PROMINENT BOARDING SCHOOLS TO WATCH IN 2023
MERRICK PREPARATORY SCHOOL THE GOW SCHOOL
Exemplary Practices for an Enriching Education
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We need to let our children learn side-by-side with students and teachers from a wide range of ethnic, cultural, and religious backgrounds to be successful in an increasingly globalized world. That is why experts believe attending a boarding school will pay off long-term. Imagine studying in a different country with a foreign language than the home environment. It helps students to become fluent in multiple languages and receive a proper international education. Besides, boarding schools offer students an experience unlike any other: to immerse themselves in their education, grow within a supportive and diverse community, and position themselves for success after school.
One great example is The International School of Minnesota (ISM), a private school in Eden Prairie, a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1985, ISM offers a unique educational experience for students from preschool to grade 12 by providing an international curriculum that strongly emphasizes world language taught by native speakers. ISM is a member of the SABIS® School network, an international educational organization founded in 1886 comprising 54 schools in 20 countries across five continents. In this issue, our cover story is about ISM and how their engaged, close-knit community and rigorous globally-focused curriculum set them
apart from the rest. We have also featured The Gow School and Merrick Preparatory School among the 10 Prominent Boarding Schools to Watch in 2023. Situated in South Wales, New York, the Gow School is a college-prep boarding and day school for students with dyslexia and similar language-based learning disabilities. Merrick Preparatory School, located in Canada’s Most Beautiful Village, Merrickvillewas, was founded to help students reach beyond their grasp and a vision to create courageous, communityminded, compassionate global citizens.
We have included insights and opinions from Amal Al Abdallah (Teacher, Al Ittihad National Private School, UAE), Dr. Aristea Kyriakou (CEO & Founder, Greek and Green), Leo Thompson (Consultant School Support and Evaluation Officer, Council of International Schools), Ross Phillips (Senior Dean of Learning Futures, Strathcona Girls Grammar), Sylvia Arotin (Founder & Director, My Montessori) and Terrell L. Strayhorn (Professor of Higher Education; Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies at Illinois State University). Enjoy Reading.
Sarath Shyam
Former International School Principal, Former Group Project Director at a World Class Learning Group, Education Consultant - Wright Solutions, United Kingdom
Founder & CEO - Paths to Math Ltd, Former Mathematics Teacher and Principal, Global Teacher Prize Finalist, Finland
Exceptional Educator from Serbia, Founder of Association of the Best Teachers of the Former Yugoslavia, Founder of Magical Intercultural Friendship Network, Founder of Creative Magic - Children’s International Festival, Founder of Magic Village, Serbia
Asst. Prof. Dr. Poonsri Vate-U-Lan
Assistant Professor in Education, Ph.D. Supervisor and Researcher, Thailand
Principal, Rundle College, South Africa
Chief Education Officer, New Nordic School, Finland
Senior Teacher‘Pashko Vasa’ school Shkodra, Exceptional Volunteer, Albania
Chief of Digital Learning and Development, Norwalk Public Schools, Connecticut, United States
English and Literature teacher, Owner of “The Smart Teens Studio of English” in Belgorod, Russia
Senior Educationist, Author, Keynote Speaker, Co-founderTríade Educacional, Brazil
Palmans
Former Director School Administration & Business Operations (Large Education Group), Chief Operating Officer - BBD Education, Netherlands & UAE
Former Program Director, MS in Management Program, GSATM - AU, Thailand & India
Founder & National President - ATAST, General director of IFEST² the international projects competition in Tunisia, General secretary of MILSET Africa, BRISECC member, Tunisia
Global Teacher Prize Finalist 2019, 15 International Awards on STEM, STEM Instructor, Educator, Neuroscience Researcher, Trainer & Author, Greece
Dr. Venus M. Alboruto Kihyun Park
Master Teacher, Researcher, Innovator, Trainer, Philippines
Deputy Head and Dean of Faculty, Dalton Academy, Beijing, China
Shady Elkassas
Director of Innovation
Al Ittihad National Private School-Al Ain, United Arab Emirates
Former Vice President Security (Large Education Group), Former British Army Officer (Airborne Forces), Senior Advisor – Resilience and Crisis Management (Emerald Solutions Group), United Kingdom & UAE
Innovative English and ICT Teacher, Author, Japan
EdTech Specialist, Speaker and Teacher Trainer, Innovative ICT Educator, ICT learning multimedia developer, Indonesia
Distinguished Senior EFL Teacher, ISA Coordinator with the British Council, Motivational Speaker, Tunisia
Juan Manuel Pico Co-founder & Managing Partner, Education Soul, Colombia
Revolutionary English Educator, Globally Connected English Studio - Hanoi, Vietnam
Master Teacher, Speaker and Researcher, Philippines
Innovative Educator of Online Classroom, Pungsaeng Middle School, South Korea
Mr. Ngô Thành Nam
Technology Academy Manager, Microsoft Learning Consultant, Global Trainer, Vietnam
Dr. Manoj Varghese, Ph.D
Senior Director – Global Partnerships, Advisory & Consulting – Connecta® | Head of Advisory Board – Higher Education Digest® & K12 Digest® | Adjunct Faculty –Assumption University | Former CIO – Athena Education | Former Global Director Technology – GEMS Education
LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS & STUDENTS’ SUPPORT
Amal Al Abdallah, Teacher, Al Ittihad National Private School, UAE
SENSE OF BELONGING IS AN INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ROADMAP TO STUDENT SUCCESS
Terrell L. Strayhorn, Ph.D., Professor of Higher Education; Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies at Illinois State University
SEEKING A K-12 EDUCATION FOR EVERYONE
Ross Phillips, Senior Dean of Learning Futures, Strathcona Girls Grammar
CRUSHED BY CRAMMING: THE MISINTERPRETED EFFORT HYPOTHESIS AND HOW TO HELP LEARNERS FIX THE PROBLEM
LANGUAGE ECO-TOURISM: THE BEGINNING OF A NEW ERA
In Victoria, Australia, where I live and work, most young people remain in school to complete Year 12. The Department of Education and Training (DET) reported the proportion of the age cohort who enrolled in Year 12 in 2021 to be over 91%. The DET’s Education State policy “Breaking the Link” published the retention rate of 96.4% for students from Year 9 to 12 in formal education. The goal of universal senior
secondary education, is of course, not unique to Victoria; it is shared by the rest of Australia and many countries around the world.
Senior secondary school participation has not always been this way. In the late 1960s the proportion of Victorian students completing Year 12 had risen to around 24%. At that time, Year 12 examinations and the secondary school (Years 7 to 12) curriculum were set by the University of Melbourne. The purpose was
While Victorians have nearly achieved equality of educational opportunity in terms of access to K-12 schooling, I believe there is work to be done to achieve a secondary education for everyone
Ross Phillips is Senior Dean of Learning Futures at Strathcona Girls Grammar. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, exploring how senior secondary subject selection can contribute to social reproduction. Ross is a teacher of Physics, Science and Mathematics and author of Jacaranda Physics textbooks. At Strathcona he oversees subject selection, research and data, teacher development through the TELL program he developed, and directs the Strathcona Centre for Learning Futures - an initiative to engage the School community with the future of work and learning. Ross is a recipient of the Most Influential Educator award from The Educator in 2022.
to select students for entry to the University of Melbourne. This was in an era when most young people could enter employment without having completed secondary school. Credential inflation over time has meant that the minimum educational requirements for entry into many careers has increased dramatically.
While Victorians have nearly achieved equality of educational opportunity in terms of access to K-12 schooling, I believe there is work to be done to achieve a secondary education for everyone. The system still primarily serves the kinds of students sought by the University of Melbourne - only a small proportion of the cohort. While the vast range of options available in the senior secondary years in Victoria ensures most students can find a course suited to them, there is no equality. What is celebrated reveals that some students are more valued in the system than others.
