PECHERSK SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL
SPRING 2019
PSI LIFE
Student Agency The theme of the PSI Life - Spring 2019 issue is Student Agency. Reading this issue, you will understand what it is and why it is Important for us.
WWW.PSI.KIEV.UA
PECHERSK SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL
SPRING 2019
PSI LIFE
PRIMARY
PSI Life Quarterly Magazine
Student Agency
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EDITOR’S LETTER
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DIRECTOR’S NEWS
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FROM THE BOARD
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FROM THE PRIMARY PRINCIPAL
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STUDENT AGENCY IN THE PYP
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AGENCY IN THE EARLY YEARS
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GRADE 3
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VOICE, CHOICE AND OWNERSHIP IN UKRAINIAN AL
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STUDENT AGENCY IN RUSSIAN AS AN ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE
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REFLECTIONS ON STUDENT AGENCY FROM THE PYP SPANISH TEACHERS
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AGENCY ADVENTURES IN MUSIC INTEGRATION
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COMBATING THE EFFECTS THE DIGITAL AGE ON STUDENT AGENCY AT SCHOOL AND HOME
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FROM THE SECONDARY PRINCIPAL
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THE POWER OF STUDENT CHOICE IN THE UNIVERSITY PROCESS
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STUDENT AGENCY IN SCIENCE
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DP STUDENTS PREPARE FOR THE REAL WORLD
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PUBLISHING OUR WRITING
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EAL STUDENTS TAKE CHARGE OF THEIR LEARNING
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STUDENT AGENCY IN THE ARTS
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CEESA 2019
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PTA NEWS
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PTA SPRING FUNDRAISING GALA
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CAS: EXPERIENCE YOU TAKE TO THE FUTURE
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CAS: LEADING THE KINDERGARTEN BUILDING PROJECT
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CAS: THE ANIMAL SHELTER PROJECT WORK CONTINUES
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PSI LIBRARY PROMOTES ACCESS TO INFORMATION
Chief Editor – Emma Zelenina emmaz@psi.kiev.ua Copy Editor – Patricia Puia patriciap@psi.kiev.ua Layout Design – Max Mart Printed by: “Ukrdruk” Publishing company
PSI Life is published quarterly by Marketing and Communications Department of Pechersk School International, Kyiv for students, alumni, parents, and friends of the school.
SECONDARY
The theme of the PSI Life - Spring 2019 issue is Student Agency. Reading this issue, you will understand what it is and why it is Important for us.
Founder Pechersk School International, Phone: (380 44) 377 5292 Fax: (380 44) 377 5242 communication@psi.kiev.uawww.psi.kiev.ua
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PSI LINKEDIN PAGE
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COMMUNITY
7a Victora ZabilyKyiv, Ukraine, 03039
STUDENT AGENCY
Dear PSI Community
By Emma Zelenina, Marketing and Admissions Manager
How beautiful the spring is this year and what a great time we have had at PSI! We launched the school mobile application, including new enrolment and reenrolment portals for our existing and potential families; identified PSI’s Core Values; and hosted several Central and Eastern European Schools’ Association (CEESA) events at PSI. Our annual Literacy Month and Futures Forum were a great success and we had a great time at our Annual PTA Fundraising Gala. You’ll see these and much more in this edition. The theme of the PSI Life - Spring 2019 issue is Student Agency. Reading this issue, you will understand what it is and why it is Important for us. According to the IB, ‘Agency is present when students partner with teachers and members of the learning community to take charge of what, where, why, with whom and when they learn.’ As an IB World School, PSI is committed to this approach. We embrace our duty to ensure that our students know that their voice matters and that they are expected and supported in making choices and decisions as they take responsibility for their own learning journey. Please enjoy reading this issue and spending your time with the whole family during the spring break.
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Director’s News
Student Agency - What is it and Why is it Important? Rachel Caldwell PSI Director
I recently re-read a 2015 article in the Washington Post about educational jargon. In actual fact, it is more of a diatribe about this topic. The educational journalist in question states a case that the language and acronyms used so commonly in educational circles exclude those who are on the periphery of this specialised group: More than ever, the public needs easily comprehensible information about what is going on in schools, what is working and what is not. So what’s an education journalist to do? Insist that educators define the terms they are throwing out. Ask them for clear explanations. And don’t fall back on acronyms when real words will tell a truer story. I hear her. How many times have we been in sessions where the educators reel off terms and acronyms to a crowd of bemused faces? If we are truly partnering in our students’ learning journey at school, then we need to understand each other. The other side of the same coin is that we do need a shared language. If we are genuinely partnering in our efforts to provide the best possible learning opportunities for our students, we need terms that clearly explain our work, our foci, and our aspirations. Herein is the focus of my short article. What do we mean by a term we are hearing more and more frequently, a term that is the focus of this edition of PSI Life...Student Agency? In the recently published document, ‘The Learner in the Enhanced PYP,’ the International Baccalaureate (IB) defines agency as the power to take responsible action, through voice, choice, and ownership. According to the IB, ‘Agency is present when students partner with teachers and members of the
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t learning community to take charge of what, where, why, with whom, and when they learn.’ As an IB World School, PSI is committed to this approach. We embrace our duty to ensure that our students know that their voice matters and that they are expected, and supported, to make choices and decisions as they take responsibility for their own learning journey. Indeed, one of our strategic goals at PSI is, ‘To develop engaged and motivated learners by providing personalised learning opportunities relevant to their lives, interests and ambitions.’ To be successful in achieving our goal, a high level of student agency is required. Alfie Kohn, one of my favourite educational writers, states that, ‘it is not “utopian” or “naive” to think that learners can make responsible decisions about their own learning’…as they do every day about so many things they really care about. So, when a student demonstrates agency, you’ll see them making, creating, sharing, collaborating, and publishing in ways that are genuinely meaningful to them. When agency is an expectation, students will develop the capacity to take initiative, and purposeful action. In conclusion, I ask that we hold each other accountable in regards to our use of educational terminology. Pose questions, dig into the meaning behind the terms in use, and expect each other to be clear in our communications and in our interactions. This is essential if we are to partner together in the best interests of our children, our students. Specifically in regards to student agency, we need to work together to assist our students to, ‘become creative and empathetic problem-solvers. We must help them be ready for a world none of us can define, but that we all know will look nothing like the recent past.’ This is why we must understand what we mean by student agency, why we must promote it and prioritise its further development here at PSI. ____________ 1. Choices for Children: Why and How to Let Students Decide. Kohn, A, Phi Delta Kappa - 1993 2. Timeless Learning: How Imagination, Observation and Zero-Based Thinking Change Schools. Socol, I, Jossey-Bass - 2018
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Board's Update Our school, PSI, is very different from many schools that I/we have gone to. There are many aspects of the International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes and particular approaches of our school that I could think of, but if I had to choose the most distinguishing trait, it would be student agency.
