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A Sense of Wonder
In 1974, a young boy named Harold Whittles is about to experience his world in a new and astounding way. For the first five years of his life preceding this moment, Harold has not heard the sounds around him as he has been deaf since birth. This is about to change as technological advances have…
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Civic Responsibilities
One of the many things I appreciate and admire about Switzerland is the collective commitment to civic responsibility. The pragmatic Swiss approach to the establishment of community norms in combination with both an individual and societal belief in supporting and adhering to these agreements have resulted in a country that runs incredibly well. ISZL‘s commitment…
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Transformative Competencies
The Future of Education and Skills 2030, published by the OECD, identifies three “transformative competencies” that students need to contribute to and thrive in our world. The first competency is about creating new value and our commitment to innovate and “think outside the box” to shape better lives. This focus integrates a sense of purpose…
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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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Community & Learning Celebrations
We are reaching the end of another busy and exciting term at ISZL. I find these weeks uplifting as I attend numerous meaningful and special celebrations throughout the school. Just this week, Kindergarten children walked with their families and performed holiday songs at the beautiful Lichterweg in Baar; Grade 4 students participated in the annual…
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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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Begin with the End in Mind
As we embark on the new school year ahead…
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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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A Framework for Education
In a recent conversation with an International School of Zug and Luzern (ISZL) parent, he commented on how much he values ISZL’s approach to education and the school’s learning process. When pressed for specifics, he highlighted an appreciation of the achievements associated with academic success, such as impressive IB test scores, but, even more importantly,…