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The Privilege of Letting Go
Parenting and teaching are acts of deep care and quiet courage. As a new school year begins, the privilege of walking beside young people comes into focus, along with the quiet strength it takes to let go, trust, and hope. Each step forward marks a leap toward growth, independence, and becoming.
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Celebrating International Mother Language Day
At ISZL, language is more than communication—it is a bridge to identity, culture, and understanding. Multilingualism enhances cognitive development, problem-solving skills, and memory. Learning in one’s mother tongue fosters deeper comprehension and academic success, supporting additional language acquisition. Language plays a crucial role in shaping experiences and interactions in our diverse and multilingual community. ISZL…
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Culture of Care and Connection
Our morning routines are filled with grounding rituals that set the stage for the day ahead. While these routines are important for us as adults, they are especially critical for children, playing a key role in their emotional and developmental well-being. Among my favourite moments each morning – and I confess that I am a…
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From One Parent to Another…
This letter to parents has been written by an ISZL Parent/Teacher: Dear Parents, I have been thinking about you a lot lately. Like you, I’ve just finished attempting to motivate my Primary School aged son to organise his day. He begins with eagerness but his attention is limited, and to be honest, working from home has shown me that mine can…
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Never Odd or Even
“Never odd or even.” Why not start a blog post celebrating the beauty and oddities of language with an intriguingly perplexing phrase that is also a palindrome – a word or a sentence that reads the same backwards? First, my apologies in advance to anyone who suffers from a fear of palindromes, or what the…
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Reflections on the Future of Learning
Consider the future for our current kindergarten students and what the world will be like when they graduate in the year 2031. Given the technological advances we are witnessing today, any description of our near future that does not resemble something out of a science fiction story may likely represent an underestimation of the changes…
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Connected, But Alone?
As we expect more from technology, do we expect less from each other? This is the question clinical psychologist Sherry Turkle asks in her book, Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age, which is based on 30 years of her work studying the psychology of people’s relationships with technology. While she is not…
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Culture & Global Citizenship
An important focus area associated with this year’s review of ISZL’s mission, vision, values, and learning principles is that of our school and community’s culture and how it relates to global citizenship. With our staff and students representing 34 and 60 different nationalities respectively, in addition to the school’s offering of 25 language courses, ISZL…
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Our Learning Journey Anew
Dear ISZL Community, Welcome to the start of the 2018-2019 school year! I hope you are returning from an enjoyable and restful break, and that your family has experienced a smooth transition back to school today. I was at the entrance to the Zug campus this morning with members of the ISZL team as we…
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Seeing with Heart
“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” ~ The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry While the following reflections are focused on the International School of Zug and Luzern (ISZL), I believe these reflections are also generally applicable to all schools and organisations,…