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tudent agency refers to learning through activities that are meaningful and relevant to learners. This gives students a voice and a role in choosing from opportunities and shaping their own learning process. Guidance from an instructor is obviously necessary and is actually quite essential for student agency, which is often synonymous with personalized learning. Within student agency, the instructor takes on the role of supporting the student through the process. The instructor becomes a guide, a coach and a learning partner. It’s a radically different role than the conventional professor preaching from his dais. This approach engages the student in a lifetime self and multieducational process when one learns from his professors and peers. It’s a two-way street, as it’s essential that the student provides constant feedback to his instructors. It’s also important that trust is built between the student and his teacher(s) as the student does not always gets it ‘his way’, or not initially at least...But over time, the student gets engaged and invested in his own education while
STUDENT AGENCY
looking for his own path in life; starting to shape his own ‘learning curve’. This is especially important in our fast moving and accelerating world when pure knowledge becomes irrelevant fast and can be easily ‘googled’ and when entire disciplines, domains or professions become obsolete quickly. During this period of time, the Board has been working on our ambitious goals and we are happy to share the following achievements: The school’s Core Values process has been completed and soon we shall hear the final core value framework for all of us to live up to. Dr. Andy PageSmith (external strategy consultant) will visit PSI again on 10 May to work with the leadership team and Board on developing further our future strategy based on the results of our Core Values discussions. We conducted an open board meeting in March to give the PSI community a better understanding and feel for how the school is being governed. We are very grateful for all the parents who were able to attend this meeting and especially for the student council and student advisory representatives for sharing their bright ideas, views and their Board Observer feedback with us. We finalised the changes to our By-Laws to improve the election process of the Board of Governors. With input from the school leadership team, and in the context of our strategic plan, we have approved the school budget for the next school year. We continued working on making sure that we have all the necessary audit and internal control systems and valuations in place to efficiently run our school business operations. We continue to explore the possibilities of expanding further our facility on the campus to support the school’s innovation and growth.
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PRIMARY SCHOOL
STUDENT AGENCY
From the Primary Principal By Sue Williams, Primary Principal
Student voice, student choice, student ownership. As a PYP school, we encourage all three of these facets of student agency. From our youngest three year olds to our fifth graders, it is easy to see how our students are encouraged to make choices, share their perspectives and take ownership of their actions.
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s I walk throughout the building, observe classes, and talk to students and teachers, it always strikes me how much voice, choice and ownership our students have of their learning. This can all be seen through the books they choose to read while building their reading stamina, the way they choose to solve a maths problem, the characters they choose to write about in their narrative stories, the topic they choose to research in a unit of inquiry, the creation of their Central Idea in the Grade 5 Exhibition along with their action, and more. Through Readers Workshop, students learn all of the intricate strategies and skills it takes to become an accomplished reader. While teachers may teach the skills and strategies, students choose the books they read while learning to use the strategies being taught. During Maths class, students are called upon choose a strategy that works best for them when solving a problem. For example, let’s look at how many ways there are to solve this problem 12 x 4: 1. drawing 4 groups of 12 dots in each group (4x12) 2. building 12 groups with 4 unifix cubes in each group (12x4) 3. multiply 10 X 4 and add to that 2 x 4 (10x4)+(2x4) 4. multiply 15 x 4 and subtract from that 3 x 4 (15x4)-(3x4)
There are even more ways, but as you can see, we try to give students as much choice as possible as they learn maths conceptually and begin to solve problems. Once they do solve a problem, the next step is to form an argument stating why their way of solving the problem is the best way. And from there we go into algorithms. Student agency can also be seen throughout the Primary School when students do any of the following: write to express themselves in a personal narrative or how to do something they enjoy in a procedural writing piece; create a piece of art as they express their ideas; choreograph a dance piece in PSPE; or write a piece of music express their feelings or emotions. Student voice and choice can also be seen in their ability to name their emotion and regulate their feelings and how they react to that emotion and all those feelings. Through Emotion Coaching and Zones of Regulation, we ask students to identify what they are feeling so that we can help them talk and work through those feelings and reactions to simple events, and some that may not be so simple. The Primary School at PSI believes in listening to students, helping them choose and make good choices and decisions. We want students to feel they have the capability to make choices, use their voices and then own what they have learned or done. Student agency at PSI = student voice, student choice and student ownership throughout the Primary School.
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K N I H T U O WHEN Y T N E D U T S OF O D T A H W , AGENCY ? F O K N I H T YOU ent body or m rn e v o g a e b l il w For some, it as a travel h c u s s s e in s u b a n e possibly ev about is y c n e g a , s u r fo t agency, bu erent. iff d le tt li a g in th e m so
By Glen Nicholson, PYP Coordinator
g, but st givin ju t o n t ice and is abou ice, cho agency o r v e e n v r a a arners oh o us, le t our le dents t n u a t s w g e in W er and arning. empow possible their le f s o a s ip u h o s , owner endent utonom d, indep le and a e ib d s harge in n c o m e p res ally , tak b s n a lo io g e t b c g a o t s bein of the ponsible toward with all ake res t y o a to work h w w n s learner their ow d pave lifelong n a hat , g in arn rofile. hlight w le p ig r ir h e e o n h t r t a d of the le as a ency an ions of g action er of ag in w k o a p t disposit e ly th y of this sponsib lustrate se stud nts - re a e To il c d a u t e s ans for ill outlin oms. this me ning, I w r a le classro w 4 e e n d f a o r result urrent G of our c e n o m fro
T
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STUDENT AGENCY
Y E N OUR
J E H T
. nacks. acher, Ms rade 4 te tainable s G s u r s u o d n r, a a eeting ity e ye School’ m ustainabil o ning of th s c t in ‘E u g r o e o b b a e e r s te At th er teache h her clas n Commit ore with h ds a Gree talked wit n , m e rs d tt e e a d lk e ts u ta L 4 studen r, so she ow her ur Grade d with he her to foll te d a e n g o , and ra s One of o u re o d enc really us people n o a is ri e a th v iv d rt h n o a it pp ng a at school , talked w s very su did not bri n her own acher wa o o h te w re e o h ts T m n . e d of stud about it vestigate a number student in re e e w h T . re n e io , th pass her class at within th d e c ti l. no to schoo le snack sustainab
and they both came up another class member in irit sp d dre kin a nd s, to The student also fou consumes, to record thi of snacks that the class ds kin the or rt of nit pa mo As . to ble snacks with a plan to bring more sustaina m the ge ura co en to d use them. educate the class, an nts helped each other to de stu se the d an s bin ycling of student snacks were this, each class has rec sheet where the types ing ord rec a h wit tem They developed a sys stainable. lf sustainable or not su ha , ble ina sta su ly ful recorded as
They also incentivised this system by giving a small reward to students who brought in sustainable snacks over a period of days. The reward, in keeping with the idea of sustainability, came in the form of a donation to the class from other students and teachers supporting this initiative. This included baby plants, donated books or old ‘treasures’ - donated toys that were no longer used at home. This is also linked with Units of Inquiry where students are currently investigating the impact of trade on society and at how we share our planet.
This m ovem ent is class growi es in ng. Th t he sc This w e stud h o ol, an as cre ents a d the ated to the re no y by th a r e deep w loo havin e stud trans king a M g e a nts, f n forma t taki i any th m pact i or the tiona ng th anks n Well d s l t is mo t h l u e e t d a o h e r one! A n o n del to n i m t n s a g tha es of stasia and f This r other t the t o h eally and S r e o s u s t r tuden udent is the plane ophia t s t s powe M . as we are m It is a for r of a ll. aking real t gency allowing m . estam e to i at wo e n t nterv rk. iew th em ab out th is.
