publisher. In less than

two weeks we had our final product.

The day the magazine reached our

hands was when we realised how much

our hard work had paid off. It was a

beautiful and proud moment for all who

were part of the creation process from

the authors to our team. We finally had

physical proof of our work and that was

way more than we could ask for.

To celebrate, we held a launch party so

that we could share our work and joy

with everyone else. We invited all the

students involved and their families. We

even asked the Green Gecko and Daraja

Photos by XXXXXX

GCs to sell food, and the Parents’

Association to sell beverages. The event

was a huge success! Writers from our

magazine read their stories and we had

musicians there too! We sold almost

all of the copies of our magazine and

the few remaining were sold in the next

week at school. The event was definitely

a lot of work but was worth it! Every

member of our team and anyone else

who had been part of our journey was

glowing with pride.

We definitely learnt about hard work

and how it will pay off in the end. Like

Vince Lombardi said, “The only place

success comes before work is in the

dictionary.” In fact, we have found this

to be completely true.

Visit http://offtangentuwc.blogspot.sg

to enjoy the full content of the magazine

online.

By Ally Garland

Grade 3 Teacher

Dover Campus

Friends, actors and audiences, lend me

your ears! Let me tell you more about

the fabulous opportunities the Primary

School teachers and students have

had this year for Drama workshops to

support our Arts Festivals.

One of the many thrills and highlights

of a year in the Primary School is the

grade-level Arts Festival. Many of these

annual performances have been written

into Units of Study, and all the students

are keen to find out their parts and get

into character. The activities around

the Arts Festival focus on looking at

how performers capture the audience’s

attention, how to convey feeling and

development of skills to make their

performance come alive.

However, as fundamental building

blocks to a successful performance,

these drama skills need to be acquired

by Primary School teachers in order to

be able to successfully integrate them

into the learning experience for the

students. In the past, the challenge in

further developing these skills in our

students was that many classroom

teachers in the Primary School had

minimal formal training in drama

techniques. And so to this end an

outside provider, Centre Stage, was

engaged to build a programme that

would both lift the level of expertise

within the teaching staff and develop

confidence and enthusiasm in imparting

these drama skills to their students.

Support from the UWCSEA

Foundation’s Annual Fund enabled a

series of professional development

workshops, designed to give teachers

hands-on experience of different

games, activities and scenarios that

they could then bring to their own

classrooms. For most of us, the

afternoon of workshops redefined what

‘drama’ entailed, helping us eliminate

some of our past practices: who

knew there was no need to cast some

students as rocks and trees because

you have run out of speaking parts? A

range of ideas were demonstrated to

increase the actor’s tool kit, to foster

character, positive body movement and

an expressive voice.

A second workshop provided for the

development of skills supporting the

technical side of staging a performance.

Staff were given a range of practical

tips on using different heights, lighting

and costumes, and how to avoid

masking. This resulted in the entire

faculty gaining a shared vocabulary

and understanding of terminology for

various aspects of drama.

Not only did these workshops give staff

an opportunity to participate in all of

these activities, they allowed us to plan

how to incorporate these skills and

techniques into our own Arts Festival

productions.

With help from the Centre Stage

staff, a workshop model provided

students opportunities to engage in

learning these skills before Arts Festival

rehearsals began. It was an extremely

positive way to kick start this unit

and upskill everyone: students and

staff alike. Various workshop sessions

immersed the students in the use of

voice projection and clarity, movement

around the stage, and building their

characters. Every session was practical

and engaging, designed to teach a

specific skill. These sessions were led by

the Centre Stage, with UWCSEA staff

gaining greater expertise by shadowing

such skilled drama practitioners.

The final workshop session included

UWCSEA’s own technical staff, who

demonstrated how the lighting and

sound elements for a performance

are controlled in the RBT theatre. The

students were fascinated to see ‘behind

the scenes’ and the experience also

made them aware of different areas on

the stage they needed to consider while

performing.

Having reflected on both the staff

professional afternoon and the student

THE

VALUE OF

DRAMA

Crafting our performance in Grade 3

“Art teaches us nothing,

except the significance of life.”

Henry Miller