At the crudest level, the publication of high achievers, both individuals and schools, celebrates one type of achiever, little changed from those matriculating in the 1960s. When the Year 12 student results are released, the media is saturated with lists and case studies of students and schools who have achieved the highest ATARs – the Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank. The ATAR system is used in particular by the Group of Eight universities – Australia’s leading research universities – to select students for entry to their courses. It has been a useful predictor of student university success, with those achieving higher ATARs tending to complete their university courses, while those with lower ATARs being more likely to change courses or drop out. Schools publish summaries of their results on billboards
and websites as markers of school quality, trapped in a cycle of needing to attract students by engaging in a practice that marks many school completers as unsuccessful. There is nothing wrong with celebrating academic excellence, but when education is reduced to a number, it tends to narrow what is understood as excellence.
than others. However, when deciding which classes to offer at a school from the vast array of options available, schools prioritise prerequisite subjects, which benefits the privileged. Also, subjects available in a school can depend on student interest, with subjects being cancelled due to low enrolments. The threshold number to trigger cancellation tends to be lower for prerequisite subjects.
Other subjects are prioritised too. Language classes often run with numbers that would not justify a class in another subject. Similarly for Music. These subjects, while generally not prerequisites, are subjects preferred by the more academically inclined student. Even a well-resourced school is unlikely to run a class of Geography, Physical Education, Product Design or a Vocational Education and Training course with fewer than, say, five students, but would hesitate before cancelling advanced Mathematics, Chemistry, Physics or French.
There are several practices in schools that contribute to the privileging of some types of senior secondary education over others. For example, there is a group of subjects that are prerequisites for entry to some university courses. This makes sense as some subjects provide better preparation for those courses
Schools tend to be staffed and equipped with the physical resources to run the traditional academic subjects. If it came to a choice between a science laboratory and a metalwork room in a comprehensive secondary school, few schools would forego the science laboratory. The traditional subjects are better resourced in terms of textbooks and other teaching materials, professional associations for the teachers, competitions, clubs, and initiatives to encourage participation.
As a result, schools produce more graduates who go on to become teachers in traditional academic subjects (the sciences, English, Mathematics, History) than those in more hands-on and vocational areas, so the cycle continues. But despite what is celebrated at
The traditional subjects are better resourced in terms of textbooks and other teaching materials, professional associations for the teachers, competitions, clubs, and initiatives to encourage participation
school, graduates of all subject areas go on to lead successful lives contributing to society in diverse fields that have little to do with academic life. Those working in retail, manufacturing, carpentry, plumbing and electrical work are just as important to keeping society running, as those who enter professions and academia. Most of these people are completing Year 12, but the reward for doing so is less transparent. How are we ensuring that we are not just subjecting everyone to education, but actually providing education for everyone? I find myself questioning a system whose most visible acknowledgement of achievement is a rank, from which most students receive no gain, including those who are going to go on to lead successful lives as valuable members of the community in part thanks to their education.
As teachers, schools, school systems and society, we need to reflect on why we provide, encourage and even mandate school completion. It cannot be just to select the top few percent for a handful of professions. We cannot just make students stand up to be ranked in an order that differs little from the ranking they would have received if the scoring had been done years earlier. One way of valuing schooling beyond its filtering function is to recognise that school has become
the primary method society uses to cultivate its citizens. The longer students are in school, the greater impact it will have on them. Schooling can help build a more inclusive society, but it can also reproduce class divisions.
So, we are left with a challenge: to value and celebrate the broader outcomes of education such as the ability to: cooperate, work in teams, empathise, create, critique, and communicate. We do not need to engage in the zero-sum game of ranking for these. No matter how well students do or how well we educate them, there will only be ten percent of students in the top ten percent. Have they developed the required skills or not? These capabilities make graduates more effective in whatever walk of life they choose or that chooses them. There is a movement leading this change –central to it being initiatives such as New Metrics for Success from the University of Melbourne and the Mastery Transcript Consortium. The more education evolves, particularly at the senior secondary level, from a filtering process aiding the elite few, to an inclusive cultural practice that values the diversity of talents and the contributions different people make to society, the more we will have achieved an education for everyone, not just subjected everyone to an education.
As teachers, schools, school systems and society, we need to reflect on why we provide, encourage and even mandate school completion. It cannot be just to select the top few percent for a handful of professions.
The International School of Minnesota (ISM) is a private school located in Eden Prairie, a suburb of Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1985, ISM offers a unique educational experience for students from preschool to grade 12 by providing an international curriculum that strongly emphasizes world language taught by native speakers. ISM also provides boarding for grades 8-12. With 135+ years of educational experience and a legacy of leadership development and
academic excellence, ISM is Minnesota’s most diverse private school delivering a high-value, global education that prepares students to meet the challenges of a changing world. ISM is a member of the SABIS® School network, an international educational organization founded in 1886 comprising 54 schools in 20 countries across five continents.
ISM offers a comprehensive curriculum that includes mathematics, science, social studies, and the arts. The school also strongly focuses
The International School of Minnesota (ISM) strives to offer students a premier education paralleled with healthy and nurturing environment that will effectively equip them with the tools they need in their pursuit of excellence
on cultural understanding and global citizenship, with students participating in Summer camps and community service projects.
What sets ISM apart from the rest is its engaged, close-knit community, rigorous globally-focused
curriculum, sprawling 57-acre campus, life and leadership skill development, state-of-theart facilities, robust extracurricular activities offered for all ages, daily world language taught by native speakers, intimate class sizes, individualized attention, dedicated staff, and so much more.
Nestled in a sprawling, picturesque campus in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, a southwest suburb of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area provides the perfect place for learning and exploration. It includes a state-of-the-art performing arts center, a new art studio with pottery wheels/kiln, a new robotics lab, a dining hall with nutritious chefprepared meals, a professionally designed disc golf course, indoor golf simulator and putting green, an Olympic-sized track and field, and indoor swimming pool.
The campus also features a three-story, cutting-edge boarding residence that can house up to 32 students in private/semi-private rooms and includes a theater recreation center, fitness center, laundry facilities, common areas, secure access with 24-hour security, and two livein supervisors. Additionally, ISM’s advanced learning technologies are designed with the student in mind and serve as powerful tools for building a solid academic foundation for students.
Through e-books, interactive boards, ondemand tutoring videos, and an integrated testing and learning system, students receive the best learning experience.
“The SABIS Student Life Organization® (SLO®) is the heart of our school and a pillar of the SABIS® Educational System. It is a studentled organization that provides students with a platform to develop leadership, self-development, and academic skills while positively impacting their community – both locally and globally,” adds Ms. Patricia, the International Admission and International Student Coordinator at ISM.
Through the organization’s nine departments, students have the power to make a real difference. SLO® prefects explore new skills, start clubs, raise awareness on important subjects by standing up for meaningful causes, organize academic and social events, and plan athletic activities. Prefects also provide academic support through programs such as peer tutoring and shadow teaching alongside faculty members. By taking on this active role, students learn to take responsibility for their emotional, social, and moral growth as individuals and members of a larger community. The real-life experiences students are exposed to
help foster their personal development and provide a platform to acquire and refine skills, attitudes, and attributes that give them a huge advantage in university and beyond.
ISM’s faculty comprises highly qualified and experienced educators, many of whom hold advanced degrees and have extensive teaching experience. The school also has a low studentto-teacher ratio, which allows for individualized attention and support for each student. In addition to its academic program, ISM offers a variety of extracurricular activities and clubs for students to get involved in. From sports teams
ISM students in Preschool through Grade 12 receive a premier education in a vibrant, international community that is committed to helping all students aim for and achieve their full potential
to music and art programs, there is something for every student to enjoy.
ISM offers students a unique and enriching educational experience. ISM’s focus on cultural understanding and global citizenship helps
prepare students for success in the 21st century. ISM’s college acceptance rate is 100%; all students pursue a college education at one of their top three choices. ISM is committed to preparing students for success in college and beyond. That is why from 7th through 12th grade, every ISM student and family
will receive direct support from ISM’s college counseling department to help them navigate middle and high school and develop in a variety of ways, from exploring career interests to researching colleges to navigating the college admissions processes, and more. At ISM, students are prepared to meet the admissions requirements of the most competitive universities around the world. With the support of a dedicated and highly skilled team, the ISM team ensures students have access to their universities of choice.