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By Pinar Nicholson, EC Teacher
Agency in the Early * Yeas
Albert Einstein, generally considered the most influential physicist of the 20th century, once said: ‘Play is the highest form of research.’ Considering that endless research through playing with different ideas and tinkering with different materials brought humanity and technology where they are now, we can confidently say that play is an invaluable vehicle which children instinctively use in order to build foundation skills for their future adventures and to develop learning dispositions.
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n the Early Years at PSI, we foster play and empower children to play, thus, supporting their learning and growth. We believe that through play, children develop their own working theories, which are essential to make sense of the world around them. Throughout the day, various opportunities are provided in different learning spaces to observe, do, make, listen, participate, discuss, represent and inquire, so that children can actively construct meaning from their interactions with their physical and social worlds. During uninterrupted time for play, teachers assume several roles, including but not limited to facilitator, researcher, observer and navigator, to support student learning and initiate a range of intentional learning experiences, offering support and feedback when needed. In short, children’s instinctive mode of learning, aka play, is at the heart of our programme.
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In our learning spaces, play involves choice and promotes agency. The IBPYP defines agency as the power to take meaningful and intentional action, and acknowledges the rights and responsibilities of the individual, supporting voice, choice and ownership for everyone in the learning community. In the Early Years, child-initiated and child-led play, with or without purpose, is promoted in order for children to find their voice, make their own choices, and eventually take ownership for their own learning. We believe that every child is unique and that they come with their own sets of interests, passions, strengths, areas to improve and learning styles. As researchers and observers, we follow our students’ lead in order to figure out ways to support and extend their learning. Our students choose the paths they want to take. We listen to our students’ voice and ‘tag along’ with them so we can continue to support them when needed.
On any given day, alongside our units of inquiry, we can be observed tinkering with various materials while getting creative in our Makerspace, building giant structures using several construction materials, or using our magnifying glasses to have a deep look at different things to develop a better understanding of how they work. In the Early Years, our children know that they are listened to, their questions and wonderings are valued and followed up. In the Early Years, our children know that their voice is encouraged, their choice is welcomed, and their ownership is celebrated. In short, student agency is at work at all times because the children know that they have the power to take intentional and meaningful action in order to extend their learning and that teachers will follow their lead to make this happen.
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Student
Gonzalo Curbelo-Cantera and Molly Unterseher, Grade 3 Teachers
Choice
3 Student
Voice
in
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Grade
Students learn in multiple ways. As teachers, we need be aware of the opportunities we give students in order for them to demonstrate their acquisition of knowledge. Therefore, giving them options to express their learning and ideas in multiple ways allows for deeper understanding on the content being taught.
STUDENT AGENCY
In
Grade 3, we teach our students to be self advocates for their learning so they can be lifelong learners. As students transition from Grade 2 to Grade 3, they are often surprised by the independence that is now required of them as they move into upper primary. For example, students take on the responsibility of their learning by selecting books that are adequate for their reading level, while challenging themselves to become better readers and thinkers. In doing this, they learn through trying various methods of note-taking strategies, reading strategies, and developing their listening skills, as well as being able to answer and pose questions of their own to enhance their learning. Another huge transition 3rd graders face is the introduction of the writer’s notebook, where students learn to be responsible learners who keep their notes organised, plan before writing, draft, revise and edit their own work. Students demonstrate these skills is by having the opportunity to choose what method works best for them, including drawing pictures before writing, creating a story map, creating character webs, or using computers to write and share their work with their peers. In doing this, students learn the lifelong skill of giving and receiving constructive criticism and using the feedback to enhance their writing craft. In our current unit on How We Express Ourselves, students were able to demonstrate student agency by expressing themselves artistically. Each student was given a small canvas; they listened to four different types of music and painted what they felt as they listened to each song. As a result, students were proactive in organising their own canvas into quadrants by using the knowledge they recently gained during our Shape and Space math unit. As teachers, we were able to get a glimpse into how all of our students were able to demonstrate their thoughts in their unique way by choosing what works best for them. As a result of this activity, students decided that they would like to donate their works of art to the 2019 PTA Gala to be auctioned off.
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Voice Choice Ownership By Olga Ivanova Primary Ukrainian AL Teacher
Agency is the power to take meaningful and intentional action, and acknowledges the rights and responsibilities of the individual, supporting voice, choice and ownership…’ IB, November 2017 Hearing students’ voices and enabling them to feel that the school is a place where they belong is really important for our School community.
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It becomes more of a partnership with the teacher when the students are helping to design the projects and activities along the lines of inquiry, which is driven by their curiosity and interest. Students have ownership over the procedures and routines of a classroom. This includes the initial establishment of these norms as well as their ongoing execution. Additionally, students own the processes and systems that govern how they enact their agency, make choices about their learning, and reflect on their progress using rubrics and objectives. A reflection sheet is a good start when it comes to analysing ourselves against the learner profile. We feel that knowing the students and their goals is essential. That is why we begin the school year asking the students to set their goals for the year and make step-by-step plans for how they will achieve them. We encourage students to choose both academic and personal goals, which helps them to see that their choices are important for us and we are there to support them, not only for their academic goals, but also for their personal goals (hobbies, interests). Within a learner-centred environment, there is a lot more student participation with reflection and responsibility than in a teacher-centred environment. It helps children to choose their own differentiated activities and reflect upon how well they have met their goals.
Individualising learning is a stance that we feel increases agency. By differentiating instruction according to the students’ needs, interests and learning profile, the students receive the message that we appreciate who they are as learners. Providing students with opportunities for agency and choice is an important step toward creating a classroom where learning is grounded in true student investment and ownership.
Probably the simplest way to get your kids thinking is to involve them in making some of the decisions for their classroom. This immediately gives them an opportunity to express their voice. For example, Grade 2 Ukrainian students wrote a story for their unit on How We Express Ourselves. They were very engaged in the process, so they asked a teacher if they could present a story and act it out in front of the whole Grade 2 community. As good risk takers, the students created dialogues for the story and made their characters come alive.
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Student Agency in Russian as an Additional Language By Alla Polianska Primary Russian Teacher for NonNative Speakers / Head of Primary AL Department
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Constant change and developments in today’s fastprogressing world require skills and resources different from those that were needed earlier.
As the department of Additional Languages, we follow the philosophy that students learn language, learn through language, and learn about language in an environment where they can constantly explore concepts, solve problems, organise information, share discoveries, formulate hypotheses and explain ideas. We believe that the best way to support our students in developing these skills and understandings is by promoting student agency. We understand the importance of the student’s choice and voice in learning the language. We do this by engaging them in planning their learning experiences, working with them individually, and encouraging them to work with partners. This way, we ensure that students demonstrate and reflect on their knowledge, approaches to learning and attributes of the learner profile using different communication styles.
