VR Schools implement examples of international learning at every level of our organization.
In our national curriculum, it states that:
-The school should promote understanding of other people
and that
-The internationalization of Swedish society and increasing cross-border mobility place high demands on the ability of people to live with and appreciate the values inherent in cultural diversity
and even further details that:
It is important to have an international perspective, to be able to understand one’s own reality in a global context and to create international solidarity, as well as prepare for a society with close contacts across cultural and national borders.
This goal is accomplished through many efforts – in-class learning, online/digital exchanges, literary studies, face-to-face exchanges, international networking between teachers and more. In the last few weeks alone, three different internationalization learning projects have been happening at VR Schools.
Planet Bee visited VRS and VRG Sundbyberg.
Planet Bee is a non-profit educational research group dedicated to investigating best practices from around the world to bring back to South Korea. The visit to Campus Sundbyberg and the VR Schools was to investigate how do we work with art and science and how we promote creativity in the classroom. The visiting researchers visited classes, interviewed students, teachers, and school leaders, as well as attended staff planning meetings. Their key interest area was entrepreneurial learning, especially in practical subjects like handicraft, home economics, and the arts. A part of their three-month tour, the team will continue traveling throughout Scandinavia, observing and comparing different schools. They blogged about their work along the way. In the end, their work will be compiled into one report and shared with every teacher in South Korea. On their final day of visits, our visitors commented the most impressive aspect of our school environment was the obvious relationships between the teachers and the students.
Student and Staff exchange between Kyoto Gakuen High School in Kyoto, Japan and VR Samskolan Djursholm.
After two different staff exchanges, both in Sweden and in Japan, a group of 10 students and their teachers visited VRSD for true cultural exchange. Staying with host families, our visiting Japanese guests got to experience life as a Swedish student firsthand. They visited classes, participated in art and music projects together, went on study visits and participated in cultural activities with their “partner” students. Maybe the highlight of the cultural exchange was when the entire group of students and teachers from both schools were invited to the Japanese Ambassador’s residence for a dinner. The entire visit documented via a shared Instagram account: @kg_vrs_studentexchange.
As one student summed up the experience: “We are way more alike than different … I have learned so much!”
Two VRSV school leaders attend the International Confederation of Principals Conference in Shanghai.
Monica Ekman and Ingela Spets, school leaders from VRS Vasastan, recently attended a truly international conference in Shanghai, China. Together with more than 1500 principals from more than 50 countries, the conference offered exciting speakers, valuable exchange, and cultural learning. This trip was funded by a generous grant via Atlas Conference.
Here is the message we received from them after only two days:
Här i Shanghai har vi det bra, intensiva dagar som är otroligt givande. Igår lyssnade vi bland annat till Jack Ma, grundare till Alibaba (Kinas motsvarighet till EBay) Givande samtal och utbyte med skolledare runt hela världen, 45 deltagande länder. På bilden Deirdre Cawcutt, rektorskollega från Kapstaden, Sydafrika. ICP, International Confederation of Principals arrangerar konferens vartannat år runt om i världen. Årets tema är ”Connecting leadears, creating the future”.
Ingela and Monica will share their experiences and new knowledge with our entire VR Schools’ Leadership Team in an upcoming workshop.
These are just a few of the latest examples of international learning at every level of our organization. For further examples, you can read:
VRSV nurse, Gunilla Serlén, represents Sweden at International School Nurses Congress
Monica Ekman and Ingela Spets, school leaders from VRS Vasastan, attended an international conference in Shanghai, China.