Alongside their in-house counseling program, ISM students can utilize a strong network of
ISM boarding program helps develop character, independence, structure, enhanced study habits, and focused college prep with 100% college acceptance rates including admission to top universities around the world
professional and academic connections. Students have access to career seminars that feature ISM alumni and community members and an annual on-site college fair that hosts a myriad of universities on campus. ISM Graduates belong to the SABIS® Global Alumni Association, which comprises more than 34,000 graduates from around the world.
Generating an Innovative Spirit ISM has created an atmosphere of wonder and innovation through the student-initiated
development of new clubs and elective courses. Students are encouraged to explore and develop their passions with the support of the ISM community and staff. Whether through the arts, special interest clubs, summer internships, career speakers, and an unrivaled college and career counseling program that starts in grade 7 – ISM learners take an active role in their learning and blaze their own trail to lifelong learning.
The ISM faculty come to ISM with a wealth of experience in and out of the classroom. All staff members hold four-year degrees from accredited universities, 60% hold advanced degrees, 3 have been an AP® Reader, and 1 has been a table lead.
“Professional development is a focus at ISM, so we provide continuing education opportunities for our educators and equip them with the knowledge and tools available to optimally educate students,” shares Ms. Patricia.
Additionally, the ISM curriculum is developed by an international network of 350+ educators and support teams and features 2,300 proprietary digital and traditional titles. This means ISM teachers spend time instructing students rather than planning, as the SABIS method also provides rigorous, structured lesson plans. Teachers also have more time to proactively track student performance with regular assessments that identify and fill any learning gaps.
ISM has several accolades and recognition in different fields beyond education and curriculum. ISM’s High School Math League team has been the AA Minnesota State Math Champions for the past five years; the team is currently in first place in their division and hopes to keep its ranking in 2023. Two ISM juniors (one
ISM is part of SABIS® Network, a global education management organization that is backed by over 135 years of success in educating students and preparing them for the future
Performing arts and music are an integral part of the ISM student experience. The school provides a mix of curricular and extracurricular opportunities from early childhood education through high school
boarding student) applied to a very competitive Minnesota Legislature Page Program and were selected. Over the last 45 years, the High School Page Program has been dedicated to providing students with an opportunity to learn and serve in the Minnesota House of Representatives. The program is dedicated to providing students with a unique, challenging, and enriching educational experience. Its range of activities and breadth of
instruction puts the program in the top tier of such programs in the nation.
One of ISM’s sophomores participated and won the SABIS STARS competition in the Singing category. There were 244 contestants from 36 SABIS Schools in 18 countries competing in 7 categories. The same student received a Superior rating, a perfect score of 40/40, and Best in Site at the Minnesota State
High School League Solo and Ensemble Music Contest. Three ISM students have qualified for the American Invitational Mathematics Exam out of 6 in Minnesota to qualify for the next step in the path to the International Math Olympiad.
ISM’s alumni also share a remarkable and successful track record of achievements in film, entertainment, and more. One of their
alums has appeared in the Netflix series ‘Trees of Peace;’ another recently became the first Black mayor elected by Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. The actor Doua Moua is also an alum of ISM and is known for his role as Chien-Po in the live-action production of Mulan.
For 2023 ISM is ranked the #1 Boarding School in MN (multiple years in a row), the #1 Most
Diverse Private High School (multiple years in a row), and the #1 KG-12 Private School. The International School of Minnesota is accredited by Accreditation International, National Council for Private School Accreditation and Middle States Association, Commission on Elementary and Middle Schools.
ISM aims for growth, both in the number of students enrolled at the school and the continued growth of new offerings on campus. “We’ve recently added a professionally designed disc golf course as well as a golf simulator / putting green for year-round golf instruction,” Ms. Patricia explains. A new robotics lab and art studio were also completed in 2022. A new journalism/media center is on the horizon as we consistently evolve to meet the needs of the study body when it comes to classes, clubs, and activities offered.
Leo Thompson is dedicated to empowering people to learn and grow through applied education research and innovation. Committed to global citizenship, Leo has a deep appreciation for different cultures and often visits schools internationally to appreciate their strengths and support their continuous journey towards excellence in their context. A former teacher and school head, he is now an independent education consultant, writer and speaker who lives in Vienna, Austria. For Leo, being successful must mean bringing sustainable value and well-being to the world in whatever you do.
14 years ago, someone ran into my Grade Coordinator office and said a student was having a panic attack and couldn’t breathe. I hurried out and found Lizzy, aged 16, pale, sprawled on the floor gasping for air with eyes rolling upwards as she passed out. Unconsciousness - her body’s attempt to restore order. The reason? Many high-stakes exams, the relentless pressure to succeed and get to college, and an intimidating tower of flashcards to memorise at the expense of sleep…
Feeling alarmed, we revived Lizzy, helped her calm down by breathing slowly into a small bag, then supported her through a professional counsellor. But I couldn’t take away the reality of the multiple exams and all the things she needed to memorise through sheer effort. A diligent child caught in a typical pressure to perform trap just like millions of others globally.
Survival of the fittest, dog-eat-dog, aka over inflated curriculum and hyper-assessment, practices frequently present in education are not
The misinterpreted effort hypothesis demonstrated that students will typically avoid strategies that require a little more effort even though they may increase learning efficiency and bring better results
appropriate to the human species if we are going to be human about learning. I will not be the first or last educator left thinking how can I help this child? How can I fix this systemic problem? But there are now solutions which we will come to later in this article so hang on in, but we need to understand some gloomier facts first.
The over inflated curriculum/hyper assessment issue across education can be understood at three interdependent societal levels in national education systems.
1) Economy: Potential employers habitually require a competitive set of qualifications to filter applicants and place focus on narrow exams and test scores.
2) Government: To facilitate the economy, authorities instruct curriculum bodies to select and mandate voluminous curriculum content that needs to be taught with little consideration of how it should be learned most effectively.
3) Schools and universities: To comply with the government mandate, institutions ramp up
As part of a child’s individual learning compass, teaching them how to think, how to learn, and how to regulate their learning must be at the centre of what we do
the pressure through exams and tests to ensure that the ever-voluminous curriculum content has been learned in aid of competitive selection.
The problem is that the societal tail wags the dog! Individual needs are not considered at this macro level and students do not know how best to learn efficiently. To make things worse, students are simply not taught the most effective systems to effectively encode, retrieve and apply the mass of material they are expected to learn and lose sleep cramming. If we access the research, this is one thing we can practically change in our lifetime.
The misinterpreted effort hypothesis demonstrated that students will typically avoid strategies that require a little more effort even though they may increase learning efficiency and bring better results. Common strategies like linear notetaking will bring common results and fast knowledge decay, but the results and retention could be far higher using other strategies based on neuroscientific research.
If you are a student, and especially a teenager or young adult, in the majority of education systems globally, there is a high chance that you are OFTEN NOT ENJOYING IT despite the best attempts of your valiant and caring teachers. You are often either bored or overworked with the crushing pressure of memorising huge volumes of facts and content with much seemingly irrelevant or lacking applicability in life. Rote learning and lower order thinking is rarely fun.
Likewise, if you are a teacher schooling in a high coverage, high pressure system, it can be joyless at times to march through content and exams with limited space for your creative expression. I can relate as I have done it.
For those schooled in this system, it must feel like going to a doctor who prescribes you copious pills that give you a constant headache!
Sadly, students are often crushed by the pressure, and it impacts on their mental health and general well-being. This is ironic really,
given that education should conceivably help humans flourish and set them up for a successful life as adaptable and ethical learners, thinkers and doers. Not exactly the good life Aristotle imagined for learners in his education philosophy. Edu thinker, Michael Fullan, calls this a bloodless paradigm).
This extreme pressure can lead to extreme behaviours in some national systems.
Visualise a child on an intravenous drip trying to stay awake at night to cram the content for a make-or-break exam such as the Chinese Gaokao.
Learning by cramming is not only inefficient, it harms the health and makes no sense. There are better strategies now revealed by research, so read on.
Let’s be honest, it is preaching to the choir in a finger-on-the-pulse education magazine, such as K-12 Digest, to claim that there needs to be BIG REFORMS to improve education at both country and international level. Big philosophical debates constantly swirl around us on purpose, relevancy, importance, and effectiveness, that can leave one feeling dizzy.