STUDENT AGENCY
When teaching Russian as an Additional Language together with the students, we explore the information which will give students opportunities not only to learn more about the culture and traditions of the Russian-speaking people and to use the language in everyday life, but also by enabling them to learn about more complex and global concepts that extend their thinking and understanding. We also know that teaching language should be in response to the previous knowledge and experiences, needs and interests of the student, and not through teaching isolated skills and topics, as this does not explore all the complexity of the language and limits students’ initiative in choosing the topics. In Russian as an Additional Language class, students are always encouraged to share their knowledge and take an active part in driving their learning according to their interests and needs. It happens at all levels across the Primary School. For example, when we had a unit on holidays and celebrations in Kindergarten class, students were able not only to learn about Russian traditions but also to share their country and family traditions with the class, which helped strengthen the connection between our topic and their prior knowledge. As a part of the Reading Workshop programme in our school, we also teach students to use a range of skills that develop their reading competence in the Russian Language. Together with students, the teacher identifies certain target skills and then supports the students in choosing appropriate reading materials to work on those skills. Later, we help each student to further develop their level of reading by conferring with each of them individually. This all happens with students’ active participation as they identify areas of personal growth and then choose the best strategy to develop relevant skills. Students also show their agency by choosing the way they want to present their knowledge and understanding of the concepts and topics. Along with the teacher, students can always choose to show their learning through creating a book, a poster, a brochure, a PowerPoint presentation or their own games. For example, in Grade 1, while repeating letters of the alphabet, students started a matching game where they were able to connect letters of the Russian alphabet with the first letter of objects around the classroom. Because this was a student-led activity, they were keen to continue playing this game. While teachers always make sure that students are aware of the criteria in advance, the students are always encouraged to take action in deciding what each of them should work on and create. Teachers also recognise the importance of providing timely, relevant and constructive feedback in order to help students to be more reflective and to promote agency as a tool for continuous growth as outlined in the Enhanced PYP documentation: ‘Agency is the power to take meaningful and intentional action, and acknowledges the rights and responsibilities of the individual, supporting voice, choice and ownership for everyone in the learning community.’ 19
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Reflections
on Student
Agency
from the PYP Spanish teachers
When tasked with writing about student agency through a subjectspecific lens, one needs to ward off the temptation to think that there are separate, independent answers for all questions through that single area of study. On a daily basis, however, we find many remarkable examples that take place in the classroom at every grade level.
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To help us consider the many ‘faces’ of student agency, we came up with various questions, which help us paint this very ample canvas and promote better planning, teaching and learning, including the following: How can students develop as agents of their own learning? How can we as teachers empower students to know that they are in charge of their own learning? What does that ownership of one’s learning look like in each unit? What place does inquiry have in enhancing student agency? How does enduring, conceptual understanding support student agency? How can growth in approaches to learning assist with student autonomy? Do transdisciplinary approaches encourage student agency? What areas of the learner profile best showcase student agency? Do all? How does developing IB-PYP attitudes promote student agency? To what extent would student-led conferences persuade students that knowledge increases autonomy and ownership in one’s learning? What tools can we provide students that encourage choice and voice? How do ‘packing and unpacking’ experiences in a unit invite student agency? What role do literacy and numeracy play in content and language integrated learning?
STUDENT AGENCY
By Mr. Lataburu & Don Javier Primary Spanish AL Teachers
These are powerful, thought-provoking questions for teaching and learning. One could even consider whether having written all those questions from the individual lens of students could bring us closer to answering those queries more accurately and contributing to the conversation more fully: How can I be the agent of my own learning? What tools help me learn best? How can I enhance my autonomy in class? Can I apply all those concepts learnt through inquiry in a broader spectrum later on in life?...
One of the most obvious approaches to these questions is that experiencing student agency should be constant and transactional. Take, for instance, the unit of inquiry in Grade 3, which revolves around healthy eating and sports. Students are presented with the Central Idea: ‘Keeping a healthy diet and exercising has a positive impact on your health.’ Students have full control of the opinions they want to express (voice); additionally, they decide (choice) which particular formats (formal / informal letter, survey, brochure, poster, interview, etc.) will help them best express and communicate to their targeted audience. For example, they may decide that they will interview each other first and then send out a survey to speakers of Spanish at school in order to gather more data. Students’ voice, choice and autonomy are thus present throughout the planning process, as well as during the inquiry itself. It is all those aspects that drive the inquiry and the learning of language in general. Teaching and learning Spanish or any other language are not exempt from deep reflection on these issues. Students and teachers together are actively engaged in the various stages of learning, including thinking about, planning, modifying and creating. Educators seek wisdom and collaboration from the students themselves, from fellow educators, administrators, and from the IB, and keep up to date with current and effective teaching practices to make this happen.
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By Gretchen Foster Primary Music- Teachers
Agency Adventures in Music Integration 22
STUDENT AGENCY
In Primary School Music class, we work hard to develop our performing and musicianship skills. However, we also use our musical skills and knowledge to support and extend the learning being done in the unit of inquiry (UOI) in the homerooms. During Music classes within the UOIs, the students work on connecting to content or concepts being explored within that unit through a musical lens. These are called our units of integration. While integrating, students often work on projects that encourage them to explore their own interests and skills individually.
In Grade 5, the students created a ‘Soundtrack of My Life’ as part of the Who We Are Unit. The students chose pieces of music that were related to important events of their lives. They designed an album cover and created a title that reflected their album. They also wrote a narrative discussing their musical choices and explaining the design of their album cover. They shared the project with each other on Google Drive and gave supportive feedback.
The students in Grades 3 and 4 explored Google Chrome Music Lab as part of their How We Express Ourselves Units. They used the Music Lab programmes to create pieces of music to accompany a ‘Line Rider’ video and to represent a visual piece of art. They were able to share their pieces with each other through Google Drive and provide thoughtful comments to each other.
Students in Grade 1 created a sound story as part of their music integration for How We Express Ourselves. They chose instruments, rhythms and pitches to accompany a wellknown story. We recorded the story and music and created a music video to share on Seesaw. The use of the music and instruments helped to create a more interesting story. Through individual explorations within our integrated units, the students are able to focus on their own interests and skills within music. The ability to work individually on a task requires support from teachers and classmates. The confidence that students gain through creating and sharing original work and thoughts is invaluable and helps students become more self-aware and reflective.
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Combating of the
Digital
on Student Agency By Felina Heart
at School and Home
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tudent agency is about children being self-reflective and self-initiated learners, which is often driven by interests and curiosities. Agency can help students to be more resilient, and self-motivated when it comes to their learning. In The App Generation, Howard Garner and Katie Davis (2013) stated that “today’s youth that have grown up in this digital age are constantly in a state of self-protection, self-polishing and self-tracking while online. This takes away from their time for quiet reflection and identity construction.” As parents and teachers, we need to help students to get this time back and build the skills to support the development of student agency.
A recent article on www.gettingsmart.com discussed 5 ways to build student agency, as follows: –– Incorporate unstructured play –– Increase time on the arts –– Provide opportunities for making and tinkering –– Encourage thinking and questioning –– Involve students in projects
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Incorporating unstructured play helps students to develop social skills, including self-regulation. Students are allowed to use their imagination, and in turn they learn about themselves. Increasing time on the arts gives children outlets for their creativity and through production of various arts, they gain a sense of power. Providing children with opportunities for making and tinkering allow children to be driven through the process of creating their pieces. Encouraging thinking and questioning allows students to experience a sense of control by taking charge of their learning, but it also allows them to lead meaningful conversations through the active role they take. Finally, involving students in projects helps them to connect their learning to the real world. This helps to blend their emotional reactions to how things affect others and develop the idea of wanting to contribute to the well-being of others. Here at PSI, we cover a lot of these ideals and are always striving for more. We offer play-based learning in the younger grades, recess in all Primary School grades, and also time for students to collaborate through activities. Further, we have a maker space for tinkering, art and music classes,
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Age theatre productions, and various ECAs that focus on the arts. The PYP and the units of inquiry allow students to raise questions and explore answers. With the implementation of visible thinking routines in many classrooms, that exploration of thinking and questioning is expanded even more. Finally, throughout the programme, students are guided through real world connections to the topics they are covering and are motivated to explore how they can take action in their community and beyond. However, the learning they are doing in school is not enough. The building of student agency starts at home with the role modelling parents exhibit and the learning they encourage. Recently, I created parent flyers based on all the
IB learner profile attributes and attitudes. I also created flyers that address major concerns that have been brought up to me by families such as anger, anxiety, bereavement, divorce, sportsmanship and more. The flyers give a brief description of each topic, books in the PSI library that families can read, real world activities families can do, and questions parents can ask to aide in conversation about the topic. All of these can help families combat the ill effects that the digital age can have on student agency. It allows parents and students time together to accomplish tasks that positively impact student agency, and to help build stronger, more selfmotivated learners. The flyers can be found on the bulletin boards outside the counsellor’s office and are also located on the PSI website under the link to the counsellors’ webpage and the Primary counselling link. As educators and parents, we all play an active role in our students lives and we can help make a difference together when it comes to their student agency.
