RIS REPORT NOVEMBER ISSUE 34

Transdisciplinary Learning RIS is a school that treats every student as an individual and every individual as a learner and the IB Learner Profile underpins everything that we do. The aim of all IB programmes is to develop internationally minded people who, recognizing their common humanity and shared guardianship of the planet, help to create a better and more peaceful world. This reflects exactly what we are aiming for with our students, preparing them for the world of tomorrow, starting from their first days of school.

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TRANSDISCIPLINARY INQUIRY

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

RIS REPORT

ENHANCED LEARNING

USING TECH TO COLLABORATE & INSPIRE

IB REGIONAL CONFERENCE

STUDENT / TEACHER PARTICIPATION

RIS REPORT NOVEMBER ISSUE 34

The best regional conference ever!

The best Regional Conference ever." This is how Adrian Kearney, IB Regional Director for Africa, Europe and the Middle East, described the annual conference, which was held this year in Rome from 16-19 October.

The event was attended by over 1300 participants from more than 60 countries within the three geographical areas, there were more than 150 workshops spread over the four days, with high-profile speakers for the plenary sessions, and many students from IB schools in Italy were involved, both through individual and group performances, and by presenting their artwork. At the same time, more than 900 students, parents and staff members of five IB schools in Rome took part in the Hunger Run organized by FAO in order to make a real contribution to the fight against hunger: an important sign of civil commitment but also proof of the great potential of joining forces based on the sharing of the common ideal of education, the ideal of IB schools! All of this in Rome – a city which, for historical reasons, is accustomed to welcoming people of different backgrounds and cultures, but until today it has never hosted such an important event for the IB world. We can be legitimately proud of this success, as a School in the fullest sense of the term, and we are also proud of our PTA’s proposal to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the foundation of the International Baccalaureate Organization (in 2018) with a "Hunger Run" to be celebrated at the same time around the world time with the participation of all of the IB schools. This proposal was received with enthusiasm by the Director General of the IBO, Siva Kumari. With such positive results, it is a shame that there was such indifference on the part of the world of information and politics in our host country, despite the well-organized work of preparation and contacts undertaken at the highest levels, both local and national. Maybe this was due to the language barrier, or perhaps to the longstanding provincialism that is very hard to shake off, who knows? They certainly do not know what they missed: it is not every day (as one of the participants recounted) that you can have breakfast with a colleague from Reykjavik, attend a workshop with a colleague from Cape Town and have dinner with a colleague from Minsk! Take a look at the map of the world – a fantastic triangle!

BY IVANO BORAGINEHEAD OF SCHOOL

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October Highlights

Celebrating RIS & the value of an international education

Student in Grade 9 welcome Vice-President of China!

Students give amazing performance at IB Regional Conference

RIS students participate in Generation €uro students’ award

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Why study Mathematics?

Well, Mathematics is all about recognising patterns and solving puzzles, so it can be fun (even if you are not so good at it). It is also great for exercising the brain and therefore helps your brain remain more healthy even into old age. But most of all, Mathematics is important because it is

needed for our other subjects and for daily life, even if we do not see it explicitly. RIS Middle School Students have been applying Mathematics to their other subjects. Below are some examples of its application.

In Art and Design Aizhar in Grade 7 describes how construction and transformations can be used in Design.

“This year in grade 7 we did a little project in maths. It was a very interesting project and our challenge was to construct a square with different patterns and colours in it.

• Our task was firstly to construct a square and divide it into 4 parts using only a compass, ruler and pencil, as we were taught in class.

• We then invented our own pattern on the square and coloured it in.

• Next, we had to reproduce the same pattern of our design square on the computer using drawing software.

• We then made a larger square by reflecting our original one four times. We did the same thing again but rotating it four times.

When each square was ready we had to translate it by copying and pasting it until we got it look like a design for material or wrapping paper. You will notice that reflection and rotation gave us different designs”.

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BY MS COLLIE & MR GONZALEZ

The effect of reflection in Aizhar’s and Francesco’s

designs.

The effect of rotation in

Aizhar’s and Francesco’s designs.

RIS REPORT NOVEMBER ISSUE 34

In Physical Education Elena V., Elena O, Flavia and Manfredi report on how Grade 9 have been applying Mathematics in P.E.

“We are using Maths to compare Grade 9A and 9B’s achievements in P.E. We are doing this using the median, the mode and the mean so that we can know which year is the best in PE. In particular we are using cumulative frequency graphs to help us determine a reliable median.

In P.E. the two Year 9 classes have worked really hard running on a non-flat ground. During the squat many students fell and had to try again. We analysed our results and they showed us that Year 9A has more muscles in their legs and are better at doing squats and better at P.E. than 9B”.

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Student analysis

I used to go to sleep looking at the shooting stars,

it was my secretLullaby.

