Blog

Join us for a field trip into the Grade 3 wing to see what life is like in a learning community.

On this week's episode, we discuss this question, which is getting a lot of attention in our community.

Libraries are evolving into hybrid physical-virtual spaces designed for flexible, collaborative learning.

In the Season 1 finale, our Head of School & Director of Innovation for Learning and Teaching reflect and look ahead.

Three WAB students and our school psychologist discuss the importance of making an impact in the community.

The Future Now Leadership Toolkit for Middle & High School students was piloted at WAB and is expanding around the world.

Students put their learning and their passions on display for the WAB community.

A self-directed, research-based project in which students take on local and global issues.

How do schools ensure the quality of new approaches and practices?

Explore WAB's Cultural Forum, Think Tank, and Enriched Inclusion initiatives.

Middle School students put their race cars to the test this week at Formula WAB.

A circuit of experiences in Grade 4 gets students excited about learning in different ways.

"With the Personal Project, you get to lead your own way, you get to create your own path," Debo said.

The student-led process will involve parents, faculty, staff, alumni, and board members.

We discuss the value of experiential learning and outdoor education's role in the future of learning.

The space features climbing structures, swings, a zip line, several slides, trampolines, and social areas.

On this week's episode, we're joined by world-renowned consultant and author Steve Barkley.

Join a conversation with a team of teachers here and on The WAB Podcast.

Annual rankings by KingLead, a leading platform for international school resources and research.

Join us for a field trip into the Grade 3 wing to see what it's like for students and teachers.

Beyond their research findings, they explain the lessons they learned through the process.

The WAB Podcast brings you a conversation with our IB PYP, MYP, and DP Coordinators and Curriculum Coaches.

They're in charge of team selection, organization, game strategy, and more.

WAB's Head of School and our Director of Innovation for Learning and Teaching explore the future of education.

A new series of workshops at WAB is aimed at equipping students for success in an uncertain future.

New strategies for students and tips for parents related to university admissions since the COVID-19 pandemic.

A partnership formed by a shared mission: empowering students to make a difference.

Inkblot's Editor in Chief is using storytelling to bring her classmates together.

WAB has formed partnerships to help student learning translate into positive action.

What is learning innovation, and why do we need it?

Combining video games and school used to be a recipe for trouble. That's no longer the case.

How have WAB teachers managed to maintain mentor relationships with students around the world?

We aim to utilize technology in ways which serve each individual learner's needs.

Set for completion in August 2019, several changes will enhance how students & audiences experience the space.

Western Academy of Beijing’s Grade 10 students held week-long internships to gain insight into an industry of their choice.

Community donations and clean-up efforts have transformed the lake into an invaluable learning resource.

Prominent and purposeful, Chinese elements were key in establishing the flow of energy and more throughout our spaces.

With teacher support,  even our youngest students have a range of opportunities to own their learning.

Specifically designed to support and enhance the innovative teaching and learning happening at WAB.

Rote learning still has an important place in building skills and knowledge, but we can't stop there.

Each of our new spaces will incorporate ten signature areas designed for specific types of learning.

The spaces will be organized by the areas of knowledge an the ways of knowing. Here's how.

Libraries are evolving. This space will be equipped to serve as the center of all learning in the High School.

With the guidance of a mentor, students choose what, when, how, and with whom they learn.

Collaborative teacher planning, connecting science with fiction, as well as some lucky timing made this interdisciplinary experience successful.

Encouraging mathematical ways of thinking and connecting learning to the real world.

A focus on connecting students to nature and making learning relevant to life outside of school.

An ambitious study of 153 classrooms in the United Kingdom provides the best evidence that flexible spaces can boost academic performance.

We are launching a series of articles explaining how these changes are going to take shape at WAB.

We know that a student’s learning experience improves when their parents take an active role in their education.

How do we know if FLoW21 is working to improve the way our children learn?

The evolution of learning at WAB has already begun school-wide - not only in specific school sections.

There are a lot of things about our school that will not change as part of the Future of Learning.

The Enhanced PYP allowed for creation of a STEAM trial program, which offers increased opportunity for learning across subject areas and real-world applications.

Learning communities offer increased opportunity for teachers to meet the specific needs of each individual student. Find out how.

Instead of standardized tests, imagine a university that admits students based on results of big projects they've done, such as analyzing why the United States lost the Vietnam War or how geometric patterns can be used to produce solar energy.