REFERENCE LIST: Bokas, A. and Rock, R. (2015) 5 Ways to Build Student Agency in the Digital Age. Available at: https://www.gettingsmart.com/2015/12/61850/ (Accessed: 9 April 2019). Gardner, H. and Davis, K. (2013) The App Generation: How Today’s Youth Navigate Identity, Intimacy, and Imagination in a Digital World. Yale: Yale University Press.
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From the Secondary Principal by Patricia Puia Secondary Principal
One of the most important goals of our Secondary School programme is providing students with increasing levels of independence and leadership. Helping students develop their voice, allowing them to advocate for themselves, and encouraging them to lead others in positive directions are all central to our ethos as an IB World School.
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hat process looks different in our many different settings. In the classroom, teachers encourage students to ask questions, challenge ideas and work together to find unique solutions. In some units, students have a choice of assessments and can choose the best way for them to showcase what they’ve learned. Even in mathematics, they may learn that there is a specific answer to a problem, but a dozen different ways of getting there, all of them equally valid. That sense of agency goes well beyond the classroom, of course. Students select their community service projects and work in
teams to determine the best ways to serve the organisations or individuals who need their help. They explore their passions in ECAs and additional opportunities like CEESA or the International Schools Theatre Association (ISTA). In the past few months, we’ve also seen terrific examples of students not only exercising their voice but leading the school in exciting new directions. A small group of students serves as an Advisory Committee to Director Rachel Caldwell and is currently looking at refining our code of conduct. Another group drawn randomly from each grade level took part in the community-wide discussion about our core values. Our Middle and High School Student Councils met for a full-day pull out to discuss new ways to encourage school spirit and student input. And at the end of March, a dedicated and passionate group of students staged a ‘walkout’ to parallel those protests happening all over the world with students wanting to be heard on the issues of climate change and preservation of the earth. These activities - and dozens more like them throughout our programme - are exciting and rewarding for both students and staff. As our young adults learn to speak up and speak out, they are finding ways to improve their learning, their school, and the world around them. There is no better definition of ‘agency’ than that.
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The Power of Student Choice in the University Process As I write this article, our 12th grade students at PSI are reading their acceptance letters to the post secondary educational institutions to which they applied. It is not easy to exert one’s voice for their future, especially when the farthest into their future they had previously thought about was what they were doing the next weekend.
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he tedious process of applying to many universities while maintaining focus on Diploma Programme studies is exhausting. And then when an unsuccessful notice ‘pops up’ in one’s email in-box, self doubt and reevaluation creeps in. Quite frankly, this part of the application process - the reality that students will not obtain acceptances to every university they applied to - is heart-shattering. I shine and live vicariously through our students when they are accepted at universities their hearts have desired for years. I am flabbergasted, stunned and saddened when students receive notices telling them that they do not have a place in the class of 2023 at the university that was their dream. These divided and opposite emotions and reactions are tied to one important concept: student agency. From the moment our 12th grade students began thinking about attending universities, they were exerting their power of choice in their future and thus the future of our world. I admire their thinking process. I admire their sense of wonder and awe about what
their experiences will be at these schools. I admire their voices when speaking with parents, family and friends regarding why they have chosen these particular schools to apply to. The rollercoaster ride is now nearly over. Acceptances have been given or not. Now what awaits are answers to the decisions. Where will my future studies begin? Will this work out? Is this the best place for me? Will this be my next home and will I feel at home? Is my field of study the right one for me? Questions are just beginning. It is the power of the answer that matters. How firm will you stand? How much work will you do? How loud and commanding will your own voice be? I applaud all of our 12th grade students. Making independent decisions is difficult. The unknown is chartless. With that understood, however, one must hold on tight and jump in and go full throttle forward. Life isn’t about letting others decide. Life is about your agency, your power, your choices. Go forward, go well, be loud and be happy.
We congratulate our 12th grade students on receiving offers from the following universities. Aberystwyth University, Arizona State University, Brunel University London, , Champlain College, The Citadel: The Military College of South California, , City University of London, EU Business School in Barcelona, , European University of Madrid, Institute of Culinary Education New York, , Florida Southern College, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, , Imperial College London, Jacksonville University, King's College, London, Loyola Marymount University, Marist College, New York University, Parsons School of Design, Oxford Brookes University, Queen's University, Royal Holloway, University of London, SOAS University of London, University of London, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, University of Amsterdam, University of the Arts London, University of Birmingham, University of Brighton, University of Bristol, University of British Columbia, , University of California at Berkeley, University of California at Los Angeles, , University of California at San Diego, University of Edinburgh, University of Essex, University of Exeter, University of Glasgow, University of Greenwich, University of Illinois, University of Liverpool, University of London, University of Manchester, , University of Minnesota: Carlson School of Management, University of St Andrews, University of Southern California, University of Twente, University of Toronto, , University of Vermont, University of Warwick, University of Westminster, , University of Wisconsin-Madison, Yale - NUS College
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by Michele Basu, Secondary School College Counselor
Jens, Katerina S, Shon A, Maximilian K, Aleksandra k, Artem C , Nikita T, Chrystyna Y, Agatha G, Alejandro V, Oleksii M, Andrew L, Timothy G, Lyubov B, Nikita K, Javad A, Sonja R, Ana W, Elena S,
Agatha G, Jens L, Elena S, Aleksandra C, Alejandro V, Artem C, Nikita T, Shon A, Javad A,
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by Brian Lamb, Secondary Science Teacher/Head of Science
How Do We Allow Students to Have a Voice in Their Education?
