is magazine 8.1 - Autumn/Spring 2005 - International Schools ...

features 

Cover: From international to intercultural. See page 13 

in this issue... 

curriculum 

The day to celebrate pi, Liz Fletcher & Marjut Mäenpää 9 

Setting international standards for music, Tim Arnold 12 

From international to intercultural, Julie Schroeder 13 

Inquiry teaching and learning, Vani Twigg 16 

ESL and the Mother Tongue, Jackie Holderness 18 

Recharging the MYP, David Chivers 22 

Developing a PYP network, Christopher Sexton 23 

community service 

View from the Kalahari, Robyn Reardon 26 

Now for Shanghai 11 

The tsunami through the eyes of children, Robin Nagy 21 

Giving heads some headroom, Boyd Roberts 24 

Profile of a remarkable teacher, Linda Duevel 25 

Welcome to Campus des Nations, Lesley Stagg 28 

Creating an international culture, Sencer Corlu 29 

Planning a new school, Walther Hetzer 30 

Exploring social issues through the arts, Debbie Kidd & Ruth Spencer 32 

Power from the sun, Retze Koen 35 

Plagiarism: part 11, Grant Millard 37 

book reviews 

World English, Maurice Carder 41 

Coping with bad behaviour, Caroline Ellwood 43 

regulars 

Comment 3 

People & Places 4 

Celebrations 45 

Events 47 

from the secretariats 

On the move 49 

Leadership through Partnership, Andrea Rohmert 51 

and finally, Taylor Mali, poet 52 

It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to be done. 

Jerome K Jerome

2Spring 

is Autumn 2005

To promote excellence 

of education in 

International Schools 

Volume 8 Issue 1 

international school 

Caroline Ellwood 

EDITOR 

Derek Bingham 

MANAGING EDITOR 

Scott James 

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Katherine White & Emma Hindes 

EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS 

Jonathan Evans 

MANAGING DIRECTOR 

For Editorial enquiries contact Caroline 

Ellwood at ECIS. 

E-mail: CarolineEllwood@ecis.org 

Tel: 44 1730 268244 Fax: 44 1730 267914 

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Editorial Board 

Derek Bingham 

EDITOR IN CHIEF, JCEL 

Peggy Bleyberg-Shor 

HEAD, BERLIN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, ECIS 


Jonathan Evans 

MANAGING DIRECTOR, JCEL 

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HEADMASTER, AMERICAN COMMUNITY 

SCHOOL, COBHAM, UK, ECIS 

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ECIS 

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CIS 

Niall Nelson 

JAKARTA INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, CIS 

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Winter 

comment 

International schools have a duty to their international student body to ensure that 

every student has equal access to the curriculum; indeed, every international school 

philosophy will claim to do so. Translating that philosophy into effective practice, 

however, is something that many international schools still have to strive for. 

Virginia Collier and Wayne Thomas analysed two million records from 1982- 

1996 (the largest data collected of minority languages students to date) and found 

that bilingually-schooled children outperform their monolingual peers in academic 

achievement in all subject areas after 4-7 years of schooling if the programme is 

well implemented, not segregated and sustained long enough to close the achievement 

gap between the English language learners and native speakers. 

While it is true that many international schools could not run a bilingual programme 

in the usual sense of that word, the inclusion of mother tongue programmes 

can go a long way to bridging the chasm between the classic bilingual 

programme and what is happening in international schools. Several international 

schools have impressive mother tongue programmes. They have understood 

that establishing and maintaining literacy in their student’s mother tongue, 

while developing the second language, is the way to ensure academic success. 

They also send out a clear message to their community: ‘We value your language 

and your culture’. 

In my opinion too many international schools simply pay lip service to ESL. For 

many schools it is enough that they have an ESL teacher listed on the faculty for 

them to say they have an ESL programme. But what depth can there be to such a 

programme if no one has studied the language needs of the school population, if 

there is no agreed upon, coherent second language policy in place and if the entire 

ESL programme depends on a sole Mr or Mrs Fix-It who, upon employment, was 

given a magic wand and told to get on with the job! 

In an international school, ESL is an integral part of every subject, and it deserves 

at least the same respect as is accorded to the others. But it is often considered a 

non-subject and, as such, its needs are often neglected. When the History or 

French department need another teacher, one is employed. When the ESL department 

needs additional staff, the funds may not be available. How can ESL students 

have equal rights to the curriculum if the school (and many international schools 

are guilty of this) have a Sink or Swim policy in place? 

Let me describe a common scenario: The ESL teacher works with only the most 

needy, generally the latest arrivals. She/he works with them until another batch of 

newcomers arrives. A selection takes place at this point and those deemed more 

competent leave the programme to make space for the more needy ones. And so it 

goes on: students are pushed out into ‘a sea of confusion’ before they have learned 

to swim. 

ESL teachers know how long it takes to learn a second language to near fluency, 

and how difficult it is for second language students to deal with the academic 

demands of the mainstream curriculum until they attain that level. They should 

share this information with administrators. Some administrators will say that every 

teacher is an ESL teacher. This is true, but it is only true if classroom teachers have 

been trained to deal with these students in their classes. International schools have 

3

People and Places 

Woodside Park International School announces that the new 

Director is David Rose, previously Headmaster of the British 

School of Houston, Texas. The current Acting Director, Peter 

Hoggins OBE, will leave Woodside Park to finally achieve his 

ambition to sail round the world. 

St John’s International School, Waterloo, Belgium won the 

International School Sports Tournament (ISST) in boys’ basketball 

for the third year. The team, coached by Dennis Davis 

has now won 67 consecutive games over the past three years. 

During the three-day tournament hosted by ACS, Cobham 

International School, St John’s defeated the American School 

of Paris, Cairo American College, Frankfurt International 

School and The American International School in the finals. 

In true international form the successful team members, pictured 

below, were from Belgium, Canada, Lebanon, Syria, 

Turkey, the UK and the US. 

Washington International School’s Annual Auction ‘Madly 

Mediterranean’ raised $135,000 to benefit the school’s financial 

aid programme and another $14,000 was raised in Fund-an-item 

bidding to support the school’s performing arts programme. 

Comment continued from page 3 

an ethical duty to ESL children to make sure that 

they receive adequate specialised ESL support. 

Administrators also have to select teachers 

who are likely to meet the needs of their learners. 

International schools need to employ people 

who speak languages other than English 

because ultimately these are the kinds of teachers 

who understand what learning a language 

entails and therefore can empathise more with 

the vast majority of international students. In 

my mind there is no place in international education 

for people who ‘don’t like languages’ or 

‘can’t learn languages’. 

As said previously, in an international 

school ‘every teacher is an ESL teacher’. To 

ensure that this is indeed a reality, administrators 

and mainstream staff need to be trained in 

ESL techniques and strategies. Language must 

Special to this year’s activities was a tuition raffle for one year’s 

tuition, for one student at the winner’s designated school. 

Auction co-chairs Marie Breslin, Washington DC and Ghada Abu- 

Rameh, Arlington, Virginia, celebrate the evening’s success. 

Habitat for Humanity has prepared a Curriculum for Teachers 

with lesson plans to foster discussion and exploration of housing 

issues. Created for grades 3–5 and 9–12, it has an easy-touse 

and adaptable format with lessons that can stand alone or 

be the basis of a unit. 

Real-world situations are used which, in the Primary Section, 

provide understanding of the importance of shelter, housing 

needs and ways to contribute to the local community. The 

Secondary Curriculum explores the social, economic, geographic 

and political causes surrounding poverty housing and engages 

students in the application of applied knowledge to real life situations. 

For more detailed information contact YP@hfhli.org 

Speechmark Publishing were the winners in the 2005 special 

education category for Keith Park’s Interactive Storytelling: 

Developing Inclusive Stories for Children and Adults. The judges 

felt that this book was unique in that it was a hands-on manual 

enabling teachers of SEN, or anyone working in community 

settings, to use performance to bring stories, drama and poetry 

to life. Keith Park ran a series of worshops for groups of special 

be viewed across the curriculum and everyone 

must share in its teaching. The onus is on the 

school’s administration to organise professional 

development on ESL and languagerelated 

issues. 

I would suggest that many international 

schools need to become more aware of who 

their students are and what their needs are so 

that all students, including multilingual ones, 

are able to receive what they deserve: equal 

rights to the curriculum. 

Eithne Gallagher is ESL specialist at 

Marymount IS in Rome 

and chairs the ECIS/MT committee. 

See also Report on the ESL/MT Conference, 

Rome page 18. 



The Presbyterian Ladies’ College in Melbourne has been celebrating its 130th anniversary – and the opening of a new Junior School. 

schools, using Arabic script during the Shakespeare and Islam 

season at The Globe Theatre in London. His work develops 

play with language and can be an equalizer for people with or 

without learning disabilities. 

Interactive Storytelling:Developing Inclusive Stories for Children 

and Adults. Speechmark Publishing, 2004. EP 29 /95; ISBN 0 

86388 

The Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Melbourne, Australia has 

been celebrating its 130th Anniversary. The year began with a 

moving Foundation Day Service held at the Scot’s Church 

(built by the father of one of PLC’s first students, later to be 

known as Dame Nelly Melba) and was soon followed by a huge 

Birthday Party Picnic. 

This also marked the opening of the new Junior School and 

was launched by PLC’s Pipes and Drums and attended by almost 

5000 members of the community. Scottish dancing, line dancing, 

folk music, a Rock Band with a Scottish Flavour, Asian and 

Western food, a party girl who jumped out of a huge birthday 

cake and fireworks … what a spirited, fun beginning to PLC’s 

Anniversary Year. See also page 13. 

Danielle Schwob, Senior at The American School of London, 

is a recent winner of a Margaret Saunders Scholarship. 

Danielle Schwob with Head of School William C. Mules and High 

School Principal, Mary Margaret Magee. 

is Autumn 2005 

Spring 


The International School of Prague was awarded the title 

‘Best High School’ by The Prague Post. The citation read: ‘A 

model of a modern progressive school, The International 

School of Prague continues to blaze new trails in teaching 

methods and curricular development. ISP runs outstanding 

community service and outreach programmes’. 

The Awty International School (Awty) hosted an information 

meeting on the International Primary Curriculum for the Pre- 

School and Lower School parents on May 4, 2005. The meeting 

offered the parents an opportunity to view an exciting video 

showing students working on various projects of the IPC. 

Mary Herendeen, the IPC Coordinator, and the teachers 

explained and illustrated how the IPC was used in their classes. 

The first grade students were archeologists digging for artifacts 

in the playground; Kindergarten students were learning about 

Day and Night through Venn diagrams; Fourth Grade students 

were writing scripts and then performing plays about human 

migration to unknown planets … the evening was a great success. 

Awty uses new theories of multiple intelligences to further 

prepare its students for the ever-changing international perspective 

of today’s world. 

The International School of Penang (Uplands) recently 

organized Basic First Aid training for 28 of its teaching and 

non-teaching staff as part of its concern for health and safety of 

the community. 

Continued overleaf 

Happy scenes from the Awty International School’s information meeting. 

5



Conducted over eight weeks, totaling 20 hours, staff underwent 

theoretical lessons and practical exercises on various 

aspects of first aid. Having completed the course, they are now 

well versed in the functions of numerous bodily systems, and are 

capable of attending to problems like asphyxiation, shock, fractures, 

burns and scalds, poisoning and cardio pulmonary resuscitation. 

The training was conducted by the Malaysian Red 

Crescent Society (Penang Branch) at the School campus, and 

all staff were presented with the Certificate for Basic First Aid 

at the end of the course. Office administrators, boarding 

matrons, catering and maintenance, as well as teaching staff 

were involved, ensuring that there are qualified people to handle 

emergencies at any area of School. 

With this first batch trained, one in five of Uplands staff are 

now capable of administering first aid, be it to students, other 

staff or visitors. Training for other staff, retraining for those who 

have undergone the basic course, and a special course for students 

will be rolled out over the course of this programme. 

In the aftermath of the Tsunami the International School of 

Prague responded with Wave Aid. Tony Mobbs, High School 

Student Council Sponsor, International School of Prague, 

writes: ‘I can still remember the feeling of helplessness as I 

watched the scenes of total devastation on the television from 

the comfort of my house here in Prague, thinking of people I 

knew who had travelled there, hoping that they were safe, and 

seeing images of places that I had visited now totally wasted by 

the power of nature. What could we do? 

Never has such an event brought together the whole ISP 

community as the tsunami tragedy of 26th December 2004. It 

touched all of us in some way, and we all wanted to help. 

Raising money was the best way forward, and faculty sponsors 

for each of the ISP student councils (STUCO) met to discuss 

our way forward. The resulting enthusiasm and commitment 

from all areas of the school was outstanding, and the theme of 

“Wave Aid” was adopted. It was also unanimously decided to 

target Sri Lanka, and in particular schools, hospitals and com- 




Uplands staff with their Certificates in Basic First Aid. Seated in the middle are Mr Chan Hon Kwong (Vice President of the MRSC) 

and Mr Charlie Chua (MRSC Training Coordinator). 

munity needs, through People in Need. 

Each student council decided to go their own way with their 

fund raising efforts. The High School students had bake sales, 

pizza sales, and sold tsunami relief bracelets. The Middle School 

students also sold the now famous blue bracelets, as well as sales 

of baked goods, a dance, and a Valentines Day roses sale. The 

combined total is around 60,000Kc ($2,600). 

The Elementary school was outstanding in their response, 

raising a large proportion of our final total. They held a 

Valentines Day breakfast, sponsored a super sale of books, puzzles 

and stuffed animals. The PK3 class made and sold wooden 

tulips. The after school swimming activity students were sponsored 

to swim lengths, and individual students were also sponsored 

by parents to carry out household chores. 

There was an ongoing coin drop for the whole school, which 

raised a huge amount of money. The list carries on! 

Fast forward to May 2005, when the details of the events 

have gone from the news but we are ready to send off 100,000 

Czech Crowns to People in Need, a Czech organization working 

in Sri Lanka helping to rebuild communities affected by the 

tsunami. A very generous donation was also made through the 

Fund for Education, which donated a percentage of proceeds 

from the ISP Gala, which totalled a massive 188,766Kc. 

So our total at the moment stands at an amazing 300,000Kc 

($13,100)! Our own SCA also had sales to support the fund 

raising. 

Apart from bringing the ISP community together to fund 

raise for a specific target this tragic event has also raised our 

awareness of fund raising on a more global scale. Discussions 

have taken place within each student council to target a global 

need each year, and to target our fund raising towards those less 

fortunate than ourselves whether this is in Darfur, Indonesia, or 

those in need in the Czech Republic.’ 

7





The day to celebrate pi 


March 14th, to be precise: Liz Fletcher and Marjut 

Mäenpää tell how I S Brunei students figured 

prominently 

Corresponding with the first three digits of π (3.14), March 14, 

saw the International School of Brunei (ISB) break away from 

usual routine to observe Pi Day festivities. 

Pi Day goals were to: 

● Celebrate the number pi, the circle and Maths. 

● Apply a cross-curricula approach to teaching/learning numeracy. 

● Provide a whole school (Kindergarten to IB) initiative. 

● Offer a transition opportunity between the primary and secondary 

schools. 

● Raise the school profile in the wider community. 

Well in advance of the event, a representative committee was 

formed from both the primary and secondary schools. The com- 

mittee’s first task was to decide on the Pi Day programme, assign 

responsibilities and establish a manageable timeline. To focus 

school attention, a t-shirt design competition was held prior to 

the event. Students were then able to wear an original ISB Pi tshirt 

on the day. 

An integral part of the preparation involved using an architectural 

plan of the school field to determine an appropriate scale 

based on approximately 70 pupils in each year level. A trial was 

conducted with all Year 9s to assess the appropriate size of their 

assigned number. 

Pi day started with nearly 1000 pupils, from Kindergarten to IB, 

forming the first 15 digits of pi. To increase ownership, students 

formed their year group digit, for example Year 4 shaped the number 

four. Concern was expressed by Reception and Kindergarten 

at remaining in place under the hot tropical sun for an extended 

time period; consequently these young students were positioned 

last. 

As a recognition of their importance within the school, the student 

leaders added the ellipsis to emphasise the infinite nature of 

pi. To achieve the required height for the final aerial photo, a 

huge crane was used to suspend two staff as photographers. As far 

as the authors are aware, this formation of pi digits has never previously 

been attempted. 

Other activities included: 

● Performing drama skits and pi songs in separate primary and secondary 

school assemblies. 

● Reciting pi digits from memory in secondary school competitions 

in Maths, Malay and Mandarin classes (222 digits was an impressive 

achievement!) 

