Our Human Tapestry

The most moving and important testimonials about learning and school culture also come from parents, whose voices are critical to our collective partnership in support of student development. To complement last week’s post, Our Obligation, which focused on inclusion from a student’s perspective, this post shares a poignant parent reflection on the same theme.

Alex Ellis is currently serving as the British Ambassador to Brazil. Following his son Thomás’ recent graduation from the American School of Brasilia, Ambassador Ellis published the following reflections, which focus on the culture of learning and inclusion in schools.

Tomás Finished School Last Saturday

There are parents all over the northern hemisphere who in these weeks have watched or will watch their child go through this ritual, in many different forms, in the case of our son through a flick of a tassel. Each family has its own memories and stories, both similar to those of others and peculiar to themselves.

Our story includes a moment, at an earlier time, spent in a still, grey room, with sensible Flemish doctors telling us in sensible, Flemish English that our son is on the autistic spectrum. There’s no number to confirm this, no blood test. It’s the product of observation and judgment, and that knot of anxiety which has sat inside our stomachs from when Tomas’ first kindergarten teacher wondered if he might be a bit different, the apparent difficulty in hearing (tested, unproven), his slightly awkward walk, his focus on a few toys but not his classmates.

Before he was diagnosed Tomás passed through a series of small schools, mainly with the help of kind teachers, next to whom he was often standing. The diagnosis came after, at very short notice, we had moved from warm, fun Madrid back to Brussels. He plunged into a large school which quickly declared him “ineducable”. It doesn’t sound much nicer when you hear it in French. Which I did, twice, for bureaucratic reasons which were legally impeccable, financially advantageous and inhuman.

I wondered, when Tomas was diagnosed, what would happen next. “Tomorrow” is the best answer. He hadn’t changed and we hadn’t changed. We fell, and then got up. Tomas carried on, much happier at a school that took him, rather than rejected him, for who he is. The labels — Asperger’s, on the autistic spectrum, he’s quite bright but different etc — helped in the first interaction with schools. They were ready to adjust before he walked in.

Tomas got from there to here, 11 years later, because of some things he was born with; confidence, a sense of humour and a good heart. Lots of other children have those characteristics, autistic or not. Tomas had a lot of help as well. Help in the form of classroom support, and crucially from teachers who “got” him. Who saw him as different, not special, as a person, albeit in teenage form, rather than a syndrome.

This, we learnt, starts at the top. Schools are no different from any other organisation in the importance of the leader in determining and living its values. We had luck, and a bit of choice, in the two schools where Tomas spent the best part of a decade. Both heads thought that a school would gain more than lose from a boy like Tomas in it, that this was part of the world of difference in which pupils should learn. Almost without exception the pupils shared this attitude. On a rare occasion when a classmate tried to bully him, his confidence and humour dealt pretty comfortably with it.

The head teacher at the ambitious, academic school where Tomas stayed longest told me, after chatting with him, that he would take him into the school, but there would be some who wouldn’t be so keen to have him there. So it proved. Some teachers welcomed him, some wanted him out of their class. This wasn’t determined by Tomas’ abilities, but by the teacher’s confidence. Over time some teachers excluded him from classes in which he was relatively strong, whilst others kept with him in subjects (maths) in which threats, tears and bribes could not move him — I know, having tried, and failed, with all three. As exams loomed bigger, some teachers, and in rare cases some other parents, wanted Tomas out of the class for fear that he might undermine the grades of other pupils. In such situations the real values of a school become apparent.

Tomas is not easy to teach. Like a lot of kids on the autistic spectrum, he’s pretty autodidactic (and I should thank The Simpsons, Futurama and Cartoon Network for their significant contribution to his education). And he tells it as he sees it, which can be uncomfortable. The new music teacher in one school, fresh from university, might have hoped for a different opening to his career than Tomas asking to see his qualifications.

But the good teachers, and there were a lot of them, got past this or better still embraced this as part of what Tomas brought to the classroom, to the school — and also knew that the second is a lot ore than just the first. Last week, after Tomás stepped up to get an arts prize, to his father’s bursting pride and his own mild indifference, a teacher referred to the support for him from “the school community”. She was quite right. It did, for our son, take just that community to help get him through his education.

So this one goes out, yes, to the son I love. But it also goes out to every member of those school communities, teachers, administrators, security guards, classroom helpers, who saw in Tomas not a potential spoiler of grade averages or a “special” pupil to be kept in a “special” place but rather saw him for what he was — another flavour in the very wide variety that is the human race.

Link to Original Post: Tomás Finished School Last Saturday

Versão português:

Nossa Tapeçaria Humana

Os depoimentos mais emocionantes e importantes sobre a aprendizagem e cultura escolar também vêm dos pais, cujas vozes são fundamentais para a nossa parceria em prol do desenvolvimento do aluno. Complementando a postagem da semana passada, A Nossa Obrigação, cujo foco foi a inclusão de acordo com a perspectiva de cada aluno, a publicação abaixo compartilha a reflexão comovente de um pai sobre o mesmo tema. Alex Ellis está servindo atualmente como Embaixador Britânico no Brasil. Logo após a formatura do seu filho Thomas, na Escola Americana de Brasília, o Embaixador Ellis publicou a seguinte reflexão, que incide sobre a cultura de aprendizagem e inclusão nas escolas.

Tomás terminou a escola no último Sábado

Nessas últimas semanas, pais em todo o hemisfério norte foram ou vão assistir seus filhos passarem por esse ritual, de formatura, nas mais diversas formas; como no caso do nosso filho Tomás que passou a corda do capelo do lado direito para o lado esquerdo. Cada família tem suas próprias memórias e histórias, algumas semelhantes entre si — e outras completamente particulares.

Nossa história inclui um momento vivido alguns anos atrás, em uma sala ainda cinzenta, com sensíveis médicos da região belga dos Flandres nos dizendo, também de forma sensível, que nosso filho possuía um diagnóstico de espectro autista. Não há nenhum número para confirmar isso; nenhum exame de sangue. Essa conclusão é o produto único de observação e julgamento. É resultado daquele nó de ansiedade que tomou conta de nós, eu e minha esposa, quando a primeira professora de Tomás, no jardim de infância, nos chamou na escola e nos perguntou se ele era um pouco diferente; desde sua aparente dificuldade de audição (testada e não comprovada); ao caminhar um pouco desajeitado e o foco em alguns brinquedos, mas não seus colegas.

Antes de ser diagnosticado, Tomás passou por uma série de pequenas escolas, sempre com a ajuda de professores amáveis, dos quais ele quase sempre permanecia por perto. A comprovação veio logo depois que nos mudamos da quente e divertida Madrid de volta à Bruxelas, na Bélgica. Ali, Tomás foi matriculado em uma escola maior, que rapidamente o declarou como “ineducável”. Uma frase que não soa muito mais agradável quando você a escuta em francês.

Eu me perguntava, assim que ele foi diagnosticado, o que aconteceria em seguida. E o “amanhã” é a melhor resposta. Meu filho, assim como nós, não tinha mudado. Nós caímos, mas então nos levantamos. Tomás seguiu em frente, muito mais feliz em uma escola que o acolheu ao invés de rejeitá-lo por ser quem ele é. Os rótulos — Asperger, com espectro autista, “muito brilhante, mas diferente”… — ajudaram em sua primeira interação com as novas escolas. Elas estavam prontas a se adaptarem antes da nossa chegada.