Unfortunately, a lack of access to the latest research on learning has left many students feel like they are the victims more than the beneficiaries of education. A mile wide curriculum, too many high stakes assessments, and no research based, integrated system to help them optimise and manage their learning.
There are exceptions, however, and progressive educators and systems are trying to pivot in better directions urged
More progressive schools and universities are trying to buck the trend and reimagine education as it should be. i.e. reduce coverage for depth, teach the best habits of mind, skills and concepts most important for life, and encourage the joy of discovery, experience and learning independence, to be more inclusive and assess the strengths of the whole person.
on by research and global bodies such as the OECD, WEF, UN, or New Pedagogies for Deep learning. Programmes like the IB are implementing approaches to learning and teaching at the core of its programme, realising their importance.
More progressive schools and universities are trying to buck the trend and reimagine education as it should be. i.e. reduce coverage for depth, teach the best habits of mind, skills and concepts most important for life, and encourage the joy of discovery, experience and learning independence, to be more inclusive and assess the strengths of the whole person.
The K-12 Digest on Changes we need in education system has shared some important area to highlight the way forward at an individual level.
For instance, Liz Keeble lists the need for metacognition in her short article. Nindiya Saket comments that education of facts should about learning to think. But how can we put that together?
Justin Sung, a co-founder of iCanstudy who have designed a comprehensive, entirely research driven, learning to learn (integrated mindset, metacognitive, encoding/retrieval and high order thinking) system and online course, commented:
“Students around the world are being told to drink from a fire hydrant of knowledge and we must give them a cup to reduce the anxiety!”
Based on this insight, there are three reasons we need to focus on helping students learn to learn effectively and efficiently:
1) Effectiveness: it is mindset and strategy as part of an integrated system rather than pure, brute effort that helps students learn best (hence misinterpreted effort hypothesis).
2) Independence: students need to take ownership of learning for life.
3) Better mental health: Student who can learn deeply and efficiently, have more time to themselves, feel more confident and motivated and experience better mental health.
Every day I have contact with a child, teacher, school, or university, I feel privileged to work in international education. Despite this, I see a common issue despite teachers and institutional leaders doing their best. It is time to help them, not just for their well-being but that of the students, the learners in our care.
I am a positive person and I dwell in hope that we give students control of their learning, growth and development through an integrated learning system that is not solely based on relentless pressure and misplaced effort. As part of a child’s individual learning compass, teaching them how to think, how to learn, and how to regulate their learning must be at the centre of what we do. We should not wait for other reforms which may take decades in coming due to the lengthy research to practice gap.
If I had been able empower Lizzy through efficiently optimising her learning system in the way that organisations like iCanstudy, and increasingly others, are doing 14 years ago, maybe I wouldn’t have found her lying unconscious on the floor following a panic attack.
Ecole Globale International Girls’ School
Emma Willard School
Website: https://www.ecoleglobale.com/ https://www.emmawillard.org/
Website:
Location: Uttarakhand, India
Keyperson: Amarjeet Juneja, President
How to Apply:
https://www.ecoleglobale.com/admission/ admission-procedure
Location: New York, USA
Keyperson: Jenny Rao, Head of School
How to Apply:
https://emmawillard.myschoolapp.com/ app#login/apply
Website:
Website: https://www.lcs.on.ca/
Location: London, UK
Keyperson: Stephen Mellor, Headmaster
How to Apply:
https://www.kps.co.uk/admissions
Location: Lakefield, Canada
Keyperson: Anne-Marie Kee, Head of the School
How to Apply:
https://www.lcs.on.ca/admission
Merrick Preparatory School
Website:
https://www.kps.co.uk/ https://www.merrickprep.com/
Location: Merrickville, Canada
Keyperson: Kevin Farrell, Headmaster
How to Apply:
https://www.merrickprep.com/admissions
Midland School
Website: https://midland-school.org/
Location: California, USA
Keyperson: Christopher Barnes, Head of the School
How to Apply:
https://midland-school.org/admissions/
Website: https://sisd.ae/
Website:
Location: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Keyperson: Ruth Burke, Principal
How to Apply:
https://www.gow.org/
Location: New York, USA
Keyperson: Meghan Mileham, Assistant Director of Admissions, Branding, Communications, and Marketing
How to Apply: https://sisd.ae/admissions/
https://www.gow.org/admissions
The International School of Minnesota
Website:
https://internationalschoolmn.com/
Location: Minnesota, USA
Keyperson: Patricia Suarez, International Admission and International Student Coordinatorl
How to Apply:
https://internationalschoolmn.com/admissions/ application-process
Website:
https://worthgateschool.com/
Location: Canterbury, England
Keyperson: Dr Nicola Robinson, Acting Principal
How to Apply:
https://worthgateschool.com/admissions/
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fellow participants The raise hand feature ensures every student has a voice
and beyond
Known as the Jewel of the Rideau or Canada’s Most Beautiful Village, Merrickville, situated on the Rideau River in Eastern Ontario, is a popular tourist destination boasting history, great food and a unique shopping experience. A unique and vibrant Victorian village on The Rideau Canal, Merrickville would evoke fond memories of times gone, as it houses more designated heritage buildings than any other Ontario community of like size. Merrick Preparatory School, a university preparatory high school established in 2012, is located in a beautiful historic building in the heart of Merrickville. In fact, the founders of Merrick Preparatory School have put much thought and effort into the site selection of the school. Mr. Kevin Farrell, Headmaster of Merrick Preparatory School, says, “Merrickville was selected as it is a very safe, quiet and calm location for
Kevin Farrell joined Merrick Preparatory School (MPS) in September 2014. Before joining MPS, Mr. Farrell held various jobs in the field of education: Registrar at Cambrian College, Director of Admissions at Ashbury College, Executive Director of Round Square International, Executive Director of Trails Youth Initiatives, a teacher in the Canadian Arctic and a remote island off the west coast of Canada, Base Manager, Instructor and Outdoor Educator with Outward Bound Canada and instructing carpenter. Kevin holds three university degrees: a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), a Bachelor of Education with a specialist in Outdoor and Experiential Education and completed his Master’s in Intellectual History, all at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Kevin also holds his Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a specialization in Leadership from Royal Roads University in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Kevin is also a carpenter and has extensive experience building and renovating homes, including classic log and post-andbeam homes. Kevin’s passion is helping students uncover that there is more in them than they think!
high school students to remain focused on their academic and social development. Yet, we are only 50 minutes from Ottawa, the nation’s capital, where our students have access to all of the national capital resources, national museums, the seat of the federal government, two world-ranked universities, two colleges, the bilingual center of the country, and the world-famous Gatineau Park and Rideau Canal.”
Merrick Preparatory School was founded with a mission to help students reach beyond their grasp and a vision to create courageous, communityminded, compassionate global citizens. To fulfill this mission, the school recruited from several countries, wanting to be independent of
one nation, culture, or language. “Diversity is our strength. Developing compassionate global citizens who learn there is more in them than they think is our passion and vocation. Since our founding, we have maintained a 100% university placement rate for our graduates to their firstchoice program at their first-choice university at world-ranked institutions globally. Our 127 graduates have earned over CAD 883,000 in university scholarships,” states Mr. Farrell.
Merrick Preparatory School is intentionally small by design. The average class size is 10, with the maximum allowed being 18. The student-to-
Merrick Preparatory School boarding students are immersed in the English language and Canadian culture in preparation for post-secondary studies at world-ranked English-speaking universities
teacher ratio varies from year to year and can range from 4:1 up to 8:1. Mr. Farrell explains, “We aim to have a big impact on a few students rather than a small impact on a lot of students. We can welcome 60 boarding students and 20 day-students per
school year, on campus.” The nature of the school, the overall student population, the class size, the student-to-teacher ratio and the engagement of all staff, regardless of position within the school, allow for individualized attention and tailored
support. Every student’s individual educational path matters to us!
