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International Education in Greece VIEWS FROM THE INSTITUTIONS
Modeling 21st Century Education with Intentional Excellence ACS Athens: Sustaining Excellence in Improving Learning By Dr. Stefanos Gialamas, President ACS Athens Dr. Peggy Pelonis, Vice President ACS Athens
Excellence is not an accident. Redesigning 21st-century education to reflect global changes and to empower students to be ‘architects of their own learning’ is how educational institutions that bear the “Sustaining Excellence” accreditation stamp of approval from Middle States Association, such as ACS Athens, are modeling education. Empowering young people to be ‘architects of their own learning’ requires adults that are willing to listen, to continue learning, to admit that they don’t always have all the answers. Indeed, being lifelong reflective practitioners and combining adult experience with the energy and creativity of young minds and talent is magic in the making. In a world saturated with information, how do we inspire young people to learn? More importantly, how can educational institutions not only inspire learning but also motivate young people to be excellent, ethical citizens? By designing programs and creating opportunities for meaningful educational experiences that tap into young minds, talents, skills and mostly hearts. Education must model the kind of world we desire to live in. It is not enough to discuss equal rights, to understand the evolution of democracy, to read about the abuse of power. Mindsets and character must be molded via meaningful daily experiences. To do so requires what we call intentional excellence. Intentional excellence requires educators who believe that all children can learn; who, via their own professional development, discover ways to inspire and model excellence. After family, schools are an influence on young people's minds and character like no other. As 63 different nationalities come together at ACS Athens, it is a natural breeding ground for developing excellent, ethical citizens; people who will impact and serve humanity rather than individual interests at the expense of humanity. ACS Athens’ educators believe in lifelong learning. 86% hold Master’s degrees, 14% hold Doctoral degrees while 18 books and 165 articles have been published by ACS Athens faculty, administrators and specialists. The daily faculty curricula ensure ongoing research and reflective teaching practices which sustain excellence and model lifelong learning. The student is at the center of our institution as a unique entity. Belonging and contributing are two necessary conditions for healthy individuals and healthy societies. The degree of social engagement, combined with knowledge, innovation, and creativity, develop feelings of belonging that foster a sense of safety and community. So, what is the impact on society? The examples below speak for themselves: • Eighth-grade students engage in the cycle of olive oil production when they decide to harvest the olive trees on campus, bringing them in connection with the environment, and learning responsibility and self-reliance. • Elementary school students take care of their grade resident dog while measuring the distance a dog runs, counting steps to the finishing line, calculating measurements to solve mathematical problems, through the Dogs in Learning Program (DiL). The fourlegged creatures become a fun inspiration for students to learn mathematics, reading, and science, while teaching empathy, and responsibility. • Interdisciplinary courses in high school bring together history, literature, rhetoric, the Arts and journalism, in the tenth-grade Truman Trial, where students put the historic President of the U.S.A. on trial for crimes against humanity regarding the bombing of Hiroshima on a platform of debate and critical thinking. • What do quadratic equations and basketball free throws have in common? An analysis of basketball skills using mathematical formulas, graphs and probability demonstrations via the tenth-grade Personal Project, captures the heart and mind of any young athlete in a
Prof. Diarmuid Hegarty of Griffith College, Ireland, and Dr. Stefanos Gialamas of ACS Athens sign collaboration agreement.
Students from Hisar School, Turkey, American Farm School of Thessaloniki and ACS Athens attend workshops during the 2019 Innovation Summit. project-based learning framework. • A fourth-grade student teams up with a Middle School literature teacher, via the Mentor Program to develop necessary skills as a young aspiring author. • The Incubator of Students’ Creative Ideas, designed and run exclusively by students, organizes and conducts the annual International Innovation Summit. Students present workshops on programming, writing, entrepreneurship, and innovation and have the entire campus buzzing as three schools come together to share learning: ACS Athens, The Hisar School from Turkey and the American Farm School of Thessaloniki.
Social Entrepreneurship is a natural next step when students are given opportunities as above and are encouraged to utilize their talents, while at the same time develop vital character traits such as empathy and compassion: •The KOINΩNOΣ Project is founded and developed by a high school student interested in understanding the plight of those living on the streets. Discouraged at first when told that such interaction can be dangerous for a young teen, she persisted. Her efforts led her to a weekly interaction volunteer activity between 10 pm and 2 am and allowed her and her peers to know by name those struggling to survive.
• The Speak Now ACS project is developed by a tenth-grader who was inspired to raise awareness within schools about the detrimental effects of abuse and neglect. • Most noteworthy is when an entire community comes together to serve humanity as in the case of the Youth-to-Youth Program for young unattended refugee minors from the HOME Project organization. Initially only on Saturdays, volunteering faculty, administrators, parents, and students came together to teach Greek, English, Music, and Sports to the refugee minors, providing a place of safety and belonging. Currently, the Saturday program is in full operation for the second year while eighteen
of these students have received scholarships from the U.S. based Shapiro Foundation to attend ACS Athens as full-time students. Enhancing dialogue between K-12 and higher education is necessary, now more than ever, in order to bridge this critical transition of student learning and experience. To this end, ACS Athens continues to develop partnerships with higher education institutions to co-offer programs that enrich student experiences and knowledge. Institutions such as Williams College, York University, Tufts University, the University of Richmond, Wheelock College, St. Louis University, Wilkes College, Widener University, Chapman University and the University of Delaware have
contributed to enhancing the dialogue and thus to student learning. Finally, all ACS Athens stakeholders are committed to sharing innovative ideas and modeling educational practices. Thus, ACS Athens is now the new publisher of the International Schools Journal; a prestigious professional journal presenting cutting edge educational ideas, experiences, and practices, thus enhancing the dialogue between the K-12 and the Higher Education environment. Excellence is achieved by deliberate intention. It is the intentional daily practice of mind and heart that develops excellent, ethical habits which, in turn, create educated, ethical citizens committed to serving Humanity.