Nesses últimos 11 anos, como fruto de várias características de sua natureza, Tomás adquiriu confiança, um excelente senso de humor e um bom coração.

Várias outras crianças também são assim — autistas ou não. Tomas também recebeu muita ajuda. Ajuda em forma de suporte com as atividades em sala de aula e, crucialmente, de professores que o conquistaram. Professores que o enxergaram como diferente, e não especial; como uma pessoa, ainda que adolescente, ao invés de uma síndrome.

Nós aprendemos algo desde o começo: escolas não são diferentes de qualquer outra organização no que se refere à importância de um líder que determine e estimule determinados valores. Tivemos sorte, e um pouco de escolha, com as duas escolas onde Tomás passou a maior da última década.Ambas as partes acreditaram que a escola iria ganhar mais do que perder recebendo um garoto como ele, parte de um mundo de diferenças que todos os demais alunos deveriam aprender. Quase sem exceção, todos os demais alunos compartilharam essa atitude. E na rara ocasião em que um colega tentou intimidá-lo, a confiança e o bom humor de Tomás lidaram confortavelmente com a situação.

O diretor da escola em que Tomás ficou a maior parte de sua trajetória me disse, depois de conversar com ele, que iria matriculá-lo, mas confessou que haveria algumas pessoas ali pouco ansiosas com a sua chegada. E assim foi. Alguns professores o acolheram, alguns o queriam fora de sala. Isso não foi determinado pela capacidade de Tomás, mas pela confiança de cada um dos professores. Ao longo do tempo, alguns professores o excluíram de aulas nas quais ele era relativamente habilidoso, enquanto outros continuaram com ele em disciplinas (matemática, por exemplo) em que as ameaças, as lágrimas e os subornos não conseguiam movê-lo. A medida que os exames foram aumentando, alguns professores e, em raros casos, alguns pais, queriam Tomás fora da classe — era o medo de que ele minasse os resultados dos demais estudantes. Nesses momentos, os reais valores de uma escola se fizeram presentes.

Tomas não é fácil de ensinar. Como um monte de crianças com espectro autista, ele é muito autodidata (e eu deveria agradecer Os Simpsons, Futurama e Cartoon Network por sua contribuição significativa para a sua educação). E ele diz as coisas exatamente com as vê, o que às vezes pode ser desconfortável. O novo professor de música, recém saído da universidade, talvez esperasse um início diferente para sua carreira: com certeza ele não esperava que Tomás pedisse para ver suas qualificações. Mas os bons professores, e havia um monte deles, apenas superaram essas dificuldades ou, melhor ainda, as abraçaram como parte do que Tomás trouxe para a sala de aula e a escola. Eles entenderam que os ganhos eram maiores que todos os desafios.

Na última semana, depois de Tomás ganhar um prêmio de artes, para o orgulho do pai e para sua própria indiferença, uma professora mencionou o suporte oferecido a Tomás por toda a “comunidade escolar”. Ela estava certa. Eles fizeram muito pelo nosso filho e se engajaram no desafio de ajudá-lo no caminho pela educação.

Então, sim, este texto vai para o filho que eu amo. Mas também vai para cada membro daquelas comunidades escolares, professores, administradores, seguranças e auxiliares que viram no Tomás não somente um potencial de notas medianas ou um aluno “especial” para ser mantido em um lugar “especial”, mas sim pelo que ele era — um outro sabor na variedade muito ampla que é a raça humana.

Link para publicação original: Tomás Finished School Last Saturday

Featured image: cc licensed (CC BY 2.0) flickr photo by James Cridland: Crowd  https://www.flickr.com/photos/leecullivan/240389468/

Future of Education

We recently hosted an evening event with parents and teachers entitled, “The Future of Education.” The workshop was more of a discussion about the factors that are currently disrupting and redefining education rather than an articulation of what education will look like in the future.

To begin the discussion, each participant was asked to describe the most effective learning experience in his or her life. While there was a wide range of responses, there was one common theme: All but one of the learning experiences occurred outside of a K-12 school setting. The one parent whose experience took place in school shared that his Grade 2 teacher allowed him to extend his learning in an area of personal interest that developed well beyond the level required in the syllabus.

The participants were then asked to explain why they believed the learning experiences they described were so effective and meaningful. What emerged from the ensuing discussion was the concept of relevance – when the learning represented a high level of relevance to the learner, the result was usually an effective and deeply meaningful learning experience.

Relevance

So, is the concept of relevance as a basis for our educational programs the panacea we have been seeking to significantly improve K-12 educational programs and, in turn, student learning and development? While we know there is no simple “one solution fits all” solution to improving schools, we are seeing an increased focus on relevance and personalized learning. If forced to use one word to describe the future of education, many would agree that the word would be relevance.

The research of Lee Jenkins (2013) highlights why this discussion is important. Jenkins worked with 3,000 teachers from Kindergarten to Grade 12 to determine how enthusiastic students are about school. The result of the study was that 95% of kindergarten students are enthusiastic about school. However, this percentage drops significant each year until Grade 9 when the percentage of students enthusiastic about school drops to a low of 37%. The small increase between Grades 10 to 12 is attributed to the focus of some students on graduation and beyond (see graph below). It seems that we should all be concerned with the results of this study.

Source: The New Meaning of Educational Change, Fifth Edition, by Michael Fullan

It is believed that a greater focus on relevance in education will contribute to ensuring a higher level of student enthusiasm for school. To that end, relevance can be defined in many ways, including the framework of preparing students for life beyond school.

Future of Jobs

In Future of Jobs, published by the World Economic Forum, the report lists the top ten skills needed to thrive in a 2015 work environment. Looking ahead five years, it is believed that over 35% of the skills considered important for work today will have changed, resulting in a different list of top ten skills in 2020.

Top 10 Skills in 2015:

Complex Problem Solving
Coordinating with Others
People Management
Critical Thinking
Negotiation
Quality Control
Service Orientation
Judgment and Decision Making
Active Listening
Creativity

Top 10 Skills in 2020:

Complete Problem Solving
Critical Thinking
Creativity
People Management
Coordinating with Others
Emotional Intelligence
Judgment and Decision Making
Service Orientation
Negotiation
Cognitive Flexibility

In comparing the two tables, it is interesting to note that five of the skills in 2020 are relationship based: People Management, Coordinating with Others, Emotional Intelligence, Service Orientation, and Negotiation. It is also interesting to note that Creativity moved up the list from tenth place in 2015 to third place in 2020.

Creativity

George Land was responsible for developing a creativity test for NASA to determine how innovative potential scientists and astronauts were as part of the candidate assessment process. In 1968, Land used the same test to evaluate children over a ten-year period. The results were astonishing, as displayed in the chart below.

Source: Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing our Kids for the Innovation Era, by Tony Wagner and Ted Dintersmith

The test was given to 1,600 students with a resulting score of 98% for five-year-olds. The same students were tested five and ten years later, scoring 30% and 12% respectively. The same test was given to 280,000 adults, who scored an average of 2%. The conclusion of the study was that non-creative behavior is learned.