“Our teachers are highly skilled, trained and educated, all in good standing with the Ontario College of Teachers. With our size, every staff person, regardless of position, knows each of our students extremely well. This creates a strong sense of community, belonging and inclusion,” says Mr. Farrell. Merrick Preparatory School has created an excellent platform for students to blossom in an emotionally safe environment where all staff play a crucial role in their development, be they teachers or residential life staff, maintenance, kitchen staff, administrative or admissions staff. Academically, Merrick Preparatory School teachers are exemplars, helping students reach beyond their grasp and earn entry into their firstchoice university program at their first-choice university, many on scholarship to top world-
ranked schools. “Our students tell us this is their home, and our graduates tell us that their time at Merrick Preparatory School was some of the best years of their lives,” adds Mr. Farrell.
Upon entry into Merrick Preparatory School, each student is placed in an Advisor Group of 6-8 students and a teacher Advisor. That group of students and their advisors meet every day for 60 minutes for tutorial support and guidance. Each Wednesday, the Advisor delivers the “Advisor Curriculum,” a life skills course covering various topics from physical and mental health, relationships to study skills, financial literacy to diet and nutrition, and much more. This group stays intact through a student’s high school career at Merrick Preparatory School; as such, each Teacher Advisor comes to know their Advisees exceedingly well. “All Teacher Advisors are trained and certified guidance counsellors.
In grade 12, the focus during the Wednesday Advisor Curriculum becomes university guidance, selection, and scholarship application,” shares Mr. Farrell. Teacher Advisors at Merrick Preparatory School guide and counsel their grade 12 Advisees through the whole university application process. They are available daily to assist, in addition to the one-hour per week Advisor sessions, if there are any questions or challenges.
It is not just the students at the receiving end of the individual attention offered by Merrick Preparatory School. All Merrick Preparatory School teachers send home “Friday emails”
every week to each parent of every student they teach. They outline what was taught the previous week, what will be conducted in the upcoming week, individual areas of success and areas for growth, and any “red flag” issues that need parental assistance. Mr. Farrell explains, “We set up regular Zoom meetings with parents, students and all teachers to address any concern the student or parent, teacher or administrator may have. We send home detailed monthly Progress Reports and Report Cards. We host parent-teacher interviews after every Report Card.” At Merrick Preparatory School, all staff, be they administrative, kitchen,
The Ontario standard is 110 hours of instruction per credit course, with many schools providing much less. With 140+ hours, Merrick Preparatory School teaches the whole curriculum at a much deeper level
maintenance, cleaning, admissions, residential life, and of course, teachers, are available to meet and discuss with parents any concerns they may have at any time convenient for the parent.
Merrick Preparatory School is where students can develop strong core values that would help guide them not only through high school and in times of stress, but through life. Mr. Farrell says, “We believe “how” students learn is as important as “what” students learn. In doing so,
we create lifelong learners who are courageous, community-minded, community creators, and compassionate global citizens.” The school’s small size and dedicated staff available 24x7 create a sense of belonging. Through that, Merrick Preparatory School students establish a self-understanding and learn how to contribute to the greater common good. “Merrick Preparatory School is much more than a school; it is a family, an emotionally safe place for students to flourish,” pinpoints Mr. Farrell.
Going beyond of the academic requirement, Merrick Preparatory School offers co-curricular activities every Monday and Thursday defined by the students, ranging from clubs to sports to arts. “Our students create and run the Student Council annually, partake in the Model United Nations at the University of Toronto, and participate in a variety of sports with other private schools across the Greater Ottawa Region and Eastern Ontario,” explains Mr. Farrell. Merrick Preparatory School
Merrick Preparatory School’s kitchen staff are trained chefs with diplomas in food and nutrition management. The school’s meals are healthy and tasty, and international cuisine is woven into the meal planning
has a music club with a wide variety of instruments played every Thursday evening and an arts and drama club. Students select projects annually to enhance the school and ‘leave their mark,’ from painting the school mascot on the snack bar wall to fundraising and donating to a local cause to more than tripling the number of volunteer hours required for their diploma.
Merrick Preparatory School students participate in mathematics competitions through the University of Waterloo and local science fairs. “Our students host an International Day annually for the village whereby they share information on their country and culture, dress in culturally significant attire and prepare food from their country. Our yearbook is created and
designed by our students, and our graduates create, design and make the ‘set’ for their “Farewell Party” annually each May,” shares Mr. Farrell. These activities, and many more, allow for innovation, creativity, input, design and opportunity to explore the ‘student voice.’
“In addition, our teachers provide experiential learning opportunities, bringing innovation and
creativity into their classrooms daily, along with a variety of field trips, two multi-day outdoor and experiential field trips, accessing the many national museums and galleries in Ottawa, and having guest speakers to the school to enhance and bring to life the curriculum,” states Mr. Farrell. Merrick Preparatory School has Residential Life Supervisors who provide activities every weekend. Every fourth weekend is mandatory for all students (boarding and day students) to create a sense of belonging, community, and fun! All of these contribute to innovation, creativity, and exploration.
On the practical side of the ledger, Merrick Preparatory School students have placed in the top 2% out of over 18,000 taking the University of Waterloo Mathematics Competition. Others have placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd in Eastern Ontario Track and Field meets and in the top three in Eastern Ontario badminton tournaments. “Our basketball and soccer team, while not getting on the podium, have impressed with their heart, drive and commitment and sports-person-ship,” adds Mr. Farrell. Merrick Preparatory School students have also excelled in music and art, winning scholarships to the Ontario College of Art and Design, The Toronto Film School, and the Alberta
University of the Arts. One student even took the time to memorize and recite 600 digits of Pi, a fun, albeit perhaps trivial, accomplishment!
“What impresses me the most is that our students, upon leaving Merrick Preparatory School, have forged friendships that span the globe, have dropped bias and prejudice and are quick to defend and champion the rights of all, be they like them or different. Their development of tolerance of difference, their ability to connect and create community, and their courage and compassion make me most proud,” says Mr. Farrell.
Merrick Preparatory School is located in a historic building within walking distance of all amenities and all services required by the students. This bucolic setting helps to create a safe and focused academic environment and allows for rich social development. “Our boarding students enjoy ‘boutique’ oversized dorm rooms with queen-size beds and four-piece ensuite bathrooms and share a room with one other student in the same grade but
from a different country, culture, and language,” shares Mr. Farrell.
The food served in Merrick Preparatory School’s dining hall is world-class, with meals that are gastronomically aligned with its students’ cultures – a taste of the world at each meal and comfort food for its students, bringing their home to Merrickville. In fact, parents from around the
world often send recipes or spend a day or two with Merrick Preparatory School’s kitchen staff when visiting their child. The school’s science lab, drama, and yoga space, workout room, sports and health equipment, billiards, and ping pong, along with its four student lounges, and sport, movie and gaming monitors are all aligned and designed to provide a home and academic setting
Merrick Preparatory School students see their school as a home-away-fromhome, a vibrant community where they can meet and interact with friends from all over the world
which promotes success. “And, our success is defined by our students’ fulfillment, well-being and happiness,” adds Mr. Farrell.
An accredited member of the Ontario Federation of Independent Schools, Merrick Preparatory School is now recognized by its students, parents and educational agents as a world-class school. The school won the 2021
PIEoneer “Secondary Learning International Impact Award,” recognizing it as the best high school in the world. Merrick Preparatory School has been awarded on the Fortune’s World’s Best Boarding School 2023 List. This prestigious award is presented by Fortune and Statista Inc., the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking
provider. “Our plan is to expand our campus by developing a new gymnasium, sports facility, and science and technology lab. We will continue to be a world-leading educational institution, graduating globally-minded, courageous and compassionate students ready to help shape and change the world for the global good,” concludes Mr. Farrell.
The Montessori Method has transformed from a pedagogy into a way of life. With that, Montessori has moved from classroom spaces into home-schooling methodologies and a lifestyle for many parents/caregivers and their children. No one approach is better than the other; the most important thing is the ability to meet the needs of your child, your family, and your space. I recognize how confusing it may be to see so many different types of Montessori spaces based on various settings, so I have taken the time to introduce different types of Montessori spaces and places, discussing their similarities and differences so that you are best equipped to choose the model that is the best fit for you and your child.
