The Alexander School TaipeiSuccess In Learning

The Purpose of Education

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“The aim of education is to enable students to understand the world around them and the talents within them so that they can become fulfilled individuals and active, compassionate citizens.”

Sir Ken Robinson

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Organic Education• Health

Organic education promotes the development and well being of the whole student, intellectually, physically, spiritually, and socially.

• Ecology Organic education recognizes the vital interdependence of all of these aspects of

development, within each student and the community as a whole.

• Fairness Organic education cultivates the individual talents and potential of all students,

whatever their circumstances, ad respects the roles and responsibilities of those who work with them.

• Care Organic education creates optimum conditions for students’ development, based

on compassion, experience, and practical wisdom.

Sir Ken Robinson4

Educational Outcomes• Personal

Education should enable young people to engage with the world within them, as well as the world around them.

• Social Education should enable young people to become active and compassionate

citizens.

• Cultural Education should enable students to understand and appreciate their own

cultures and to respect the diversity of others.

• Economic Education should enable students to become economically responsible and

independent.

Sir Ken Robinson5

Our Approach

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Our PurposeThe Alexander School is an exemplary learning community that educates students for lives of leadership and service for the common good.

In keeping with its secular Humanist identity, the Alexander School models and expects excellence in academic and professional pursuits and intentionally develops the whole person -- intellectually, philosophically, physically and emotionally.

Through engagement with knowledge, intuitive understanding and relevant experience, the Alexander School cultivates in its students the capacity and disposition for reflective and critical thought, an insatiable curiosity, lifelong learning, passion, personal growth, ethical discernment, high degrees of personal competence, creativity and innovation.

The Alexander School experience fosters a mature commitment to social justice, intercultural competence, global engagement, care for the planet and striving to live a fulfilled life.

We, as a whole school community, hold each other to the highest standards, in an environment that is constantly learning and evolving to meet the needs of the whole school community.

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Humanism• The school operates on and teaches secular humanist

principles.

• Humanism is a philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, individually and collectively, and prefers critical thinking and evidence (rationalism, empiricism) over acceptance of dogma or superstition.

• We aim to foster in our students a love of learning that leads to them being life-long learners and who are able to research, assimilate and form conclusions on the facts for themselves

• Humanist Manifesto III

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The goals of Humanist Education

“The business of humanistic education is nothing less than to empower and guide individuals to lead a vital and sound life, marked by wide-awakeness and thoughtful deliberation, moral conduct and political involvement, authentic engagement in life and discriminating appreciation of beauty in both nature and art.

Humanistic educators should further seek to develop well-rounded and integral persons whose culture is manifested not only in their broad-learning but also in wise and responsible utilization of knowledge … Its ideal is to achieve in their students the right integration as well as the right tension between a commitment to high cultural standards and a strong sense of individuality in both the forms of autonomy and authenticity.

Finally, to achieve all this, truly humanistic teachers take the responsibility to set personal example in the art of living as well as to create at their schools a pedagogical atmosphere of care, trust, support, dialogue, respect, fairness, tolerance, inquiry, freedom, commitment, responsibility and reciprocity.

Without these last elements, even the most beautifully woven theory of humanistic education would fail to become a lived reality for its teachers and students.”

Dr. Nimrod Aloni,

Professor of Philosophy of Education at Seminar Hakibbutzim, UNESCO Chair

for Humanistic Education, Kibbutzim College of Education 9

21st Century SkillsThere are many views on what skills our children need in order to deal with life and work in the 21st Century. We have chosen to work within this framework:

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Our School

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A New Type of School is Needed• Rote memorisation and testing is not an education relevant

to the 21st century

• Standardised bulk education rarely meets the needs of anyone but ‘average’

• Around 70% of jobs that will exist in 20 years, don’t even exist yet – adaptability is key

• Suicide rates are up 60% in the last forty-five years and the biggest growth rate has been in youth (now the 3rd leading cause of death for this group) – Korea: highest teen suicide rate in the world

• 63% of students in North America are completely disengaged from school

• The top three words used by students to describe high school in the U.S. are – ‘tired’, ‘stressed’ and ‘bored’.

Reflect on what the words to describe school would be in Taiwan

• Because school does not have to be designed as if we still live in the 19th century

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The School

320 Max Students

Band 1 (Grades 1-3 Mixed)

80 Students in 4 Classes

Band 4 (Grades 10-12 Mixed)

80 Students in 4 Classes

Band 3 (Grades 7-9 Mixed)

80 Students in 4 Classes

Band 2 (Grades 4-6 Mixed)

80 Students in 4 Classes

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Learning GroupsIndividual Learning

Students will spend time most days studying core subjects such as maths, science, languages, history individually online, or one-on-one at their specific performance level for each subject.

Learning Bands

Learning Bands are central to a students social learning and school activities. Many of their daily activities will occur in their (mixed age) class group, or all together as a Learning Band

Tutorial Groups

Students also get together regularly with other students who are at a similar level of academic performance for each subject area (whatever their Learning Band). These groups run in a similar fashion to a college tutorial, however they are run using the Harkness method (discussed in detail later), which facilitates deep learning by having students run the tutorial and assist each other to learn.