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Science is very specific. There are specific terms and concepts that must be learned and understood if someone is to be scientifically literate. In the Diploma Programme (DP), our Course Guides are very explicit about the understandings, applications, and skills that students must gain. Because of this, our Middle Years Program (MYP) must be designed to prepare our students to be successful in the DP. With such specific parameters, how do we allow students to have a voice in their education? One of the most important ways to promote student voice in the DP is via their course selection for their Group IV Science classes. At PSI, we offer a wide variety of Group IV subjects. At both the Higher Level and the Standard Level, students are able to choose between Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Design Technology. Environmental Systems and Societies is also offered at Standard Level. During the course selection process, our teachers counsel students about their interests, as well as their plans for university and beyond. The most obvious way that students are given a voice in the DP is through the Internal Assessment (IA), which accounts for 20% of their final grade. Students choose their topic of interest for the IA with teacher guidance about what equipment and supplies are available. The IA enables students to demonstrate the application of their skills and knowledge, and to pursue their personal interests beyond our normal experimental investigations. Another avenue in the DP where students are provided a voice in their learning is in the Extended Essay (EE). In Science, the EE provide students the opportunity to investigate a topic of special interest in the form of a 4,000-word piece of independent research. In the MYP, there is a little more flexibility, especially in Criterion D: Reflecting on the Impacts of Science. In this criterion, students are able to discuss and evaluate the various implications of using science and its application to solve a specific problem or issue interacting with a factor. Students can choose economic, social, moral, ethical, political, cultural, or environmental factors, which may also be interrelated with other factors. Often students are also able to choose the subject upon which they are to reflect. For example in the recent Reproduction and Inheritance unit in Grade 9, students could choose to reflect on either in vitro fertilization (IVF) or stem cell research. In the Grade 10 carbon footprint analysis, students choose a product and investigate the amount of carbon added to the atmosphere from the manufacture of that product. Outside of the classroom, but still related to Science classes, students in Grade 7 are allowed to choose what they would like to recycle and how they would like to promote its recycling. This also provided students with an opportunity to take on leadership responsibilities. In the Grade 8 Week without Walls trip to Odessa, students chose an organism that they encountered on the trip to investigate in order to make a dichotomous key to identify the organism. So even with such specific parameters in content-heavy courses, we are still able to provide students a voice and make decisions regarding their learning and education.
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by Dr David Freeman, DP Coordinator
DP Students for the Real
Educators love buzz words. ‘Agency’ fits into that category. The consultant or expert will describe it as ‘adapting flexibly to remarkably diverse geographic, climatic and social environments’ or ‘one's capability to originate and direct actions for given purposes’ (10 Tips). Simply stated, it means taking control of your life.
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As the members of the class of 2019 reach the end of their Diploma Programme journey, ‘agency’ takes on additional meaning. Sure, they have exercised control to a certain extent. Their programmatic agency allowed them to pick topics for their Extended Essays, as long as it fits under the umbrella of a subject we teach at PSI. They have selected the focus of their Internal Assessments for their courses, but again within the confines of their PSI course offerings. Their Creativity, Action, and Service participation has provided options but within the scope of CAS guidelines. However, their agency grows exponentially as these young men and women journey to Western Europe, the United Kingdom, Canada, the United States and Singapore to begin their university studies. This is their first big life-course agency decision. But these choices will go beyond which courses to select. They will go beyond which internships to seek.
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Prepare World
Identity agency means how their perceive themselves and hope to be perceived by others. We are known by the company we keep. So identity agency might require requesting university housing for a roommate change because the one assigned to him or her parties all night or steals makeup. How do we know if our young people will have the strength of character to separate themselves from bad influences? Have we prepared them to be selective in the friends they keep? In the words of Shakespeare, ‘do not dull thy palm with entertainment of each new-hatch'd, unfledged comrade’ (Hamlet 1, 3). Now that parental authority fades and their existential agency grows, we will see if they have the capacity to circumvent constraints and redesign their environments to their liking.
10 Tips for Developing Agency
https://bit.ly/2SpcpgP
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Publishin Our W The process of submitting work to be published can be exactly that: a process. Aside from the pain and contortion of drafting, editing, and cutting chunks from the product of hours of thought and work, publication demands further torture. We open ourselves up to peer revision, teacher reprobation, and technological drama that fights our submission at every turn.
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Kelli Karg Language & Literature Head of Department
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W riting W
hat will they think? What will the panel decide? Will they love my product as much as I do? I worked so hard! I stretched myself further than I ever have in the past. What if I fail? Will people laugh at me? Will I impress? Oh, how little certainty I have of how this will turn out. As we, once again, move through Literacy Month, the teachers here at PSI are impressed by the agony the students show in pushing themselves beyond teacher expectation, beyond marked responses, beyond requirement. They do this to make the choice to show pride and ownership in what they have created. This work, published in PSI’s Ink Stains reminds us every year that the person inside the student is pushing to express
individuality and surpass expectations. And oh, the pain of decision making pushes the student out of the comfort of dependency and into the world of individual agency. In the school system here at Pechersk School International, this falls under the behaviours of attending to opportunities and making individual choices. For Literacy Month, a handful of students seized the chance to show their skill in writing, from prose non-fiction to poetry, from prose fiction to the freedom of writing for a theme: ‘Firsts.’ Many of the pieces submitted were produced outside of the classroom, in response to the students’ own sense of need to communicate a feeling or opinion in writing.
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EAL STUDENTS TAKE CHARGE OF THEIR LEARNING Jane Ellys EAL Head of Department (K-12)
The EAL department is dedicated to guiding our students to improve their English skills and access the information that is presented in PYP units of inquiry and in MYP units. To assist students in making these all-important connections, we are supplementing traditional language learning models and aim to have our students take charge of their own learning. Through these methods, our students learn about their own skills and grow in a way that suits their personal learning styles
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n the lower Primary School grades, the Kindergarten students choose which games they would like to play to reinforce their new vocabulary words, while in Grade 1, EAL students wrote their own 'HOW TO' booklets. Each student chose something to teach and then worked with others who had to follow their instructions. Students taught, learned, and practiced how to explain processes all at the same time! In Grade 3, toward the end of the unit on the sustainability of the Earth's resources, students were able to choose how they wanted to teach the information to other students. In small groups, some students created puzzles and posters, while others created an activity that involved finding the matching definitions to the vocabulary where students had to look around the room for the matches.
Grade 4 students chose how they wanted to show their learning for the unit on beliefs and values. The class did a study on the beliefs held by the five most popular religions. At the end of our unit, the students chose how to show what they had learned about the various religions by either comparing and contrasting the beliefs or writing the basic beliefs of each religion in their own words and then creating a poster or a slideshow to show their learning. In our MYP classes, we often have students peer edit their classmates’ writing. Students in Language Acquisition are working to edit each others’ writing by looking at and commenting on anonymous work. They identify strengths in the writing and then make suggestions for how the author could improve other areas. This helps not only our authors, but our editors to see writing more analytically.
We are also doing translanguaging exercises to enable our students to explore their home cultures. Students write a story about their own culture in English and then translate it into their home language. Translanguaging helps them to connect English with their home language, keeping both languages strong and their home culture valued. These student-centered activities challenge students to identify their own abilities and learning styles, and as agents, we teachers are guiding them through their learning process. It is rewarding for us all.
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Student Agency in the Arts
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hat does student agency look like? A standard and oftengiven definition for the term might sound something like ‘Students taking charge of their own learning.’ Whilst we in the Arts Department agree with that statement, we find that it doesn’t really get to the heart of what is it that students do to take charge of their education. When students exhibit agency, what they are really doing is setting advantageous goals, initiating action for those goals, and finally reflecting on their progress towards those goals. In the Visual and Performing Arts at PSI, we see this process again and again, and the 2018-2019 Arts season has been no exception. Whether it be the Battle of the Bands, the DP Visual Art Exhibit, or the Shakespeare Competition, students have not only set goals for themselves, they have worked hard to achieve them!