● Hands-on-Maths for combined primary and secondary school 

transition classes. 

● Writing Pi poetry in English lessons. 

● Designing Pi Day cards in Computing classes. 

● Conducting Archimedes experiments in Science. 

● Constructing isometric and perspective drawings in Design and 

Technology. 

9



● Researching the development of pi and subsequently 

creating an appropriate timeline that was 

linked to a world map in History and Geography. 

● Designing, creating and playing maths games in 

the primary school. 

● Writing tangram tales in the primary school. 

The day had a most positive outcome with all 

goals being achieved. Newspaper publicity of the 

event showcased the success of the day to the 

wider community. When the final photo, showing 

the birds-eye view of the digit formation, was 

unveiled, students gained a global perspective of 

the momentous occasion. Individuals were 

thrilled to find themselves in the throng of people, 

reminiscent of ‘Where’s Wally’ readers. The hype 

created clearly demonstrated that Maths at ISB is 

a lot of FUN! 

Marjut Mäenpää teaches Mathematics from Year 7 

to IB and Liz Fletcher is Year 4 Teacher in the 

Primary School of The International School of Brunei. 




Now for Shanghai 

The Alliance for International Education’s 

October 2006 Conference 

The AIE is actively preparing for its next Conference, due 

to take place in Shanghai on 27 to 29 October 2006. 

The AIE aims to bring together all those who are committed 

to advancing international and intercultural understanding 

through education. Educators eager to explore and reflect on 

‘Educating for Global Citizenship’ are invited to join 

inspiring keynote speakers and expert presenters at this 

Conference. Delegates will work in strands; will be 

presented with results from the latest research and with 

successful and exemplary practice. 

For more information, please check the website of the AIE: 

www.intedalliance.org or email 

info@intedalliance.org 

11

Setting international standards for music 

Setting international 

standards for music 

Tim Arnold explains the advantages of graded exams 

Founded in 1889, The Associated Board of the Royal Schools of 

Music (ABRSM), based in London, England, is the world’s leading 

provider of music exams and assessments. Each year over 

630,000 young performers and singers take ABRSM music exams 

in more than 90 countries around the world. The exams are international 

benchmarks for the measurement of musical achievement 

– as are the professional music diplomas ABRSM also 

examines – for teachers, directors and performers around the 

world. The assessment process is always accompanied by the 

enjoyment of preparation, and indeed the phrase ‘enjoyment 

through achievement’ sums up ABRSM’s philosophy. 

ABRSM graded music exams are fully accredited by the UK’s 

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority; overseas, South Africa 

became, in May this year, the latest in a number of countries to 

acknowledge the importance of ABRSM exams, by recognising 

their equivalence to South African matriculation exams. 

Each year ABRSM sends many hundreds of examiners – fully 

trained, professional musicians, drawn from every branch of the 

music profession – to schools, colleges, teaching studios and private 

teaching practices across the world. One such exam centre is 

Harrow International School in Bangkok, Thailand, where the 

Director of Music is David Gorodi. For him, ABRSM exams are 

internationally transferable music performance indicators; they 

are also an objective guide for teachers, a consistent method of 

assessing children’s musical performance, irrespective of global 

location. 

‘Working over the years with many music teachers from varied 

backgrounds has been a tremendous challenge. One piano 

teacher believed students should complete two years of music 

theory classes before being allowed to touch a piano, and another 

would not let his students play a tune until they had mastered 

all their scales! 

‘However, having worked overseas for 18 years, in four very different 

international schools, I have found that the structure of 

ABRSM music exams helps guide teachers in their lessons, 

requiring them to vary repertoire and demanding attention to 

aural training and sight reading. The discipline of music exams 

also helps me monitor and encourage teachers’ progress. 

ABRSM has also provided an outstanding service, even in diffi- 

David Smith with pupils from 

the International School of Zug. 

cult circumstances – during terrorist threats in Saudi Arabia and 

flash floods in Spain, for example. 

‘As head of a music department ABRSM exams help me to provide 

a consistent standard of instrumental teaching in a wide 

variety of culturally diverse international schools.’ 

Underpinning ABRSM’s growth is its support of music teachers in 

the increasingly pressured world of music education. Continuing 

professional development for instrumental and vocal teachers is 

an important service provided by ABRSM, through a rich and 

varied programme of seminars, workshops and courses delivered 

each year throughout the world. For example, the Certificate of 

Teaching (CT ABRSM) course helps teachers to realise their full 

potential and refresh their approach to teaching; widely recognised 

and highly regarded by educational organisations worldwide, 

the course is currently available in Malaysia and Singapore, 

as well as the UK. 

New offerings are regularly added to the music assessments 

portfolio including, in recent years, jazz piano exams and jazz 

horns exams. This year ABRSM launched Music Medals, exciting 

new assessments designed specifically for pupils taught in groups 

(as opposed to individually taught pupils) who are at the early 

stages of instrumental learning. 

ABRSM believes it is important to be receptive to the needs 

and wants of teachers, pupils and their parents. ABRSM shares 

with ECIS a non-profit ethos, and the synergy goes further: both 

organisations have much in common, as seen in the ECIS 

Council’s mission statement to provide ‘services to support professional 

development, curriculum and instruction’. Despite the 

constantly evolving nature of international education, ABRSM’s 

aim is always to motivate music students to achieve the best they 

can. 

David Smith, Director of Music at the International School of 

Zug, Switzerland, summarises the benefits of graded music exams: 

‘In our school, learning an orchestral instrument is a compulsory 

part of the music curriculum. For those students wishing to take 

them, ABRSM exams have proved to be a wonderful way of supporting 

their learning. Most importantly, the exams are a great 

device for motivating all students, even those who find learning 

their instrument challenging. 

‘Without question, students practise more when they have a goal, 

such as a concert or exam, and these independent music assessments 

help enormously. ABRSM exams are incorporated naturally 

into regular lessons, but are not the main aim of the instrumental 

programme. However, we have found that music exams 

are an excellent way of assessing progress and provide a benchmark 

for students, teachers and parents alike. There is no doubt 

in my mind that our students are becoming better musicians and 

performers from taking part in ABRSM exams’. 

‘Setting the Standards’ has long been central to ABRSM’s work 

and it remains committed to learning and to supporting music 

education around the globe. 

Tim Arnold has wide experience as a music educator, performer, 

piano teacher and music examiner. In his role as Head of International 

Operations for ABRSM he also delivers professional development 

seminars for music teachers around the world. 

For further information please contact: 

International Department, The Associated Board of the Royal 

Schools of Music, 24 Portland Place, LondonW1B 1LU, UK. 

Telephone +44 20 7467 8240 Email international@abrsm.ac.uk 





From international to intercultural 

From international to 

intercultural 

Julie Schroeder describes how the Presbyterian 

Ladies’ College in Melbourne has established a 

clear strategic goal 

‘Heywood defines intercultural literacy as the understandings, competencies, attitudes, language preferences, participation and engagement 

necessary for successful cross-cultural engagement.’ 

For more than 130 years, the Presbyterian Ladies’ College in 

Melbourne, Australia has been at the forefront of progressive education 

for young women. As one of Australia’s oldest and finest 

schools, PLC has constantly raised the level of achievement and 

the opportunities for its students who consistently attain superior 

academic results and have gone on to make significant contributions 

to both Australian and international life. 

However, visitors to the College’s tranquil and extensive campus 

in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, are astonished to 

see how truly international the face of PLC has become. At a 

time when many schools in Australia are busily establishing an 

international profile in response to the challenges of globalisation, 

PLC has galvanised its already strong international school 

population and embraced an intercultural literacy approach 

which is now underpinning all its philosophies, curriculum and 

professional development. 

While building on the steadfast Presbyterian monocultural 

beginnings of its Scottish founders, PLC leadership has established 

the clear strategic goal of promoting intercultural literacy 

across the whole school. The decision was made after extensive 

discussions with staff and the endorsement of a policy paper, From 

International to Intercultural, Towards a profile, definition and statement 

of advantages of intercultural literacy at PLC in the 21st 

Century. 

This paper was inspired and informed by ‘From international to 

intercultural, Redefining the international school for a globalized 

world’ by Mark Heywood as reproduced in the Journal of Research 

in International Education, IBO, 2002. 

Heywood defines intercultural literacy as the understandings, 

competencies, attitudes, language preferences, participation and 

engagement necessary for successful cross-cultural engagement. 

This definition gave clarity and direction to the work already 

underway at PLC. Now there was a name for what the College 

had been developing over a number of years. 

Over the past 20 years, PLC has outgrown its monocultural 

base and its change in school profile has reflected the increased 

Asianisation of Australian society. 

PLC has become in fact a de facto international school as it 

attracts the daughters, not only of Australian citizens of various 

ethnic backgrounds, but international students, temporary residents, 

diplomats, transnationals, missionaries, expatriate families 

as well as those parents of Caucasian girls who want to fully pre- 

13


pare their daughters for life and work in our future global marketplace. 

The Boarding House which, in earlier decades, provided a 

home for generations of country Victorian girls, has also become 

so popular with families from SE Asia in particular, that it is oversubscribed 

and the boarding house is being extended. Boarders 

are supported by special orientation and ongoing cross-cultural 

seminars including welcome lunches with non-boarders to help 

them settle into their new home, school and country. 

It is a challenge for staff to provide an harmonious and tolerant 

home for nearly 100 teenagers! With girls coming from 

Australia, Europe, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, China, 

Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, Japan, the Middle East, 

Brunei, Thailand and Taiwan to live together at PLC, staff too 

are being trained with the skills to facilitate intercultural understanding 

in the busy, demanding day-to-day life of the Boarding 

House. 

There are currently almost 60 international boarders at PLC 

and many international students attend the College as day-girls 

because their families take up residence here for the duration of 

their daughters studies in Australia. These family members are 

often homesick and isolated and need to be encouraged to engage 

in the life of the school in a meaningful way. Amongst the almost 

1500 students in the PLC community, there are many who come 

from multicultural, particularly Asian backgrounds. Clearly, girls 

from Asia feel very comfortable in a College which is sincere and 

serious in its attempts to embrace and celebrate the uniqueness of 

all students. 

However it takes time to feel a sense of acceptance. As one girl 

from Hong Kong wrote about her initial period as a boarder: ‘I 

had few friends when I first came. It was hard for me to figure out 

what people here liked or disliked. I was often scared my 

approach to things would make them think I was weird. 

Therefore I became quieter and quieter and it soon became too 

hard to make any friends at all.’ 

Australian girls from Caucasian backgrounds are given the 

opportunity to experience other cultures on a daily basis while 

‘More Australians learn 

Asian than European languages 

at school and PLC, based in a 

city which delights in its multicultural 

mix, teaches Chinese 

(Mandarin), Indonesian and 

Japanese. As a former 

Indonesian teacher said, while 

it was wonderful that her students 

went on to become skilled 

teachers in Indonesian, what 

delighted her was when her students 

were employed in influential 

government positions 

because they knew “how 

Indonesians think”...’ 

learning of the richness of their Australian heritage. All girls are 

being prepared for their future employment, which for many will 

involve global positions particularly in Asia. As the overwhelming 

response shown by both the Australian Government and 

Australians themselves, to the Bali bombing and recent tsunami 

tragedies, the future of Australia and the countries of Asia are 

inextricably linked, not just on the economic, security and 

tourism levels, but more importantly through personal and emotional 

ties of friendship as well. 

This cultural diversity has been embraced by staff, students and 

the PLC community at large and activities have moved beyond 

the merely show-and-tell presentations at traditional national 

days and International week to a deeper, more reciprocal endeavours 

like INTERWeave, the PLC International magazine. It is 

here in frank, poignant, funny and provocative writing and illustrations 

that we see what it means to be a student in the intercultural 

world of PLC. 

We read the wistful, thoughtful response of a Third Culture 

Kid who disagreed strongly to the comment, given at a talk to 

PLC students by the late David Pollock, “that being a TCK was 

not a bad thing”. She wrote, ‘This is not a piece to say that I 

enjoy my culturally diverse background. However, this is not a 

piece to say that the move to Australia ruined my life. I still don’t 

know.’ It is in an atmosphere of trust and security that the girls 

are encouraged to really express the ambivalence they feel about 

being part of a globally mobile family. 

Making cross-cultural awareness, interaction and engagement 

the ‘every lesson, every day’ experience of teachers, students and 

administrators in not an easy task. It has required the entire PLC 

community to step outside its comfort zone and learn and then 

practise new social and professional behaviours. Teachers are now 

more aware of the inner struggles that students from overseas’ 

education systems endure. As one girl wrote: 

‘I was quiet in class partially because it was not easy for me to 

express what I wanted to say in English. The other reason was 

simply that students in my old school had never been expected 

to have class discussions because we only had to rush to learn as 

much theory as we could for exams. It was also hard to have a 

conversation with someone who speaks English ten times more 

fluently than I do. Thus I was seldom involved in any class or 

extra-curricular activities.’ 

Such honest comments help to break down the prejudice that 

many Asian girls are only interested in achieving brilliant results 

and have no time for music, drama or sport! 

There have been worries that the strong western European 

background of PLC, which dates back nine generations, would be 

watered down in the face of the increased number of students 

from India, Sri Lanka and South-East Asia. This has not been the 

case as the strong and enthusiastic involvement of over 4000 

people who celebrated the 130th Anniversary Twilight Picnic 

Scottish-style showed! The recently formed PLC Pipes and 

Drums played stirring music, Junior School students performed 

Scottish country dances and a Scottish rock band upped the pace 

for the evening! 

PLC, through its teaching of French, German, Latin and 

Classical Greek continues to nurture the countries and cultures 

with which Australia has had long-established cultural and business 

relationships. The language immersion exchange programmes 

to Germany and France continue the College’s firm 

friendships with institutions in those countries as does the GAP 

program. 

More Australians learn Asian than European languages at 

school and PLC, based in a city which delights in its multicultural 

mix, teaches Chinese (Mandarin), Indonesian and 

Japanese. As a former Indonesian teacher said, while it was wonderful 

that her students went on to become skilled teachers in 

Indonesian, what delighted her was when her students were 

employed in influential government positions because they knew 

“how Indonesians think” and this would be extremely helpful in 

furthering meaningful relationships at government to government 

level. 

PLC has a strong and dynamic exchange programme with 

schools in Japan and with Ge Zhe High School, its sister school 






“In our present divided world, we need a far deeper understanding of ourselves and 

others in order that we can be part of a just and tolerant solution to the challenges 

facing us all, whatever our cultural and religious background might be. The entire 

PLC family is taking up this learning adventure with goodwill, energy and patience.” 

in Shanghai. In pursuing intercultural literacy, the staff at PLC 

have looked at their teaching styles and the learning styles of the 

Asian students in their classes and through staff exchanges, have 

become aware of the different pedagogy and student expectations 

in their classes. 

Over 20 staff and many more students have now spent time in 

Shanghai. Students from both schools exchange regular art exhibitions 

and musicians from both schools will perform at a joint 

concert during the upcoming PLC music tour of Asia. PLC musicians 

will play Scottish and European music as well as music by 

PLC composers in Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and 

Singapore. This tour will be a wonderful opportunity for students, 

staff and parents from both Australia and Asia to 

strengthen their friendships against the vibrant backdrop of 

Asia. PLC is also undertaking a project on common heritage in 

colonial architecture with a Singapore school. Stimulating cultural 

exchanges such as these can enrich the participants in a 

deep and lasting way. 

PLC is not interested in simply transferring its campus to Asia, 

as some other school have done, to provide Asian cultural experiences. 

It has chosen instead to educate students in intercultural 

literacy using the vast multicultural resources from within its 

own global village. Parents, students and staff all share their international 

and intercultural experiences and knowledge, at assemblies, 

cross-cultural workshops, concerts, beginning with the 

youngest students in the Early Learning Centre and ending with 

students who are studying for their VCE or IB qualification. 

PLC has produced superbly educated leaders for decades, but 

with its present students moving into the global career market, it 

is committed to educating its graduates in the subtle but powerful 

area of intercultural literacy. As the Principal, Mrs Elizabeth 

Ward says, “Students at school today will live and work in an era 

of unprecedented change which accelerates exponentially. We 

are attempting to give all our girls the skills and sensitivity to be 

able to cope with the challenge of moving effortlessly, joyfully 

and productively between cultures. 

“In our present divided world, we need a far deeper understanding 

of ourselves and others in order that we can be part of a 

just and tolerant solution to the challenges facing us all, whatever 

our cultural and religious background might be. The entire 

PLC family is taking up this learning adventure with goodwill, 

energy and patience.” 