The significant drop in levels of creativity has been attributed, in large part, to, an educational system that was developed on a premise established 200 years ago during the Industrial Revolution to train students to follow instructions and be good workers. Education has of course evolved since that time, though it can be argued that the framework associated with the original premise continues to limit reform in education.

Returning to the title of this post and the Future of Education, some of the questions that will guide future educational reforms will need to include issues relating to creativity, future work skills, enthusiasm for school, and, perhaps most importantly, the concept of relevance and the learning process.

O Futuro da Educação

Recentemente nós promovemos um evento para pais e professores chamado “ O Futuro da Educação”. O workshop foi mais uma discussão sobre os fatores que atualmente estão perturbando e redefinindo a educação do que uma articulação sobre o que a educação virá a ser no futuro.

Ao começarmos a discussão, pedimos que cada participante descrevesse a experiência de aprendizado mais eficaz em sua vida. Em meio uma variedade de respostas, notamos um tema em comum: Todas as experiências, exceto uma, aconteceram fora do ambiente escolar. O pai que contou sobre a sua experiência na escola disse que a sua professora do segundo ano permitiu que ele estendesse sua aprendizagem em uma área de interesse pessoal que se desenvolveu muito além do nível exigido pelo programa.

Em seguida, pedimos aos participantes que explicassem por que eles acreditavam que suas experiências de aprendizado compartilhadas ali foram tão eficazes e significativas. O que emergiu do debate que se seguiu foi o conceito de relevância – em que o aprendizado representou um alto nível de importância para o aluno e o resultado foi uma experiência de aprendizado efetiva, profunda e significativa.

Relevância

Sendo assim, será que o conceito de relevância como base para nossos programas educacionais é a panaceia que temos buscado para melhorar significativamente os programas educacionais K-12 e, por sua vez, o aprendizado do aluno e seu desenvolvimento?

Apesar de sabermos que não há uma simples “solução para todos” para a melhoria das escolas, estamos vendo que existe um foco maior na relevância e aprendizagem personalizada. Se nos esforçarmos para achar uma palavra que descreva o futuro da educação, muitos irão concordar que a palavra seria relevância.

A pesquisa de Lee Jenkins (2013) destaca por que esta discussão é importante. Jenkins trabalhou com 3.000 professores do jardim de infância ao 12º ano para determinar como alunos entusiasmados se sentem sobre a escola. O estudo mostrou que 95% dos alunos do jardim de infância estão entusiasmados com a escola. No entanto, esse percentual cai de forma significativa a cada ano, até a 9ª série, quando a percentagem de alunos entusiasmados com a escola cai para 37%. O pequeno aumento entre os 10º e 12º anos é atribuído ao foco de alguns alunos na graduação, entre outros (ver gráfico abaixo). Parece que todos nós devemos nos preocupar com os resultados deste estudo.

Fonte: The New Meaning of Educational Change, Fifth Edition, by Michael Fullan

Acredita-se que um foco maior na relevância em educação contribuirá para assegurar um maior nível de alunos entusiasmados com a escola. Para isso, a relevância pode ser definida de várias maneiras, incluindo a abordagem de preparar alunos para a vida além da escola.

O Futuro dos Empregos

O artigo “O Futuro dos Empregos”, publicado pelo Fórum Econômico Mundial, lista as dez principais habilidades necessárias para prosperar em um ambiente de trabalho de 2015. Olhando cinco anos para frente, acredita-se que mais de 35% das habilidades consideradas hoje importantes para o trabalho, irão mudar resultando em uma lista diferente das dez melhores habilidades em 2020.

As 10 melhores habilidades em 2015:

Resolução de problemas complexos
Interação com os outros
Gestão de Pessoas
Pensamento Crítico
Negociação
Controle de Qualidade
Orientação de Serviços
Julgamento e Tomada de Decisão
Escuta Ativa
Criatividade

As 20 melhores habilidades em 2020:

Resolução de Problemas Completa
Pensamento Crítico
Criatividade
Gestão de Pessoas
Interação com os outros
Inteligência Emocional
Julgamento e Tomada de Decisão
Orientação a Serviços
Negociação
Flexibilidade Cognitiva

Na comparação das duas tabelas, é interessante notar que cinco das habilidades para 2020 estão ligadas a relacionamento: Gestão de Pessoas, Interação com os outros, Inteligência Emocional, Orientação a Serviços e Negociação. Também é interessante notar que a criatividade subiu na lista de décimo lugar em 2015, para o terceiro lugar em 2020.

Criatividade

George Terra foi o responsável pelo desenvolvimento de um teste de criatividade para a NASA para determinar o potencial e quão inovadores cientistas e astronautas eram, como parte de um processo seletivo. Em 1968, Terra usou o mesmo teste para avaliar crianças em um período acima de dez anos.

Os resultados foram surpreendentes, conforme mostrado no gráfico abaixo.

Fonte: Most Likely to Succeed: Preparing our Kids for the Innovation Era, by Tony Wagner and Ted Dintersmith

O teste foi aplicado a 1.600 alunos com uma pontuação de 98% para crianças de cinco anos. Os mesmos alunos foram testados cinco e dez anos mais tarde, marcando 30% e 12%, respectivamente. O mesmo teste foi dado a 280.000 adultos, que marcaram uma média de 2%. A conclusão do estudo foi que o comportamento não criativo é aprendido.

A queda significativa nos níveis de criatividade tem sido atribuída, em grande parte, a um sistema educacional que foi desenvolvido em uma premissa estabelecida há 200 anos, durante a Revolução Industrial, para ensinar alunos a seguirem as instruções e serem bons trabalhadores. A educação vem, naturalmente, evoluindo desde aquela época, embora se possa argumentar que o quadro associado com a premissa original continua a limitar a reforma na educação.

Voltando ao título deste artigo e ao Futuro da Educação, algumas das questões que irão orientar as futuras reformas educacionais terão de incluir questões relacionadas a criatividade, habilidades de trabalhos futuros, o entusiasmo para a escola, e, talvez a mais importante, o conceito de relevância e o processo de aprendizagem.

Featured image: cc licensed (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) flickr photo by Nelson de Witt:Child's Play; https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcescobar1/4826861354

Envisioning a True Leader

Kristie Da-Ngoc Nguyen, a friend and former colleague at the American School of Brasilia, published her deeply profound and moving personal story in the most recent edition of The International Educator (TIE) newspaper. Kristie’s article is shared below, with permission.

Envisioning a True Leader

By Kristie Da-Ngoc Nguyen
01/13/2016

“Together we inspire a love of learning, empowering all students with the courage, confidence, creativity, and compassion to make their unique contribution in a diverse and dynamic world.”

On our welcome back to school day, our head of school, Mr. Andrew Hoover and our school board chairperson, Ms. Gayathri Sriram, asked us to reflect on how we can use the 4 Cs of our school’s mission—Courage, Confidence, Creativity, and Compassion—to inspire our students. Ms. Sriram also shared with us a story about India’s beloved former president, APJ Abdul Kalam, who had passed away in the previous week.