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General Information

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• Annual school fees of USD$16,500

10% sibling & legacy discount

• The entire school will follow the International Baccalaureate system, which allows for entry into almost any university around the world, and allows students to transfer anywhere in the world (across 4,335 schools)

• We are also working to become the first Big Picture Learning network school in Asia

• Student-flexible holidays

• Uniforms (To be designed by students and uniforms and policy to be reviewed every two years)

• Management Board

Head of School, Director of Education, Director of Operations, Director of Community Engagement, PTA Chair, Student Representatives (4 – 1 from each Band), Community (2), Senior Education Specialist (1), External Chairperson (Non-voting)

Application Process

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Stage One

• Application form

• Initial Academic Assessment

• Grade 7+ Student Essays

• Parents & students: Attendance at Information Event

• Discussion of Assessment with Parents

• Discussion of Assessment (& Essays) with Student

Stage Two

• Student: One Day Trial Day

• Parent(s): Attendance at 4hr School Introduction

Placement Offer Made

Modern TeachersIt is rare to see a teacher delivering a class lecture in the same way that most of us experienced in school.

Instead, we think teachers are there to motivate, mentor and facilitate learning.

Our teachers guide students to acquire knowledge themselves, rather than directly imparting that knowledge.

This is a subtle, but profound, difference.

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Play• Come on!!! How do you not realize how important it is to

allow kids to play???

• Are you really going to make me spell out the benefits and research behind it…sigh

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Social & Emotional LearningSocial and Emotional Learning (SEL) is the process through which children and adults acquire and effectively apply the knowledge, attitudes, and skills necessary to:

• Understand and manage emotions

• Set and achieve positive goals

• Feel and show empathy for others

• Establish and maintain positive relationships, and

• Make responsible decisions.

Effective SEL begins in preschool and continues through high school.

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SEL: Core CompetenciesCASEL has identified five interrelated sets of cognitive, affective and behavioral competencies:

• Self-awareness: The ability to accurately recognize one’s emotions and thoughts and their influence on behavior. This includes accurately assessing one’s strengths and limitations and possessing a well-grounded sense of confidence and optimism.

• Self-management: The ability to regulate one’s emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations. This includes managing stress, controlling impulses, motivating oneself, and setting and working toward achieving personal and academic goals.

• Social awareness: The ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others from diverse backgrounds and cultures, to understand social and ethical norms for behavior, and to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.

• Relationship skills: The ability to establish and maintain healthy and rewarding relationships with diverse individuals and groups. This includes communicating clearly, listening actively, cooperating, resisting inappropriate social pressure, negotiating conflict constructively, and seeking and offering help when needed.

• Responsible decision making: The ability to make constructive and respectful choices about personal behavior and social interactions based on consideration of ethical standards, safety concerns, social norms, the realistic evaluation of consequences of various actions, and the well-being of self and others.

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SEL: Research OutcomesResearch shows that SEL can have a positive impact on school climate and promote a host of academic, social, and emotional benefits for students:

• Better academic performance: achievement scores an average of 11 percentile points higher than students who did not receive SEL instruction;

• Improved attitudes and behaviors: greater motivation to learn, deeper commitment to school, increased time devoted to schoolwork, and better classroom behavior;

• Fewer negative behaviors: decreased disruptive class behavior, noncompliance, aggression, delinquent acts, and disciplinary referrals; and

• Reduced emotional distress: fewer reports of student depression, anxiety, stress, and social withdrawal.

(http://www.casel.org/social-and-emotional-learning/frequently-asked-questions

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Academic Performance• Very important that all students perform at the highest

levels they are capable of

• This is critical for them to be able to have options in the universities they can apply for and also to ready them for an increasingly (and already) competitive world

• We encourage students whenever possible to test themselves against their peers around the world

• We encourage students to push their limits and explore new areas of endeavour

• In order to provide a framework for this, the school will work towards participation in the International Baccalaureate program, which also allows students to move between schools in a more streamlined fashion

• We aim to create people who can take their place in global society, in whatever way they seek to, with every door open to them

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Technology is…• Important in every Grade

• Used to teach core curricula in the best way possible. Technology allows the best teachers in the world for a particular subject to be accessed and also allows our students to study any subject

• Supplemented by active teacher engagement as facilitator, coach, mentor and tutor.

• Using the latest cutting-edge systems so that our students are inherently aware that we live in a rapidly changing world – for example currently Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality.

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Sustainability is…• Important in every Grade

• Integrated into lessons and school life in general

• Incorporated into school healthy meals

• About the school making as much use of sustainable energy as possible, with lessons around how it works and maintaining it

• About the school doing as much recycling as possible, including water

• Linked to edible school gardens and operation of aquaponics/hydroponic systems, greenhouses, and other sustainable growing practices

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Global Citizenship• We promote the idea of global citizenship

over nationalism

• Our students are citizens of the world and we expect them to have a high level of intercultural competence

• We also expect them to understand and have their own views on geopolitics, global climate change, population displacement and the myriad of other issues that affect our world

• All students are expected to work towards fluency in English and Chinese and a third language is highly encouraged

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Community EngagementAll schools are a community. We put a lot of effort into building our community as a mutually supportive and engaged one.