Eric Zambrano Arts HOD
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The Battle of the Bands is an annual music competition held in February between students from the international school community of Kyiv. Students enter the competition as part of a band, duo, or solo and could play music from any style and in any language. It was up to the students entirely to rehearse their song and create a memorable performance for an audience of peers, parents, and the community at large. During sound checks in the days before the event, one could see students playing with levels and conferring with their bandmates about what would be the best option for their sound. One could see goals being set, goals being adjusted, and constant working towards creating the best artwork possible. Diploma Programme (DP) Visual Arts students also demonstrated agency while installing their culminating exhibit in March, a gallery show of their best pieces produced during the two-year course. Students were responsible for curating the artwork and the guest experience. They had to make sure that their own work was displayed to their liking but also take into consideration the work of others and the exhibit as a whole. How the viewer was to experience and understand the artwork came entirely from students as they discussed, negotiated, and arranged their work.
The event was very much a work in progress at the start of the process, but students never lost sight of their main goal and made adjustments along the way to culminate in a truly fantastic artistic experience for the PSI community. One final example of how students in the Arts have demonstrated agency is through the Shakespeare Competition that was held in March. Students from both PSI and Kyiv International School (KIS) competed by performing scenes and monologues from the works of William Shakespeare. By no means an easy challenge to begin with, students took charge of the process by directing, designing, and rehearsing the scenes themselves. Much like Battle of the Bands, during technical rehearsals one could wander around the PSI Auditorium spaces and catch snippets of students discussing changes and adjustments, giving themselves feedback, congratulating each other for having their lines learned. Over the course of the 2018-2019 Arts season, one could find numerous more examples of situations like these, moments during the school day where students demonstrate their own autonomy successfully. Our students here at PSI are ready, eager, and more than capable of taking these risks and showing us their voice.
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Art Exhibition
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CEES Ric Floyd Athletic Director
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MIDDLE SCHOOL BASKETBALL 2019
Our Middle School basketball teams competed well in the Kyiv School Sports League (KSSL) with other Kyiv International Schools and local public schools. In addition, both teams competed strongly in the Central and Eastern European Schools Association (CEESA) leagues.
By Ric Floyd Athletics Director / Head of PHE Department
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Our Middle School Boys team had a tough CEESA tournament, as they now play in the new Division 1, not just the Blue Division. This means that they played against much larger schools at the tournament in Baku. The team finished in 5th place. Both PSI Teams finished in 7th place in the KSSL league as well. Our boys' teams were coached by Mr. Haugen and Mr. Sylvain. We also had a learner assistant coach, Mr. Matthew Jason. Team members for CEESA were Ethan, Vova, Simonas, Malachi, Mark, Benjamin, Ignas, Peyton, Arseniy, Ethan Panthers Team - Igor, Kfir, Nikhil, Mattia, Aditya, Wilhelm, Felix The Middle School Girls team also had a tough CEESA tournament, with teams from much bigger schools who were very strong, but our girls now know what to work on for next year. They won a Sportsmanship Trophy at CEESA in Warsaw and finished up in 7th place. The girls finished 5th in the KSSL League. Our girls' teams were coached by Mr. Sturk and Ms. Constance. Team members for CEESA were - Alexandra, Hannah, Meera, Karina, Yeseniia, Polina, Karina, Kateryna, Ece, Naomi Panthers Team - Maya, Zlata, Tina, Daryna
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HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL 2019
This year, our High School Girls Basketball teams competed strongly in the Kyiv School Sports League (KSSL) and went through to finish with a 3rd Place trophy. In the Central and Eastern European Schools Association (CEESA) league, the girls moved up to Division One this year at CEESA and travelled to Belgrade to take on the big schools. They surpassed expectations and made it through to the final game even with some injured players from early in the tournament. They finished with a 2nd Place trophy.
This is now the third time that a PSI Panthers high school girls team has achieved a CEESA Basketball Tournament trophy. Great job in making history in the new CEESA Division One! The girls' team was coached by Ms. Heart and Ms. Shannon. CEESA team members were: Kateryna, Kai, Mariya, Zoe, Sophia, Nadia, Zoya, Katerina, Liza. Panthers team members - Sofie, Elena, Anna Our High School Boys Basketball team had their best year in over five years of basketball at both CEESA and KSSL. For the first time, we had two high school boys teams - Varsity and Junior Varsity. PSI Panthers finished in KSSL with a 3rd place trophy in the Varsity Division and finished 5th in the Junior Varsity Division. They also won 3rd place at CEESA Division 2 Tournament in Bratislava. The boys were coached by Mr. Faircloth, Mr. Basu and Mr. Livecchi. CEESA team members were Cody, Nicholas, Manuel, Aydan, Oliver, Andreas, Grant, Shameer, Shon and Taras. Panthers team Members - Emil, Vincent, Ivan, Jens and Hyunwoo. CEESA All Stars selections were Zoya and Katy for the girls’ squad and Andreas and Cody for the boys’ squad. Congratulations! 45
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CEESA SWIMMING 2019
This is our fourth year of having a PSI Panthers Swimming Team attend the CEESA Tournament. This year, we hosted the event in our pool for the first time ever with 106 swimmers and 50 plus officials and coaches. We used our new touch pads and electronic scoreboard for the event.
By Ric Floyd Athletics Director / Head of PHE Department
We also had our biggest team for any sport in this past 4 years, and we hope to grow next year, as our new pool is very popular with our students. The PSI team of 28 swimmers had an amazing experience, made a lot of new friends, and swam for new personal best times during the tournaments, as well as winning many medals and trophies. Our team members were coached by Mr. Holland, Ms. Kraft, Ms. Sascha and Mr. Bogdan.
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Team members for CEESA were: 1st year team members: Sofiia, Serhiy, Mariana, Zidane, Emil, Felix, Hannah, Medeine, Mykhailo, Maia, Sofiia, Artem, Audrey 2nd year team members: Sacha, Roshan, Vibeke, Julia, Vincent, Elyas, Bogdan, Nikolaya 3rd year team members: Artemia, Joshua, Alec 4th year team members: Ivan, Melisa Other Panther swim team members (who were unable to compete at CEESA) were Igor and Asiya. We also conducted two KSSL Swimming Tournaments this year, with the following results:
CEESA Medals Our team achieved amazing individual results at our first ever home CEESA Swimming event, taking home 42 Medals. Gold - 10 Silver - 13 Bronze - 19
24 New PSI Swim Records
CEESA Trophies Our team also won 4 team trophies as below:
KSSL Swimming Tournament #1 with 32 medals Gold - 10
18 New PSI Swim records
Silver - 11
7 New KSSL Swim Records
Bronze - 11
KSSL Swimming Tournament #2 with 35 medals
Middle School Boys
Champions
Gold - 14
17 New PSI Swim records
Middle School Girls
Second Place
Silver - 11
8 New KSSL Swim Records
High School Boys
Champions
Bronze - 10
High School Girls
Third Place
We have now started a Primary Swim Squad and will conduct house team Swim Tournaments this year.