Twenty years ago, Ms. Sriram had the opportunity to be in the audience at one of the Former President’s talks. He asked all those in the audience to close their eyes and envision a great leader. Our school board chairperson repeated this challenge, asking all of us to do the same, calling up the image of someone who had inspired us. A vision of my father, Binh Van Nguyen, in his crisp white shirt and tie appeared in my mind. A man who embodied courage, confidence, creativity, and compassion. A man who has been a force throughout my life. A man who made me who I am today. Here is the story of my father.

In 1975, after the Fall of Saigon, my father was arrested and put in a re-education camp. His crime was working for the former government’s telecommunication office. Fortunately for us, my maternal grandfather had some connections from his resistance days fighting against the French regime. With what money he could gather, he paid a bribe to free my father from his incarceration. With a mark on his file, my father was unable to find a job. My grandfather gave my dad a job on his fishing boat. Though he had never done a day of hard labor in his life, my father happily accepted it.

Without any complaints, he embraced his new life as a fisherman. He learned as much as he could about the work and always found joy in everything. Every time he came home from a fishing trip, he taught my siblings and me the names of all the new sea creatures he had harvested. We learned which ones to stay away from and which tasted good. He made it so fun that we always looked forward to his return home.

By 1978, life had become unstable in Vietnam and my parents did not know what kind of future we would have there. They ultimately decided our family should flee the country. For their children’s future, my parents would say goodbye to everything and everyone in Vietnam and bring us to a new land of hope.

The plan to escape was simple: my father would go on one of his fishing trips and pass the checkpoint, then wait for us on shore. We would take a smaller boat through the jungle to get out to the coast without going through the checkpoint. A few mementos were packed and hidden on the boat. Everyone was set and ready to leave the country.

As dusk arrived, we boarded the small boat to head through the winding, narrow river in the dense jungle. We prayed that we wouldn’t get caught. Our hearts were thumping in our chests as we paddled further and further away from our home. We met with a few mishaps—the boat got stuck in the mud, and we met a few people that wanted to know where we were going—but we managed to reach the coast. The sea breeze blew away some of our worries as our destination came into view. A light flashed from afar, a signal from the boat that would carry us away. Unfortunately, the wind blew harder and harder, and the rain began to pour down on us.

Then suddenly, a dreadful storm came up and capsized our boat. We were thrown into the water, fighting for our lives. After what seemed like an eternity struggling against the relentless storm and the merciless waves, we were rescued by another fishing boat. Soon, we discovered that my mother, my five-year–old sister, and about seven other members were missing. A few people jumped in the water to search for them, but found no one. We were urged by the kind fisherman that rescued us to go, because they didn’t want to get caught.

When we arrived at my father’s boat he was informed of the news. My father broke down and cried. He wanted to go back and find my mother and sister, but time wasn’t on our side. Other members of the group pleaded that we had to leave immediately, before the authorities discovered our escape. They begged him to think about his other children: if we were caught, our future would forever be sealed. For his four other children’s future, my father sadly steered the boat to freedom. It must have been one of the hardest decisions he had to make in his life.

We arrived in Malaysia and were taken to a refugee camp in Kota Bharu. Life was hard, but it was not too bad. We were given sardines, eggs, and rice to eat. We didn’t have much, but we had each other. After five months in the refugee camp, we were sent to Des Moines, Iowa with some second-hand clothes and an album of valuable pictures in a rice sack. After a few months on welfare, and a few English lessons, my father went out to look for a job. He found a work as a custodian in a hospital. A man with a college degree, used to wearing a tie to work, now had to clean the floor and toilets. But he proudly went to work every day, and continued to go to school at night.

Wonderful dad that he was, he didn’t grumble when he came home at the end of a hard day. He always brought little treats from the hospital for us: discarded magazines and uneaten packages of jam or Jell-o were presents we always looked forward to. After eating a quick dinner, he would load the four of us and some of his classmates into his used station wagon to go to his night school. While he was in class, my siblings and I entertained each other by running down the hallways and peeking into other classrooms. It sure beat doing homework at night. After a few years of working and going to school, my dad earned an Associate degree from the community college. He quit his job as a custodian and found a better one working in the printing department of a newspaper. He died a few years later of a brain tumor, but not before seeing all of his children as college graduates working happily in their chosen fields.

This is a story about my father, a man who embodied courage, confidence, compassion, and creativity. A man who, despite starting his life in America with nothing but an empty hand, was able to bring up four wonderful children all by himself.

My wish for all us as educators is that many years from now, when kids close their eyes and think of who inspired them as a leader, that each of our images will come to the mind of at least one child.

Kristie Da-Ngoc Nguyen is a third-grade teacher at the American International School Chennai.

A Better Tomorrow

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

International news reports in recent weeks and months have been filled with disturbing reports of terror attacks, refugee migration, acts of aggression, and indescribable loss and suffering. Our hearts go out to everyone who has been affected by these horrific acts and circumstances.

As we are reminded daily of the conflict, hate, and desperation that can exist in the world, we are compelled to reflect on the role international schools play, especially with a focus on the education of future generations.

There are clearly no simple answers to what seem to be infinitely complex global challenges. While it is not the explicit mission of schools to solve these problems, it is the responsibility of schools to work in partnership with families to prepare students with the necessary skills and dispositions to make a positive difference in our communities and the lives of others. Taking this belief a step further, there is a moral imperative for international schools to lead by example and provide students with opportunities to learn how to lead and solve complex problems. We know there is no quick fix to our problems and that solutions of a profound nature will require a long-term strategy guided by a strong moral compass. It is hoped that schools can contribute in meaningful ways to this strategy through relevant and profound learning opportunities.

EAB Mission Statement: Learners inspiring learners to be inquisitive in life, principled in character, and bold in vision.

The Model United Nations (MUN) program is one example of how schools support students towards realizing these ideals. Last weekend, EAB hosted the first ever Brasilia MUN conference with 150 students in attendance. In modeling similar issues faced by the United Nations, students are responsible for proposing and negotiating solutions to some of the world’s most challenging problems. The performance of the students was impressive, not only based on their knowledge of world affairs, but also based on their ability to effectively negotiate effective, creative, and innovative solutions. The following video and photo links highlight some of the extraordinary work of our students: Video, Photos, Website.

EAB Vision Statement: To positively impact the world through excellence in academics, activities, arts, leadership, and service.

EAB’s mission and vision statements provide our community with an important framework in terms of the ongoing development of our educational program. To be “inquisitive in life” emphasizes the focus on learning about the world around us, which includes developing high degrees of empathy and understanding about what is both familiar and different. To be “principled in character” challenges us to by guided by a moral direction. To be “bold in vision” is to commit to making a positive difference in our community and the lives of others.

In a letter reflecting on the Paris attacks, Kevin Ruth, the Executive Director of ECIS, underscored one of the key roles of international schools, which also corresponds to the essence of EAB’s “bold in vision” ideal:

“An absolute cornerstone of any school that calls itself an international school should be the social impact that that school can effect, beginning in its immediate surroundings, yet going beyond, to create positive impact in our world. At times like these, we must go beyond our curricula, beyond our politicking, beyond our first world complaints, and seek to create positive impact in our world as deeply and intentionally as we can.”