Julie Schroeder is Executive Officer, Community Relations, 

Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Melbourne, Australia. 

15

Inquiry teaching and learning 

Inquiry teaching and 

learning 

A focus for professional development: 

Vani Twigg describes a PYP workshop at 

the English School in Bogotá 

‘The ability to question is the ability to see beyond the facts and 

opinions placed before you. The ability to see that most answers 

are only partial solutions and there are many more questions to 

explore, is a sign of a life-long learner, whether aged 2 or 92’ 

(Callison, 1997) 

Teacher: “So what are you trying to find out?” 

Student: “Which one will make more bubbles.” 

There’s lively chatter, exploration and discoveries around the 

room. Suddenly a student calls out “Come here and see what I 

have found”. The teacher goes over and the student proceeds to 

explain how shaving foam by itself is soft but between two rulers 

it acts as a sticking agent like glue. 

In the next classroom, a group of students is watching a video 

which shows a class doing a ‘challenge’. It involves working as a 

group, following their plan (or trying to in some cases) to make 

something out of recycled materials. After watching the video the 

students share their views about what they have just seen. 

Who are these students and which school is this? The students 

are actually teachers participating in an inquiry workshop 

(INSET) at The English School-Fundacion Colegio de Inglaterra, 

Bogotá, Colombia. 

As more schools around the world are adopting the Primary 

Years Programme (PYP), the issue of inquiry teaching and learning, 

which is at the heart of the PYP teaching philosophy, 

A group inquiry – into bubbleology. 

becomes the focus of professional development. As teachers begin 

to familiarize themselves with the philosophy of PYP, they also 

seek out pragmatic strategies that they can use in the classroom to 

promote that inquiry which will become a vital part of each student’s 

life-long learning. 

The teachers, students and parents at the school are in the 

process of developing units of inquiry among other aspects of the 

PYP implementation process. TES is a bilingual (English- 

Spanish) N–12 school of more than 1600 students. Most of the 

teachers in the pre-school and primary sections are bilingual 

speakers. Only a handful of teachers are English speakers. 

With the implementation of the PYP, the role of professional 

development becomes extremely important as teachers try to 

grapple with new information that will refocus and reconceptualise 

their teaching knowledge, style and experience. 

And since sending teachers out of school or the country to 

attend workshops can be very expensive, it is imperative that 

schools use the expertise and experience they have available inschool 

to provide workshop and professional development opportunities. 

Teachers can teach teachers. During one of these INSET sessions 

I was assisted in Spanish by Rosa Cely, a Transition teacher 

who majors in bilinguialism. Two hands-on inquiry techniques 

were available for analysis. The Challenge video mentioned above, 

and an Open Inquiry using foam and bubbles were explored. 



Teachers made discoveries, asked questions, collaborated, worked 

independently, reflected and shared. In the latter (adopted from 

the Exploratorium Institute for Inquiry) the teachers were themselves 

told to use the materials to explore foam and bubbles to find 

out what they could about their physical properties. 

During the discussion to close the session, teachers were 

reminded of the importance of not discarding their hard earnedknowledge 

and experience for someone else’s good teaching ideas 

(PYP Making it Happen) but rather to focus their attention on 

analysing the two inquiry techniques that they can use in their 

classrooms. Some of the issues raised in English and Spanish 

were: 

Strengths of the Challenge 

● Working from a plan helped the children have an idea of what 

they were aiming for. 

● Colaboracion de la profesora sin interferer en el proceso y en las 

respuestas de los ninos. (Collaboration from the teacher without 

interfering in the process or answers provided by the children). 

Weakness of the Challenge 

● El idioma hizo que no participaran todos espontaneamente. 

(Due to language barriers not everyone participated spontaneously). 

Strengths of the Open Inquiry 

● Through the exploration of materials, the objectives were 

achieved 

● Procesos de pesamiento y resultados inmediatos. (Develops the 

thinking process and results are immediate). 

Weaknesses of the Open Inquiry 

● Opportunity for disruptive behaviour. 

● No hubo puesta en comun de los resultados obtenidos.(There 

was no sharing of results obtained). 

A great deal of discussion dealing with classroom management, 

time management, teaching styles, learning styles and the bilingual 

nature of the school was generated by these responses, as the 

teachers began to question, contribute their ideas, and clarify 

their thoughts. 



Inquiry teaching and learning 

Issues relating to our school’s curriculum, or lack of it were also 

raised. These assisted in the open dialogue of refocusing and 

reconceptualising teachers’ current personal practical knowledge 

and also their technical and tacit knowledge. As this inquiry session 

drew to an end it became clear that: 

‘Professional development must satisfy the ongoing need of all 

prospective and practicing teachers to continue to grow, to 

increase their knowledge and skills, and to improve their value 

to students. A commitment to inquiry as something all humans 

must do to improve their lives and those of others is an important 

theme for professional development in addition to its other 

goals. The most effective professional development not only 

stimulates the need to continue to learn, it also provides knowledge 

about where to look for information, it provides opportunities 

to improve teaching and learning, and it introduces teachers 

to tools for continuous improvement. These tools include 

strategies to analyse classroom experiences, to observe and provide 

useful feedback to others, to record and document observations 

and important information from other sources, and to 

search databases for useful guidance and material.’ 

(Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards 2000). 

In sum, this session equipped teachers to think about how the 

inquiry process and inquiry abilities can be interwoven in their 

daily lessons and how the local milieu can be used to promote 

students’ learning. As one preschool teacher said 

“Wow, I have used foams and bubbles before with my students 

but only just for fun. I never realized their inquiry potential”. 

Bibliography 

Vani Twigg is a Grade One Teacher at The English School, 

Bogatá, Colombia. 

Callison, D. (1997) ‘Key Term: Questioning’, Vol X111, No 6 

Indiana University: Bloomington 

Exploratorium Institute for Inquiry (2000). San Francisco, CA. 

http://www. Exploratorium.Edu/IFL/about/index.html 

Inquiry and the National Education of Science Standards – A 

Guide for Teaching and Learning (2000). National Academic 

Press, Washington DC 

Making the PYP Happen (2000) Switzerland. IBO 

17

ESL and Mother Tongue 

ESL and Mother Tongue: 

the way forward 

Jackie Holderness reports on the recent Rome 

conference 

As Eithne Gallagher, ESL specialist at Marymount International 

School, Rome and Chairperson of the ESL/MT Committee, said 

in her opening remarks, “Misconceptions abound about ESL and 

Mother Tongue issues” but progress has been made. Maurice 

Carder, ESL and MT Head at Vienna International School, pointed 

out that 22 years have passed since the first ECIS ESL committee 

was founded. 

Five years ago, it decided to change its name to ESL and 

Mother Tongue Committee as it recognised the duty international 

educators have to promote the learning of students’ mother 

tongues. Some international schools now provide comprehensive 

MT programmes and offer ESL as an integral subject, so that every 

child, regardless of their language background, may enjoy equal 

rights to the curriculum. 

Eithne observed that, “There are too many people making decisions 

about ESL and mother tongue issues who are not informed 

or are misinformed.” She stressed that ESL as a subject has to be 

taken seriously by the decision makers, while acknowledging that 

administrator involvement in the ESL/MT conferences is increasing. 

For example: 2000,Vienna: 0 administrators; 2002, Leysin: 1; 

2005, Rome: 20. 

While the number of administrators present has been growing, 

so has the number of participants. At this Rome conference, there 

were 480 delegates, from 38 countries. The organisation of the 

conference was superbly managed and the delegates enjoyed 

excellent accommodation, refreshments and social programme. 

The ESL/MT committee (Eithne Gallagher, Maurice Carder, 

Lyndi Reeaden, Pat Mertin, Kim Oppenheim, John Deighan, with 

Jeanne-Marie Bigginshaw in the early stages) deserve to be warmly 

congratulated. 

What the delegates will remember most, however, is the professional 

stimulus of meeting with like-minded colleagues, in the 

company of the very finest names in the field of ESL. The line-up 

of internationally-renowned guest speakers was impressive. It is 

not possible to do any of them justice in a short article but their 

papers may be viewed on the conference website: www.marymountrome.org/ecis. 

The following brief summaries may at least 

give some idea of the ideas they wanted to share with the international 

schools community. 

Dr Stephen Krashen, author of over 300 papers and books, is best 

known for his work in establishing a general theory of second language 

acquisition and as the inventor of sheltered subject matter 

teaching. 

Dr Krashen started each day’s proceedings with one hour of 

relaxed but high-powered delivery. Dr Krashen’s lectures were not 

only deeply informed and stimulating but also very entertaining. 

For example, he started off by apologising that, until recently, he 

had always assumed that PowerPoint was a martial art form. 

It is difficult to summarise the depth and breadth of his contributions 

but three key messages, supported by countless research 

studies, emerged: 

1) Reading at a level which matches the student’s language level is 

the most effective, low-risk and pleasurable way to learn a language. 

The nature of the reading matter is less significant than 

the need for it to be SSR (Sustained Silent Reading) and to be 

accessible to the reader. Comics are perfect for ESL learners 

because the content is contextualised and can be understood 

more easily as a result. 

2) Language learning, where the student focuses on form and correctness, 

is unnatural and does not improve students’ language 

skills. The brain ‘does grammar poorly’. Another feature of language 

learning, forced output (“Repeat after me…” “Tell the 

class…” etc) is unhelpful because it can provoke such anxiety in 

the student. Dr Krashen pointed out that we monitor our linguistic 

output with an affective filter. If that is blocked by anxiety, 

we won’t learn at all. 

It is important to realise that language learning is significantly 

different from language acquisition. 

3) Language acquisition, which happens almost automatically 

when input is comprehensible, is both pleasurable and effective. 

Dr Steven Sternfeld, who has developed Applied Linguistics and 

ESL/EFL courses at all levels from pre-K though university, gave 

some powerful examples of the way drama and story can support 

understanding. He and Dr Krashen acted out two stories in Italian, 

which not only taught us all some Italian, but also illuminated for 

everyone present the importance of relevance and interest for the 

ESL student. Focusing purely on the language and its forms is not 

enough to motivate the student. Students need to learn some content 

with and through the medium of the target language (ie 

English). 

Dr Jim Cummins has conducted seminal research which has 

focused upon the social and educational barriers that limit academic 

success for culturally diverse students. Dr Cummins examined 

the pedagogies which most support developing bilinguals. He 

stressed the importance of MT instruction. The length of education 

in L1 has been shown to be the strongest predictor of school 

achievement (Thomas and Collier: 2000). He also challenged the 

Communicative Language Teaching approach because, while it 

encourages BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills) it 

does not adequately develop what Dr Cummins has termed CALP 

(Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency). 

The development of Academic Expertise requires the follow- 






19


ing: focus on meaning first and foremost, with maximum identity 

investment; focus on language; focus on use. 

Research has provided considerable evidence about L1 and L2 

transference. There is a two way transfer of conceptual and cognitive 

skills and knowledge but the educational conditions need 

to be right. For example, the students have to become more personally 

involved in their own learning. 

In this regard, Dr Cummins explained the importance of maximum 

identity investment on the part of the student. He shared 

the dual language showcase work with which he has been 

involved in Canada. He also introduced e-Lective, an e-learning 

project, which is now available as software (see the conference 

website for details). 

Dr Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, a Swedish-Finnish bilingual based at 

both the University of Roskilde, Denmark, and the Department 

of Education, Vasa, Finland, has been influential in achieving 

linguistic human rights for minority languages. Her research 

focus has been the subtractive spread of English and linguistic 

imperialism on a global scale. 

Dr Skutnabb-Kangas pointed out the sad fact that languages 

are dying out even faster than endangered animal species. By 

2100, 50-90% of the world’s languages will have vanished, 

because they are oral or sign languages or because they are being 

overtaken by imperialist languages. 

One example of what this means we may lose is that the aboriginal 

people of Australia know 40,000 edible plants, but very 

few of them have been lexicalised into English. When their aboriginal 

languages die out, the knowledge about plants and their 

properties may be lost forever. 

Languages are as fragile as butterflies but fortunately UNESCO 

is taking note and has begun to accept that depriving a child of 

its MT contravenes the UN Declaration of Human Rights 

because it can cause a child mental harm (see UNESCO: 

Education in a Multilingual World: 2003). 

Dr Skutnabb-Kangas stressed the importance of children being 

able to develop concepts and being educated in their MT for as 

long as possible. She pointed out that the value of MT teaching 

has been recognised by educators since the 1890s. 

Other guest speakers, whose sessions provided rich stimulus and 

great wisdom, included: 

● Dr Anna Uhl Chamot, Professor at George Washington 

University’s Graduate School of Education and Human 

Development, who is the co-designer of CALLA (Cognitive 

Academic Language Learning Approach). 

● Dr Else Hamayan, Director of Illinois Resource Center, who 

has worked for many years supporting teachers with issues of second 

language learning. 

● Dr John Landon, Head of Educational Studies at Moray House 

School of Education at Edinburgh University, who has 

researched on teaching in multilingual schools and educational 

policy in multilingual contexts. 

● Dr Rebecca Freeman-Field, who has conducted research into 

multilingual communities in the USA since the mid-1980s and 

has written several books about bilingualism. 

● Edna Murphy, former international school head teacher and 

author who produced ESL: A Handbook for Teachers and 

Administrators in International Schools (1990) and was the 

founder–editor of the International Schools Journal. 

In conclusion, Edna shared with the delegates the need for international 

schools to conduct research on a systematic and wideranging 

basis. Some of the research presented at the conference, 

while fascinating and important, did not pretend to relate directly 

to the multilingual context of international schools. 

Edna suggested therefore that we need to frame research questions 

based upon our own unique situations and generate answers 

which may enlighten our practice. 

She asked colleagues who would be interested in investigating 

ESL/MT issues, in their international schools, to contact the 

ESL/MT committee. 

With the above line-up, it is not surprising that the delegates 

who attended the Conference were able to avail themselves of 

the latest research theories and discuss the most topical issues in 

EAL and MT teaching. There was also a wide-ranging seminar 

programme with diverse and relevant teacher-led workshops 

exciting poster presentations by colleagues from Bangkok to 

Munich, and a lively panel discussion at the end of the three 

days. 

Finally, Eithne Gallagher closed the conference with a proposal 

that International schools become “brave new schools” where 

ESL/ MT teaching programmes lead the way for other schools. 

She stressed that administrators and other decision makers in 

international schools should have a deeper knowledge and understanding 

of bilingualism because so many of their students would 

become bi-or multi-lingual adults. 

To conclude this report, I would like to propose that at next 

November’s ECIS conference presenters who are subject teachers 

might like to consider that their presentation on the curriculum 

could also involve an ESL colleague. This would help ECIS participants 

begin to appreciate that every subject teacher needs to 

be more language aware. It would reinforce the importance of 

ESL specialists and would help participants to understand how 

the ideas proposed in the presentation or workshop could be 

implemented in a multilingual class so that ESL students enjoy 

maximum and equal access to the curriculum. 

ESL and mainstream or subject teachers in international 

schools need to forge partnerships which will support our students 

effectively in both or all their languages. 

Jackie Holderness is a former Senior Tutor at Oxford Brookes 

University and Course Leader of the MA in Education: International 

Schools. She is now working as an Educational Consultant and writer. 

‘To conclude this report, I would 

like to propose that at next 

November’s ECIS conference presenters 

who are subject teachers 

might like to consider that their 

presentation on the curriculum 

could also involve an ESL colleague. 

This would help ECIS 

participants begin to appreciate 

that every subject teacher needs to 

be more language aware. It would 

reinforce the importance of ESL 

specialists and would help participants 

to understand how the ideas 

proposed in the presentation or 

workshop could be implemented in 

a multilingual class so that ESL 

students enjoy maximum and 

equal access to the curriculum.’ 



The tsunami through the 

eyes of children 

Students from Bangkok Patana 

School collect pictures and 

stories of hope and survival 

against the odds 

Twenty-four students from Bangkok Patana School, the British 

International School in Bangkok, travelled to the tsunami-affected 

Khao Lak region of Thailand at the end of June to collect 

material for a book on survival after the tsunami. 

The book, in full colour, will focus on the positive aspects of life 

in the region including stories of hope and survival against the 

odds as seen through the eyes, pictures and words of children. It 

will be sold around the world and the profits used for the tsunami 

children’s education and the rebuilding of their schools. 

“An exciting aspect of the book is that for the first time children 

will be helping children to help themselves and their own 

community. If the project is successful we hope that it can be 

replicated in Banda 

Aceh and Sri Lanka” 

says Robin Nagy, a 

teacher at Bangkok 

Patana and co-ordinator 

of the project. 