But now it’s all different, instead of shooting stars

I have to watch shooting bullets because of the wars.

I worry all day about my beloved father somewhere away, somewhere far.

I don’t feel powerful, full of love like I used to.

I loved all the quiet under my special oak.

But now the quiet is gone and I’ll never find it again. BY LUISA T.

GRADE 6

Lullaby

RIS REPORT NOVEMBER ISSUE 34

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The desire to provide more holistic educational experiences has led many to have a closer look at inquiry-based teaching methodologies.

The IB PYP is a transdisciplinary programme. That transdisciplinarity is often confused with interdisciplinarity and multidisciplinarity can be explained in part by the fact that all three overflow disciplinary boundaries. However, there are significant differences between multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary inquiry. Where multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary inquiry may focus on the contribution of disciplines to an inquiry, transdisciplinary inquiry tends to focus on the inquiry or issue itself.

In order to better understand the concept of transdisciplinarity we start with the noun “discipline” – a single branch of knowledge, hence, disciplinarity: the study of a single discipline such as Geography, History or Science.

Multidisciplinarity: uses the knowledge/understanding of more than one discipline. For example, works by Leonardo da Vinci can be studied not only within art history but also, science, engineering, architecture, mechanics and human anatomy. The multidisciplinary approach overflows disciplinary boundaries while its goal remains limited to the framework of disciplinary research.

Interdisciplinarity: concerns the transfer of methods from one discipline to another. For example from the transfer of computer methods to art, computer art was generated. Like multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity overflows the disciplines but its goal still remains within the framework of disciplinary research.

Transdisciplinarity: focuses on an issue which is meaningful and relevant to the student or a problem that is complex and worthy of solving and can provide multiple perspectives for addressing and providing solutions both within and beyond discipline boundaries with the possibility of new perspectives. Its goal is the integral education of the human being and the understanding of the present world, leading to a new tolerance founded on transcultural, transreligious, transpolitical and transnational visions.

Disciplinarity, multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity all grow from the same root: knowledge.

Transdisciplinarity is radically distinct from multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity because its goal, the education of the human being and the understanding of the present world, cannot be accomplished within the framework of disciplinary research.

BY MRS MARTIN-SMITH EARLY YEARS / ELEMENTARY PRINCIPAL

What is ‘Transdisciplinary Inquiry’?

RIS REPORT NOVEMBER ISSUE 34

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Elsewhere in this magazine you can read about the successful IB conference in Rome this October. I also had an insight into the world of the International Baccalaureate (IB) when I went to a workshop in the UK over mid-term. This was organised to provide essential training for all IB teachers and was held at Wellington College in Berkshire. Training in IB subjects is an essential requirement for all teachers.

My workshop was for school leaders and gave me a great insight into the scope of the IB as a qualification. Twenty teachers worked together on subjects as diverse as timetabling and marketing. What amazed me was the range of schools that offer IB, my team included headteachers from Finland in the far north of Europe to Yaounde in Cameroon in the heart of tropical Africa. What united us was the common thread of the IB and the recognition that our students are studying for a qualification that is truly global and visionary. As well as the workshop I attended we had the opportunity to mix with a number of subject teachers and learn a lot about approaches to learning and teaching.

It also made me incredibly proud of RIS as a school. I showed the colleagues photographs of our campus during a session where we had to present about our own schools. I know many were envious of our facilities and the fact that the IB was factored into the design of the building. We are beginning to see the impact of this design in our lessons, particularly in the Sciences, where well-equipped laboratories are essential in order to create a real passion for the subject.

A great building is only as good as what goes on inside it and after my time in the UK I felt reinvigorated and even more eager to make our pedagogical offer even more worthy of the investment made in our facilities.

BY ANTHONY ALLARDMIDDLE/HIGH PRINCIPAL

One big IB family

Interview with Mr David Blair David Blair was born in a town in Scotland and then moved to Glasgow because of his father’s work in a very important bank.

He obtained a University degree in Scotland, in English language and literature and went to Oxford in order to pursue a post-graduate course in English literature.

His first experience as a professor was in Reading College (situated near London) and later on he was called back to Oxford, but this time as a professor not as a student. He also taught at Kent University (Canterbury) for an impressive 34 years and for one year at Massachusetts University.

He was about to retire in 2010 when he was asked to teach English language and literature at a British School in Prague.

He now teaches English Theory of Knowledge at Rome International School. It is his first time teaching in Italy.

He thinks that the IB Programme is a good formative program and he defined IB students as being “multi subject students”. He has particular experience with Theory of Knowledge since he also taught it in Glasgow University, evaluating it as a very significant subject.

