Last week our Quantum Learning Site Facilitators concluded their first training cycle for the Taylor’s University school of Education Pre-graduates. Participants were the students who are currently completing their internship at our school and our sister school in KL. Our partnership with Taylor’s University has been ever growing since the start of the school in 2015. However, this is quite a significant milepost in our relationship and a mutually beneficial one for both institutions. The university students have received training on how to facilitate learning most effectively, using the QL system, on a scale never seen before. The feedback that we received from both their mentors and the students themselves has been overwhelmingly positive. The end result is that the future students of these post-graduates will be taught better and therefore learn more. What an amazing outcome that we have been able to contribute to in this manner! I have witnessed all the training sessions and have to say that our QL Site Facilitators Ms. Pavi, Ms. Valerie and Ms. Patricia did an amazing job teaching those young talents how to use the QL system. Thank you for the hard work and the creativity you put in! A special word of gratitude for Ms. Charlie who supported them technically and in other ways for each session. A final thank you to Ms. ST for making this all happen and being the driving force behind it all!

Staying on the topic of our collaboration with Taylor’s School of Education; this week I was invited by Taylor’s University to deliver a guest lecture on the topic ‘How Do We Raise Them Ready?’ As the title suggests, the talk set out how we can raise our students, the adults of the future, in such a way that they can be successful and resourceful as learners and as professionals.

When thinking about what our young people need to develop, we need to examine what the future holds for them. In other words, what is it that we are raising them ready for?

I set out that we have to take a number of factors into account. First of all, the rate in which technology has brought about change is unprecedented in recent history. This is particularly noticeable in the area of employment. When I started out as a teacher, a job like ‘social media manager’ did not exist yet and now computers and robots are replacing people at a faster rate. For example; automation is reducing the manufacturing workforce in the USA at a staggering 1000 jobs a day.
However, this does not amount to a huge increase of unemployment as other, more complex jobs seem to emerge instead.

Advancing technology has also globalised the world. Borders have virtually disappeared as we can witness events across the world and communicate with anyone at any given time. This will also impact employment as recruitment and collaboration can happen internationally with fewer limitations than ever before. The last factor I would like to highlight for now is the phenomenon of ‘Qualification Inflation’. Research suggests that over the next decade the global number of degree holders will almost double in size. To summarise, in the future life will change at a rapid speed, these changes will be unpredictable. The future will also be global, distances will virtually disappear. The future of the workforce will change immensely and more and more people will hold degrees.

To add to this picture, the children of today will be dealing with a number of global challenges; overpopulation, climate change, pandemics and pollution are threatening the way we live and will determine the shape of the future.

In my next newsletter, I will talk about what that means for parents and teachers as we need to raise them ready for all of this uncertainty. It will come of no surprise to you that the way we teach and what we teach forms a big part of the answer. The International Early Years Curriculum and The International Primary Curriculum are designed to do just that: raise them ready!

In today’s assemblies, Ms. Nienke shared the beautiful artwork that was created for the Ocean Week Art Tsunami. So many of the children had uploaded videos in which they explained how they had created their pieces and what their thoughts and feelings were when it comes to protecting our oceans. They talked about being ‘at one with nature’ and sharing this world together.

In one of the videos the young artist turned to the camera and said: “I believe in you”, clearly indicating there is a trust that together we can solve the problems that our oceans are faced with. Another child produced the beautiful statement that “all sea creatures, from a tiny shrimp to a big whale, deserve to be safe and protected”. Our children showed a great understanding, communicated so clearly and produced some beautiful artwork. A great success overall, congratulations to all participants!