Agency
Through authentic and relevant inquiry-based learning experiences, community members are co-designers, transferring and applying their understanding. As educators it is critical that we nurture agency, empowering learners to explore and pursue passions while developing them as self-directed lifelong learners. Building learners’ agency, self-advocacy and ability to take responsibility for their own learning are transferable life skills.
Mindfulness and Growth Mindset
Growth mindset drives motivation and achievement by allowing students to recognise opportunities and potential. Mindfulness organically engages a growth mindset when mindfulness is put into practice by acknowledging what you’re learning while it’s happening. Mindfulness builds student-teacher connections and a greater sense of relatedness and belonging in the classroom.
Communication and connection
Belonging to a community ensures students are engaged, proactive and empathetic. Throughout the global pandemic we have needed to embrace the use of technology in the physical and virtual classroom. Technology plays an integral support role in education. However, the importance of human interactions and a sense of community is paramount to both the developmental growth of students and education itself.
Community
A community raises a child, and with the engagement and support of family communities, opportunities for growth and developing connections are strengthened. A school’s strongest foundations are the relationships they are built upon, whether it be between teachers and learners, colleagues, school staff, guardians and/or parents. Parents must feel valued and be actively involved in supporting and celebrating their child’s educational journey.
Lifelong learners
Lifelong learners treat mistakes and challenges as part of the learning process, it provides an opportunity for problem solving and challenges. As an educator, learning whether connected to education or not allows for further development and collaboration, discovering creative teaching methods and approaches to learning.
Leadership
Authentic leadership takes a proactive interest in the people and their journeys, the role, and the mission and vision school. Learners, whether they be the students or the staff, need ownership over their learning journey and to feel they have an investment in following their passions and inquiring deeper.
A leader must model their core values, including their approach to learning. Agency, growth mindset, communication and connection, community and being a lifelong learner are attributes I attempt to model in my leadership. A team should be a positive, collaborative working environment where all community members feel they have a constructive voice and work towards a common goal.
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Bangkok, Thailand
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