This is a speech at HS Assembly on October 10, 2022
Photo taken in SABS High School on Oct 10, 2022. The three flags are school banner, national flag, and R House banner.
At the beginning of each month, I always do two things. One is to introduce a monthly education theme; two is to summarize the results of House Point competition. I regard the two things are both very important parts of my job as they are conducive to the learning environment of our high school. While the monthly themes agglomerate teachers’ and students’ efforts into a shared goal of learning, the Houses provide us with a system in which we work together, support each other, and sometimes compete with each other for good purposes.
I explained the revised model for the twelve learner attributes which are grouped in four development domains, namely Learn to be, Learn to know, Learn to do, and Learn to live together. Every student’s well-rounded development is our teachers’ aspiration, so the teachers will push every student to make efforts in line with these attributes. Each of these learner attributes is an abstract concept, therefore, students and teachers should constantly try to give concrete meaning to it in the context of teaching and learning that happens in every hour in the school.
For example, the September attribute Open-minded can be interpreted in an Arts classroom when you begin to appreciate an artistic form that you have never thought you could like. It can be linked with your acceptance of the criticism about your time management skills by your homeroom teacher. It can also occur in your spare time when you open a book of a new genre that you never read before. These are all small decisions and actions, but if you care about your own improvement, you can always find connections between your actions of learning with these learner attributes.
If the twelve learner attributes show you what to become, then the five types of learning skills point you to how to learn. Similar to the learner attributes, these learning skills also need to be further explained, discussed and specified in the all kinds of scenarios when you study and live in the school. For example, at the beginning of September, I discussed the importance of social skills as we welcomed many new students and teachers. We invite them to transit into our community more smoothly and we hope the learning community to be unified more quickly. In the process, we learned to listen to new voices, we incorporated new perspectives, and we collaborated with new members. In other words, we developed and applied a range of social skills as we hoped.
For October 2022, the high school principal’s office proposes the follow theme: Inquirers and Research Skills. Inquirers belongs to the development domain of Learn to Know. When your study in this semester moves into depth, you surely need to consider these qualities.
For inquirers,
You develop your curiosity.
You acquire the skills necessary to conduct inquiry and research and show independence in learning.
You actively enjoy learning and this love of learning will be sustained throughout your lives.
For inquirers, you want to learn new things in the first place as you have intrinsic interest on what you hear (e.g. what teachers said in classrooms), you see (e.g. what teachers display on slides), you read (e.g. what teachers asked you to read), and you do (e.g. the assignments your teachers ask you to complete). For true inquirers, you also feel the joy in the process of learning and savor the sweetness of the outcomes of learning.
Some students in this room might think I am telling an absurd story about learning as they seldom enjoy learning. However, please do not allow this wrong impression of absurdity to blind you from seeing the truth. Please remember we human are natural inquirers who constantly explore the unknow. You must see how a crawling baby shows curiosity towards everything and every sound in her surrounding, you must also observe how a talking toddler tends to ask hundreds of questions a day just to know more about anything. So, you don’t need to become an inquirer who you never know, you just need to unleash the inquirer always inside you.
To be a good inquirer, you need a range of skills, among which Research Skills are extremely important. The best learners do not wait for others, for example teachers, to fill them with information and knowledge. They constantly and actively sense the gap between what they already know and what they don’t know. They then try to inquire, or in other words, conduct research into the unknows to expand their knowledge and find out the truth.
If you are a serious learner, you will find many questions emerging from the process of studying almost every subject that you have. You may wonder how the style of one certain English writer changed over time; you may wonder how a classic theory in Economics can be applied to the current uncertain world economy; you may also wonder what quantum physics theories developed in early 20th century will reveal us new scientific breakthroughs in late 21st century.
To know the answers, you will have to learn and possess a range of skills first. You begin with asking yourself what specific question you really want to know at this stage. You will then need to collect information and data, analyze them strategically and critically before you reach any preliminary conclusions. If the question is too big, probably you will have to create a research plan and carry it out over a relatively long period of time.
All IBDP students will conduct this type of research whether within a certain subject area, for example an Extended Essay in Chinese Literature, or across different subjects, for example a TOK essay. Some A-Level students will also study research skills and potentially do research of their interests. The culminating activity of a research is usually writing a report so that new findings and new ideas that are created by you can be shared with more people. You may also want to publish your research report on different media platforms so as to share ideas more widely and gather more feedback. This activity will require another set of skills in relation to the creation and use of media.
Next, I will summary the House Point competition for September 2022.
After one month of competition, R House won with 213 points, while S House took in 191 points, E House 183, O House 177. R House is the winner of September 2022, owing to all the efforts of R House students and teachers.
I am very glad to see R House finally got their first win this year. I also would like to encourage E House students to do more to win their first time before the end of this year.
As of September, O House is still leading on the total House Points, heading towards the champion of the year. Let us wait and see if a miracle could happen that other Houses, especially S House could outperform O House in the end.
There are a few students who earned more than 10 merits in one month. Obviously, they impressed their teachers either by good behaviors, or by evident improvements in their study, or by supporting teachers or school events. Other students should find out more what they do and how they so that you can be one of them next time.
For those students who haven’t learned how to earn more House Points for your House, here are several tips I want to offer. You should firstly know the twelve SABS Learner Attributes clearly and act on them accordingly. You teachers will give out Points when you consistently demonstrate these attributes. You should work hard and show sustained improvements. If you are a leader in one student organization, congratulations, you will be able to earn Points by often demonstrating leadership and positively influencing your classmates or Housemates.
There are some school events every week and every month, for example the upcoming World Mental Health Day activities, please actively participate in them and in some cases you will earn Points. The high school has a set of HS Student Behavioral Norms covering 12 aspects of campus life. You should abide by the Norms and the teachers will notice and encourage you because of your consistent good behaviors. You can also participate in contests or challenges outside the school, we give House Points to acknowledge and praise your achievements.
Very importantly, students shouldn’t be shy to remind your teachers to give you House Points if you believe you deserve some type of praise. Teachers are busy, sometimes they just forget to acknowledge your effort or achievement. Remember you ask the points not only for yourself but also for the honor of your House. At the end of each year, the school would give a special budget to the annual winner House so the students and teachers in it can celebrate their collective accomplishment.
I wish you will have a happier and more successful October.
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