Sylvia a leading early childhood speaker and educator, director of My Montessori (0-6 yrs) school in Sydney, Australia. She’s on the Board of Directors for MSCA (Montessori Schools and Centres Australia) and is the founder of the well-established Guide & Grow brand. Guide & Grow is one of the largest Montessori online support platforms with over 211,000 members. Sylvia’s wealth of knowledge and drive has helped paved her way to success throughout the years. She holds an International Montessori 0-3yrs training, 3-6 AMI Assistants training, an International Communications degree and a master’s in teaching specializing in early childhood (0-5 yrs).
Foundational Montessori principles found in all four approaches include:
● Respect for the child
● A prepared environment
● Providing opportunities for independence
● Promoting freedom with limits
● Hands-on activities
● Following the child
● Developing intrinsic motivation
Montessori inspired
Being Montessori inspired means implementing pieces of the Montessori philosophy in your home that appeal to your child and your family and adapting it to what works best for you. Montessori inspired can also describe the practice of creating a material or toy based on the aesthetics of traditional Montessori materials.
Montessori in the classroom
Montessori classrooms are the prepared environments that are carefully curated to implement the practice of the Montessori philosophy and method in its most authentic form, true to the teachings of Maria Montessori. The key differences in this approach to the others include a multi-age group of children, trained guides who observe and follow the child, and a wide range of traditional Montessori materials precisely arranged by content area (practical life, sensorial, math, language, and cosmic) and in sequential order from least to most difficult. The environment consists primarily, or only of, child-sized furniture. A daily schedule is established and followed including a full, three-hour work cycle. Children engage with formal shelf work during work periods.
Even if the environment is not catered to the ‘prepared environment’ a lot of the Montessori
Being Montessori inspired means implementing pieces of the Montessori philosophy in your home that appeal to your child and your family and adapting it to what works best for you
Montessori classrooms are the prepared environments that are carefully curated to implement the practice of the Montessori philosophy and method in its most authentic form, true to the teachings of Maria Montessori
philosophy can be adopted by teachers in any classroom or home environment. For example, ever in a situation where your child has something, and another child comes along and wants to take it from them? Automatically our response sirens turn to “Share, it’s okay share….” and your child looks at you with this unimpressed look? Then the word we all dread comes out. “No Sharing” and the issues around it we will tackle in the next blog but for right now let’s get back to our situation.
Perhaps if we place ourselves in the shoes of the child, sitting at a cafe using a pen to write down some thoughts on a notepad and someone comes over to take the pen off us all of a sudden.
“Hey, excuse me I was using that” (at the nicest) …the waitress says share, it’s, okay?
Let’s add one crucial thing into this scenario…. what if the person just asked if they could borrow the pen instead, would our reaction be different? I’ll tell you right now 99.9% chance it would be. “Excuse me can I please borrow your pen for a moment” …you look up and say “Sure!”
It’s just a matter of respect and children are exactly the same. If a child just asks to use something of theirs or has a turn…that No will most likely turn into “here, you go” or sure. Try it, it actually works, your child will pleasantly surprise you.
It happened today a number of times…. a child would come along try and take something and the child in defence would say no and then I would intervene and encourage the other child to ask if they can have one and the answer flipped every time.
Children innately will make the right decision, trust in them, respect them…remember all you have to do is ask.
Montessori is a complex, in-depth pedagogy that took Dr. Maria Montessori years of scientific observation and deliberate practice to develop. She adjusted the environment and developed carefully crafted materials to meet the student’s needs. Yet, the heart of the Montessori Method was not in the materials themselves, but in a set of founding principles Dr. Montessori established.
The intricacies of the philosophy and the picture-perfect environments put on display on social media platforms may make Montessori seem overwhelming and unachievable, but these basic principles are the heart of the Montessori Method. Focus on your child as a capable, competent member of your home environment; follow their lead, offer them respect, and promote their independence and your child will flourish!
Situated in South Wales, New York, The Gow School is a college-prep boarding and day school for students with dyslexia and similar language-based learning disabilities. Beginning its journey in 1926, Gow was the first school dedicated to dyslexics in the US. Since then, the primary purpose of The Gow School has been to maintain and operate as an independent, not-for-profit school for the education of students, grades 6-12, using the college-preparatory curriculum with emphasis on the remediation of dyslexia and related languagebased learning difficulties through Reconstructive Language.
In addition, The Gow School follows the pillars of Kindness, Honesty, Respect, and Hard Work, which are implemented daily throughout the School. Due to its continued commitment to its mission and values, The Gow school has successfully maintained
its position as an internationally renowned leader and innovator in dyslexia education.
The Gow School is the brainchild of the visionary founder, Peter Gow, Jr, a seasoned educator with over 20 years of experience in teaching. Having previously taught at Choate Rosemary Hall, Nichols School, and The Park School, Gow became concerned that many intelligent students were encountering academic difficulties, especially with print language. In 1922, Gow purchased an old horse barn in South Wales, NY, and opened a summer camp for boys who struggled in school. Four years later, The Gow School was established for boys who struggled with dyslexia in this converted barn.
Boarding at Gow gives our students a unique advantage; they not only have access to everything on campus 24-7 but they are exposed to Gow’s structure both in the classroom and in the dorms and on the weekend
Shortly after the school opened, Gow met Dr. Samuel T. Orton, the pioneering neurologist whose research pointed to a phonetic approach to educating those suffering from “specific language disabilities.” Through thousands of hours of teaching and experimentation, Gow developed the Reconstructive Language (RL) program, similar to the Orton-Gillingham method, and is still used at the School to great effect.
Over time, The Gow School has continued to evolve and innovate. In 1990, the coed Gow School Summer Program began, and in January 2012, the School decided to become coed, offering day and boarding options. Nevertheless, RL remains the foundation of the school’s curriculum, kept
current with the latest technology, and validated by ongoing research. A growing cadre of loyal and grateful alumni with a wealth of success stories speaks to the success of Peter Gow, Jr.’s dream.
The campus of The Gow School is spread across 125 acres in South Wales, NY, about 45 minutes South of Niagara Falls. There are 33 buildings with approximately 400,000 square feet of roofed spaces. Responding to many dyslexics’ talents in creative, hands-on, and visual-spatial areas, Gow created a facility to enhance its already strong programs in science, technology, and research
(STAR). The building houses classrooms, an engineering lab, a seminar space, and a Computer Numeric Control (CNC) vertical milling machine and simulators 10-ton press that can bend titanium Armor, pro lathe. The CNC machine enables robotics students to create more complex robots for the BotsIQ competition.
Furthermore, other technology benefits are evident in Gow-life, including technologyrich courses, such as graphic design, broadcast journalism, and videography; the innovative
Since 1926 The Gow School has been helping students with language-based learning differences develop the skills and confidence to succeed in higher education and beyond as creative, compassionate adults and engaged citizens
flipped classroom employed by several teachers; and Microsoft Teams chats between students and their families. Everywhere, the use of technology is driven by the curriculum and an understanding of student needs and interests.
Boarding students make up about 90% of Gow’s population. This is so because boarding at Gow gives the students a unique advantage; they not only have access to everything on campus 24-7 but are also exposed to Gow’s structure both in the classroom and in the dorms and on the weekend.
When it comes to boarding support, all of Gow’s seven dorms are equipped with a dorm parent or parents, depending on the dorm size. Right from getting up in the morning to keeping quiet after the lights out, inside as well as in the classrooms, the dorm parents are triple threats, they teach, coach,
and live right on the campus. Moreover, every dorm has several student leaders called Resident Assistants (R. A’s) who are there to show the students the rope and are thought to be the proper example of what a Govian should be like. Additionally, parents are kept in the loop while their students are on campus
with frequent video messages, phone calls, and social media. “We believe in a no-surprise policy at Gow and keeping the parents in the loop helps with that,” shares Meghan Mileham, Assistant Director of Admissions, Branding, Communications, and Marketing at The Gow School.
At the heart of Gow’s curriculum is Reconstructive Language (RL), its Orton-based language remediation program. Gow’s content area courses utilize its students’ strengths while remediating their weaknesses. Multisensory instruction,
executive function skills, and study strategies are emphasized throughout all courses. Faculty members receive ongoing training in methods that maximize student learning potential and are committed to providing individualized attention and extra help. Gow teachers know that students’ success in the classroom depends on them understanding their student’s language-based learning disabilities.
