Our Approach - Global Idea School

STUDENT CENTERED TEACHING

Students feel welcomed, inspired, and cared for in a safe, nurturing and inclusive environment

The student voice is central to their day-to-day learning experience; we respond to their different learning styles and pace.
The diversity of student needs, beliefs, abilities, interests, and behaviors guide our teaching.

Learning by doing immerses students in meaningful and joyful practical experiences.
Students work individually, in small groups, or as a whole class exploring, experimenting, examining, valuing, solving problems and also making mistakes, revising, practicing and persevering.

Our teachers walk alongside each student meeting each one at their knowledge and skills level, assesses their development on a day-to-day basis, provide opportunities to take risks, fail, improve, and try something new, and coach them as they gain knowledge and social skills.
Teachers help students “learn to learn” teaching themselves and their peers by awaking interests, curiosity and creativity, inspiring thinking and reflection, and stimulating posing questions and exploring topics.

Our holistic approach is embedded in the IDEA of our name:
Global Intelligence, Global Development, Global Experimentation, Global Attitude

Our multicultural view gives a worldwide context to all our activities and to the topics being taught. More than 10 nationalities are represented in our school community.
We celebrate cultural diversity, as well as differences in our unique upbringing, to cultivate healthy relationships based on honesty and mutual respect that prepare students to live in a pluralistic society.
We encourage learners to consider alternative viewpoints, and open-mindedness respecting, valuing, and embracing differences and diversity.

Our 50/50 model allows for developing two perspectives of the world, bi-cultural skills, and openness to diversity and difference. Read more

Academic learning goes hand in hand with the social-emotional development of the students.
In all our classes and activities, we encourage and nourish inquisitiveness, initiative, awareness, and critical and creative thinking.
Our Círculo Mágico© Program includes special sessions and a variety of activities throughout the day that allow our students to experiment, examine, test, and value their feelings, beliefs, interests, and ideas. Read more

We emphasize connections, openness, communication, and kindness

Different subjects are interrelated through projects, thematic inquiries, current events, and/or problem-solving processes.
This broadens each learner’s perspective and connects real life to learning while valuing what is interesting to the students. Read more

We stimulate students to open their minds, to believe they can always be smarter by putting extra effort, time, and interest in whatever they do.
We acknowledge and embrace imperfections, cultivate a sense of purpose, value the process, encourage their hard work, emphasize growth over speed, and inspire them to ask questions, accept challenges, try things over and over, and practice.

Students of different ages and/or levels work together during certain activities or to address specific topics.
This creates a dynamic learning environment that allows students to work with different peers, see various perspectives, discover other ways of doing things, and learn from each other.
Various teachers assess the needs of the learners and to- gether design experiences and instruction that respond to how children are learning while increasing their teamwork abilities.

We celebrate cultural diversity and establish honest, respectful, and caring relationships between learners, learners and teachers, teachers and families, and the community at large.
We teach our students to care for themselves, for each other, their teachers, the school, and the community they live in, and to take care of nature and live as sustainable as possible.
We establish caring relationships with families in order to partner with them and best support each student.

We think that discipline should be kind and firm at the same time; always a teaching opportunity, not an act of control.
We focus on solutions not on punishment by identifying feelings, beliefs, and the reasons behind the behavior to help change what produced it.
Our discipline is based on positive feedback, student awareness, effective communication, and problem-solving skills exhibiting mutual respect, concern for others, accountability, and cooperation.