Integrated Marketing campaign for Nexus International Schools consisting of a series of new websites and several videos exploring the School’s methodology.
What follows is 8 short documentaries – interviews that I conducted with the staff from both schools – along with the preparatory writing that I did as a guide for the interviewees.
Philosophy
Yesterday we talked about creating global citizens of tomorrow. Today we would do well to recognize that Nexus students are already world citizens; more connected, with more choice and greater access to information outside the classroom than every before.
As well as the introduction of technology in learning what we’re also seeing in innovative schools across the world is a move away from an industrial model of schooling. A move away from an outdated model in which children were viewed as empty vessels to be filled with the information needed to pass exams.
Nexus we views children as individuals; education is not just about reaching the end goal, but also the rich, experiential and highly personal journey learners take to get there. One that encourages all aspects of their development academically by involving the wider school community.
The shift is one from system-centric to learner centric. Where education is not an end in and of itself, but rather a rich, experiential journey involving student, teachers and the wider community in which it all takes place.
This interconnectedness feeds into the idea that the school and the learning environment become an inviting place, where students are encouraged to explore not only an academic path, but one that embraces all aspects of their development, social, physical and artistic.
Pedagogy
Children are individuals; on the whole they do not fit into a one size fits all factory model and education is not about filling children full of as many facts as we can in a lesson. If learners of any age are not emotionally engaged with the subject matter, they simply switch off.
The Nexus way is to guide, to facilitate the asking of questions. Lots of questions. Big questions. Small questions. All of us. We become detectives, or archaeologists, or scientists; with a common purpose.
If we think of a problem as being like an onion, then together we peel away the layers of a particular problem; there may be tears on the way but together we find the answers. Next we reflect and share what we’ve discovered with each other and a bigger picture emerges.
That’s how learning happens. Nexus learners answer each other’s questions and they themselves become coaches. Our teacher’s role is to guide them to understanding. Everyone has to some extent assumes responsibility not only for the answers to the big questions, but also the path taken to get there. The planning of it, the measuring of it, even the level and depth of the learning that emerges.
And then something really magical happens.
Not only have we learnt something new, but also – and just as importantly – we know how we have learnt it.
That’s huge. If we know how we learnt one thing, then we can apply that strategy to learning other things.
Personalising Learning
Connectivity Through technology
Of course technology has changed the way we teach.
Think of it as having removed the walls of the classroom. Everyone has a MacBook; and we’re all connected to the Internet; which means we have access to all sorts of information and knowledge outside of the immediate environment of the lecture theatre. Very often we see that this kind of curiosity and exploration continues even after the pupils have left the classroom.
This is interesting because it means we’re able to construct the learning with the pupils.
But sometimes – and this is the beauty of technology – we’ll see things go off at an unexpected tangent, which in turn creates new learning.
So technology has changed what we do and how we do it at a fundamental level – it’s less about what we CAN learn, and more about how we would PREFER to learn.
A Technology Moment
Character and Attitude
What is meant by character?
What are the qualities that make successful people?
And how do you balance this with the needs and good of the collective?
How does this play into the educational environment?
When we talk about character development we’re really taking about nurturing whole children – or whole people, for that matter. And that in itself is an important distinction, since a big part of what we’re talking about is instilling self confidence, as well a sense of place in the world.
This boils down to making the whole experience meaningful for our pupils.
Science, maths, English lit – these things are all important, of course; but so are things like emotional, social, physical, artistic, creative and even spiritual growth – not in religious terms, but as in a celebration of the human spirit.
So when we look at it this way, we see that the school is a social place. And education is a social experience. And for education to make any sense, therefore, it needs to shape itself around the relationships between people involved in it; connect them together in some way.
The outcomes of this way of thinking are essentially twofold:
First, it instils core ethical values that allow us to treat each other respectfully and fairly; and second it fosters an environment in which we are taught to pursue our goals in an ethical manner.
Beyond the classroom
We recognise that learning happens in many places and at many different times. Therefore, we place emphasis on experiences and learning opportunities outside of the classroom.
NEXUS we offers co-curricular activities encompassing everything from traditional sports such as swimming, football, and badminton to more culturally oriented pursuits like drama, musical creativity and dance. And we have a dedicated team of specialist coaches and tutors with superb facilities to support these activities; (a theatre), a huge auditorium, sports halls and fields, music, art and drama workshops and of course this lovely pool that we’re sitting at.
We believe that these activities are not diversions from the taught curriculum; not something that children do after class simply to use up time; but rather, we see them as extensions of what goes on in the classroom.
What do we mean by this?
While the classroom environment is undoubtedly a collaborative one, this spirit of cooperation – the importance of teamwork – becomes all the more pronounced when there’s a collective goal – for example when you’re part of a football team, or performing in a school play.
But there’s more to it than this – it actually goes deeper; giving up something personal for the goals of the group is an important life skill – now and in later life when we have to go out and interact with the world and make a career for ourselves.
So really, these activities are nothing less than a training ground for our young people to develop high personal ideals and the skills they will use, so that they are well prepared for the rest of their lives..
Creativity
Creativity. The trouble with a word like creativity is that it tends to conjure up a kind of mythical beast that visits only the best and brightest among us; and even then, only very rarely.
But what if we were to say that creativity can actually be taught? That it is, in fact, a skill that can be learnt; and, with a bit of practice actually improved upon?
Sounds a bit counter-intuitive, right?
We know that we can teach students how to do things better – strategies and rules can be constructed for more effective gathering of knowledge, for learning new skills.
But, and this is the crux of the matter – creativity lies in the ability to break those very rules. Creativity is about finding completely fresh ways to look at things. Finding novel connections between known artefacts.
It’s about using our imagination to find answers – rather tan textbooks.
Real creativity is about inspiration. Creativity itself is very often unexpected.
Creativity, ultimately, is about finding something radically different.
Web Interface
