Problem-solving, conflict resolution, resilience, thinking critically and creatively…
What do these skills look like when you are in the Elementary School?
This week, some of the youngest students at ASA came to visit me in my office during their lunchtime to ask for my help in a friendship misunderstanding they were experiencing. When I asked them to tell me about the situation they were facing, they quickly decided that the best way to explain their thinking was visually! This image above was the end result of a 15-minute conversation that involved my clarifying questions and their explanations of how things had unfolded.
There are several layers to the learning these children demonstrated in this snapshot. Firstly, they can express their thoughts, ideas and feelings confidently and creatively, and in collaboration with others (Communicators).
Secondly, they are able to approach an unfamiliar and uncertain situation with courage, and are articulate in their willingness to defend their viewpoint (Risk-takers). And lastly, as they reconstructed events, talking about what they had just drawn, they showed that they can consider their own understanding of why their friends had chosen not play with them today (Reflective).
A snapshot like this can sometimes be a window into what ‘striving to develop the attributes of an internationally minded person’ looks like.
– Michael Rourke, Elementary Principal
