Core Beliefs

• Knowledge should lead to understanding
• The personal development of the student is central
• Independent learning should be encouraged and supported
• Different kinds of minds (eg. respectful, ethical) and intelligences (eg. emotional, creative) should be respected and fostered (Howard Gardner)
• Students should be given opportunities to think about why and how they learn, about how they know what they know.
• Transparency: the goals of the programme should be clear. The modes of assessment and the assessment criteria should reflect the common strategies and be known to the student
• Student feedback and view are essential. Students are collaborators.

Common Strategies

• Experiential learning: practical work in tandem with theory
• Opportunities for learning both inside and outside the classroom. (For example, via small group projects, perhaps with a social service element, designed and organised by students themselves; via field trips, via visits to relevant institutions and sites.)
• Subject material with “real life applications” and connections to the world outside the classroom
• Diversity of teaching methods, resources and aids
• A participatory approach to class, with students taking responsibility for contributing
• Students challenged to develop their own, well-founded ideas and express them in their work
• Collaborative work amongst students and between students and teachers.