BY DILETTA MENEGHELLOGRADE 12

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The IB conference brings together teachers from across Europe and the Middle East who share their experiences of teaching the IB. It is an opportunity for teachers to hear and share good practice and further deepen awareness of the global context of the IB. Following a successful proposal I was asked to present at the IB regional conference that was held in Rome this October.

This year the theme was Ways of Knowing. Within the IB curriculum this is a central part; understanding how and why we gain knowledge is essential if students are going to become independent critical thinkers. My presentation was entitled Nonrational Ways of Knowing within the history classroom.

I began my presentation by talking about emotion. History is an emotive subject, all of history is an interpretation and this is often subjective. It is extremely difficult to be objective when faced with many of the atrocities that we study in history. However this can be a danger to our ability to critically assess an event or time period, historians must learn how to identify bias and use it constructively.

I drew on my personal experiences of teaching and discussed how I have come across students who have a deep connection, from their own personal experiences, with the past and how I discussed this emotive view with them and helped them to view the event with a degree of objectivity. I then concluded this section by

discussing the dangers of teachers being overly emotive in their teaching. Too often I have seen teachers who try to engage students by using fear or upsetting the students however I don’t think this is required and it can be damaging to the student and their interest in history.

Next I discussed the use of imagination. This is a new WOK to the IB curriculum and one that is often dismissed in history as not being academic enough for rigorous study. However I disagree. Counterfactuals are a way of using imagination to further deepen understanding and they require high level analytical skills. A counterfactual is a way of understanding what did happen by discussing what did not happen.

I shared several examples, one of these is used when studying Hitler’s rise to power. Historians often point to the Wall Street Crash as one of the more significant causes of the Nazis gaining power. I ask students to eliminate this cause and then argue with evidence how likely it is that Hitler would still gain power, at the same time and in the same way. This provides lively discussion and students further understand the importance of the various causes and it prevents them from relying on simplistic answers which focus on just one cause.

Presenting at the conference was an exciting opportunity to share my experiences and pedagogy with other teachers whilst representing RIS.

BY MS VALE MIDDLE/HIGH HISTORY & PHILOSOPHY

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This year IB students in Rome had the opportunity to be a student volunteer at the IB c o n f e r e n c e . S t u d e n t participation was split between student performances and s tudent vo lunteers . Th is meeting, held over four days at

the Marriott Hotel had the aim to unite all the IB Schools in Africa, Europe and the Middle East and other interested parties to present and discuss the objectives, content and updates of the IBO programmes.

On the first day, 15 October, myself together with other students helped the IB staff set up the various rooms and prepare working materials needed for the conference. Some of the tasks involved unpacking boxes that had been shipped to Rome from all over the world. We also had to arrange the material to be distributed to all the participants of the meeting. It was a challenging job because of the large amount of materials. However, we did succeed in preparing about three thousands bags, each containing a set of

programmes and other useful information about the conference for participants.

During the following three days, the workshops and meetings started every day at around nine o’clock. Consequently, the student volunteer s arrived earlier at seven o’clock in order to arrange the rooms. When we arrived, we were assigned different tasks. For example on one of the days, I was asked to provide headphones for eventual translation from English to their language. Another assignment was to distribute the “goodie bags” and to bring microphones to attendees for the question and answer sessions that were held during the plenary events. The conference was incredibly busy and I can say that I really appreciated helping the IB staff as it improved my organisation skills and gave me the opportunity to meet and work with other students for a common objective.

BY SIMONE COHEN GRADE 12

Student performance as part of the Opening Ceremony of the conference. Performers included students from RIS as well as students from international schools across Italy.

Student experiences at the 2014 IB Regional Conference

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During my 'enhanced learning' sessions on Friday afternoons, the children have been exploring a new addition to the Paper application on the iPads called Mix.  Mix allows you to share your drawings with the Paper community, download other people's drawings, remix them and send them back again. It is a great way to collaborate with others and find inspiration. 

I also love using the Paper app and the new Mix option. I shared some of my drawings with the children before we began working.

It is very exciting to see your work remixed by others around the world so, as well as

downloading and remixing other's work, the children created their own selection of black and white drawings for other people to colour. One of their designs has already been remixed, as you can see in the photos!

The enhanced learning sessions have enabled me to explore this great new feature in the Paper app and I hope to introduce it into my class's learning in the near future to help them collaborate and share their learning and ideas with the world, not only in art but in all areas of the curriculum.

BY MR YOUNGGRADE 6 TEACHER

Enhanced Learning with a Mix!

RIS REPORT

RIS report is a monthly publication by Rome International School.

RegistrationRegistration number 243/2014 as of 21/10/2014

Direttore ResponsabileMaria Corbi

Editor-in-ChiefTania Gobenatgobena@romeinternationalschool.it

Rome International SchoolVia G. Pecori Giraldi, 137 - 00135, Rome +39 06 84482650/1 office@romeinternationalschool.it www.romeinternationalschool.it