Through an educational program that includes experiential learning opportunities such as MUN, it is one of EAB’s fundamental goals to “seek to create positive impact in our world” based on a whole child, community-based educational approach. It is with this vision and commitment that we look to the future with optimism and a belief in a better tomorrow for all.

A escuridão não pode expulsar a escuridão; apenas a luz pode fazer isso. O ódio não pode expulsar ódio; só o amor pode fazer isso. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

As notícias internacionais nas últimas semanas e meses foram preenchidas com relatos perturbadores de ataques terroristas, a migração de refugiados, atos de agressão, perdas e sofrimentos indescritíveis. Nossos corações estão com todos aqueles que foram afetados por esses atos e circunstâncias.

Ao sermos lembrados diariamente dos conflitos, ódio e desespero que podem existir no mundo, somos obrigados a refletir sobre o papel que as escolas internacionais desempenham, especialmente sobre a educação das gerações futuras.

Evidentemente, não há respostas simples para o que parecem ser os mais complexos desafios globais. Mesmo a solução desses problemas não sendo a missão explicita das escolas, é nossa responsabilidade trabalhar em parceria com as famílias, para prepararmos os alunos com as habilidades e disposições necessárias para fazerem uma diferença positiva na nossa comunidade e na vida dos demais. Ao levarmos esse pensamento à diante, existe uma exigência moral das escolas internacionais para darem o exemplo e proporcionarem aos alunos, oportunidades para aprender a liderar e resolver problemas complexos. Sabemos que não existe uma solução rápida para os nossos problemas e que as soluções de uma natureza profunda requer uma estratégia em longo prazo, guiada por um forte compasso moral. Esperamos que as escolas possam contribuir de uma forma significativa para essa estratégia, através de oportunidades de ensino profundas e relevantes.

Missão da EAB: Aprendizes inspirando aprendizes a serem questionadores na vida, firmes em seu caráter e com uma visão audaciosa.

O programa do Model United Nations (MUN) é um exemplo de como as escolas podem apoiar os alunos para realizarem esses ideais. No último final de semana, a EAB sediou o primeiro evento do MUN em Brasília, com a participação de 150 alunos. Usando como modelo os problemas enfrentados pelas Nações Unidas, os alunos são responsáveis por propor e negociar soluções para alguns dos problemas mais desafiadores do mundo. O desempenho dos alunos foi impressionante, não apenas com base no seu conhecimento sobre os assuntos mundiais, mas também em sua capacidade de negociar soluções de forma eficaz, criativa e inovadora. O vídeo a seguir e o link das fotos destaca alguns dos trabalhos extraordinários dos nossos alunos: Video, Photos, Website.

Visão da EAB: Impactar o mundo de forma positiva, através da excelência acadêmica, atividades, artes, liderança e serviço.

A Missão e a Visão da EAB fornecem a nossa comunidade uma importante estrutura em termos de desenvolvimento contínuo do nosso programa educacional. Ser “questionador na vida” enfatiza o foco na aprendizagem sobre o mundo que nos rodeia, o que inclui o desenvolvimento de um alto grau de empatia e compreensão sobre o que é familiar e diferente. Ser “firme no caráter” desafia a nos orientar em uma direção moral. Ter “uma visão audaciosa” significa se comprometer a fazer a diferença positiva na nossa comunidade e na vida dos outros.

Em uma carta que reflete sobre os atentados de Paris, Kevin Ruth, o diretor executivo da ECIS, destacou um dos papéis principais de escolas internacionais, o que também corresponde à essência do ideal da EAB “visão audaciosa”:

“O alicerce de qualquer escola que se diz internacional deveria ser o impacto social que essa escola influencia, começando pelo seu ambiente, mas indo além, criando um impacto positivo no nosso mundo. Em tempos como esse, nós temos que ir além do nosso currículo, além da nossa politicagem, além das nossas primeiras queixas sobre o mundo e procurar criarmos um impacto positivo da forma mais profunda e internacional que pudermos.”

Através de um programa educacional que inclui oportunidades de aprendizagem como o MUN, um dos objetivos fundamentais da EAB é “buscar a criação de um impacto positivo em nosso mundo”, com base na abordagem educacional da criança/comunidade por um todo. É com essa visão e comprometimento que nós olhamos para o futuro com otimismo e crença num amanhã melhor para todos nós.

Teachers’ Day

“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.” ~ Carl Jung.

Teachers’ Day is celebrated in Brazil on October 15 each year. As a small token of appreciation and recognition, this post is dedicated to all teachers at the American School of Brasilia, in Brazil, and worldwide: Happy Teachers’ Day! Your work, dedication, and commitment to the development of others is deeply appreciated.

In the spirit of celebrating Teachers’ Day, the following is a reposting of a letter entitled, “Why I Hated Meredith’s First Grade Teacher”, written by Kylene Beers:

Why I Hated Meredith’s First Grade Teacher: An Open Letter to America’s Teachers

When my first born headed off to first grade, 21 years ago, she held my hand as we walked down the hallway of Will Rogers Elementary School in the Houston Independent School District. We walked into Ms. Miner’s room and Meredith’s steps grew more hesitant. This wasn’t the University of Houston Child Care Center, the place she had gone for years while I was a doctoral student at UH. This place looked different – bigger, more official. There were big-kid desks pushed together in clusters. And though there were centers, they were not the dress-up center or the cooking center or nap center or water play center of the Child Care Center.

The room was filled with children she did not yet know, with books she had not yet read, with a math center that had lost-teeth and birthday charts, and with a big poster by the door labeled, “Our Classroom Rules” that was still blank. “I don’t want to stay,” she said. I didn’t want her to, either. I wanted her still with me, only me. I didn’t want to give up those first six years of childhood just yet, those years when her world mostly revolved around her parents and new baby brother and a silly dog with big ears and afternoons spent in our local library reading book after book after book or playing in our neighborhood park, sometimes just sitting on the grass, watching the ants march by. With every ounce of courage, I said, “Oh, you will love first grade. It was my favorite year in school. I loved my first grade teacher, Mrs. Allen, and I bet you are going to love Ms. Miner, too.” Meredith looked doubtful and so very small. And then Ms. Miner, long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail, saw us, came over, and bent down to Meredith’s level. A first year teacher – the one I had told the principal that if he was willing to listen to requests I wanted – Ms. Miner was full of energy and excitement. She loved books, wanted to be a great teacher, and had obviously spent weeks making her room look inviting to these 22 six-year-olds.

“Oh, you’re Meredith! I recognized you from your picture! Come here and let me introduce you to some others. And let me show you all around the room. And, hey, you brought Corduroy as your favorite book and that’s one of my favorite books, too!”

And then, somehow, without me even realizing, Meredith’s small hand moved from mine to Ms. Miner’s and she was gone. She was swallowed up by the sheer joy this other woman brought into her classroom, into learning, and into my child’s life. “I guess I’ll be going now,” I said to Meredith who was busy putting school supplies away in her desk. “So, I’ll be just around the corner at our house,” I said blinking hard to keep away the tears.” I think she nodded. Perhaps she even paused to wave. My feet couldn’t move and Ms. Miner gently helped me and a few other moms out of the classroom. “She’s really shy,” I said to Ms. Miner just as Meredith sped by holding a new friend’s hand showing her “all these hooks where we can hang our backpacks.”

