Learning
Holistic Learning Programme and K-12 Curriculum
UWCSEA's Holistic Learning Programme
The five interlinking elements of the UWCSEA learning programme are: academics, activities, outdoor education, personal and social education, and service. While students do not spend an equal amount of time on each of these elements we place equal value on them. The programme strives to give each student age-appropriate opportunities to develop qualities and skills that we have identified as necessary for them to fulfil our educational goal—and therefore our mission.
As members of the global UWC community who are committed to a shared mission, we are compelled to work together towards a peaceful and sustainable future. In order to make a meaningful contribution, our community strives to understand complex concepts like peace and sustainability, by unpacking some of the key concepts held within them.
These often entail complex and difficult conversations, because building positive peace doesn’t necessarily mean avoiding conflict, and sustainability is about much more than simply switching off lights and using recycled paper. To build a sustainable future, we understand that our students will need to know how to think systemically, and to understand concepts like the circular economy, while balancing complex ideas around uniting people and cultures.
In a community as diverse as ours, which translates in a mirror of the complex globalised world we live in, our learning programme is carefully constructed to prepare our students to create a shared future which values diverse voices.
K-12 Concept-Based Curriculum
Our curriculum is concept-based which means it is centred around big ideas and concepts that transfer across time, place and situation. This transfer is critical to students being able to apply their learning in today's world and prepares them for an unknown future. This conceptual approach also supports students who are joining us from different countries, educational systems and backgrounds.
Our programme provides age-appropriate challenges which encourage our students to:
- learn to think independently, laterally and critically about the world
- form an understanding of sustainable development
- develop cultural awareness
- recognise complexity and the interconnectedness of many global issues
- lead and act with integrity in a globalised, rapidly changing world
Learning is organised around the development of transferable ideas (concepts), which may be disciplinary (narrow focus within a specific field or subject) or interdisciplinary (broad focus across multiple fields or subjects) and is designed to develop the knowledge, skills and understandings that will challenge our students to take responsibility for shaping a better world.
Watch the short video below which explains a concept-based curriculum.
Concept-based curriculum explained
So whilst knowledge and skill acquisition is vital, it is not the end goal in a concept-based learning environment. Instead, by using their knowledge and skill learning, students form and express conceptual understandings, which are able to transfer to new situations and contexts. This allows our students to apply critical thought in any situation, now or in the future.
This concept-based curriculum is shared across our campuses, and our professional development programme ensures our teachers are supported in developing their classroom practice in concept-based teaching and learning (CBTL).
Curriculum structure
We have a written curriculum in four of the five elements of our learning programme: academics, outdoor education, personal and social education, and service.
Our model for curriculum development at UWCSEA reflects a three-stage design process called ‘backward design.’ This means that we start with what we understand students should know at the end of their schooling, and work back from there. For each of the elements, our senior educators identified the desired attainment goals at the end of Grade 12, and worked backwards to kindergarten.
Our educators identified key concepts (which we call 'our Standards'), some of which are further broken down into 'Strands' and sub-strands to support learning pathways through the more complex disciplines. Each Standard has age-appropriate 'Conceptual Understandings' which are used by teachers to develop units of learning in each grade. By connecting each lesson to a larger Conceptual Understanding, our teachers create opportunities for students to demonstrate understanding or 'Benchmarks', in an age-appropriate way.
In the High School, the Standards, Conceptual Understandings and Benchmarks specifically take into account the requirements of the external examining bodies that set the IBDP examinations.
What this looks like in practice
Academics example:
Physics
Outdoor Education example: Expedition skills