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PTA NEWS
The Parent Teacher Association (PTA) at PSI works hard not only to support the teachers and staff at PSI, but to include the students in our focus and mission. Ultimately, our main objective is to provide a safe, engaging and productive learning environment for our children, PSI students. One of the main ways in which we promote student agency through the PTA is with the Community Involvement and Social Responsibility Initiative program (CISRI). The PTA has dedicated its fundraising efforts to CISRI since the beginning of the 2016 - 2017 academic year. CISRI projects are selected, implemented and monitored by PSI students. They primarily focus on community needs related to children, the elderly, orphanages, schools, animal shelters, the environment, or school projects. This process allows students to fulfill many traits of the IB learner profile and encourages students to take meaningful action in the community. This is also a significant, student-led, learning opportunity. Children follow their passions and create action, taking control over their own education, ideas at the heart of student agency.
by Debbie McWhorter, PTA Communication Officer
But how do we get there? Students throughout the school work on fundraising initiatives. The most significant studentled fundraisers are the thrice-yearly bake sales. The PTA facilitates these bake sales through our marketing efforts and through coordinating logistics, in order to support the students’ independent initiatives. Each Student Council Primary, Middle Years and Secondary - runs one of the bake sales during the course of the year, with all proceeds going to the initiatives each respective Student Council is focused on for the year. The Parent Teacher Association also holds a spring fundraising gala, a wonderful event for adult community members, including auction items donated as well as student creations for bidding. 100% of the profits go to the CISRI programme and to fund further student-led initiatives. As parents, we all want what is best for our children and as a PTA, we work diligently to make sure that children are able to take control of their own learning and follow their own passions in productive ways that help them achieve what is best for themselves as independent caring, reflective and open-minded learners, thinkers, risk takers and communicators. 49
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PTA Spring Fundraising Gala 2019
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by Nikita Taratorin PSI Student Store Leader 2017-2019
EXPERIENCE YOU TAKE TO THE FUTURE Student store is a student-established project. Many know us as main distributors of pizza on Mondays and Wednesdays, but only a few know that we are one of the oldest initiatives in PSI, with students first assembling and fundraising together 16 years ago.
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ur funds go towards financial support of other PSI CAS initiatives including the Djerela Centre, the animal shelter, the orphanage for visually impaired children, the kindergarten building project, Children of the World to the Children of Ukraine, and more. Additionally, we host a number of our own community service initiatives and events, including the Down Syndrome event, Ukrainian veteran aid, and personal support of multiple disadvantaged local families. This project is a unique integration of student leadership and entrepreneurship combined with community service. Here students are encouraged to use their own organisation and cooperation skills in order to achieve shared goals. In the previous two weeks, the project has experienced significant changes. It evolved from just being a Diploma Programme student CAS project to a school-wide community service initiative. The project sees a growing engagement among school’s teachers and younger students, which make it truly a community effort. Our members are now as young as Grade 8, with a further growing number of students willing to join the project. What is truly mesmerising about it is the personal motivation and involvement of young students in this project.
“It is wonderful to realise that you can help somebody who really needs your help and care. We had a great opportunity to spend some hours with Down Syndrome children. It was an unforgettable experience for me. These children's smiles made me believe that by taking care of each other, we can make this world better. So, I am willing to carry on my volunteer activity and to participate in as many activities as I can.� Sofiia, Grade 8
As I approach the end of my leadership role in the project, I get a stronger and stronger feeling, that PSI Student Store has an amazing future. The project has greatly matured from a small student initiative which I joined back in spring of 2017, to an organised entity with members having clear jobs, and a project having strict transparency and organisational policies. The latest development is a rapidly growing engagement of PSI students, teachers, and parents. With so many new enthusiastic members of our growing project, it seems clear that true good deeds are motivated by true human passion and love. In fact, the PSI Student Store project is becoming a reflection of the great humanity, compassion, and openmindedness that the PSI community has to offer.
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by Sonja Ringger Grade 12, Leader of the KBP
LEADING THE KINDERGARTEN BUILDING PROJECT
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I’ve been the leader of the Kindergarten Building Project (KBP) for a year now, and I can readily say that it was an experience that influenced me. When I first joined the Building Project at the end of 10th grade, I was reluctant to go. I didn’t always show up, and I wasn’t enthusiastic at all during our building sessions. At first, the Building Project was a convenient way to tick all three CAS boxes. But in the fall of 11th grade, something changed for me. When the previous leader asked me if I was willing to take over leadership, I thought: ‘I might as well. It cannot be that hard.’
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got emotionally engaged against my will. Suddenly, when I took charge, I was working my hardest. It was no longer a matter of whether I was enjoying myself or not; leading the Building Project to further success became a matter of pride! I started investing more and more time in the Building Project, asking around for new students to join in. I began
to learn to communicate with my peers and take responsibility as a leader without feeling like I must be in charge of everything. I learned to cooperate even with the most distracted of people, and when I compare myself now to the me that I was a year ago, I can see that I have grown as a person. Now that I’m near the end of my CAS journey, I can look back on all that I’ve done at PSI, and some of my proudest moments take place in the Building Project: Finishing the yellow bus (my first project), finishing up the sandboxes… These are memories that I can look back on with fondness. I don’t even remember being frustrated with my teammates, stressing out over the budget, or making those unpleasant trips to the store. What stays is the pride I take in having led and been part of the Kindergarten Building Project. It will stay with me for many years to come. \
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COMMUNITY
CAS
by Anna Waschuk Co-leader of the project
THE ANIMAL SHELTER PROJECT WORK CONTINUES
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STUDENT AGENCY
This school year has been one of great action for the Animal Shelter team. Our CAS project has been helping out a local ex-kill shelter in Kyiv by providing food, bedding, medicine and cleaning products that the caretakers cannot afford. The hundreds of dogs and cats kept in close proximity suffer from a range of health issues from eye infections to skin disease that spreads quickly and is difficult to get rid of.
B
ut with the $300 USD we’ve raised this year from fundraising sales and some generous donors in our community, we are starting to help treat these animals. The money was all spent on the products mentioned and delivered to the shelter on one of our visits this year. We will also be assisting local volunteer veterinarians to help treat the sick animals and improve their living conditions. As a leader, I learned about the importance of communication and clear planning. I really enjoyed delegating projects and roles for the events that we held. Being in charge of a passionate team made me realise that I can make real changes in my local community.
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III
COMMUNITY
Library Promotes Access to Information Traditional library stereotypes such as the librarian being a gatekeeper to information and the library being silent spaces where the librarian is in charge of selecting and delivering resources that can only be accessed via the library catalogue are not conducive to student agency. That is why at PSI, the libraries do not adhere to these ways of operating.
by Pam York and Polina Spencer, PSI Librarians
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STUDENT AGENCY
T
he library environment at PSI is one in which students are encouraged to browse and explore resources at any time throughout the day, using the space for both individual and collaborative study as well as relaxation and leisure time. Students have 24 hour access to the library catalogue and online resources both at school and from home and the Symbaloo on the library homepage connects students to resources from one central place with ‘one click’ access. Freedom of and access to information is one of the most fundamental beliefs of the the PSI library because it allows students to have choice and to be active agents in the process of learning. PSI librarians collaborate with teachers on guiding students in their independent research and learning how to access ideas. Through personalised learning, students develop a sense of ownership not only of their own learning but
also of the library resources, leading to a sense of independence and expertise. Students confidently request additional resources for the library, both online and with physical books. This empowers learners to be risk takers and feel secure enough to ask questions, apply critical analysis and take action based on personal beliefs and understanding without fear of failure. PSI library prides itself on being student centred, not only in the physical environment and resources provided, but also by enabling independent inquiry and providing the services required for students to achieve this.
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