Meredith was breathless with excitement at the end of that day – every day – and by the end of the first week, our family had a new member: Ms. Miner. Each afternoon and for long into the evening, I had to listen to “Ms. Miner said . . .” and “Ms. Miner thinks . . .” and “Ms. Miner showed us . . .” and “Ms. Miner suggested . . .” and when I slipped and said, “Oh damn” at dinner burned in the oven, I was reminded that “Mom, Ms. Miner would never say . . . .” Right, I smiled through gritted teeth. “Ms. Miner says that manners are important,” Meredith said as she explained why we must always put our napkins in our laps, something that I swear I had mentioned a million times.

For the entire year I watched my child fall in love with school, with learning, with figuring out, and most importantly, with her first grade teacher, Ms. Miner. Meredith, who had once hated ponytails, now only wanted to wear ponytails. And blue skirts, “just like Ms. Miner’s.” “And Mom, my name starts with an M and Ms. Miner starts with an M. Isn’t that great!! We match!” Yes, Meredith, just great. Really great. Oh damn.

Though I had been a teacher for years before having Meredith, before sending her off to first grade, I had never truly understood the power of a teacher in a child’s life. We give our most precious and priceless to you – dear teachers – each year, knowing you will teach them, but also hoping you will care for them, help them discover how very much they matter, watching over them, and being there when they have been hurt by the ones who won’t let them sit at the “popular” table – and then you do just that and they fall in love with you. It shows up in different ways, as they grow older. But it’s still there, this deep affection and respect. And, certainly, it’s harder to forge those bonds when there are 150 students instead of 22, when the day is fragmented into 45 minute segments, when education seems to be more about the test than the child. But I promise, underneath that bravado of the seventh grader or swagger of the tenth grader you will find that small first grader who wonders, “Will my teacher like me?” And when that child – that teen – knows that you believe he or she matters, then that student will do most anything for you.

To this day, Meredith remembers you, Ms. Miner, and to this day, I so hated how much she loved you that year. And, simultaneously, I am so grateful that she did.

And so, teachers, across this country during the next two weeks, most of you will be opening your classroom doors in a first-day welcoming for your students. As a teacher I am proud to stand beside you in all that you do. But as a parent, well, as a parent I stand in awe of all that you do. And to Ms. Miner, thank you.

Wishing teachers all the very best on Brazil’s Teachers’ Day. Thank you for all you do!

“Education is the point at which we decide whether we love the world enough to assume responsibility for it and by the same token to save it from that ruin, which, except for renewal, except for the coming of the new and the young, would be inevitable. An education, too, is where we decide whether we love our children enough not to expel them from our world and leave them to their own devices, nor to strike from their hands their choice of undertaking something new, something unforeseen by us, but to prepare them in advance for the task of renewing a common world.” ~ Hannah Arendt.

Featured image: cc licensed (CC BY-NC 2.0) flickr photo by Julie Falk:Sam Reading in Badlands; https://www.flickr.com/photos/piper/10571971

Moving Pictures

Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit. ~ Jawaharlal Nehru

The process of capturing and effectively communicating the essence of an organization’s culture can, at times, be a challenge. However, social media and video provide us with the means to share organizational and cultural highlights with a great community. To that end, the following series of videos are designed to communicate a little about what makes the American School of Brasilia (EAB) so special.

EAB Institutional Video

Sábado Legal: EAB’s Sábado Legal (“Cool” Saturday) offers families the opportunity to engage in further learning opportunities on Saturdays.

Celebrating Learning and Innovation: Highlights of the changes made to EAB’s facilities to better support innovative, creative, and collaborative learning practices.

Teacher Flashmob: A surprise teacher flashmob during an evening band performance.

Tour of EAB’s Campus: Click on the following link to take a 360 tour of the American School of Brasilia

360 Tour

“Culture is the underground stream of norms, values, beliefs, traditions, and rituals that builds up over time as people work together, solve problems, and confront challenges .This set of informal expectations and values shapes how people think, feel, and act in schools.” ~ Peterson and Deal

Realistic Fiction

Last week’s blog post highlighted the Bold in Vision element of the American School of Brasilia’s (EAB) new mission statement – Learners inspiring learners to be inquisitive in life, principled in character, and bold in vision. As a follow-up to this post, one of our amazing teachers, Caira Franklin, shared the following story about one of her talented students and how her student made a natural connection with the new mission statement.

Caira’s Email to EAB’s Leadership Team:

I have been working with my students on the new EAB Mission Statement since the beginning of the school year. Though I’ve tried my best to explain and have my students connect to each part of the Mission Statement, the most challenging part to make clear is “Bold in Vision.”

I read a blog on this very topic, written by Barry a couple of days ago, that gave me new hope around how to explain this in class again at some point. But today, unexpectedly a 3rd grader made the connection all on her own during reading.

We’ve been working on Realistic Fiction as a genre by analyzing character traits, asking good questions about the books we read, etc. Valentina read a book today and completed her realistic fiction form as seen below. Pay close attention to the section on character:

Yep. That’s right! She said “bold in vision.”

I asked Valentina to take over the class for 10 minutes and read the story to us all. What came out of it? A great discussion about how the character in this book was bold in vision because…

she paints the sky the colors she sees in her dreams because she didn’t have the color blue in her paint set
she paints about things she believes in and shares them with the world
she believes all people are artists

All this is to say, I think I am out of job. She knows the Mission Statement better than me!

Caira Franklin

P.S.- Matt Hajdun, thank you for getting me started on this whole in class empowerment related to the Mission Statement last year in Grade 3!

Thank you to Caira for sharing this story and for her work towards making the new mission statement come alive in her class.

And, thank you to our very talented student, Valentina, for making such a creative and wise connection with the mission statement.

Featured image: cc licensed (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) flickr photo by Peter Durand (Brushes Painting: Batestown City Limits) https://www.flickr.com/photos/alphachimpstudio/5619737553/

Inquisitive in Life

“There is no end to education. It is not that you read a book, pass an examination, and finish with education. The whole of life, from the moment you are born to the moment you die, is a process of learning.” ~Jiddu Krishnamurti

This quote highlights the spirit of EAB’s educational philosophy and mission statement:

Learners inspiring learners to be inquisitive in life, principled in character, and bold in vision.

The Inquisitive in Life focus of the mission statement speaks to the ideal of supporting students to develop a lifelong love of learning. It also emphasizes the important role adults play in the lives of students in terms of modeling this lifelong focus on learning, a process that wonderfully embodies an infinity of possibilities.

The old adage “the more I learn, the less I know” articulates how many of us feel as we continue to learn about the world within and around us. It is tantamount to accepting the premise of another adage: “I often don’t even know what I don’t know.” In an essay entitled, The Big Test, David Brooks coins a term that highlights these adages and may capture the the spirit associated with an “inquisitive in life” approach to our learning: epistemological modesty. Brooks uses the term in reference to the writings associated with important historical philosophers and their own sense of epistemological modesty:

“They knew how little we can know. They understood that we are strangers to ourselves and society is an immeasurably complex organism.”