 

 

We are not handing over the entire school experience to students. Rather, we are looking for ways to increase opportunities for them to take ownership.

How can we be sure our teachers are equipped with skills and knowledge to lead the future of learning?

Target 21 is different from the other FLoW21 Targets, because it is focused on the kind of people we, as a school community, want to be.

Target 21 is about the kind of people we want to be.

We are currently in a position to be flexible enough to align classes, schedules, and teacher efforts to serve some needs, but not all.

Rosan Bosch and her world-class design team were on campus to gather inspiration and ideas from our community.

Sometimes it's the system - not the student - which is responsible for shortcomings at school.

We are nominated for awards in the Strategic Leadership Initiative and Teaching Initiative categories.

Other FLoW21 Targets are essential in creating an environment where team teaching can happen successfully.

Students' learning experiences improve when teachers work together.

A culture that encourages continuous, informal, professional exchange between trusted colleagues.

Teachers are learners, too.

We are creating a culture and systems that support teachers to work together and inspire one another.

Best professional practice calls on us to work together for the benefit of our teachers and learners.

Feedback should be personalized and directly guide each individual students' next steps in academic and non-academic pursuits.

Students and parents can continuously track progress and achievements to be more successful.

Now we are beginning the process of reimagining and recreating our learning spaces based on FLoW21 Targets.

Students had the freedom to learn about the platform they wanted to use for self-expression.

Learning spaces should be designed to meet students' and teachers' specific needs.

At WAB, like many schools around the world, one can find dozens of examples of varied learning groups.

Grouping students by age does not maximize their ability to learn.

There are several ways in which we are already offering individualized approaches to learning.

The needs and understandings of an individual learner should determine the approaches to teaching.

Individualized timetables will require new systems for sign-ups, attendance, and accountability.

Learning needs should determine a student's schedule.

Looking back at our accomplishments and ahead at what's to come.

How does this look now at WAB, and how will it change?

Raise the stakes. Connect the curriculum. Make a difference.

Another way in which students will have more ownership in voice in their learning.

Students play a role in the co-construction of their curriculum and learning experience.

Learn more about the Future of Learning with these new and updated resources.

Grade 7 students embarked on a month-long experience designed to enhance individualized learning.

Target 9 is focused on providing more opportunities for students to make connections between multiple disciplines.

Learning is deepened when connections can be made across subjects within a unifying context, challenge, or project.

 

The competence-based approach will have major positive impacts in each individual child's day-to-day learning.

 

Educator Sal Khan shares his plan to turn struggling students into scholars by mastering concepts at their own pace with competence-based learning. Watch Now

 

 

 

 

The speed at which a student learns should not determine his or her success.

Target 7 is focused on the evaluation of what is essential for students to learn.

Find out how the Future of Learning at WAB aligns with the IBDP.

There are many common misconceptions about personalized, competence-based learning that can make it challenging to explain. Read More

 

 

 

Professional K-12 education magazine Phi Delta Kappan investigates personalization: to make schools more responsive to students' needs, focus on the specifics. Read More

There are knowledge and skills all students must have.

Graduate student Dulce Diaz talks about her transformative experience with competence-based education in high school. Read More

 

 

Here are some examples of how WAB students learn resilience, determination, and innovation: qualities that will be necessary for success in the future.

Have a look at the decisions that will direct FLoW21 in the upcoming school year.

All learners are prepared for volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.

Target 5: balancing academic knowledge and intellectual knowledge.

CNN takes a look at a new type of school that's not only gaining popularity, but transforming the traditional school model in hopes of boosting creativity and critical thinking. Read More

A video about Halswell school in New Zealand utilizing open plan spaces and flexible timetabling. Read More

A Peruvian high school for grade 10-12 students utilizing collaborative project based learning school-wide and achieving impressive results. Read More

"Year after year, Rasfeld's institution ends up with the best grades among Berlin's gesamtschulen, or comprehensive schools." Read More

A "New Zealand school that has been reimagining learning since 1993" and willing to adapt to meet the community's needs rather than having to adapt to theirs. Read More

Target 5 Explained: WAB students will develop academic and intellectual knowledge.

Inquiry-based learning is a fundamental aspect of all three IB Programmes.

