People and places
A panel of NIST students were invited to plenary session at the AIE conference to consider an important question
How are students supported to engage with difference? Julian Edwards reflects on the student plenary discussion of the AIE conference
‘In what ways do international schools support students to engage with difference?’ Schools can engage their students with a variety of differences, including differences within the immediate community. Students interacting across age groups, with immediate classmates or supporting new students with transition, are all examples. However students can also be the catalysts for engaging with difference beyond school with people from different social and economic backgrounds. The NIST students had a number of thoughts about how this might be supported, and what follows is a summary of key aspects of the ideas they shared.
70
Teachers Jamie argued that ‘schools need to support teachers to engage with difference’. They ‘need to cultivate teachers’ who in turn will find ways to support students who are less eager. Am believed that ‘mentors with passion make a real difference in schools’ and that, while students may have the nature to become involved with difference through service, schools are still the best place for this to be nurtured. Sarina felt that personality is a key and the variety of schooling experiences that some international students accumulate can also make them more open to engaging with difference. Sarina has attended many international schools and when chances to engage with others outside the school community were not available, she missed them greatly. Engaging students Am observed that, for her, having opportunities at an Autumn |
Spring
At the Alliance for International Education conference hosted by NIST International School Bangkok in March 2016, a panel of NIST students aged from sixteen to eighteen were invited to respond in a plenary session to the question:
| 2016