This concept can naturally be extended beyond ourselves and our society to the world and universe beyond us. It therefore seems appropriate for an individual to approach this branch of philosophy called epistemology – the theory of knowing that investigates the origins, nature, and limits of human knowledge – with at least some degree of modesty.

While the “immeasurable complexity” associated with everything to learn can feel overwhelming, this is not the point. When considering our own learning and the role of schools, what is important is the degree to which a lifelong love of learning is instilled in students and modeled in our communities. Through an “inquisitive in life” approach to learning, it is hoped that our students will learn enough about the world around them to be in a position to identify their individual passions, which will further focus their lifelong learning.

There is indeed no end to education and the process of learning and it is this process that can enrich our lives in immeasurable ways.

Featured image: cc licensed (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) flickr photo by Raymond Bryson https://www.flickr.com/photos/f-oxymoron/9647972522

More Than Words

Learners inspiring learners to be inquisitive in life, principled in character, and bold in vision.

A little over a year ago, our community embarked on a journey of reflection and self-examination as we conducted a review of our school’s mission statement and associated core documents. As with most meaningful endeavors, it was recognized at the start that the learning from this process was arguably as important, if not more important, than the final product. To that end, the yearlong review included the involvement of parents, students, and teachers through surveys, focus group discussions, retreats, review committees, and a school improvement team. At the end of this process, the American School of Brasilia’s (EAB) Board of Directors, who were also active participants, were presented with a proposed new mission statement, which was approved. As we look to the current year and years ahead, there is excitement surrounding the opportunity and challenge to make the new mission statement come alive.

Process

To avoid lengthy discussions and potential misunderstands regarding terminology, our School Improvement Team (SIT) agreed to not let the strict definitions and debates associated with the words mission and vision take way from the review process. SIT agreed on a basic definition of mission as “who we are” and vision, with an emphasis on the future, as “where we are going” and, more subtly, “how we will get there”. While not perfect, this was enough to move us forward.

As part of the reflection process, we literally reviewed hundreds of mission statements from schools around the world, fortune 500 companies, and internationally recognized not-for-profit organizations, with the goal of establishing criteria associated with an ideal mission statement structure. This process was helpful and led us to the following criteria:

Accurately reflect our community and school
Be short and concise, such that it could be easily memorized
Avoid lofty language that sounds impressive but has little practicality
Avoid a statement that encompasses everything but says very little
Provide a framework to clarify who we are and what we value
A blend of realism and optimism
Strive for language that is accessible to all student ages in addition to community members whose first language is not English.

It was also agreed that the descriptor statement about the school would be removed from the mission and listed as a separate statement called “Our School”.

Our School: We are a diverse community that provides an English-language based pre-K through Grade 12 education. We are an International Baccalaureate World School with U.S. and Brazilian accreditation.

The remainder of the process focused on identifying and articulating the key components associated with our school’s identity. As those who have participated in similar processes, this is not an easy task but is at the very heart of establishing a new mission statement.

Looking back on the process, a key moment in the discussions occurred during the review of mission statements from other organizations, when someone highlighted the Ritz-Carlton motto:

We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.

This statement is not only elegant in its simplicity and content and easy to remember, but also acts as an effective and inspiring guide for everyone who works at the Ritz-Carlton.

New Mission Statement

There is no doubt that the Ritz-Carlton motto influenced the key aspect of EAB’s new mission statement, which articulates that we are a community of learners, adults and students alike, working together on an educational journey. It is EAB’s conviction that student learning is only maximized when all members of our community are also engaged in the learning process. It is this focus which led to the first words in EAB’s new mission and also serves as the new motto:

Learners inspiring learners

Education has fundamentally changed and continues to change, specifically in terms of who controls the flow of information. It is, therefore, of fundamental importance that schools be designed in an adaptable manner, such that they are positioned to take advantage of the current and future changes associated with learning. It was hoped that the concept of “learners inspiring learners” would capture these concepts in terms of how everyone in our community is always learning, adapting, and growing. Given that the control of information has shifted from teachers to students, we must then expect that parents, teachers, and school communities must also be continuous learners or we risk becoming irrelevant in the learning process.

With the first three words of the new mission statement established, the remaining parts of the mission emerged quickly, with the following result:

PREVIOUS Mission Statement:

The American School of Brasilia serves the International and Brazilian communities by providing a U.S. and Brazilian accredited pre-K through 12th grade program and International Baccalaureate Diploma in a culturally diverse atmosphere. Our English- language school develops and supports the whole child in achieving his or her own potential. Through a differentiated, innovative learning experience, we cultivate responsible and contributing citizens, leaders, and environmental stewards with a strong foundation of academic excellence.

NEW Mission Statement:

Learners inspiring learners to be inquisitive in life, principled in character, and bold in vision.

As stated, “Learners Inspiring Learners” highlights that we are all life long learners, learning together. “Inquisitive in Life” is about a focus on academic learning. However, learning should always take pace within the framework of character, ethics, and acceptable values. It is this belief in a whole child approach to learning that resulted in an emphasis on character: “Principled in Character” is about being a good person and making good decisions. Yet, it can then be argued that we have a moral imperative to use our learning and character to make a positive difference: “Bold in Vision” is focused on channeling our creative and innovative energies towards making a positive difference in the world.

In summary, after a yearlong review process, it is believed that the new mission meets the criteria set at the start of the process. The statement accurately reflects our community’s beliefs, is sufficiently short and concise such that it can be memorized, and avoids lofty language and jargon. It is also believed that the statement further articulates our values within the context of a blend of realism and optimism for the future.

We are excited to officially introduce EAB’s new mission statement. The next step is to ensure that the mission guides everything we do in addition to finding ways to make the mission come alive at our school.

Mais do que palavras

Learners inspiring learners to be inquisitive in life, principled in character, and bold in vision.

Há pouco mais de um ano, a nossa comunidade embarcou em uma jornada de reflexão e autoexame ao conduzirmos uma revisão da missão da nossa escola e documentos associados. Como na maioria dos empreendimentos, concluímos desde o início que o aprendizado, resultado desse processo, seria sem dúvida, tão importante ou mais que o produto final. Sendo assim, a revisão ao longo do ano contou com o envolvimento dos pais, alunos e professores, através de pesquisa, discussões em grupo, retiros, comitês e uma equipe de melhoria da escola. Ao final desse processo, os membros do conselho da Escola Americana de Brasília (EAB), que também participaram ativamente do processo, receberam uma proposta para a nova missão, a qual foi aprovada. A olharmos para o ano em curso e os anos à frente, sentimos um enorme entusiasmo em torno da oportunidade e desafio de transformarmos a nova missão em realidade.

Processo

Para evitar longas discussões e potenciais equívocos sobre a terminologia, a nossa equipe de melhoria da escola concordou em não permitir que definições rigorosas e debates relacionados com a palavra missão e visão participassem do processo de revisão. Concordou-se com uma definição básica da missão, “quem somos”, e da visão com ênfase no futuro, “pra onde vamos”, e de forma subjetiva, “como chegaremos lá”.