“The visit to Khao 

Lak was eye-opening for 

all of us. We expected 

the children to be in a 

state of shock as many of 

them had been made 

homeless and had lost 

family members. But 

what we found was 

incredibly humbling. 

The children were so 

positive and open about 

their experiences and 

about the future. 

“The paintings and 

drawings which we 

brought back were overwhelming 

in their clarity 

of detail and their powerful 

simplicity. To see the 

tsunami children’s own 

depictions of bodies, 

houses, cars, trees and other debris is as moving as it is compelling.” 

Many of the children decided to depict the wave itself, some 

focusing on the size and height of the tsunami whilst others chose 

to show familiar objects floating in an unconventional sea. Certain 

themes recurred throughout many of the drawings including rescue 

helicopters, the police boat (number 813) which is now stranded 

on a small hill in Khao Lak some 2km inland, and the many 

coconut palms which seem to belie such natural disasters with their 

ability to survive virtually anything nature can throw at them. 



Other children chose to depict happier scenes, of life at Khao 

Lak beach before the tsunami. They were optimistic that the area 

would soon return to its old natural beauty: “The sea is now much 

cleaner after the tsunami”, said one boy. 

Others drew the scene moments before the tsunami when the 

sea ‘went out’ and Khao Lak bay was emptied. One little girl 

remarked: “None of us had ever seen this before. There were fish 

flapping and shrimps jumping on the sand and many of us went 

down to catch them. The tourists also went down to see what was 

happening. I was with my dad and my mother rang us on his 

mobile to tell us to leave the shore. 

“She had heard from a friend in Phuket what had happened 

there a few minutes 

before. My mum also tried 

to ring my sister who 

worked at a restaurant on 

the beachfront, but 

couldn’t reach her.” The 

little girl’s mother had 

saved her life with that 

phone call but her sister 

tragically perished. 

“One of the schools we 

visited was entirely 

washed away by the wave. 

All that was left was a 

flagpole. But even here, 

the children were full of 

life and as open and 

engaging as any kids you 

could imagine. The 

school is being rebuilt just 

a few hundred metres 

away but on higher 

ground. One of the most 

interesting aspects of the 

trip was that 24 teenage 

students were faced with 

what is important in life. 

They came away from the 

experience with wisdom and enlightenment,” Robin Nagy says. 

A gallery of the Khao Lak Children’s Artwork can be seen at: 

http://www.patana.ac.th/Events/KhaoLakArtwork/index.html 

Photographs from the trip can be seen at: 

http://www.pbase.com/nickmak/tsunami_relief_expedition_khao 

_laak_thailand 

For further information on this story please contact Robin Nagy 

at +66 67 760 760 (rona@patana.ac.th) 

The tsunami 

21

Recharging the MYP 

Constantly recharging 

the Middle Years 

Programme 

David Chivers defends the position of the IBCA 

We live in critical societies. Whilst the notion of ‘constructive 

criticism’ is applauded, the word ‘constructive’ is often forgotten 

and it becomes the norm to find fault, to apportion blame, to 

state that one could do better without really having a good alternative. 

Such negative and potentially divisive criticism is sometimes 

presented under the thinly-veiled guise of trying to be helpful 

and this is what happened in Rick Armstrong’s article 

Recharging the MYP that appeared in the Spring 2005 issue of is. 

During the course of his article, Mr Armstrong makes some 

interesting points about the International Baccalaureate 

Organization’s Middle Years Programme but, more often than 

not, these points are underpinned by accusations of limited effort, 

apparent reluctance and a general view that those of us who work 

on the development of the MYP are small-minded, ivory-towerbound 

pen pushers. 

Many would argue, quite rightly, that Mr Armstrong is entitled 

to his views but my argument with his article is that many of 

those views are based on a lack of understanding of what is currently 

going on with the development of the MYP. 

Let us look at some of the issues that Rick Armstrong raises in 

his article. First, I would argue that if one is a teacher in an MYP 

school one has every reason to feel rather patronised by claims 

such as ‘in some schools the emphasis is more on procedures, 

mapping exercises and curriculum documentation rather than 

the consideration of deeper fundamental changes in the classroom 

and wider school experiences of the students.’ 

Mr Armstrong seems ready to tar those of us who work with 

the MYP at IBCA and many people in schools with the same 

brush; according to him we are content with administrative tasks 

and either cannot or do not wish to look at new pedagogical 

and/or curricular issues. 

We know, both at IBCA and in schools, that this is absolutely 

incorrect. Administrative tasks do need to be completed but I am 

sure that, with robust authorisation and programme evaluation 

procedures, we are getting more and more schools in the MYP 

where profound pedagogical and curricular issues are being discussed 

and decided upon. 

Let us now look at the four specific aspects that Rick 

Armstrong raises. ‘The clearer promotion of global 

citizenship/internationally-minded students’ is, of course, laudable 

and we are constantly working on this area as we look to 

ensure alignment of the MYP with the mission statement of the 

IBO. We are also working on aspects of the continuum involving 

all three of the IBO’s educational programmes and developing a 

learner profile, based on the PYP profile, to look at these issues in 

the lives of students from ages three to 19. 

We have worked on a project with the United Nations that has 

looked at issues related to global citizenship and our interdependence 

on this planet. In all our programme and curriculum 

reviews, we are looking more and more closely at these issues. 

Rick Armstrong should know this as he was involved in a curriculum 

review not that long ago. 

‘Improving planning of lessons and work’ is indeed another 

interesting and important aspect of the development of the MYP. 

Once more, Mr Armstrong may be speaking from his own experience; 

however again, the MYP at IBCA comes under fire for 

not looking more closely at recent developments but here Mr 

Armstrong makes a big mistake. If he had contacted IBCA, he 

would know that there have been interesting discussions and 

work with at least two of the groups he mentions in his ‘wish list’: 

Project Zero and British Key Stage 3 strategy. As the programme 

develops, we have to be as consultative as possible if the MYP is 

to evolve. 

Once more, Mr Armstrong raises a good point with his aspect 

‘Revitalising and clarifying Approaches to Learning (ATL).’ ATL 

is a fundamental element of the MYP. The paragraphs that follow 

on this point are valid and would have been well put a year ago. 

Unfortunately, Mr Armstrong’s words are now out-of-date. We 

are preparing a separate document based on ATL and we are 

working with the other programmes to see the connections from 

the PYP through to the Diploma. We are also liaising with external 

organisations as we look at various aspects of effective learning. 

Rick Armstrong’s final aspect, ‘Making assessment procedures 

more school friendly’, is also interesting but this section in his 

article is written in such a way as to make it seem that these issues 

have never been considered before. In every curriculum review 

meeting now, which all involve MYP teachers, there are discussions 

about the use of common assessment criteria where possible 

and a more effective way of structuring the criteria themselves. 

Mr Armstrong should know that this is never as straightforward 

as one thinks it is going to be but it is an important part of 

the evolution of the programme. 

There are some parts of Rick Armstrong’s article that are, professionally 

speaking, particularly offensive. In his final paragraph 

he states, ‘there seems to have been rather a void of new curriculum 

and effective-learning related ideas from the IBCA over the 

past few years.’ 

There are several reasons why this statement is offensive. First, 

it is just plain wrong. Every curriculum review of every subject 

group and the personal project and every other MYP guide has 

input from external consultants in higher education, from MYP 

practitioners and from IBO staff who do a great deal of detailed 

research. 

Secondly, there is a concerted effort by the MYP team at IBCA 

to be at the front in considering new educational ideas in the 

evolution of the programme. 

The MYP is constantly recharging and evolving – it has to do 

so if it is to move forward and meet the needs of students around 

the world. It is a shame, perhaps, that a rejoinder to an is article 

was the place to reassert the position of the MYP but the record 

did need to be set straight. 

David Chivers is the head of MYP for the IBO and has worked 

with the MYP for seven years, being head of the 

programme for the last two-and-a-half. 





Developing a PYP network 

Developing a PYP network 

Christopher Sexton reports on how Victoria’s 

schools have come together to solve problems and 

share common goals 

At the beginning of 2001 there were only two authorised PYP 

schools in Victoria: Glamorgan Junior School and Wallan 

Primary School, although a number of schools were also interested 

in the PYP. It was decided that these schools should get together 

and discuss the programme. 

At this initial meeting on the 8th February at Fintona Junior 

School there were nine people and five schools represented; 

Glamorgan and Fintona Junior Schools, Ruthven and Wallan 

Primary Schools and the Islamic College of Victoria. This group 

decided to establish a support network of PYP schools, which 

would meet each term. The group’s goals were: 

● PD provision and development of support networks for PYP 

school staff 

● Promotion of PYP and development of understanding in the 

wider community 

● PYP development across Support Network Schools 

● Provide School Leadership Support in PYP Schools 

A second meeting was held on the 14th May with the IB Regional 

Representative Australasia attending and by this time the group 

had grown to 20 people representing 11 schools. At this meeting 

it was also decided to develop an email database of interested 

schools and to create a term newsletter. Two further meetings 

were held during the remainder of 2001 and by the final meeting 

the Network had had grown to 42 people and 15 schools. 

The Network has continued to grow since then and to develop 

and refine its operations with an executive of three (chairperson, 

secretary and treasurer) established at its first meeting in 2002. 

Importantly during this year a decision was taken to continue the 

Network newsletter, the PYP Inclusive, and to set up a web page 

the www.pypnetwork.com with newsletter editor and website 

manager positions. 

Call for Copy 

Why not write for is ? 

We are looking for articles of between 

800-1000 words on aspects of international 

education – curriculum development, 

methodology, community service projects, 

innovation and opinion. 

‘People and Places’ needs short items of 

news, new faces, new buildings, celebrations 

and anniversaries. 

This meeting was also a huge success with 52 people representing 

22 schools attending, including The Friends School in 

Tasmania and Sholem Aleichem College, which now meant the 

Network had an interstate focus and was representative of all 

school sectors: Government, Catholic and Private–Independent, 

Muslim and Jewish. 

Since then the Network has continued to flourish and grow with 

over 35 schools now having been involved and there are now six 

accredited PYP schools in Victoria and 17 throughout Australia. 

From simple beginnings, the Victorian PYP Network of Schools 

has grown to over 35 and provided advice and support to interstate 

and New Zealand schools. It has been built through the philosophy 

of the PYP and the International Baccalaureate 

Organization and there has been a strong sense of cooperation 

between schools and a willingness to share ideas and support each 

other. 

I don’t know what the exact chemistry has been to make it 

work, but there is a very strong sense of mutual benefit and ownership 

by Network Schools. The key may be in the total focus on 

educational issues and the positive energy, which is generated as 

schools share their activities, stories and hopes for the future. 

Perhaps it may simply be that as a group we are reflecting the PYP 

philosophy of being 

● global citizens and cutting across educational boundaries; 

● focusing on the holistic education of students – skills, values, attitudes 

as well as knowledge; and 

● sharing is inclusive; it gives us an opportunity to find a connection. 

Christopher Sexton is Principal of Ruthven Primary School, 

Melbourne and Chairperson of PYP Network. 

We do not usually print student work 

unless it is illustrating part of an article, 

but we do publish original student poems. 

Remember – this is your magazine, and in 

whatever part of our international world 

you work we would like to hear from you. 

Send manuscripts and pictures to the 

Editor, CarolineEllwood@ecis.org 

23

Giving heads some headroom 

Giving heads some 

headroom 

Boyd Roberts attends a program at the Klingenstein 

Center in New York, where heads can reflect on the 

business of being a head 

Two weeks out of school giving ‘headroom’ – space and time for 

heads to reflect on the business of being a head of school, the 

challenges, the rewards, and the importance of the role in society: 

this was the prospect afforded by the Visiting Fellowship program 

at the Klingenstein Center, Teachers College, Columbia 

University, New York, which I was privileged to join in 

January/February this year. 

The Klingenstein Center is very unusual, if not unique, in concentrating 

on independent schools. Founded in 1977, the Center 

is named after the Esther A and Joseph Klingenstein Fund, which 

has supported it from the beginning. Also there from the start has 

been its founder, Professor Pearl Rock Kane, a dynamo who works 

indefatigably for the Center, its programs and students. 

I first got to hear of the Visiting Fellowship program through a 

talk given by Pearl at an ECIS Spring administrators’ conference 

a few years ago. This was part of a deliberate attempt to attract 

people in international schools to the Center’s activities. Heads 

may recently have received an email through COIS announcing 

the Visiting Fellowship program for 2006. 

The Visiting Fellowship program draws together about 20 heads 

of independent schools, mainly from the US, but also from other 

countries, for a period of immersion in academic study, reflection 

and research. The program this year included heads from a wide 

variety of schools in the US, ranging from prestigious college 

preparatory schools, to a school for the gifted founded by the current 

head; from religious schools to a school doing amazing work 

in an inner city black community, and catering for all ages from 

KG to high school seniors. 

The 22 US heads were joined by three of us from other countries, 

two heads of South African schools, and me from an international 

college in the UK. We were selected from a considerably 

larger group of applicants, and for each of us, the other heads 

formed part of the extraordinary resources of the program. 

The other four elements were the able and challenging faculty 

of Teachers College, coordinated by Pearl herself; students on 

other programs at Teachers College; the facilities and resources of 

Columbia – notably its fabulous libraries; and the backdrop of 

New York City. What Dr Johnson said of London in 1777 surely 

applies equally to NYC (and London) today: “When a man tires 

of London, he is tired of life.” 

All of us on the program were comfortably accommodated in a 

hotel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, about 30 blocks 

south of the Columbia campus, and opposite two fabled delis. 

We were immediately immersed in what initially seemed like 

rather arcane philosophy. We had been sent a fair amount of reading 

material beforehand, and so had already worked our way 

through the writings of Michel de Montaigne, a 17th century 

French lawyer who had some sharp thoughts about education – 

among much else. It took some time for brains to change gear 

from the preoccupations of running 21st century schools, to 

thoughts on the upbringing and education of children written 

over 300 years ago. 

Then on to the great 20th century philosopher of education 

John Dewey, who taught at Teachers College. Our deliberations 

were guided by Professor David Hansen, who writes on moral 

aspects of education. I was impressed that he drew little plans of 

where we were sitting in class, and annotated these to remind him 

of what we had said in discussion so that he could refer back to our 

contributions later – a good trick! 

We began work on Day 1 on our research topics, identified as 

part of our applications. We were introduced to the library, and 

shown how to use software to assist in research. During the first 

week, our research topics were discussed and focussed. We also 

met students on the year-long Private School Leadership program. 

They were able and committed educators still at earlier stages of 

their careers. During the two weeks, we had a number of very 

enriching sessions with them. 

In the evenings, we fellows got together in various combinations, 

to sample the varied cuisines available in NYC, or to avail 

ourselves of its cultural resources, including a guided tour of the 

Metropolitan Museum. 

By the end of the first week, work began on the assignments we 

had to complete. The weekend was spent in the library, with a 

welcome break to see La Cage aux Folles on Broadway. 

Some of us were suffering withdrawal symptoms from children 

by the end of week one – apparently stronger among primary than 

secondary school heads. Week two restored the balance. We visited 

small schools and charter schools in NYC. 

We read research on the effectiveness of small schools; we considered 

the shortcomings of US high school graduation requirements 

and we explored other key issues in the current US educational 

scene. We considered the tension between state and private 

education, and we continued our seminars with the Private 

School Leadership students on our own case studies on challenging 

professional situations. 

Before we knew it, the two weeks were over, we had presented 

our research findings, we had considered our ‘re-entry’ to the 

world of school, and we had celebrated our time with the faculty, 

and members of the Klingenstein family. 

Looking back, it seems a long time ago. But what an impact it 

had. It was chastening to be a student again, to stay up most of the 

night completing essays, and to have that pleasure of immersion 

in ideas for their own sake. I am sure all of us viewed our work differently 

on our return to our schools. 

The Visiting Fellowship program comes highly recommended. 

It is also generously funded, covering tuition and accommodation, 

and some cultural activities. 

The Klingenstein Center provides four other programs. The 

one year Private Leadership Program for potential school leaders 

leads to a masters degree. The Leadership Academy takes place 

during two summers with work continuing while back in school. 

The Summer Institute is pitched at young educators, intended to 

build on and maintain their enthusiasm for education. The Joseph 

Klingenstein Fellows Program funds a semester or a year of study 

and reflection. 

For details of all these programs visit www.klingenstein.org 

Boyd Roberts was Principal of St Clare’s, Oxford from 1998–2005, 

and a Visiting Fellow at the Klingenstein Center in 2005. He is now a 

consultant in international education. 