We do this in a number of ways:

• Regular Meetings to engage stakeholders, from the beginning

• Regular Workshops on topics relevant to the school community, that can already during the pre-opening of the school become a teaching, learning & co-creating experience for all involved, e.g. Permaculture Design

• Making FOOD and SUSTAINABLE LIVING (eating, cooking, preparing, growing, composting…and other related activities) the core of community engagement

• Students and their families take up specific roles in the school community that they choose and commit themselves to fulfilling throughout the school year

• Active and on-going dialogue with all stakeholders on how to constantly improve and evolve community engagement

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Experiential Learning• Experiential learning opportunities will

be built into all learning in the school

• Central to the facilitation of this will be the incorporation of a Culinary School and working restaurant into the school, where students will be given a vast variety of opportunities for hands-on learning

• We are committed to enabling all students to pursue their personal aspirations, to which end the school will work closely with students to seek outside experts in all fields of interest

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Teaching Tools• Harkness table method is used in all group

tutorials

• Khan Academy, Mathletics, Coursera, Edx and any similar tools should be integrated into learning – flipped classroom

• Professional Learning Groups – constant effort by teachers to learn from eachother

• Teach the Teachers – Regular classes where students teach the teachers and staff something of interest to them – how to play Overwatch, cook a dish, use emojis properly – anything!

• Intelligent Tutoring Systems – narrow AI used to create custom learning plans for students

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School Campus• General rule of thumb is about 3 ping per child

• Initially probably about 300 ping of office or similar space

Possibility of empty school campus

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Extra-Curricula Student ActivitiesDebating Model UN

Public Speaking Social Responsibility

Robotics Coding

School/Public Plays Music

Art Martial Arts

Horse Riding Rock Climbing

Travel Business Engagement

Dance Sailing

Expeditions Swimming

YouTube Channel Whatever sports the

students want from time to

time

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Core Team

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David Willson

Head of School

For over twenty years David has owned a technology and business consulting firm and a software development company. Over this period he has worked in more than forty countries.

For almost twenty years he has also been volunteering and supporting causes around climate change, education and social equality and has also mentored dozens of start-ups.

Since 2011 he has been living in Taiwan, where he is the Co-founder and Chairman of The Foundation for Talented Youth, teaching entrepreneurial thinking to Taiwanese youth.

He is also the Social Issues Columnist with Beyonder Times and is Contributing Editor with Weeknight Magazine, both based in Taiwan.

He has an Executive Masters in Business Administration, a Masters in Commercial Law (IP), a Graduate Diploma in Managing Professional Service Firms and a Graduate Diploma in Managing Superannuation Funds.

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Angelina

Director of Education

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A passionate life-long learner, committed self-developer and dedicated educator in the field of sustainable and holistic well-being and conscious entrepreneur- and leadership, Gabriele has a diverse educational and professional background that spans over more than two decades, in both Europe and Asia.

Born and raised in Austria into a family of entrepreneurs, she was, from a very early age, exposed to people from all over the world. Her ‘real-life learning experiences’ accompanying her father on business trips in Europe, to US and Asia from the age of 12, internships abroad from the age of 16, followed by studying, working and living in Istanbul, Beijing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Taipei, all form part of her life experience.

Her gift and passion is to connect and engage people in co-creative processes, for the highest good of all.

She has a Master of Arts in Intercultural Competencies & Communications and a Bachelor Degree in Tourism & Hospitality-Management.

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Gabriele Seewald

Director of Community Engagement

Sam Jinadasa

Director of Operations

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Mai Bach

Culinary Director

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Spencer Hudson

Director of Business

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Key Advisors

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• Sue Babcock

• Prashantha Lachanna

• Rachel Coupaud

• Ernest Chen

• Julien Huang

• Jessie Chen

• Andrew Nicholls

• Mai Bach

• Spencer Hudson

• Leiven Hwang

• Louisa Chao

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Key Advisors• Teresa Kung

• Jessy Lin

• Jane Wang-Lesley

• Xenia Jones

• Henley Jones

Selected relevant concepts from around the world

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Read MoreBooks

‘Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution That’s Transforming Education’ – Sir Ken Robinson

‘Stop Stealing Dreams’ – Seth Godin

Web-resources

Slow Education Movement - http://sloweducation.co.uk/

High Schools for the 21st Century – Stanford

Mindfulness in Schools – Berkeley

Big Picture Learning Schools

EL Education

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Watch MoreVideos

Future Learning

High Tech High – Experiential/Project Based Learning

Sir Ken Robinson – The TED Talk that started a revolution

Singapore

Finland

Social & Emotional Learning

Big Picture Learning

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