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A Sense of Wonder
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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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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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Inclusion & Community
‘We are all ISZL’ are the words that best capture our recent work in the area of inclusion. For the past year, ISZL staff and representative groups of students and parents have been engaging in professional development sessions, workshops, and discussions focused on inclusion and what we value as a community. The International Baccalaureate (IB)…
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Inspired by History
The idea that we are “standing on the shoulders of those who came before us” was a prevalent theme at the recent Swiss Group of International Schools (SGIS) annual conference with the publication of Chalk and Cheese: Celebrating 50 Years of SGIS. As I read through the profiles of the 48-member schools, I was struck…
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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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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
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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…