Profile of a remarkable 

teacher 

Linda Duevel pays tribute to Wilma 

Anderson and her contribution to 

The International School of Stavanger 

One of the very normal aspects of international schools is that 

they experience an annual turnover of both students and staff 

members. We thank them for sharing their gifts with our school 

and wish them well. But this tribute is to someone who left the 

school to retire in June and about whose contributions to our 

community I could write chapters, rather than paragraphs. That 

individual is Ms Wilma Anderson. 

Ms Anderson initially came to Stavanger in 1973, invited to 

join the school by the then director, Miles Lovelace, at a time 

when the school took a quantum leap toward developing its reputation 

for curricular excellence. Looking back at the individuals 

who joined the school’s faculty in 1973, it included an amazing 

group of young professionals whose first overseas educational positions 

were in Stavanger. 

Many stayed overseas for long periods and later served as 

administrators in 14 leading international schools world-wide, 

showing how a small school situated on the fjords of the Far North 

has had a substantial impact on international education. But more 

importantly for ISS, some of those individuals chose to stay here 

in Stavanger. One of those was Wilma Anderson. 

She grew up on a farm near Brockway, Pennsylvania where she 

worked hard both inside and outside of school. Her Swedish 

ancestry has always been an important part of her persona – in fact 

she journeyed to Sweden to be married to Karsten, in the same 

church her grandmother attended before immigrating to America. 

Besides working on the family farm, she also worked in a factory 

job at the Brockway Glass Company every summer while she was 

at university. Already knowing in high school that she wanted to 

become a mathematics teacher she graduated from Penn State 

with a major in mathematics and a minor in science. Several years 

later, she went on to Northwestern University, earning a Master’s 

degree in mathematics. 

She taught for a decade at Addison Central High School in 

Addison, and perhaps she would have stayed there longer had not 

her college room-mate at Penn State married a gentleman named 

Miles Lovelace. When Dr Lovelace became the head here in 

Stavanger in the early ’70s and went searching for the finest 

American teachers he could bring to – what was at that time – 

Stavanger American School, he knew who he wanted to increase 

the level of mathematics excellence at the school. The result, as 

they say, is history. 

Wilma Anderson was involved in every aspect of creating a permanent 

standard of educational excellence at the school. When 

the school was initially accredited in 1974 – only the third international 

school in the world to acquire that standard – she could 

rightly take pride in being involved in a wonderful effort of the 

staff and school community. That was her first accreditation here 

– last year she was involved in our school’s fourth ten-year-cycle 

successful accreditation effort. 

During the period since she arrived here in 1973, twice she left 

to go to other opportunities that then brought her back to ISS 

with additional experiences that only increased her worth to the 



Profile of a remarkable teacher 

Wilma Anderson. 

school. She worked for two years at then Phillips Petroleum, initially 

as a technical analyst, and then as the training coordinator 

for the computer department, planning the training schedule and 

teaching some of the computer courses. 

And a few years ago, when her husband, a highway engineer, 

was invited to Zambia on a Norwegian-sponsored highway construction 

project, she found herself teaching middle school mathematics 

at the American International School of Lusaka. She 

returned to ISS, with rich experiences and wonderful stories of her 

encounters with snakes in her classroom and on bush walks. 

By my count, she has worked with five directors and 12 high 

school principals here at ISS. If it were possible to assemble these 

15 men and two women together, there would be nothing but positive 

comments made on her impact on the school. I also know 

each of us would speak to her special willingness to help mentor 

newcomers to the school – whether it be a new teacher or a new 

principal – she has always been very generous in helping toward 

seamless transitions. 

Perhaps the greatest complement to a teacher is always the 

appreciation of her students – here is just one of the many notes 

received from past students who found that the hard work she 

expected from them in high school mathematics class paved the 

way for dividends at the university level. 

‘Only a short while ago, I hated math with a passion. I could see 

no pleasure in taking the erratic world I saw around me and 

describing it in terms of unbending laws. Now I find myself excited, 

even joyful, when I reduce a complex mathematical situation 

to a simple solution. I actually enjoy math. Whereas I hated it 

earlier for its coldness, now I rejoice in it for the challenge and 

sense of accomplishment it gives me. You taught me to enjoy 

math for what I receive from it, not the numbers and letters that 

I put into it.’ 

I know that this very special woman, who works so hard for the 

best interests of her students, always shuns the spotlight herself. I 

haven’t asked her permission to write about her as I know she 

would have denied me this opportunity – but once in a while, the 

head of the school doesn’t have to ask for permission! 

And so it will continue – whether Wilma Anderson is physically 

present here at ISS on a daily basis or not, her positive 

imprint is so strongly lodged here that we will continue to draw 

on all the contributions she has invested since August, 1973 – a 

VERY lucky month in the history of the school! 

Thank you, Ms. Anderson, from all of us – past, the present, 

and future – for all you have contributed to this school. We are 

forever in your debt. 

Dr Linda M Duevel is Director of 

The International School of Stavanger. 

25

View from the Kalahari 

Education: a view from the 

Kalahari Desert 

Robyn Reardon learns to share the vision – as well 

as how to make a ‘good brick’ 

“Tshela! Tshela! Tshela!” The women shrieked. “More! More! 

More!” Not food, nor water, but pour more brick mix. By hand, 

using just a spade, I helped these women mix 20 wheelbarrowloads 

of river sand, four bags of cement, and eight buckets of water 

– water they had collected and carried on their heads. 

They pounded the mix into the brick moulds with sticks from 

a nearby tree, intent on making a ‘good brick’. They laughed at 

my clumsiness and mistakes, and jeered when a brick fell apart. 

We stood side-by-side, worked equally as hard, helped one 

another, and discussed our lives and families in a mix of broken 

English and Tswana. We understood each other, even though the 

language was not clear. You don’t need language to make bricks, 

just determination, and vision. 

The women of the Kalahari Desert in South Africa have a lot 

of determination and vision. They know what education means 

for their children. They envisage the completed school that their 

children will attend to save them walking 15 kms each way. 

The women look after the children, collect the water from 

nearby wells, cook the food, wash the clothes by hand, collect fire 

wood from great distances, tend the animals, and make bricks to 

help build a local school. Their clothing is ripped, their shoes 

have gaping holes, (if they wear shoes at all), and they occasionally 

ask for food for the children. 

They sing and dance constantly to celebrate the fact that we 

have dug foundations, carted rocks, made bricks, or completed 

painting a classroom. Many of the women were mothers as 

teenagers, and others look extremely old at 40. Most have lost 

family members due to starvation, illness and AIDS. 

Since 1997, on five occasions, I have travelled from Australia 

to the Kalahari Desert, joining teachers and students from 



Frankfurt International School. Ambrose Kelly (CAS 

Coordinator – Frankfurt) is the organiser and driving force. He is 

an inspiration to all who work with and beside him in the 

Kalahari. (On Australia Day 2005 Ambrose was awarded an 

Order Of Australia Medal for his work in Africa and other community 

projects around the world.) 

During these visits I made bricks to build a Primary School, 

extra classrooms, and three Pre Schools. I have helped paint and 

renovate two primary schools. On recent visits I have become 

involved in teaching English and mathematics in secondary 

schools. 

My first experience of teaching happened when I went into a 

year 3/4 classroom to collect a bag of cement. A young student 

was writing mathematical equations on the chalkboard. When 

asked where the teacher was, I was told he was next door. After 

further questioning, it was revealed that this teacher was responsible 

for two classes of 60 students each – the year 3/4 and the 

year 5/6s. I delivered the bag of cement to Ambrose and told him 

I had “a better offer”. 

I taught addition, subtraction, math games, and an English lesson. 

My lessons attracted much attention from the local teachers 

who desperately wanted help with understanding their new 

Outcomes Based Curriculum. I believe I am a better teacher than 

painter or brick maker, so on subsequent trips to the Kalahari, I 

have planned and taught English and mathematics based on the 

South African Curriculum 2005. 

The women gave me a Tswana name, Pelonomi meaning 

‘comes from a nice hut’. I like this name. My home is by the 

beach, but I love the peace, quiet, colours and sunsets of the 

desert. I like working with these people to make their lives a little 

better. 

I don’t mind the women hassling me to keep up with shovelling 

the brick mix into the moulds, or the men laughing at me 

when I can’t push the wheelbarrow full of sand without it tipping 

over. The children laugh when I try to throw shovel fulls of sand 

up onto the donkey cart and totally miss. I laugh too. The women 

laugh when I can’t even lift a bucket of water past my waist, let 

alone carry it on my head as they expect. 

I don’t mind getting wet, because it is so hot. I hate paint splattering 

on my face and in my hair when I try to paint a ceiling. I 

get annoyed when more paint goes on the glass than on the window 

frames. I love seeing the joy on the faces of the students 

when they learn a new concept. I love driving the 100 km on 

sandy unmade roads to go shopping to buy the paint, and other 

necessities. I love learning about their lives and families, and visiting 

their homes. These people have a wonderful sense of survival, 

and they have amazing strength, and skills. 

My oldest son Sam is very strong. He too has worked alongside 

these people, having travelled to the Kalahari five times. 

Sam’s strength, knowledge, skills, and patience have kept us safe, 

our cars going, the generator and water pump operational. My 

second son Nick was part of the Kalahari experience in 1997 as 

a year 11 student. 

The love of children is universal. The women of the Kalahari 

and I share this love of children, as well as the joy of nurturing 

and learning. Our lives are very different on a day-by-day basis, 

but we share the same stars at night-time, although theirs shine 

brighter undimmed by artificial light. 

I hope I continue to have contact with the people of the 

Kalahari, and I hope that in some way I have helped to make 

their lives a little better. By returning each year, Frankfurt 

International School gives these people hope. Hope is an incredibly 

powerful force that has the ability to transform individuals as 

well as communities. Kaeleboga. Thank you, for sharing your lives 

with me. 

Robyn Reardon is Acting Assistant Principal of Seaford Primary 

School, Mount Eliza, Victoria, Australia. She has been part of the 

Kalahari Experience on five occasions and in 1999 was given a grant 

to mentor a talented primary teacher from the Kalahari Desert to 

work for three months in her primary school. 



View from the Kalahari 

27

Welcome to Campus des Nations 

Welcome to Campus des 

Nations 

Lesley Stagg describes Ecolint’s new purpose-built 

school in Geneva 

September 1st 2005 marks an important day in the historical calendar 

of the Foundation of the International School of Geneva. 

For the first time in its 80 plus years of existence, the Ecolint (as 

it is fondly known by locals, staff and alumni) opens a new purpose-built 

school. Campus des Nations comprises the existing 

Pregny Site (which has been a primary school first for the UN 

and then for Ecolint since the 1970s) and a new building known 

as Saconnex Site. 

Pregny is for the Early Years children aged three through seven 

and Saconnex offers primary and secondary education for students 

aged seven through 18. Located in the heart of the 

International Sector of Geneva, between the International 

Labour Organisation, the World Health Organisation and the 

World Council of Churches, Campus des Nations is but a stone’s 

throw away from the Palais des Nations and overlooks the 

International Baccalaureate Organization offices. 

The structurally exciting and educationally innovative new 

building is the result of an architectural competition won by 

CCHE architects from Lausanne. It creates varied learning 

spaces, has potential for future development and is light and airy, 

as well as sensitive to the ambience of the environment. Despite 

being in an urban environment, there is plenty of outdoor space 

for play, sports and recreation, and a Jardin du Monde (Garden of 

the World) has been incorporated into the landscaping design. 

There are also stunning views across Geneva and to Mont Blanc 

from the upper floors! 

The Campus des Nations offers a fully international programme 

for its international student body. It is widely known that 

Ecolint was the first school to adopt the IB Diploma programme, 

and the PYP has been adopted extensively throughout the 

Foundation, with Pregny receiving authorization since 2002, but 

it is only with the creation of the new campus that the MYP has 

been chosen for the education of students aged 11 through 16. 

Thus, Campus des Nations has become the only campus in the 

Foundation offering the full range of IBO programmes for students 

from three to 18 and is working very hard to prepare itself 

for authorization for MYP and the Diploma programme. 

This has a positive benefit of offering even more choice for 

Ecolint parents when selecting their child’s learning opportunities. 

Campus des Nations met its student enrolment targets for 

September 2005 four months ahead of schedule and has created 

some additional, previously unexpected, new classes to accommodate 

the growing educational needs for families in Geneva. 

Pleasingly, none of this new development has had an adverse 

effect on other parts of Ecolint, where demand for places remain 

healthy! 

The new site has been built in close cooperation with the 

Ecolint Board and school community, with the commune 

(Grand-Saconnex), with the Canton of Geneva and with sponsoring 

individuals and companies, all of whom have contributed 

in various ways to create the vision, facilitate land space, support 

necessary legislation and provide funds. There has also been a 

great deal of help and advice offered from the international 

school community, where schools have opened their doors, 

allowed us to visit and shared ideas, to help us to distill our initial 

vision into workable plans for Nations. 

One area of particular architectural and pedagogical interest is 

the third floor. This houses the cafeteria and multi-media centre. 

It is surrounded by a terrace and has walkways leading to the upper 

outdoor recreation areas. The cafeteria has been furnished according 

to different psychological needs of students when eating! 

There are single seats at a ‘bar’, pairs of seats, small groups for four 

or six students to eat together and a long table for classes or sports 

groups. There are also several open spaces outside the cafeteria for 

gallery and performance areas, as well as for just ‘hanging out’ 

together. The architects have incorporated a ‘wall of expression’ 

where students may share their artistic and literary ideas and 

thoughts. 

Nations is a predominantly Anglophone campus, as research 

showed that to be the greatest need for the potential families in 

this part of Geneva, but with a strong emphasis on maintaining 

the Ecolint aims of producing students with bilingual standards in 

the French and English languages. The majority of the teachers 

have moved to Nations from within the Foundation, thus maintaining 

stability and the Ecolint ‘spirit’, but also many new members 

of staff have been externally recruited, through a carefully 

phased recruitment plan, thus ensuring new ideas and fresh 

approaches. 

Interestingly, the main attraction for parents (who are naturally 

a little hesitant in signing up their off-spring for such a new 

project) has been the emphasis that all decisions made for Nations 

have been made to promote, facilitate and improve student learning. 

From the very first architectural plans to the selection of furnishings, 

from the choice of the IBO programmes to the hardworking 

members of the various committees that have met, everyone 

has agreed that everything undertaken at Nations is focused 

on the students and their learning needs. 

This has also led to the development of the Pregny Learning 

Centre, previously for primary aged children with moderate to 

severe special learning needs, into three Nations Learning 

Centres offering Learning Centre provision for all students whose 

needs cannot be met in the mainstream classroom but who have 

an entitlement to an inclusive education. 

Lesley P Stagg is Principal of the Campus des Nations and has been 

involved with the project since August 2004. 

The Ecolint website at www.ecolint.ch offers a great deal more 

information about the Foundation and its campuses. 

‘There has also been a great deal 

of help and advice offered from the 

international school community, 

where schools have opened their 

doors, allowed us to visit and 

shared ideas, to help us to distill 

our initial vision into workable 

plans for Nations.’ 





Creating an international culture 

Creating an 

international culture 

Sencer Corlu examines enculturation, the 

phenomenon that affects students as well as teachers 

Teaching in international schools is unique in many ways. Living 

abroad, having students from all over the world or working with 

colleagues from different regions of the planet are superficial 

aspects of a more complex phenomenon. 

Research conducted on educators teaching students from 

diverse cultures argues that ‘there are cultural traditions and systemic 

features, which necessitate a period of “enculturation” 

before teachers can expect to become effective’ (Pepin, 1998). 

However, in an international school, enculturation is not the concern 

of teachers only but also of the students. 

Moreover, this enculturation period may be long and tough for 

both parties since the culture created in these communities is 

unique for each and has no example in any other part of the world 

but in international organisations. It is a unique culture, emerging 

unnaturally from unnatural obligations. 

What all members of any international community share in 

common is the fact that the conditions are different from those 

they are used to. The expatriates have to survive under the influence 

of at least three cultures: their own culture, international 

culture of the school, and the culture of the country hosting them. 

Below are some suggestions to decrease the time needed for enculturation 

of teachers and students for a multicultural experience. 

Teachers find it difficult to suspend their own judgements about 

the way of doing things and it necessitates open-mindedness 

(Pepin, 1998), tolerance, and good observation skills. In MEF 

International School, teachers are encouraged to record daily any 

noteworthy incident that happened in their classroom. Personally, 

when I read my notes at the end of the day, they very much help 

‘What all members of any international 

community share in common is the fact that the 

conditions are different from those they are 

used to.’ 

me to reconsider the way I handle unfamiliar situations and 

increase my flexibility in new unfamiliar ones. 