Target 4: Inquiry-driven Learning - an approach of asking versus telling.

Concept-based learning is an approach that focuses on big ideas rather than topics.

Target 3: Concept-based Curriculum: The deepest understanding you can have of something is the conceptual understanding.

Self-directed learning develops students in more ways than just acquiring academic knowledge and skills.

Target 2: WAB develops self-directed learners. What does self-directed learning (SDL) mean?

FLoW21 in Action is a new series of blog posts to support our FLoW21 Explained series.

Challenging conventional education and offering multiple pathways to graduation is key to unlocking student potential and inspiring success in a rapidly changing world.

This is the first in a series of posts that will explain the Future of Learning at WAB through its 21 Targets.

Western Academy of Beijing's community gathered for two screenings of Most Likely to Succeed, a documentary exploring innovation in education.

The 'Community Interaction through Visual Arts' working group aims to provide authentic, real-world learning for students.

We ran in-house workshops on learning through concepts for engaging lessons and higher order thinking.

2017-2018 is the second year in a five-year process — a year for taking action.

WAB Deputy Director John D'Arcy spoke with the editors of beijingkids magazine about the future of learning.

Despite topping the PISA charts (and IBDP), the theme for Singapore's National Institute of Education 2017 educational conference was Redesigning Pedagogy. Read More

A case study on the the Istanbul International Community School IB program and self-directed learning.

At workshops with parents this year, we discussed how concepts require us to analyze, evaluate and investigate at deeper levels.

One of the key stakeholder groups in school-wide initiatives is the parents.

The languages spoken at Western Academy of Beijing are as diverse as the multicultural community the school serves.

We are giving students the chance to self-direct their learning because students need to have the capacity to self-regulate.

WAB's Festival of Learning was a celebration of the entire community's commitments to FLoW21.

Mastery-based learning is an instructional approach that requires students to demonstrate a deep level of understanding of a topic before advancing to the next topic.

Young students at WAB are charting the course of their own learning.

During this time of significant educational change, we are forced to ask ourselves, what is the role of the teacher?

The Learning Scaffolds Committee has narrowed its focus to five main directives, which will guide the group's work and support FLoW21 Targets.

Knowledge comes in building blocks and, often, we ask students to have a full layer of a building before they can start to support the layers above it.

Many people assume teachers-student relationships are a one-way street, but neurological research suggests this may not be best practice.

WAB's FLoW21 Steering Committee gathered input from faculty members during WAB's professional development days and from parents who attended workshops to better understand the thinking of the community.

We all know that every school has a timetable, but at WAB in the 2017-18 academic year, each student will have flexible time built into their schedule.

As WAB advances its school-wide goal to achieve the Future of Learning, it is imperative stakeholders' efforts are unified and coordinated.

The Learning Scaffolds Committee has been working to develop definition and understanding of an "Adaptive Support Network."

Technology will play a major role in achieving many of the Flow21 targets.

Technology has an essential role to play in supporting contemporary learners.

While the Learning Spaces committee ostensibly has only a single target, "Flexible, diverse, variable spaces," discussion during their first few meetings soon revealed there was more to consider than portable desks and writable walls.

The Schedules and Timetables Committee has met several times, articulating a shared vision of several FLoW21 targets.

WAB's FLoW21 Teaching and Instruction Committee has been working in smaller subgroups since November exploring four specific targets.

The Assessment and Reporting Committee comprises teachers, students and parents. In the initial stages of the group's inquiry, they explored their beliefs about assessment.

The Professional Learning Committee is a group of community members who have chosen to help shape the direction of professional learning as part of WAB's FLoW21 initiative.

WAB's FLoW21 Curriculum Committee started its December 7 meeting with a presentation to define and better understand Target 9: Transdisciplinary, Interdisciplinary and Multi-Disciplinary Learning.

Western Academy of Beijing parents met on campus to continue a discussion about what the school experience will look like in 2021.

By the numbers, on 24/10/16 the 30 member Steering Committee held a 7 hour meeting in the MS Loft.

So far this year we have held six parent workshops on the Future of Learning at WAB (FLoW21).

Faculty and volunteer parents held our first Committee meetings on October 12, 2016.

FLoW21 is part of WAB's ongoing mission to put into action our Mission and Core Values. The "Future Learning of WAB" aims to ensure that our children are prepared as well as possible for a changing world.