I will talk about Theme of the month first. Today is the first day of March.
March in Shanghai means the beginning of spring. Trees and grass will turn green soon, all signs of life will shortly appear all around us. It is the time for us to start embracing and enjoying the nature, it is also the time for us to rejuvenate ourselves hoping for new outlook, new directions, and new goals.
Every student in this room is studying in an international program, be it IGCSE, or A-Level, or IBDP. When you chose an international education program, you probably didn’t realize what this choice meant to you and your future. Perhaps what you thought was only a means of getting into a good international university. Indeed, an international school can help you actualize this dream. Yet do you know an international education in fact offers and requires more than this pragmatic purpose?
International education as exemplified by the IB does more than just university preparation.
Let us take a look at IB’s Mission.
“The International Baccalaureate® (IB) is more than its educational programmes and certificates. At our heart we are motivated by a mission to create a better world through education.”
“The International Baccalaureate® aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect.”
Let us look at Cambridge programmes’ mission too.
“Cambridge programmes and qualifications set the global standard for international education...Together with schools, we develop Cambridge learners who are confident, responsible, reflective, innovative and engaged – equipped for success in the modern world.”
As you can see, while these programmes of international education prepare you for your own future study, they also train you to become better persons who will be able to make good future for the world and for the human race. Every person should find a mission in his or her life, everyone actually needs a life mission because it is where you can find the meaning of your life. Now you have chosen a life pathway that is closely linked with missions of international education. Maybe you didn’t realize it, but you have chosen an opportunity to do something outside your own root, own culture, own system, and really own comfortable zone.
As part of international education experience, you will have to encounter more perspectives, more conflicts, and more different others than many other learners who chose to stay within the system. The disadvantage of this choice is to face more uncertainties, more challenges, and more difficulties in your lives; the benefits of this choice is to become a larger self and to create more possibilities for yourself and for the world.
Now you begin to understand why I and your teachers often inculcate in you those abstract learner attributes and ways of thinking, in addition to helping you with academic growth. You are already part of a larger mission, you make efforts not only for yourselves but also for the lofty goals of internationalism. If you understand this, you know you have to work hard to be knowledgeable, open-minded, and caring; if you understand this, you know you must learn to communicate with others who might come from different cultures and traditions; if you understand this, you know you should learn how to think critically and creatively for yourselves and for the world.
For this month, March of 2021, I propose the following two key words.
• Communicators
You understand and express ideas and information confidently and creatively in more than one language and in a variety of modes of communication.
You work effectively and willingly in collaboration with others.
• Thinking skills
You are able to think critically by analyzing and evaluating issues and ideas;
You are able to think creatively by generating novel ideas and considering new perspectives;
You are also able to transfer skills and knowledge across disciplines.
Communicators
In the context of international setting, it is obvious that one language is not sufficient. Therefore, on the basis of our mother tongue and domestic culture, we master at least another language and understand another culture.
Modes of communication can be understood in different ways. Essentially, there are three modes of communication, including interpersonal, interpretative, and presentational.
Interpersonal (1)
Interpretive (2)
Presentational (3)
(1) Two-way communication
(2) One-way communication
(3) One-way communication
(1) Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing
(2) Reading, Viewing, and Listening texts
(3) Writing and Speaking
(1) Social Media, text messages, telephone, etc.
(2) Stories, literature, articles, speeches, songs, radio news, videos, movies, presentations, etc.
(3) Articles, flyers,short stories,reports, presentations, skits, debates, speeches, etc
Reference: https://leverageedu.com/blog/modes-of-communication/
As good communicators, you are not only able to communicate with others but also work with them to achieve common goals. To do this, you need communication and collaboration skills, which I talked about before the winter holidays.
Thinking skills are important to your study and your lives. However, not everyone knows how to think effectively and efficiently. There are different categorizations of thinking skills. I will present one for your reference.
Critical thinking;
Creative thinking;
Problem solving;
Computational thinking and mathematical logic;
Ethical reasoning;
Metacognition or ‘thinking about thinking.
Critical thinking skills: a collection of dispositions and skills underpinned by an open-mindedness to having currently held viewpoints challenged
Creative thinking skills: the ability to generate and apply new ideas in specific contexts, seeing existing situations in a new way, identifying alternative explanations, and seeing or making new links that generate a positive outcome
Problem solving skills: the ability to systematically explore a complex problem scenario, devise multi-step solutions to take into account all constraints, and adjust in light of the feedback received
Computational thinking skills: the thought processes involved in formulating a problem and expressing its solutions(s) in such a way that a computer can effectively carry it out. This type of skills is closely associated with mathematical thinking skills.
Ethical reasoning skills: the ability to identify, assess, and develop ethical arguments from a variety of ethical positions.
(Ethic reasoning: a key capability, Wesleyan University)
Metacognition skills: thinking about thinking, cognitive behaviours directly linked with the individual’s control and monitoring of their own learning and thinking.
Note: the definitions above were provided in the following document, except ethic reasoning.
New South Wales Department of Education. (2018). Education: Future Frontiers, A conversation starter, Thinking for the future—preparing students to thrive in an AI world. Derived from
https://education.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/main-education/teaching-and-learning/education-for-a-changing-world/media/documents/Conversation-Starter-Thinking-for-the-future_5_AA.pdf
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