Murthadra-Watts and D’Ambrosio suggest teachers share their 

life stories and experiences in order to re-evaluate their own 

habitual teaching patterns (1997). This sharing may occur via the 

Internet in teacher forums or as one of my colleagues does, by publishing 

an interactive journal using YahooGroups. 

In Irmak School, where I used to teach, at the end of each 

monthly curriculum and interdisciplinary planning meeting, we 

divided into small groups to talk and discuss our practices. It was 

very much like a therapy group, where teachers talk about our current 

and previous teaching experiences. Even writing an essay 

about our teaching philosophy and adding it to the teacher portfolio 

may be a small step to analyse the way we teach and hopefully 

to reformulate our methods for the unique needs of our students. 

These needs are indeed unique, obviously because of the different 

family, cultural, and educational background of students 

coming to school with different expectations. These expectations 

may vary diversely from teaching methodology to disciplinary 

methods. 

In addition to the above practices and the orientation programme 

organised by the school, old-hands like the more experienced 

international teachers or teachers from the local community 

may help newcomers to overcome the challenges that 

Pepin (1998) grouped under two strands: ‘The cultural traditions 

and the structural constraints’. 

Social contact between students who have had little previous 

contact needs to be positive. Bennet (2001) talks of four 

29

Planning a new school 

basic necessary conditions in his explanatory article of social 

contact theory: 

● ‘…opportunities to become acquainted and develop friendships; 

● equal status among students from the different groups; 

● experiences that require inter-group cooperation to achieve a 

common goal; 

● ‘authority figures who encourage, model, and support comfortable 

inter-group contact and relationships’. 

Similarly to the teacher exercise above, Murthadra-Watts and 

D’Ambrosio (1997) suggest students share their life experiences, 

which may serve as starting points for teaching critical thinking, 

analysing oppression and alternative viewpoints.’ 

One of the many discourses of international teaching is the 

content of the instruction. D’Ambrosio (1995), referring to the 

recent advances in theories of cognition, claims there is a strong 

relation between culture and cognition. D’Ambrosio (1995) conceptualises 

ethnoscience as ‘the study of scientific and technological 

phenomena in direct relation to their social economic and 

cultural backgrounds’. This point of view challenges the ethnocentric 

assumption that mathematics is largely a product of the 

men of European descent (Sleeter, 1997), thus creating a chance 

for students from diverse cultures to relate their cultural background 

and the subject. If students from diverse cultures meet and 

work together towards collaborative goals that have meaning in 

their lives (Johnson & Johnson, 1992) this kind of relationship 

makes authentic learning occur. D’Ambrosio (1995) claims this 

is not a mere academic exercise, since its implications for the 

pedagogy of mathematics are clear. 

Teaching in an international community is both a unique situation 

and a unique challenge. It is also absorbing and rewarding. 

Sencer M Corlu teaches mathematics and ICT at Istanbul MEF 

International School, Turkey. 

Bibliography 

Bennett, C., (2001). ‘Genres of research in multicultural education’, 

Review of Educational Research. Washington: Vol.71, Iss. 2; pg. 

171, 47 pgs. 

D’Ambrosio, U. (1985). ‘Ethnomathematics and its Place in the 

History and Pedagogy of Mathematics’, For the Learning of 

Mathematics 5, 1. 

Johnson, D. W., & Johnson, R. T. (1992). ‘Social interdependence 

and cross-ethnic relationships. Interdependence: Key to effective cooperation’. 

In J. Lynch, C. Modil, & S. Modil (Eds.), Cultural diversity 

in the schools (Vol. 11, pp. 179-190). London: Falmer Press. 

Murtadha-Watts, K., D’Ambrosio, B. (1997). ‘A convergence of 

transformative multicultural and mathematics instruction? Dilemmas 

of group deliberations for curriculum change’, Journal for Research in 

Mathematics Education. Washington: Dec 1997. 

Pepin, B. (1998) Paper presented at the European Conference for 

Educational Research, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia September 

17th to 20th. 

Sleeter, C.E. (1997). ‘Mathematics, multicultural education, and 

professional development’, Journal for Research in Mathematics 

Education. Washington: Dec 1997. 

A guide for planning 

a new school 

Walther Hetzer applauds the CIS Accreditation 

Instrument 

Anyone starting a school will sometimes sympathise with the sentiment 

expressed by the great Austrian cabaret artist Helmut 

Qualtinger: “I don’t quite know where I am going but at least I’ll 

get there more quickly”. While the notion of speed has its appeal, 

a careful look at some roadmaps in detail is essential before roaring 

off into the unknown. One such useful map can be found in 

the CIS accreditation instrument (seventh edition). 

Among the characteristics of an accredited school, CIS lists: 

‘The school knows itself. It has thought deeply about the services 

it offers to students, family, and community.’ A new school obviously 

cannot evaluate past and present services but it will think 

(one hopes deeply) about the services it intends to offer, about the 

indicators and standards by which planning, implementation, and 

– in due time – accreditation will be guided. 

Many of us know from experience how the preparation of a critical 

self study and the ensuing verification by a visiting team can 

lead to productive and focussed talks with board members, teachers, 

students and parents. A bit of stress as well, no matter how 

much the team members emphasise that they do not visit as 

‘inspectors’. Accreditation does indeed focus a school on its mission 

and helps ascertain whether a school’s claims are being fulfilled. 

The resulting follow-up on any recommendations ensures that 

this focus is not blurred even after the coveted ‘seal of approval’ is 

received. Established schools know where they have been and 

where they are going. This is not the case with schools in the 

planning phase, even if the future school community is clear 

about their mission and goals. 

I have not, until now, fully appreciated to what extent an 

accreditation instrument can contribute to the development plan 

of a new school. So far I have been a ‘customer’ of accreditation 

services within well-established schools; involved in preparing the 

self-study, the team visit, and the subsequent follow-up. 

I have also served on numerous visiting teams. On one occasion 

this was in a school at an early stage of development, and the 

excitement and spirit of creating a very special school and ‘living 

its mission’ was tangible. For a school which has not even opened 

its doors the instrument, with its clear standards and indicators for 

most aspects of school life, provides a useful check and a host of 

questions related to future philosophy, organisation, or educational 

provisions. 

The Development Plan of the St Gilgen International School 

makes use of applicable categories of the seventh edition and liberally 

quotes from it (no charges of plagiarism since Gerry Percy is 

duly notified of this fact). Like other such plans, it states an overall 

goal for each section, lists the main strategies envisioned for 

reaching this goal, and adds corresponding action steps with an 

indication of expected timing and assignment of responsibility for 

each step. 

Much of the scope and language of the future accreditation 

process will thus already be familiar to everyone involved in setting 

up the school. The effectiveness of the plans will obviously have to 



pass many reality checks once the school is up and running. 

New considerations will no doubt also emerge (“why on earth 

have we never thought about this?”), but we have a clear framework 

for planning the school. Everyone will also be familiar with 

the indicators showing us where the school might not meet its 

stated expectations. 

I have found examples of particular relevance in early stages of 

planning. Section C (Governance and Management) clearly 

states the criteria for a co-operative and effective working relationship 

between the governing body and the Head of school. 

Even before the school’s governing body is established an awareness 

of these criteria will be of importance. 

Section D (Staff) stresses the importance for staff members to 

work co-operatively with each other for maintaining a good 

school climate. One should not take cooperation for granted, not 

even in a new school. The section provides very useful components 

and criteria for a consideration of personnel policies, staff 

involvement in performance appraisal, and participation in planning 

for professional growth – all worth keeping in mind when 

framing the school’s policies. 

How will ‘the learning needs of students, both at admission and 

thereafter’ be identified, a task mandated by Section E (Student 

Support Services)? The time to think about this is well before the 

first students are admitted. The goal of soliciting ‘information 

about unique talents and achievements of new students’ is of 

great importance for any school, particularly for a new and selective 

school where the combined talents of students will establish 

the school’s early reputation. One of our earliest commitments 

has been to enable students to maintain skills in their native language, 

an indicator also found in this section. 

Architectural planning of the school must take both local 

health and safety codes and CIS requirements in Section F 

(Resources) into account. The indicators regarding ICT and the 

library/media centre, including the ongoing programme of 

instruction in the effective use of these resources, deserve early 

consideration by the teachers who will have responsibility for 

this. 

The establishment of ‘effective forums for the two-way 

exchange of information between the school and students and 

parents’ (Section G: Student and Community Life) is an important 

task for a new school with a highly international student 

body. The first indicator in this section also aims at something 

fundamental: ‘A climate of collaboration, mutual respect and 

friendship prevails at the school’. 



With a whole beautiful lakeside village being considered ‘our 

school’ we will be keen to verify whether future activities and 

community service will take full advantage of the opportunities 

afforded by this location. Ensuring that ‘day and boarding students 

are well-integrated with one another’ and that ‘residential 

life takes advantage of the culture of the local community and 

promotes the international mission of the school within the host 

community’ are further indicators found in Section G. 

Inevitably, there are areas of school development not reflected 

in Accreditation Standards. However, I look forward to the day 

when the school will find out, by means of the Accreditation 

process, if the ambitious vision has become reality. Whether we 

get there quickly or not, the consideration of the accreditation 

instrument has already contributed to a better idea of where we 

want to go. 

Dr Walther Hetzer is the Director of the St Gilgen International 

School which opens in August 2006. It is an educational, social 

and cultural centre for the village, and a school where international 

boarding and internationally-minded Austrian day students will study 

within the framework of the IB Middle Years and Diploma 

Programmes and engage in extensive co-curricular, outward bound, 

and service projects. Multi-disciplinary Peace and Conflict Studies will 

be integrated throughout the curriculum from grades 7 to 12. 

A second central emphasis incorporates Media Studies and stresses 

communication and presentation skills. 

31

Exploring social issues 

through the arts 

Debbie Kidd, Ruth Spencer and 125 students 

consider the issue of Child Labour 

The International Schools Theatre Association has a staff pool of 

about 80 practitioners and runs approximately 20 events per year. 

The majority of these are international theatre festivals for 

Middle and High School students. In January 2005 we were chosen 

to run a High School Festival hosted by ACS International 

School Egham, UK. 

The theme of the festival was Child Labour and we used the 

SCREAM pack* as our starting point. We carried a little list in 

our heads to the Egham Festival. A very little list: Child Labour Is 

Bad. 

And that was it. Subsumed within that list were various sub lists 

of perceived villains and actions we could take: Don’t Buy 

Trainers. Or T-shirts. Clearly our thinking was a little limited. 

This became even more evident when a short conversation with 

the dedicated, knowledgeable and infinitely patient Nick 

Grisewood of the ILO uncovered the fact that actually the major 

multi nationals have pretty much cleaned up their acts. 

The ones we would recognise as household names don’t use 

child labour anymore and rigorously check sources to ensure that 

they adhere to international guidelines for fair labour. Deprived of 

our villains and actions we were stumped for a starting point. But 

we had at least our one Universal truth: child labour is bad. 

Surely. 

Well, the facts speak for themselves: 

● There are over 186,000,000 child labourers between the ages of 

5 and 14 in the world; 

● 179,000,000 are involved in the worst forms of child labour 

involving physical harm or sexual abuse including those involved 

in armed conflict, prostitution or pornography. 

The facts speak for themselves, but in the face of the unimaginable 

enormity of those figures and without an easy and direct target 

for blame and action, we suddenly felt powerless and voiceless. 

As we tiptoed through the minefield of our own ignorance we also 

felt uninformed and confused. We felt like children. And we had 

so many questions. 

“But sir”, we asked Nick, “What when there’s no choice – or the 

choice is a stark one – work or starve.” “Is being a child soldier 

wrong when you fight for your life or freedom?” (We were reminded 

of the moving statue of a ten year old soldier climbing out of 

the sewers of Warsaw to fight against the Nazis in the uprising – a 

hero surely?) “What if you learn more by working than by following 

a formal school curriculum which bears little relevance to the 

world outside the classroom?”, “What if… what if… what if sometimes 

it is the right thing to do?”, “Is child labour bad?” 

Well of course it is. And there are no easy answers. And in order 

to create a world in which confused questions can be answered in 

a straightforward way, we have to rid the world first of poverty, of 

conflict, of greed. That’s quite a tall order. 

We had a weekend. We had started with a one-item list and discovered 

that even this was not straightforward and so, as 125 

young people flew in from around the world to work with us 

‘experts’, the only thing we could all say with certainty was “I 

know nothing.” 

Of course, any good teacher knows that admitting mistakes or 

ignorance – “I don’t know, but lets find out” – is one of the most 

effective ways to learn for both teacher and student and this was 

certainly the model we followed during the course of the weekend. 

Luckily for us the students arrived well primed, thoughtful and 

prepared. 

And they brought a clear message. They wanted the audience 

to leave their performance with a sense of hope. They themselves 



wanted to leave the experience with a sense of hope. They knew 

as we did that there were no easy solutions and that the scale of 

the problem was so large as to be potentially paralysing, but they 

came with a sense that it was still important to make their views 

known. To give a voice to the voiceless. 

We didn’t have time to write detailed scripts or to tell in-depth 

stories. We had time for images, impressions, explorations. A 

passing of bricks on a tortured path. Endless weaving of small fingers 

on hardening twine. Children at play. Children at work. We 

wrote of children’s hopes and beliefs: 

“I am a child and I believe in Santa Claus” 

“I am a child and I love to play” 

“I am a child and I believe in hope” 

And from these dreams they carved physical pictures of the ideal 

and real worlds of these children. They demonstrated the juxtapositions 

between their own worlds and preoccupations and 

those of the silent millions of labourers. They were magnificent. 

We all know that this one weekend will not end child labour. 

But as a result, 125 young people who will become adults with 

influence in the world, have not only learned of an issue which 

implicates us all in our global complicity and responsibility. They 

have taken a walk in the shoes of others. 

In order to create art, one does not simply regurgitate; the creation 

process requires a process of internalisation (agentive 

learning), of metacognition and most importantly of collaboration; 

key tenets of revered educationalist theorist Jerome Bruner. 

This ISTA weekend provided a model of this idealised learning 

in practice, not only for the students taking part, but for the staff 

who had the honour of walking with them through the process. 

We don’t know if the audience left with a sense of hope; they 

were certainly moved. But we left with a sense of hope and a 

renewed energy and belief in the power of theatre and of education 

to open up enquiry and exploration in an engaging and relevant 

way. As Albert Einstein said, “the important thing is not 

to stop questioning”. 

Debbie Kidd is Head of Drama and Performing Arts at Poynton 

High School and Performing Arts College in Cheshire, UK. 

She is also co-director of Integrate Arts Education, a consultancy 

which provides Teacher Inset and student workshops for 

Drama and Dance in the UK. Ruth Spencer is an independent 

dance maker, performer and teacher based in the UK. 

Both Debbie and Ruth work regularly as ISTA staff. 



Exploring social issues through the arts 

* SCREAM – Supporting Children’s Rights through 

Education, the Arts and Media is a programme which aims 

to introduce young people to the complexities surrounding 

the issue of child labour and helps them to channel their 

creative energies in a positive and constructive way to 

develop appropriate responses. It is produced by IPEC (The 

International Programme for the Elimination of Child 

Labour, a special programme of the Geneva based 

International Labour Organisation). 

33



Power from the sun 

Retze Koen describes the Inter-Community 

School Zürich Solar Project 

On the morning of the 24th June last year, 8th grade students, 

who had been working on energy concepts in humanities and science, 

helped to install two new panels in addition to the existing 

power plant on the roof of the school building. Their effort 

brought immediate results, as the graph on the display showed: it 

significantly jumped. This was the second step in a project that 

the Inter-Community School, Zürich, Switzerland (ICSZ) organised 

together with solar experts and the Youth Solar Project (YSP) 

of Greenpeace. 

How it all started 

In 2002 Graham Gardner, teacher at the ICSZ, heard about the 

YSP in a chance encounter with a member of the local 

Greenpeace organization. The first contact was fruitful, but due to 

time constraints finances couldn’t be arranged until Sept. 2003. 

Although Greenpeace supported the project logistically, educationally 

and financially, the whole process was initiated and realized 

by the students and their teachers. They organised funds, 

installed the panels and a visual display device, searched for energy 

leaks in the building, held a press conference, took photographs 

and a video, wrote reports and celebrated the grand opening with 

music and a ceremonial ribbon cutting. 

