Learning as a voyage of discovery
Ethan Hildreth, Superintendent at the Nord Anglia American International School, Abu Dhabi, says learning through experiences outside the classroom can often be a catalyst to creativity and great achievements.
Following a traumatic car crash with his wife and daughter, John Hetrick invented the automobile airbag. Since then lives around the world have since been saved.
Trevor Baylis developed the first wind-up radio to relay health messages across Africa after hearing about the tragic spread of AIDS. Since then millions of people benefitted from his invention.
When student Holly Freemantle heard about a young girl dying from carbon monoxide poisoning during a family camping trip, she set out to create a safer tent heater.
Learning that a neighbour’s infant perished in a hot car, fifth-grader Bishop Curry invented a device called Oasis that monitors a car’s temperature, emitting cool air and alerting parents if it gets too hot.
As these examples vividly illustrate, loss can motivate.
I knew of a former student who similarly turned loss into gain. As a young boy Mittal was especially close to his grandmother. Unfortunately, she passed away from cancer when he was just a child. Rather than see cancer as an inescapable monster, Mittal sought a remedy that was inspired by his loss. As a high school student, he began experimenting with the power of Carvacrol, a phenol found in oregano, for treating colorectal and pancreatic cancers. His early successes got the attention of Emory University, a leading American medical research college.
Impressed by his efforts, they partnered with Mittal at the age of seventeen, supporting him with medical research and facilities. In addition to his work with Emory, Mittal also started a foundation at school to provide social and emotional support for those affected by cancer. All these efforts occurred with the support from his family, from school, and from his colleagues. Moved by love for his grandmother, strengthened by his passion and faith in his work and surrounded by supporters, Mittal made remarkable strides forward at a young age.
Child phycologist Jean Piaget said: “The goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge, but to create the possibilities for a child to invent and discover, to create [people] who are capable of doing new things.” The above examples show that learning, creativity, and achievement can occur in diverse circumstances, quite often beyond or outside of the classroom, highlighting circumstances or environments for engaged and inspirational learning experiences to take place.
At Nord Anglia Education (NAE), we think beyond traditional education to create personalised, transformational experiences that enrich student learning inside and outside the classroom. Together with our global community of 53,000 students in 27 countries NAE offers a broad spectrum of global and regional events around the world. Here are a few exceptional opportunities exclusively available to NAE students:
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UNICEF – Through our collaboration with UNICEF, our students are challenged to lead and participate in projects locally and globally under the umbrella of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our students can express their social concerns at the highest levels by presenting to, engaging with and influencing world leaders at UN regional and global summits. As part of the World’s Largest Lesson, our teachers have a unique opportunity to develop resources which will inspire students and teachers around the world.
Through our collaboration with MIT, we inspire students to invent the future and help imbibe key transferrable skills and qualities that will prepare our students for the future.
Through our collaboration with Juilliard, we give our students the confidence to perform in all aspects of their lives. The Juilliard-Nord Anglia Performing Arts Programme is designed to help our students unlock their creativity and the ability to express themselves fully by connecting and collaborating with each other through Music Dance and Drama.
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Growth through travel – We bring our global community of 53,000 students in 27 countries together through global, regional and local expeditions around the world. These opportunities enable our students to truly experience the world rather than learn about it, helping them to connect and bond with each other under new circumstances.
Film writer and director J Hanna said: “The world is the true classroom. The most rewarding and important type of learning is through experience, seeing something with our own eyes.” As educators, we can empower our students to step out of traditional learning to experience the world with wonder, joy, and humanity, to love learning and believe they can achieve more than they ever thought possible. If we give them space to follow their dreams, they might even find a cure for cancer.
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Can learning be a voyage of discovery for our students? Ethan Hildreth, Superintendent at the Nord Anglia American International School, Abu Dhabi, says learning through experiences both inside and outside the classroom can often be a catalyst to creativity and great achievements.
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