Como parte do processo de reflexão nós, literalmente, revisamos centenas de missões de escolas ao redor do mundo, de 500 empresas bem sucedidas e organizações sem fins lucrativos, reconhecidas internacionalmente, com objetivo de estabelecer um critério associado a uma estrutura de missão ideal. Esse processo foi muito útil e nos levou aos seguintes critérios:

Refletir com precisão a nossa comunidade e escola;
Ser breve e concisa, de modo que possa ser memorizada facilmente;
Evitar uma linguagem rebuscada e pouco prática;
Evitar uma declaração que engloba tudo, mas que diz pouco;
Fornecer uma estrutura que diga quem somos e quais são os nossos valores;
Uma mistura de realismo e otimismo;
Usar uma linguagem que seja acessível para todas as idades, tanto dos alunos como dos membros da comunidade, cuja língua materna não é o Inglês.

Além disso, nós também concordamos que a declaração descritora sobre a escola seria removida da nossa missão e usada como uma declaração a parte, chamada: “Our School”:

O restante do processo teve como foco identificar e articular os principais componentes associados com a identidade da nossa escola. Para os que participaram em processos similares, esta não é uma tarefa fácil, mas é o cerne da criação de uma nova missão.

Voltando ao processo de criação, um dos momentos chave nas discussões ocorridas durante a revisão da missão de outras empresas, foi quando alguém destacou o lema do Ritz-Carlton (http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Corporate/GoldStandards/Default.htm):

Nós somos senhores e senhoras servindo senhores e senhoras.

Esta afirmação, além de ser elegante em sua simplicidade e conteúdo, também é fácil de ser lembrada e atua como um guia eficaz e inspirador para todos que trabalham no Ritz-Carlton.

Nova Declaração de Missão

Não há dúvidas de que o lema do Ritz-Carlton influenciou o aspecto fundamental da nova missão da EAB, que expressa que somos uma comunidade de aprendizes, alunos e adultos, trabalhando em conjunto durante essa jornada educacional. A EAB está convicta que o aprendizado do aluno só é maximizado quando todos os membros da nossa comunidade estão envolvidos no processo de aprendizagem. Esse é o foco que levou as primeiras palavras da nova missão da EAB, e também serve como novo lema:

Learners inspiring learners

A educação mudou fundamentalmente e, continua a mudar, especialmente em termos de quem controla o fluxo de informações. Portanto, é fundamental que as escolas sejam projetadas de forma flexível, de modo que estejam posicionadas para tirar vantagens das mudanças ligadas a aprendizagem, atuais e futuras. Criou-se uma expectativa de que o conceito de “learners inspiring learners” iria capturar essas idéias, já que todos na nossa comunidade estão em constante aprendizado, adaptação e crescimento. Tendo em vista de que o controle das informações passou dos professores para os alunos, nós devemos esperar que os pais, professores e a comunidade da escola sejam aprendizes contínuos, ou corremos o risco de nos tornarmos irrelevantes no processo de aprendizagem.

Com as três primeiras palavras da nova missão estabelecidas, o restante da missão saiu rapidamente com o seguinte resultado:

Missão Antiga:

Nova Missão:

Learners inspiring learners to be inquisitive in life, principled in character, and bold in vision.

Conforme declarado, “Learners inspiring learners”, destaca que nós somos aprendizes ao longo da vida, aprendendo juntos. “Inquisitive in life” está relacionado ao foco no aprendizado acadêmico. No entanto, a aprendizagem deve sempre ter lugar no âmbito do caráter, ética e valores aceitáveis. É através da crença na abordagem do aprendizado da criança como um todo, que resultou em ênfase ao caráter. “Principled in Character” trata-se sobre ser uma boa pessoa e em tomar boas decisões. Além disso, podemos argumentar que temos uma moral imperativa para usarmos o nosso aprendizado e caráter com o intuito de fazermos uma diferença positiva: “Bold in Vision” foca em canalizar a nossa criatividade e a nossa energia inovadora para fazer uma diferença positiva no mundo.

Resumindo, após um longo ano em um processo de revisão, acredita-se que a nova missão atende ao critério estabelecido no início do processo. A declaração reflete com precisão as crenças da nossa comunidade, é curta e concisa, tanto que pode ser memorizada e evita uma linguagem rebuscada ou gírias. Acredita-se também, que a declaração articula ainda mais os nossos valores dentro do contexto de uma mistura de realismo e otimismo para o futuro.

Estamos muito animados para apresentar oficialmente a nova missão da EAB. O próximo passo é garantir que a missão irá guiar tudo o que fizermos além de encontrar formas para trazermos a missão à vida na nossa escola.

Featured image: cc licensed (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) flickr photo by Muha... https://www.flickr.com/photos/alpstedt/13339786034

Success in School & Life

How would you answer the following question: What are the factors that most influence how children achieve success in school and life?

Several EAB teachers are currently attending the annual AASSA teachers’ conference with a focus, in part, on answering this essential question. To that end, our teachers are spending three days engaging with professional colleagues and internationally renowned educational specialists. Two of the specialists, Dr. Michael Thompson and Dr. Catherine Steiner-Adair, both highly recommended authors, have offered insights towards answering this question.

The psychologist, Michael Thompson, challenges adults to remember what school is actually like to better understand the psychological journey that students experience during their K3-12 school years. Thompson argues that children are constantly searching for three things: connection, recognition, and a sense of power and highlights that children are able to find these three needs in a variety of ways within the life of a school.

Thompson further describes the different student needs by elaborating on the “three types of children in school:
I. those whose journeys are characterized mostly by success,
II. those whose journeys are characterized by a chronic but manageable struggle,
III. those whose journeys are characterized by fury and despair.
Each journey has its own different pressures. Every child is constantly developing strategies for coping with the pressures that he or she feels.”

Thompson uses the metaphor of a person preparing for a long hike and the importance of finding just the right shoe “fit” to facilitate the hike and avoid painful blisters. While there is an important element of resilience and persistence associated with the learning process, the shoe metaphor challenges schools to find the right educational program to “fit” student needs so that the three types of children in schools are not subject to unnecessary “blisters” and are able to achieve personal success.

Returning to the need of children for connection, recognition, and a sense of power, Catherine Steiner-Adair’s book, The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age, addresses the impact technology has on the relationships between children and adults. While Steiner-Adair advocates for the use of technology and the benefits to be gained, she also shares research findings that highlight how the ubiquitous presence of technology in our lives can result in serious negative implications for our relationships. Steiner-Adair offers insights and advice that can help parents and educators to determine how best to integrate technology in our daily lives without diminishing our personal connections. She asks us to question how we interact with technology when engaging with children (e.g. Do we give children our undivided attention when they are speaking with us or are we continuously looking at our cell phones?) and how our need to access technological devices frames our days and lives.

If we are to respond to each child’s need for connection, recognition, and a sense of power, then we must not only question how well our educational program is addressing these needs, but also review the degree to which technology may be adversely affecting our relationships with students and adults alike. The further integration of technology into our lives is a reality that will not go away. Therefore, it is our responsibility to control how technology affects our lives to ensure that we are taking advantage of the tremendous benefits and available opportunities that technology provides, while also addressing the inherent challenges to our relationships and overall wellbeing.

Featured image: cc licensed (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) flickr photo by Matt https://www.flickr.com/photos/d35ign/9580068088