Summer!  As an educator hopefully you can enjoy travels and reading during your summer break from school. In the past I have used summer to share some of my favourite books for adults rather than review books for younger readers in this regular column. I shared The Library Tree by Deborah Cowley with you, as well The Seven Sisters Series by Lucinda Riley, still some of my favourite reads. Recently I came across two books that I much enjoyed. Both are focused on travel and different cultures and I loved them. Dubai, Inside the Kingdom of Bling by Raymond Barrett is a fascinating, all enc ..read more

Over the past few days there have been a few pieces on social media from school principals on whether results should be published or not. On the one hand of the spectrum is the craze to publish the number of perfect scores, on the other hand those that refuse to publish anything. The IB continues to publish grade averages and pass rates, has celebrated the number of students attaining 40 points or more, but will not publish the number of perfect scores or results that bring about crude comparisons: the IB decided to discontinue the publication of data highlighting the number of IB students ach ..read more

Books can be so much fun to share with students! Here are some frolicking good romps through stories. Not only does reading aloud help speakers of any language to become familiar with covers, pages, rhythm, rhyme and format of stories. It also helps to discover multi layered tales and double meanings. But most of all, sharing stories aloud demonstrates the joy of reading. Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard is a great story to share when kids are grumpy. When he wakes up grumpy, Bird doesn’t feel like doing anything. Too grumpy even to fly, he decides to walk. Soon Sheep and Raccoon and other frien ..read more

The concept of the debate is central to critical thinking and democracy. The etymology of the word is from the Latin battere, meaning to fight. The ancient Indian ritual of the Shastrartha , where religious ideas would be debated, or the Graeco-Roman tradition of debating ideas in the Agora (marketplace) and, later, in the senate, gave rise to a tradition that is deeply embedded in the Western epistemology of how ideas are presented and defended. Without a free environment where positions can be challenged, we quickly run into a tyrannical state of affairs where there is no freedom of speech a ..read more

Steps we can handle, iterations, aspirations … a staircase in the Katholische Pfarrkirche Herz Jesu, Goldau, Switzerland. Schools are accredited from time to time sort of like finances of businesses are verified in an audit: An outside agency takes a look at things, identifies lots of good practices and notes some things that could use attention, and then lets the organization get on with it. Oversimplified, but that’s the general idea. Being accredited can then be a selling point for the school. An outside agency, after all, has put its stamp of approval on the school. The logo from the agen ..read more

Books about the environment, stories about animals.. Sometimes they are fiction, sometimes they can be nonfiction. And sometimes… you’re just not sure. Here are some fascinating and some funny picturebooks about nature that will be fun to share in the classroom. Who Am I?, written by Gervase Phinn and illustrated by Tony Ross, is a hilarious read aloud about an unusual, newly hatched creature. He meets the tallest, the strongest, the smartest and many other animals living in the wilds, but would like to find out who he is. A great, surprise ending makes this a picture book to use with differe ..read more

Every school and university is someone’s alma mater and alumni networks are more or less well managed, ranging from highly curated and tentacular Ivy League-styled operations run by a development army with polished and frequent communications, to semi-formal and ad-hoc arrangements by individuals organising parties and get togethers. Educational institutions tends to view alumni as symbols of the institutions’ achievements and as potential fundraisers for the building of the institution’s posterity and legacy. Indeed, alumni contribute in major and concrete ways to schools and universities, al ..read more

Picture taken by author in HonKong Be the Change… The world of international education is diverse, bringing together colleagues from various cultural, ethnic, and professional backgrounds. This diversity while enriching can also present unique challenges, especially when it comes to implementing change. As a women leader of color I have always been reminded of Mahatma Gandhi’s mantra: “Be the change you want to see in the world.” This philosophy helps me realize the power of leading by example, a concept that needs to be modeled rather than forced. This strategy has helped me as a woman of col ..read more

Nonfiction, but also some fictional, books are a great resource for those of us who are curious and want to learn more. Why do some cultures have certain traditions? How can you find a job you love? What makes people tick? And even… what if dinosaurs really existed? These books can provide answers to many questions… Henna Is…, written by Marzieh Abbas and illustrated by Anu Chouhan, is a wonderful picture book that both delights and informs. Henna Is… is the story of how henna is actually grown, picked and ground into powder. It tells how, by adding ingredients, it is made into a paste that i ..read more

Wildlife in the city… From trees turning colour, to growing gardens and zoos, there is much of nature to be found in cities. These books celebrate the magic of growing your own vegetables, watching nature in an urban environment and, as a bonus, the magic of reading! Bunny Loves Beans by Jane Whittingham is a picture book for the very young that works on many different levels. Not only do the text and the lovely photos introduce a wide variety of animals, it also focuses on healthy, natural foods as well as colours. A fun book to read aloud and share many times over. Follow it up with healthy ..read more