Besides, dynamic and leading-edge technology at Gow is developed for the benefit of students and selected for its appropriateness rather than its trendiness. It is then integrated throughout the curriculum and the campus, providing a unified platform that allows teachers and students to connect seamlessly. What students use and how
much they use depends on what works best for them. Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech-to-text, Kurzweil text-to-speech, and Inspiration conceptmapping software are the most often used tools that level the playing field for students with learning disabilities. Along with other assistive programs, they help with reading and writing remediation and other subjects, where they remove languagebased impediments to learning.
Students with language-based learning differences often have difficulty with executive functioning:
neurologically-based skills like organization, time management, planning, self-discipline, task initiation, and follow-through, which together help individuals manage their lives. As part of Gow’s commitment to rethinking the learning process, the School teaches executive function skills throughout the school experience. However, some students need extra help. For them, Gow offers Executive Functions Coaching (EFC), where its participants typically start and finish fast. Though working on executive function skills is a lifelong process, students who invest themselves see results quickly.
Gow’s Reconstructive Language program is accredited by The International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC) and meets the International Dyslexia Association (IDA)’s Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading
In addition to improving their life-management skills, students take a learning styles inventory and discuss self-advocacy with their coach. It all contributes to the development of independence and confidence in their lives. No wonder many Gow alumni cite the role of strengthened executive functioning in college and career success.
The Gow College Advising Center offers a comprehensive, individualized program to assist students and their families as they apply to college and transition from high school. The center puts its emphasis on student empowerment in the process. The College Advising Staff, on the other hand, supports each student in creating and polishing the materials needed for a successful college application. In this way, students learn to be responsible, take charge of deadlines and documents, and seek assistance from the family members and Gow’s staff as resources. This approach gives them ownership and a sense of control over their
destinies. Owing to this, 100% of the seniors are accepted into world-renowned colleges year after year, usually receiving several offers.
The Gow School is accredited by the New York State Association of Independent Schools (NYSAIS). Moreover, Gow’s Reconstructive Language program is accredited by The International Multisensory Structured Language Education Council (IMSLEC) and meets the International Dyslexia Association (IDA)’s Knowledge and Practice Standards for Teachers of Reading. Likewise, The Gow School is also a member of the National Association of Independent Schools
(NAIS), The Association of Boarding Schools (TABS), The College Board, The Independent Curriculum Group, and the Learning Disabilities Association of America (LDA).
In July 2023, Mr. John Munroe will serve as the next Head of The Gow School. He has begun getting to know Gow the best way possible, meeting with Gow families and alumni. Under his leadership, The Gow School will continue to help students with language-based learning differences develop the skills and confidence to succeed in higher education and beyond as creative, compassionate adults and engaged citizens.
Covid has taught us that learning a language is possible at home, even in the midst of challenging circumstances; but also: that online learning is not enough. A hundred per cent of my online courses with many students of Greek from our +10K community worldwide, finished our online lessons with the same sense of hope for our meeting in person and for another in-place learning course while engaging in activities that characterize the Greek lifestyle, culture, cuisine, arts, and of course, the Greek nature. There is zero doubt that an abundance of online resources is available out there for learning a language online and learners from all around the world can have access to a plethora of Greek
Dr Aristea Kyriakou is an enthusiastic and highly skilled Greek teacher, researcher and academic, who has gained with distinctions a postdoc, a PhD (Onassis Foundation Scholar), an MRes, an MSc and a Bachelors, all in Education Sciences, with expertise in Outdoor Environmental Education, Curriculum Design and School Grounds. She considers herself a European citizen – given that she has lived, worked, and studied in Sweden (Linköping University), Scotland (University of Aberdeen) and Switzerland (Education First) apart from Greece (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki). Aristea keeps working at an international level providing insightful, engaging, and inspiring presentations, delivering workshops, giving speeches, and leading and supporting school communities in their journey to use their schoolyards more and more.
language material. Videos, forums, virtual classrooms, applications, blogs, everything is out there. However, will this ever be enough, and what are we ‘really’ missing? That leads us to the next question.
Where has the body gone? Our senses?
What’s the new understanding of ‘learning’ for a learner?
We are really missing the…real! From my international experience as an outdoor educator who has been existentially challenged by the transition to the online environment, I keep being fascinated by the misconception of the
following: “to watch” is “to learn”. Well, simply no. Otherwise, everyone would learn everything at all times. Learning is quite a sacred process that the online environments challenge more and more, especially when implying that the notion of experience (an essential component of learning) nearly does not matter. Do we forget how complex we are in a massively larger co-related system, or are we misled towards an oversimplified understanding of learning for other reasons? However foolish, a step outside our home door will always remind us of our brain’s need for stimuli and sensory impressions, of our body’s needs for movement,
fresh air and health, and of our spirits’ needs to find out whether indeed ánthropos [in Greek άνθρωπος, human] has etymologically derived from the perception of “one who looks up into the heights” - and I would dare to say it is more possible to find this out by stargazing a clear night sky rather than our…ceilings.
(Pun intended)
In my opinion, the loss of senses covid has caused is through the acceptance of a more common understanding that learning can take place exclusively online. If we give in to this understanding, I am afraid of what we are going to miss as humanity in the next few years. By principle, we will miss the schools! That is the main reason why I feel it is our responsibility as head teachers, education managers, curriculum designers, teachers, schools, and language institutions, to keep highlighting the dimension of experiential learning, let alone when it happens outdoors. As two of my favourite philosophers/ thinkers, Jan Masschelein and Maarten Simons put it, to defend schools today would mean, in a sense, reinventing them.
My take on that matter of reinvention is not limited to theory, but I have been systematically working on it and I am excited to see it now having an apt format and in fact, a name to call this vision too:
“Greek and Green”. Basically, ‘Greek and Green’, my education startup, is my in-practice proposal/ offer for an ecocentric educational system in which the concept of school is stretched to embrace the great outdoors, and teaching leaves a positive impact on the environment. With an international
As two of my favourite philosophers/thinkers, Jan Masschelein and Maarten Simons put it, to defend schools today would mean, in a sense, reinventing them
team of inspiring people accompanying me on this mission, our niche becomes quite clear: the curriculum is designed from scratch to be as dynamic as the environment around it, which is considered actually the 3rd teacher.
The new concept of ‘language eco-tourism’ was proudly introduced at this year Greece’s largest tourism expo, Filoxenia 2022 (Thessaloniki, Greece). This term alone was an excellent reason to develop much more than a short talk with hundreds of tourism agents and based on the feedback I received, I believe, this idea has great potential. Of course, this would be never something I could do alone; to level up this concept, I partnered with an exceptional ecotourism and outdoor activity provider, Vassiliki Koimtzidou, founder of the Finix Adventures, located in one of the most gorgeous virgin mountain areas in Greece, Agrafa mountains. Vasiliki offers a wide range of outdoor activities there, and we scaled it up by creating a place-based curriculum for foreign language teaching purposes, with an ethos of sustainability, principles of outdoor education, experiential activities for unforgettable learning for lifelong learners, and sensitivity to climate change.
My ultimate goal would be to deliver a proposal that combines the advantages of the development of technology, and the comfort of home for language learning, but not as the central core of the learning process. It would be rather a follow-up from our specially designed in-place weekly courses. We open our doors this coming spring, 2023, when we expect the first learners of our programmes to be fully present, learn with our methodology and more than that, create a lifetime experience of living and learning in the natural environment of Greece.
Learning is quite a sacred process that the online environments challenge more and more, especially when implying that the notion of experience (an essential component of learning) nearly does not matter
Learning management systems (LMS) are the perfect tools to streamline your student support processes and keep everyone on the same page. They can be used to schedule and host online tutorials, share resources and documents,
assign homework, create checklists for tracking progress and much more. With so many learning management system options available today, it’s important to get acquainted with their key features and figure out which of them could help you optimize your student support processes.
If you want to bring a healthy level of organization to your student support processes, you need a good learning management system
Amal Al Abdallah holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and a master’s degree in education. She graduated with honours and was awarded a golden visa. She has been teaching science at AlIttihad National Private School, UAE for 13 years, and middle school students for the past 7 years. She has participated in many national and international competitions and learned more about the education systems of different countries. She believes that students need to be encouraged to explore and research information beyond textbooks, using different teaching strategies helps in motivating students to learn. Amal’s goal is to connect learning to students’ values, interests, and experiences, and to help them grow their thinking and intelligence.
