Committees & Groups

FLoW21 groups

Learn more about the committees and groups helping to shape FLoW21 at WAB.



Phase 2


Phase 1 (2016-2018)

2017-18 Working Groups

  • Aligning PSEAligning the PSE (Personal and Social Education) programs across the school in scope and sequence, and identifying PSE education areas that are essential in all sections. (Targets 8, 9, 18)
  • Coaches vs Cancer
  • Community Interaction/Visual Arts – Our goal is to promote collectivity and collaboration amongst students, visiting artists and the wider community through collaborative exhibitions, workshops and other learning engagements both at WAB and further afield. (Target 11)
  • Communications HUB and FloW21 BlogTelling the FLoW21 story, and keeping all stakeholders informed and engaged.
  • Friday Freedom
  • Global Awareness
  • Greenhouse Initiative – This year’s work will be dedicated to the transition of funding, operation and maintenance of the greenhouse to the ES Science and Technology department. Curriculum connections are a goal to encourage grade-level involvement and use for student self-directed learning projects. Trials to make this space available to students are underway. (Targets 4, 9, 11)
  • Maker Space Workshop
  • Mindfulness – Creating a description of how mindfulness can be practiced and supported meaningfully at WAB. We are documenting how mindfulness already exists in our WAB community and researching ways in which mindfulness training can be integrated into social/emotional learning, curriculum and daily life. (Targets 2, 6, 19, 20)
  • Mother TongueExploring mother tongue programs at other international schools and creating activities for mother tongue students to interact. (Targets 8, 10, 13, 14, 16, 18, 19)
  • Pathways & internal Internship – This group has been researching, developing and implementing individualized programs for WAB high school students to prepare for a variety of exit qualifications for non-full DP students. This year, the group will continue to develop and implement these programs and document progress and strategies for success. An important aspect of our work involves researching post-high school programs that will support WAB students from these streams. The current programs we are working on are a)the Capstone program b)Individual Curricula Program (ICP) with two types of credit systems, c) implementing the optional General Studies high school diploma and d) WAB internship program. (Targets 2, 10, 12)
  • Playful Inquiry – Playful inquiry is the synergy between exploration and discovery. This year we plan to survey faculty to find out perceptions of playful inquiry and beliefs/understandings about play, offer open classrooms to see playful inquiry in action and then follow up with reflection discussions in TTT, further explore the role of documentation in playful inquiry and possible investigate what playful inquiry could look like in the MS and HS. (Targets 4, 6, 10, 11)
  • Self-Directed Learning – Our purpose is to examine ways that WAB can work towards the following FLOW21 targets: (2) WAB develops self-directed learners; (10) Co-constructed and personally relevant curriculum; and (13) Individualized instruction and teaching. After completing action research in our classrooms last year, this year we will create SDL models that can be used for different age ranges. (Targets 2, 10, 13)
  • WAB Extended Independent Reading Day (W.E.I.R.D.)Creating a culture of reading and literacy through the promotion and growth of the ‘WAB Extended Independent Reading Day.’

Committees

There are 9 committees and a steering committee working towards FLoW21. Committees comprise staff, students and parents and represent one of our educational ecosystem features.

Steering Committee members include the Chair of each Committee, each committee’s SELT representative, three parent representatives (one for each school section), one Board representative, and student representative(s).

Below are short descriptions of each of the nine committees. To contact a committee chair, please use the names provided:

  • The Steering Committee will focus in keeping the ship on course. (Contact john_darcy@wab.edu)
  • The Curriculum Committee will focus on this question: How do we create a concept-based, inquiry-driven curriculum that is co-constructed with the students and allows them to progress through competency on an individual basis with teacher advice? (Contact adam_bourret@wab.edu, leanne_erickson@wab.edu)
  • The Learning Spaces Committee will ask questions like: How will the inside of a classroom look? Furthermore, what types of spaces can be considered “classrooms”? (Contact jeri_hurd@wab.edu)
  • The Teaching & Instruction Committee knows students can learn with 1-on-1 instruction and from many other sources, including the internet or friends. Let’s look at all the way students learn and make those resources available. (Contact samuel_werlinich@wab.edu)
  • The Host Country Engagement Committee supports real world learning by connecting students to the local community. (Contact greg_alksne@wab.edu)
  • The Professional Learning Committee knows that the role of the teacher is changing. How can we provide support to help teachers engage with students in the most meaningful ways? (Contact ken_forde@wab.edu, jonathan_mueller@wab.edu)
  • The Schedules and Timetables Committee works around one main idea: If we recognize that everyone learns at at different pace, we need to recognize that students’ schedules should reflect that. (Contact huiman_cheng@wab.edu)
  • The Learning Scaffolds Committee looks at “traditional” scaffolds include curriculum, classrooms, schedules and more. What happens if we change or remove these to positively impact students’ learning experiences? (Contact sheilah_curtis@wab.edu, liam_oshea@wab.edu)
  • The System Technology Committee recognizes that there are many stakeholders in a student’s learning journey. The committee will develop and utilize an online system that brings every aspect of that journey together in one place. (Contact douglas_taylor@wab.edu)
  • The Assessment & Reporting Committee knows students need immediate feedback on learning. Let’s find a way to continuously let students know how they are doing and keep parents involved with their progress. (Contact maryjo_rawleigh@wab.edu)
  • Workgroups and individual actions – the teams and individuals working outside of the committee structure.

INDIVIDUAL ACTIONS:

  • Resilience in Learning: This is an inquiry into high school personality types and how to best support students with different needs for self-management. The aim for this year is to develop, with the support of current research, a framework for supporting high school students in their strategies for self-direction for schoolwork and beyond school work (university application, vocational training, extra-curricular activities) (Target 2).
  • The Intellectual Weight Room This project focuses on i) a ‘learner’s toolkit’ for students and ii) a unit planning tool that works in conjunction with MYP structure. These tools are supported by neuroscience research and focus on developing students as self-directed, inquiry-driven learners who can co-construct their curriculum with teacher mentors. (Targets 1,2,4,10)
  • Theater LearningDeveloping a high school credit course based on real-world theater experiences that gives students tangible, hands-on work experience. e.g. via Rock In The Park, Friday night sports events, WAB To Max (Target 11)
  • Learning through Artistic Processhow might students self-direct their learning (target 2) using the artistic process as a possible pathway.
  • Flipped LearningExploring the varieties of ways in which flipped learning is being used successfully to support personalized learning and competency based progression, specifically to support learning for adolescents in Maths. (Target 8)
  • Positive Reinforcement Program for Grade 6 – Providing SMART educational pathways for students in Grade 6. (Targets 2, 11, 15)