“This is a good project, it is practical and connected with daily 

life”, said teacher and project leader Graham Gardner. He admits, 

that it wasn’t always easy to keep motivation amongst the students 

high as a serious project like this isn’t all action, but the more the 

day of the installation neared, the more engaged the youngsters 

became. With experiences like this young people learn that they 

are capable of making positive changes in the community. 

This Autumn the 3rd step will be realized. At the moment 

ICSZ doesn’t have any further concrete plans, but perhaps future 

solar projects are possible. 

The Youth Solar Project 



SunClass+: The Project 

Simply, economically and step-by-step, schools can build up their 

own solar power plant. With the construction of a photo-voltaic 

power plant Greenpeace Switzerland supports schools, that see 

the use of solar energy as a real chance for our future and integrate 

it in their daily learning. 

With sunclass+ the Youth Solar Project aims at introducing as 

many high school students and teachers as possible to solar energy. 

It enables them to mount a solar power plant on the roof of their 

school. In this way solar energy is made visible to young people. 

It also makes them think about how wasteful existing practices 

are, and they can search their schools for energy-devouring 

sources in what is called an ‘energy hunt’. It begs the question, is 

it possible to save as much power as that being generated by the 

new solar power plant? If the answer is yes, a ‘virtual’ solar panel 

has been created: that is, for the money saved, it may thus be possible 

to finance another solar panel. 

The project does not end after building the first solar panel. 

The school ensures that for at least three years, one panel a year 

is added on until the solar system reaches a capacity of 1 kW. By 

extending the solar-power plant, electricity-consumption and 

solar energy will remain a topic of interest and discussion for several 

years. 

Every school in Switzerland can afford to take part in the project. 

The starter kit—a small functional solar system with a display 

device developed by young people—is co-financed by the Youth 

Solar Project. The school is then meant to provide the financial 

means required for the further extension of the power plant. 

Retze Koen, is a Dutch national, ex-naval officer and teacher. 

He has lived in Switzerland since 1989 and has worked 

with the YSP since 1997. 

In May 1998, Greenpeace Switzerland started the Youth Solar Project (YSP). It aims to give young people a chance 

to participate actively in supporting solar energy and promoting a future-oriented energy supply. Not only photovoltaic, 

but also thermal systems and solar cookers (mainly in developing countries) can be constructed by children 

and young adults. So far (May 2005), more than 100 solar systems have been built in Switzerland. 

In order to benefit from the technical and financial support provided by the Youth Solar Project, the school must 

generally meet the following requirements: 

Young people must actively take part in building and installing the power plant. 

During the construction stage, the project must be promoted in the media. 

Solar energy must be integrated in the schoolwork. 

Important: 

This project has been developed for Swiss schools and youth groups. Occasionally the YSP can support projects 

abroad. This article is mainly meant to present an idea. However, the YSP is also part of the international 

Greenpeace Youth campaign Solar Generation: So far 13 countries take part in it. Some of them are starting similar 

projects like the YSP. 

If you want to know more (in English), please visit: www.solargeneration.org 

For more information (in German) about the YSP, www.jugendsolarprojekt.ch 

Solar Project 

35



Plagiarism: ethics, detection, 

sanctions 

In part two of his investigation, Grant Millard considers 

some more important aspects 

Plagiarism has become a global problem on a vast scale and as 

technology becomes more sophisticated and information even 

more accessible, schools and universities will need to tackle the 

issue on several fronts. 

International schools have not been immune to this problem: 

in part one (is Vol 7 Issue 3) Root Causes and the need for better 

Instructional Design were discussed. Here educating students 

about the Ethics of Learning and the difficulties of Detection 

and Sanctions will be considered. 

The ethics of learning 

Addressing plagiarism in schools relates to the ethics of learning. 

The proposal is that schools combine a ‘code of honor’ for students, 

and a deliberate learning programme so that students are 

taught how to acknowledge and cite sources correctly when 

undertaking writing and research. 

The code of honor should be a series of explicit agreements 

which students would be expected to adhere to in relation to ‘academic 

honesty’ and integrity as it applies to issues such as plagiarism, 

sharing information in tests, cheating, copying homework or 

others’ assignments, or taking credit for work not done by the student. 

Sanctions for failing to follow the student’s code of honor 

would, of course, need to be made clear to students and be consistent 

with the school’s overall student behaviour management 

procedures. Academic and cultural differences must also be considered 

As in many international schools, the International School of 

Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) has a very large ESL population with the 

level of proficiency in English varying considerably. Students from 

non-English speaking backgrounds with relatively limited English 

language skills often struggle to meet the demands expected of 

them by classroom teachers. Added to this is the pressure students 

‘Addressing plagiarism in 

schools relates to the ethics 

of learning. The proposal 

is that schools combine a “code 

of honor” for students, and a 

deliberate learning programme 

so that students are taught how 

to acknowledge and cite 

sources correctly when undertaking 

writing and research.’ 



‘On a more practical and 

classroom based level, teachers 

in all disciplines need to 

take on the responsibility of 

including in their teaching 

programmes specific lessons 

on the correct procedures for 

students to cite sources and 

develop bibliographies to 

accurately list their sources.’ 

receive from home to compete on an even footing with their 

English-speaking classmates. 

Interestingly, while there is an element of competition driving 

these students to become peer competitive with native English 

speakers, in some cultures there is also a communal and collaborative 

approach to assignments and homework tasks. The cultural 

context can make plagiarism difficult to combat. 

For example in Confucian influenced Korea, copying is traditionally 

seen as a sign of respect to the original artist, poet or 

writer (Borden, 2003). Copying a master is not seen in the same 

sense as plagiarism and using the ideas or work of another without 

acknowledging the original sources is not regarded in the same 

light as stealing. Mimicking and copying are respected aspects of 

learning in traditional Korean society. These practices have significant 

implications on our attitudes towards plagiarism amongst 

students from such traditional societies in international schools. 

For some universities the notion of an ‘honor system’ has been 

in place for a number of years: the University of Virginia’s Honor 

System has been in place since 1842, and it mandates that if a student 

is caught lying, cheating, or stealing and found guilty, he or 

she is expelled permanently (Dean, 2001). Clearly we are not 

confronting a new problem but the extent to which students have 

the opportunity to access and use material dishonestly has 

increased enormously. 

At the University of Delaware for example, students are given 

a booklet on responsible computing. Celia C Lyon, director of user 

services in information in technologies at the college believes that 

‘it’s very important that students understand that an electronic 

community requires people to behave in a responsible way’ 

(Mendels, 2000). She is not only referring to appropriate manners, 

protocols and procedures but also the responsible use of electronic 

information sources. 

Others are more pointed in their belief that educational institutions 

have a responsibility to ensure students are taught to use 

Plagiarism 

37



‘Schools and colleges need to 

ensure that their teachers and 

academic staff have powerful 

and user-friendly software to 

scan student work effectively 

for incidents of plagiarism. 

There is a wide range of software 

available to help teachers 

detect plagiarism.’ 

these resources appropriately. ‘The extent of your responsibility is 

commensurate with the extent of your reach’, said Lowell W. 

Monke, a former high school technology teacher and now an 

assistant professor at Grinnell College in Iowa. ‘If we are going to 

give kids these very powerful instruments that reach around the 

world, we have a real responsibility to teach them how to use 

them beneficially’ (Mendels, 2000). 

On a more practical and classroom based level, teachers in all 

disciplines need to take on the responsibility of including in their 

teaching programmes specific lessons on the correct procedures 

for students to cite sources and develop bibliographies to accurately 

list their sources. Schools cannot assume that students are 

well-versed in these procedures and will automatically use them 

when undertaking research assignments. 

Additionally, teachers should direct students to resources 

which simplify this often complex exercise. Ironically, when one 

considers how the internet has contributed to the explosion of 

plagiarism, it is through sites such as ‘noodlebib tools’, a bibliographical 

tool found on the net, that the mysteries of correct citation 

have been greatly reduced. 

Detection and sanction 

Schools and colleges need to ensure that their teachers and academic 

staff have powerful and user-friendly software to scan student 

work effectively for incidents of plagiarism. There is a wide 

range of software available to help teachers detect plagiarism. 

Many commercial sites offer free trial versions of their software 

while some schools and colleges are creating pathfinders to locate 

effective detection software. ISKL, for example, has recently purchased 

access to a service known as ‘turnitin.com’ as its major 

detection instrument. 

There will be a phased introduction to this on-line detection 

service and currently high school departments are receiving onsite 

training in setting up and using the program for their classes. 

Ironically the ultimate plan is to train students to submit their 

work to the system to check for plagiarism prior to forwarding it 

to teachers for grading. 

Another component of the detection and sanctions platform is 

supporting educators with an appropriate Acceptable Users 

Policy (AUP), such that it specifically addresses the issues of plagiarism 

and copyright of material downloaded from the internet. 

Administrators need to support the classroom programs with 

clear definitions of what constitutes plagiarism and information 

relating to copyright restrictions. 

At ISKL the issue of plagiarism comes under the heading of 

‘Academic Dishonesty’ in our Student Behavior Guidelines and 

there are specific sanctions to deal with such incidents. Clearly 

established sanctions consistent with existing school behavior 

policies need to be developed to reinforce these aspects of inappropriate 

use of technology. These need to be enforced and given 

an appropriate profile to ensure that the students and broader 



school community are fully aware of the responsible access and 

use of electronic information. 

For educational institutions to tackle plagiarism effectively 

there clearly needs to be a broad approach which addresses not 

only the root causes but works at developing in students an 

awareness of the ethics of learning. Educators must help students 

to realise that existing reference sources, whether electronic or 

hard copy, are the intellectual property of the legitimate authors 

or creators. 

Our goal as learners is to use these ideas, concepts, processes or 

pieces of knowledge and to reflect, adapt or apply these to suit 

our needs; while at the same time acknowledging their sources to 

legitimize our own credibility as learners and scholars. 

Originality comes through the adaptation or extension of existing 

knowledge and students need this concept to be reinforced as 

a key component of their ethics of learning. 

Grant Millard is High School Assistant Principal at The 

International School of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

Bibliography 

Baard, M. (2001, August 30). Wireless PC’s :Not just for cheats. 

Retrieved April 4, 2004, from http://www.wired.com 

Borden, J. (2003). Confucius Meets Piaget (Revised ed.). Seoul, 

Korea: Author. (Original work published 2000 

Bowman, V. (2002, March). The Campaign Against Plagiarism: 

Academic Initiatives. LIRT, 12. 

Dean, K. (2001, August 9). Plagiarists Booted; Others Wait. 

Retrieved April 6, 2004, from http://www.wired.com 

Dornin, R. (1999, November 21). Internet Watchdog Could Stop 

Collegiate Copycat. Retrieved October 14, 2004, from CNN Web 

site: http://www.cnn.com 

Friedman, E. A., & McGrath, B. (1998, September 30). The 

Internet isn’t a Threat to Students. Retrieved April 4, 2004, from 

The Archives Web site: http://www.edweek.org 

Mendels, P. (2000, February 16). Online Ethics Should Begin in the 

Classroom. Retrieved April 14, 2004, from The York Times Web 

site: http://www.nytimes.com 

Norr, H. (1999, September 9). Homework Copycats Prosper on the 

Net. Retrieved April 6, 2004, from San Francisco Chronicle 

Web site: http://www.sfgate.com 

‘For educational institutions 

to tackle plagiarism effectively 

there clearly needs to be a 

broad approach which addresses 

not only the root causes 

but works at developing in 

students an awareness of the 

ethics of learning. Educators 

must help students to realise 

that existing reference sources, 

whether electronic or hard 

copy, are the intellectual 

property of the legitimate 

authors or creators.’ 

Plagiarism 

39

Maurice Carder reviews 

World English: A Study of its Development 

by Janina Brutt-Griffler, Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters. 2002 

English is the language of instruction in the great majority of 

international schools, and it is clearly important for us to know 

why this is so. If we know where we have come from we may be 

better able to plan our route to the future. Brutt-Griffler clarifies 

many misconceptions about how English spread to reach its present 

level of dominance, and also makes interesting points about 

the status of present day speakers of English that may helpfully 

cast some light on how we should proceed in developing appropriate 

staffing and instructional models in international schools. 

She opens the book with a poem (from Kamala Das, 1997:10) 

which could be seen to characterize many international school 

students: 

I am an Indian, very brown, born in 

Malabar, I speak three languages, write in 

Two dream in one. Don’t write in English, they said, 

English is not your mother-tongue. Why not leave 

Me alone, critics, friends, visiting cousins, 

Everyone of you? Why not let me speak in 

Any language I like? The language I speak 

Becomes mine, its distortions, its queernesses, 

All mine, mine alone. It is half English, half 

Indian, funny perhaps, but it is honest, 

It is as human as I am human, don’t 

You see? It voices my joys, my longings, my 

Hopes, and it is useful to me… 

It also highlights the paradox of English in the world today – it has 

spread from being ‘owned’ by the original ‘mother-tongue speakers’ 

in England to the some two billion people who are largely 

bilingual and who are equally at home in English and their original 

mother tongue. Brutt-Griffler goes on to quote Chinua 

Achebe (1994:433): 

‘The price a world language must be prepared to pay is submission 

to many different kinds of use… The African writer should aim 

to use English in a way that brings out his message best without 

altering the language to the extent that its value as a medium of 

international exchange will be lost… He should aim at fashioning 

out an English which is at once universal and able to carry 

the weight of my African experience. But it will have to be a new 

English, still in full communion with its ancestral home but 

altered to suit its new African surroundings.’ 

English has thus now reached a stage where it is becoming liberated 

from the control of its mother-tongue native speakers. There 

is therefore no need for native-speaker custodians. Brutt-Griffler 

quotes Smith (Discourse across cultures. 1987. New York: Prentice 

Hall) who outlines several essential characteristics of an international 

language: 

‘1 It implies no essential relationship between speaking the language 

and assimilating an associated culture. There is no necessity 

for second language speakers to internalize the cultural 

norms of the mother tongue speakers of a language to use it 

effectively. 

2 An international language becomes denationalized. It is not the 

property of its mother tongue speakers. 

3 Since English as an International Language plays a purely functional 

role, the goal of teaching it is to facilitate communication 

of learners’ ideas and culture in an English medium.’ 

Those of us who have taught in international schools for some 



Book reviews 

time have probably battled with these issues: British or American 

English? Which model to teach? Which spelling to use? Which 

literature to teach? Brutt-Griffler’s book points us in directions 

which demand we re-phrase the question, and by the end of the 

book we come to understand the active historical role of nonmother 

tongue English speakers, both teachers and learners, in 

the development of World English. 

One issue that is fascinating is her exposé of the falseness of 

much that has been written about ‘linguistic imperialism’. This 

hypothesis claimed to show how certain powers, especially the 

British, had imposed English in their colonies to the detriment of 

native languages. Brutt-Griffler shows how the British positively 

encouraged the teaching of the ‘vernacular’ languages and only 

wanted a small group to be literate in English so that they could 

act as go-betweens and ‘middle managers’. 

In fact colonised peoples used English as an anti-colonial tool: 

they realised the power that language ownership confers, and 

became fluent in English in order to use it against their masters. 

One only has to look at the example of Gandhi to comprehend 

the truth of this. In fact the only example of a deliberate policy of 

teaching a whole colony English is that of the USA in the 

Philippines. 

The attitude of the British towards educating the colonised is 

shown in the following extracts (from page 67): ‘book learning … 

lowered [Africans’] usefulness for work,’ and made them ‘uppish’ 

and ‘conceited’ – by which was meant that they became ‘disinclined’ 

to work for the European (Clark, 1905). 

Cecil Rhodes said “…a dangerous class is being evolved. These 

preachers … and scholars, after the education they have received, 

feel it undignified to return to manual labour, consequently the 

country is becoming gradually infested with unemployed men, 

who will in the end develop into agitators of the most pernicious 

type”. 

English had thus long been seen by the colonised as constituting 

a means of gaining more lucrative work, and many British 

colonial administrators considered that making English available 

to the colonised was a recipe for revolt. 

Brutt-Griffler continues to develop her premise that ‘there is 

need of a paradigm shift from monolingualism to bilingualism 

reflecting a historical shift in language use’ (page 110). This ties 

in with Romaine’s point (Bilingualism: 1996) that bilingualism is 

taken as central to processes in language evolution, as monolingualism 

represents a special case as a condition pertaining to a 

minority of the world’s population – a point that needs much reiteration 

to those many monolingual English speaking international 

school teachers. 