In this blog post, you will learn about some ways in which a learning management system can help you improve your student support services and processes.
If you want to bring a healthy level of organization to your student support processes, you need a good learning management system. With such a system, you can create detailed procedures for managing requests, scheduling meetings, and assigning tasks. You can also schedule recurring tasks and automate recurring messaging, such as sending a one-time reminder to students who have yet to complete a certain assignment. With a good system, you can keep your processes efficient, transparent, and easy to follow. For example, if you have a large team of tutors, you can use the system to streamline scheduling, documentation, and communication. This will help you ensure that every student is paired with the right tutor for the right subject and that tutors stick to the documented process for scheduling and communication.
Another major benefit of using a learning management system is that it can help you automate data tracking and analysis, which saves you a ton of time and effort. With a robust system, you can track student engagement and completion rates, as well as gauge their response to your online content and services. Further, you can track the usage of various tools and resources, including your online scheduling feature, wiki, and more. One of the best ways to use data tracking and analysis is to schedule a recurring meeting in your system to evaluate how your students are engaging with the system, their progress, and their needs. You
can also use data tracking and analysis to identify which resources students are engaging with the most and whether or not they’re the resources you intended them to be engaging with.
Another big advantage of using a robust learning management system is that you can use it to create announcements and publish them for your students. This can be super helpful when you need to communicate a change to your students regarding timelines, due dates, access to resources, and more. If a student is experiencing issues with your services, you can also use announcements to communicate solutions or provide a path for help. You can also use announcements to let students know about new tools, resources, and other helpful content that you want to make easily accessible. You can also use announcements to promote your upcoming events, such as virtual meetups. This is useful if you host regular events that you want to help students stay on top of.
Another great way to use your learning management system is to make self-help resources easily accessible to students. This can be helpful in a wide variety of ways. For example, if you offer online tutoring services, you can use your system to make that tutoring content easily accessible to students who want it. You can also use the system to make other self-help resources easily accessible. For example, you can use the system to create an online FAQ page that students can refer to when they’re struggling with certain aspects of your curriculum. You can also use the system to create a student support knowledge base that offers solutions to common issues and problems that come up.
Increasing diversity while taking intentional actions across the organization to achieve equity and foster inclusion must be top priorities for leaders today, especially in K-12 and higher education. Consider the fact that African Americans represent approximately
14% of the population in the United States (U.S.) according to the Pew Research Center, but only 12% of undergraduate college students in the country (PNPI, 2022). The nation’s 101 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs)-representing only 3% of all postsecondary
Belonging’s possible when conditions are created to satisfy basic needs, ensure safety and security, affirm identities, encourage friendships, and celebrate contributions far and wide
Dr. Terrell Strayhorn is a Professor of Higher Education and Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies at Illinois State University. Author of 12 books and over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, books, and reports, Strayhorn is one of the nation’s most prolific scholars with a leading voice on racial equity, DEI, and a sense of belonging in education and employment. He is the Director of the Center for the Study of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) at Virginia Union University (VUU), Visiting Scholar in VUU’s School of Education, and a Lecturer in psychology. Member of the Children’s Defense Fund’s (CDF) Freedom Schools Research Advisory Committee and Diversity Scholar-inResidence at Harrisburg Area College, Professor Strayhorn serves on several non-profit boards including Minds Beyond Measure. He can be followed at @tlstrayhorn.
institutions--punch well above their weight in terms of economic impact, production of Black leaders, and student enrollment share with recent numbers exceeding 330,000. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) estimates that well over 1 million Black college students attend predominantly White institutions (PWIs).
Representation matters and it’s important--so tallying “counts” as shown here is a necessary step in assessing the structural diversity of colleges and universities. But it’s not the only step. Let’s be clear: “Not everything that can be counted counts and not everything that counts can be counted,” to quote Albert Einstein. An impressive, and growing, body of academic research has demonstrated
the value of studying the quality and nature of diverse college students’ campus experiences too, since representation does not always guarantee affiliation, association, communication, or buffer against discrimination, isolation, and taxation, to name a few desired outcomes.
Case in point: Whereas Black collegians at PWIs represent the numerical majority compared to their same-race HBCU peers, still today, they are more likely than the latter to face emotional, physical, and/or verbal assault on campus due to their race and/or its intersection with other social identities. Unfortunately, countless examples abound and one only need to look at the shameful racist attack that took place at the University of
When students are enrolled, educated, advised, and trained in campus environments where they feel safe and secure that they matter with strong support systems in place, they go to class, join clubs, work with faculty on research, study abroad, play team sports, and, yes, they stay in school, earn better grades, and graduate at higher rates
Kentucky on November 7, 2022, when nowformer UK student Sophia Rosing, a 22-year-old intoxicated white senior, hurled racial slurs, kicks, and punches at two Black students, including UK first-year Kylah Spring who had been working at the front desk in a campus residence hall when the racially-motivated incident unfolded.
It’s distressing to admit, but this chaotic episode caught on video is/was not an isolated incident unique to a public, research-extensive PWI located in the southeast region of the country. Raciallymotivated attacks, hate crimes, and bias incidents are on the rise at America’s college campuses, according to experts.
Addressing such incidents, while working to improve campus racial climate, create equity, and foster inclusion in ways that nurture faculty, staff, and students sense of belonging is a responsibility-dare I say, institutional imperative--of schooland university leaders since “institutions” can’t do anything on their own. As one student from a recent study put it simply: “The university has [emphasis added] to protect and help us...all of us... because they admitted us here in the first place!”
Rooted in recognition of institutions’ responsibility, the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (KCPE) invited presidents, provosts, strategy officers, faculty, and staff from across the Commonwealth to Northern Kentucky University (NKU) in Highland Heights from November 14th to 15th for the 2022 Higher EDquity Symposium. This year’s theme was “Recruitment, Retention Realization: Using Inclusion and Belonging as a Roadmap for Promoting Equity and Student Success” and powerfully influenced the focus of engaging concurrent breakout sessions like this one by Rhonda Davis and Yasue Kuwahara: “Ungrading: Pedagogy to Create Equity and a Sense of Belonging in the Classroom.” Other featured speakers included Bonita Brown, NKU Vice President (VP) and Chief Strategy Officer; Dr. Shakeer Abdullah, founder/CEO of Practical Diversity Associates; and, in my humble opinion, KCPE’s own, Dr. Dawn Offutt, Executive Director of Initiatives for Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI), who delivered an impromptu “call to action” in near-spoken-word fashion.
Day Two also included warm, welcoming remarks from Darryl Peal, NKU’s Chief DEI Officer, and Dr. Matt Cecil, NKU’s Provost and Executive VP of Academic Affairs. Honored to be invited to deliver this year’s luncheon keynote, I
addressed several points about the importance of the sense of belonging in higher education and how leaders and other educators can use it as a roadmap for promoting equity and student success. Here are a few highlights:
Sense of belonging is a basic human need, as vital to one’s existence as air, water, food, and shelter.
Though necessary for survival, belonging isn’t automatic, and it doesn’t happen involuntarily. Belonging’s possible when conditions are created to satisfy basic needs, ensure safety and security, affirm identities, encourage friendships, and celebrate contributions far and wide.
Applied to students, “promising practices” must move beyond person-level patterns (e.g., joining a club, visiting professor’s office hours) to create campus-wide conditions for belonging through institutionalized services and supports: food pantries, emergency housing, guided pathways, retention grants, learning communities, cultural centers, and minority male initiatives, to name just a few.
When students are enrolled, educated, advised, and trained in campus environments where they feel safe and secure that they matter with strong support systems in place, they go to class, join clubs, work with faculty on research, study abroad, play team sports, and, yes, they stay in school, earn better grades, and graduate at higher rates. By fostering a sense of belonging, you’re increasing student success!
The KCPE website states that one of the Council’s duties is to develop and implement a statewide strategic agenda and diversity policy aligned with state goals, making equity the crosscutting priority. I urge others to do the same as we continue to rebound, repopulate, and reinvent the future amid a new normal.
