Big Ideas Are Better Than Small Ones
For a long time education bothered itself about the detail. Not that it shouldn’t, details are important, but it saw them as the purpose of our teaching. Revision for tests requiring the memorization of facts, with the best grades reserved for those with the best…
Social and Emotional Skills in Academics
By Kevin Hawkins Mainstream schools, for historical reasons as well as somewhat self-serving societal demands, traditionally focus on cultivating a very limited range of skills and competencies in their students. But if we want to support the growth and maturation of balanced young people in…
Creativity, Activity and Service in Pakistan
By Muzna Akbar The International School in Karachi is the first IB World School in Pakistan yet the apprehensions regarding this “new” system become clear when introducing CAS. The way that the program is run at my school is that we integrate it through DP…
Exploring Space in the Classroom
By Camilla Cook I was once locked in a room with a class of thirteen year olds for over two hours. This disturbing situation occurred because Alissa had worked out that she could steal the door handle, leap out of the room, and slam the…
Handling Criticism
Handling Criticism With Grace and Honesty by Kare Anderson A client just called us to order 5,000 copies of a slender book I wrote years ago. He said that he wished he’d called sooner, before the sides had hardened between the people in his corporation. Now several…
Feedback in Service Learning
By John Cannings Why do students need feedback when they carry out service learning? What are some of the best forms of feedback to give students? The essence of service learning is that students gain new knowledge and skills from their experiences. Service Learning is…
Self Management and the Perception of Time
By Andrew Mitchell Build a time machine or open the doors of perception? Self management and finding the right type of busy. I’m looking back at a stream of WhatsApp conversations between colleagues, collaborators and friends, and we invariably start with something like this: Andrew:…
Service Learning and Communication Skills
By John Cannings “No problem about contacting….I do that all the time with my friends” One of the great goals of any high school service-learning programme is that by the end of the programme students can take responsibility for planning and initiating a project. That…
21st Century Skills and Tracker Apps
By Maxine Driscoll 21st Century Skills For almost two decades educators, politicians, business leaders and parents have been talking about 21st century skills and what schools must do to prepare our children for their future. While the International Baccalaureate, IB, has been doing something about it…
Making a Difference through Educational Service
By Paul Murphy I have been to Zambia for the past three years working as a workshop leader for the International Baccalaureate, presenting to teachers at the American International School of Lusaka. I was last lucky enough last year to deliver workshops in Malawi and…