International schools are now places full of bilingual speakers – 

the majority of them students. Brutt-Griffler shows how, in fact, 

there is a potential majority of bilingual teachers whose expertise 

is not – yet – being drawn on. The now well-known cognitive and 

metalinguistic advantages of bilingualism are becoming institutionalised 

in some international schools (such as this reviewer’s) 

and this is a trend that is sure to increase. 

Maurice Carder is Head of the ESL and Mother Tongue 

Department at the Vienna International School. He is a principal 

examiner for IB Language A2 Higher Level – English; a moderator 

for IB MYP language B. 

41



Coping with bad behaviour 

Two approaches to the effective management of the 

challenging student 

Is there any teacher who has not considered ‘What will I do if I 

lose control of this situation?’ Indeed most of us, particularly in 

our early years of teaching, have had to ask for help to deal with 

a particular class or child. As an administrator I had to deal with 

a great many different kinds of discipline problems and the 

teacher stress that resulted. 

I remember a humanities teacher, with 20 years’ experience, 

who came to confess that he had, as he said, ‘lost it’ with one particular 

class. Control had suddenly gone. There was the brilliant 

Japanese art teacher who was desolated to have to ask me to rescue 

a class from chaos. And, sadly, there was the badly-needed 

mathematics teacher who just gave up in despair after half-a-year. 

These two books, in different ways give much-needed support 

to the teacher who, in ‘the gritty reality of the classroom’ needs 

help – which could be any of us! 

Managing Challenging Children 

by Gerard Gordon 

Prim-Ed, first published 1996 

ISBN 1 86400 302 2 

Gerard Gordon is the founder and Training Director of Managing 

Challenging Children, an Australian-based consultancy, and has 

wide experience in work with the social, emotional and behavioural 

problems of children. He recognises that: 

‘effective behaviour management can mean the difference 

between a long and satisfying career, or a life of constant 

stress and worry leading to early retirement – or possibly 

worse.’ 

His focus is not just on the child, but on the actions and selfbelief 

of the teacher. His thesis is that effective teachers achieve 

success with difficult children because they believe that they can. 

In other words the behaviour of the teacher is as important as the 

behaviour of the child. So, through a series of lucid chapters, 

advice is given as to how a teacher can develop the skills and 

strategies to achieve that change in perspective. 

Gordon sees almost all the obstacles which limit teacher effectiveness 

as classroom managers as either emotional or mental. 

These include nervousness, self-doubt, self-recrimination, poor 

motivation, self-discipline or lack of enthusiasm. 

The value of Gordon’s book lies in his practical advice and the 

humour and understanding with which strategies and suggestions 

for action are made. There are individual chapters on punishment, 

rewards, and what he calls ‘choice driven teaching’. This 

means that a teacher is always responsible for their own emotional 

climate and will not be forced by inappropriate behaviour 

in their class into ‘losing it’. 

‘effective teachers give themselves “wait time” to make sure 

they don’t follow their “gut reaction” because they know 

that gut reaction is what the child is after’. 

This book offers no magic wand, but tried and tested models that 

are sensible and specific. It will be of help to the experienced 

teacher as well as being invaluable to the novice. 



Behaviour Management 

Toolkit: 

A Manual of Good Ideas and Strategies 

for Behaviour Management in Schools 

by David Koutsoukis 

Prim-Ed, 2004 

ISBN 1 920962 16 1 

David Koutsoukis says in his preface that he has spent the majority 

of his time as an ‘all-day-every-day teacher’ and his book 

reflects this practical approach. Here is a wide selection of behaviour 

management ideas, strategies and resources ready for use in 

schools. 

The clearly-laid out materials have been divided into what 

Koutsoukis calls ‘dimensions’. Each represents a different behaviour 

management focus and provides ready-made ‘tools’ or models 

for easy use or adaptation. The ‘dimensions’ covered are: 

● Creating a caring and safe and positive environment. 

● Pro-active preventative strategies. 

● Developing positive relationships. 

● Clear guidelines of acceptable behaviour, rules and consequences. 

● Routines and Rules. 

● Implementing a behavioural management plan. 

● Support services infrastructure – pastoral care for students 

and staff. 

● Data collection, review and planning for improvement. 

This is a very comprehensive checklist of what is needed for the 

establishment of an efficient and holistic approach to behaviour 

management. The models offered are obviously not applicable for 

every school situation, but they are flexible enough to provide a 

time-saving basis for action. For administrators, the ‘toolkit’ has a 

wealth of material for staff discussion and possible development. 

These two books, which consider behaviour management from 

different angles, provide a most interesting and complimentary 

approach to a problem which is of interest to every administrator 

and class teacher. 

Both are highly recommended. 


Book reviews 

43





Celebrations 2005 

Multicultural religious festivals that schools may wish to celebrate. 

Date Festival Faith/Country 

September 

Sept/Oct Harvest Festival Christian 

1 Night Journey of the Prophet Muslim 

7 Ganesh Chaturthi birthday celebrations Hindu 

11 Ethiopian New Year’s Day Rastafarian 

19 Night of Forgiveness prayer and fasting Muslim 

20 – 26 Shobun No Hi graves visited Japanese 

21 Autumn Equinox Pagan 

October 

4 – 5 Rosh Hashanah Jewish New Year Jewish 

4 – 3 Nov Ramadan month of fasting Muslim 

10 -18 Navaratri/Durga festival of 9 nights Hindu 

11 Chung Yuan festival of hungry ghosts Chinese 

13 Yom Kippur day of attonement Jewish 

18 Pavarana last day of the rains Buddhist 

18 – 26 Sukkot Harvest festival Jewish 

20 Anniversary of the birth of the Bab Baha’i 

23 – 30 Inter Faith week of Prayer for Peace Inter-faith 

31 Samhain/Halloween Pagan 

November 

1 All Saint’s Day Christian 

1 Divali Hindu New Year Hindu 

1 Divali Sikh Sikh 

2 All Souls’Day remembrance of the dead Christian 

3 Eid ul Fitr end of Ramadan Muslim 

12 Anniversary of birth of Bahua’llah Baha’i 

13 Remembrance Sunday National 

15 Birthday of Guru Nanak Sikh 

27 Advent Sunday, 4 Sundays before Christmas Christian 

30 St Andrew’s Day – Scotland National 

December 

21 Yule winter solstice Pagan 

24 Christmas Eve Christian 

25 Christmas Day Christian 

26 –Jan 2 Hanukah rededication of the Temple Jewish 

31 Omisoko preparation for the new year Japanese 

31 Hogmanay New Year’s Eve Scotland 

Information taken from the ‘Shap Calendar of Religious Festivals’ (ISBN:0268 –2451) 

The calendar can be viewed on line at www.namss.org.uk/fests.htm 

Full information about festivals from the major world religions can be found in Festivals in World Religions, 

price £21.50 from: 

The Shap Working Party c/o The National Society’s RE Centre, 36 Causton Street, London SW1P 4AU, UK 

Celebrations 

45



November 

17 – 20 

ECIS November Conference 

and AGM 

World Forum Convention Center 

The Hague, The Netherlands 

Events Manager 

ECIS Secretariat, UK 

Tel: +44 1730 268244 

Fax: +44 1730 267914 

Email: conference@ecis.org 

http//www.ecis.org 

Pre-Conference Workshops 

Thursday 17 November 2005 

The Sense of Humor 

Jim Winter 

Upside-Down Brilliance: The Visual- 

Spatial Learner 

Linda Kreger Silverman 

ICT for Teaching Probability and 

Statistics 

Douglas Butler 

Integrating IT and Understanding in 

the Content Area 

Derek Harwell 

Fun and Learning Through Space 

Themed Activities 

Anne Brumfitt 

CERN and The Top Ten Mysteries of 

The Universe 

Rolf Landua 

ECIS Water Project – Wetlands and 

Water Management 

Ted Hughes, Michael DiSpezio, Rick 

Harwood 

Learning Focused Collaboration and 

Teacher Leadership 

Debbie Welch, Ann Straub 

The Learning Lens: Transforming 

Schools by Focusing on Student 

Learning 

Kevin Bartlett, Bill Gerritz, Pam 

Harper, Robert Landau, Pat O’Brien 

CPR/AED Instructor Workshop 

Heather Melhus, Renee McCormack 



Events 2005/06 

CIS Accreditation 1: The Team Visit 

Officers of the CIS Accreditation 

Team 

CIS Accreditation 2: Going for 

Accreditation 

Officers of the CIS Accreditation 

Team 

Developmental Continuums: 

Providing a Common Language for 

Instruction, Assessment and 

Reporting 

Bonnie Campbell Hill, Betsy Suits, 

Patrick Lee 

CIS International Admission and 

Guidance 

Nancy Maly, Tom LePere 

Follett Software Company’s Destiny 

Library and Textbook Management 

Solution 

Jennifer Nelson 

Building Effective Leadership Teams 

and Developing Data-Driven 

Decision-Making Skills 

Maenette Benham, Susan Printy 

Great Books Shared Inquiry Leader 

Two-Day Workshop – Level One 

Susan Galbraith 

Teaching for Understanding in K6: 

Problems, Pitfalls and Pleasures 

Martin Skelton 

Essential Practices for Department 

Heads and Team Leaders 

Bambi Betts 

Teacher Pay for Performance 

Clark Kirkpatrick 

2006 

January 

9 - 12 

CIS Recruitment Centre 

London, UK 

Jim McKay, CIS Secretariat, UK 

Tel: +44 1730 263131 

Fax: +44 1730 268913 

Email: jimmckay@cois.org 

http//www.cois.org 

February 

20 - 23 

CIS/ISS Recruitment Centre 

Vancouver, Canada 


Tel: +44 1730 263131 

Fax: +44 1730 268913 



March 

3 – 5 

Early Childhood Conference 

St John’s International School 

Waterloo, Belgium 

Pat Dickinson 

Email: patdickinson@tiscali.be 

April 

20 - 23 

ECIS April Conference for 

Administrators 

Palau de Congressos de Catalunya and 

Hotel Rey Juan Carlos 

Barcelona, Spain 

Events Manager 

ECIS Secretariat, UK 

Tel: +44 1730 268244 

Fax: +44 1730 267914 

Email: conference@ecis.org 

www.ecis.org 

May 

4 - 7 


London, UK 


Tel: +44 1730 263131 

Fax: +44 1730 268913 



June 

9 - 12 


George Mason University 


Tel: +44 1730 263131 

Fax: +44 1730 268913 



Events 

47





From the Secretariats 

On the Move: New Directors 

and Heads of Schools 

Ashton, Bruce 

Head 

Lower School, International School of Amsterdam 

Baird, David 

Head 

Prem Tinsulanonda International School, Thailand 

Bastable, John 

Head 

Deira International School, Dubai 

Bradley, Jeff 

Headmaster 

TASIS Lugano, Switzerland 

Chandler, John R. 

Head 

Robert College, Istanbul, Turkey 

Clinton, Philip 

Superintendant 

Khartoum American School 

Davis, Malcolm 

Director 

International School of Bremen, Germany 

Doran, James. Head 

TASIS, England 

Edmunds, Christopher 

Head 

New Beijing City International School, China 

Fisher, Geoffrey 

Principal 

Kodaikanal International School, India 

Haverty, Kevin 

Director 

American International School, Vienna Austria 

Hudson, Philip 

Principal 

Primary School, British School, New Dehli, India 

Moss, Jaap 

Director 

International Sector, Stichting Het Ryinlands Lyceum, Netherlands 

Leiblich, Paul 

Principal 

Lyford Cay School, Bahamas. 

Mawby, Hugh 

Head 

St Michael’s International School, Kobe, Japan. 

Murray, Stephen 

Head 

Antwerp International School, Belgium 

Peacock, Lesley 

Middle High School Principal 

United Nations International School, Hanoi, Vietnam 

Rose, David. Director 

Woodside Park International School, London, UK 

Schaedler, Thomas 

Director 

Berlin Brandenburg International School, Germany 

Spradling, Richard 

Director 

American School of the Hague, Netherlands. 

Thompson, Michael 

Director 

Mercedes Benz International School, Pune, India 

Turnbull, Brian 

CEO, Principal 

Westwood International School, Gaborone, Botswana 

Tyro, Nadine 

Director 

Sharja American School, United Arab Emirates 

Whelen, Elaine 

Director 

Kabiri International School, Uganda. 

Zielinski, Linda 

Junior Principal 

Munich International School, Germany 

49



Leadership Through 

Partnership 

Andrea Rohmert reports on the Tokyo workshop 

Delegates from South Korea, Singapore, and from various 

parts of Japan gathered for a two and a half day workshop to 

explore and to strengthen the most important partnership 

which exists between the Head of a school and the Board 

Chair. 

The event started off with a reception and a working dinner 

at the Radisson Miyako Hotel Tokyo, followed by a couple of 

intense working days at Tokoyo International School. Host 

Patrick Newell, Founder and Director of TIS, extended a 

warm welcome to all. 

The workshop was mainly facilitated by Alan Conkey, CIS 

Senior Board Consultant, and Richard Tangye, Executive 

Director, CIS. 

Topics addressed were the roles and responsibilities of the 

Board Chair and the Head, qualities of a good Head and a 

good Chair, effective meetings and yearly planning, decision 

making and one of the key components – the evaluation of the 

Head, the entire Board and the Board Chair. 



From the Secretariats 

The session on Communication, facilitated by Andrea 

Rohmert, CIS Executive Officer, entitled Permission – 

Creating a Culture of Influence, was intended to give a taste 

of non-verbal communication and Group Leadership 

Dynamics as effective communication is the key to success no 

matter where your road takes you. 

The teams (Head and Board Chair) were asked to present 

their goals to the group based on already existing knowledge 

and implementing some fresh ideas from the workshop. It was 

agreed that time seemed to fly by, and it was time well spent 

out of the busy schedule of everybody attending. CIS extends 

a very warm thank you to Patrick Newell and his staff for 

making us feel so welcome! 

Mark your calendar for the next LTP workshop, to be held 

in Paris, 23–25 September 2005. On-line registration is available 

on www.cois.org 

See you there! 

51

and finally 

and finally… Miracle Workers 

Sunday nights I lie awake and wait for sleep 

like the last student in my class to arrive. 

My grading is done, my lesson plans are in order, 

and still she wanders the hallways like Lower School music. 

I’m a teacher. This is what I do. 

Like a painter paints, or sculptor sculpts, 

a preacher preaches, and a teacher teaches. 

This is what we do. 

Experts in the art of explanation: 

We know the difference between questions 

to answer and questions to ask. 

What do you think? 

If two boys are fighting, I break it up. 

If two girls are fighting, I wait until it’s over 

and then take what’s left to the nurse’s office. 

I’m not your mother, or your father, 

or your jailer, or your torturer, 

or your biggest fan in the whole wide world 

even if sometimes I am all of these things. 

I know you can do these things I make you do. 

That’s why I make you do them. 

I’m your teacher. This is what I do. 

A homeless man asked me for change 

on the street one night when my pockets were empty. 

“Come on man, it’s Christmas,” he pleaded, 

and I knew I had become a teacher for better or worse 

when I spun on my heels 

and barked: What did I just say? 

In the quiet hour of the dawn 

I write assignment sheets and print them 

without spell checking them. Because I’m a teacher, 

and teachers don’t make spelling mistakes. 

So yes, as a matter of fact, the new dress cod 

will apply to all members of the 5th, 6th, and 78th grades; 

and if you need an extension on your 55-paragraph essays 

examining The Pubic Wars from an hysterical perspective 

you may have only until January 331st. 

I trust that won’t be a problem for anyone? 

When my students ask if they’re going to be responsible for this 

I say, If not you, then who? 

You think my generation will be responsible? 

We got you into this mess, now you are our only hope. 

And when they ask if they’ll be tested on this I say, 

Every single day of your lives. 

Once, I put a pencil on the desk of a student 

who was digging in her backpack for a pencil. 

She never noticed, and when I was on the other side of the room 

she raised her hand and asked if she could borrow a pencil. 

In the name of Socrates, I intoned, 

I declare that you already possess everything you will ever need! 

Shazzam! 

“Mr. Mali,” she said, “why are you so –” 

Then she saw the pencil on her desk and screamed. 

“How did you do that?” she asked “It’s a miracle!” 

I just gave you what I knew you needed. 

But you can be anything you want to be. 

You are the miracle. 

I’m a just teacher. 

And that’s what we do. 

Taylor Mali, poet, spent nine years as a teacher and now makes his 

living as a spoken-word artist. He presented some of his work and ideas 

at the November ECIS Conference in Nice in 2004 and wrote this 

poem specially for is – thank you Taylor. 

taylor@taylormali.com

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