By James E.R. Unsworth J.P. (Qual.)
Deputy Head of the Middle & Senior Schools
In 2009, it was my privilege to lead the first AISM team to the World Scholar’s Cup (WSC), an academic competition that involves students from around the world in debate, multiple-choice testing, team quiz and essay writing, all within one event. Although we took just one team of three that year, if you watch the official film of the event published by the organisers, our students feature disproportionately. What made our students stand out in that event, from the very beginning, was their ability to speak aloud, to communicate creative ideas eloquently and sophisticatedly as well as their ability to engage in an open and confident manner. This was the first time I was able to make a direct comparison between our students and students of a variety of other curriculums and this difference was immediately apparent.
But, as time has gone by, the successes of our students have certainly not been limited to brilliant displays of interpersonal skills, reasoning and oral communication. In fact, the students of the Australian International School Malaysia (AISM) have long since been a major force in WSC, despite the fact that we are inclusive (non-selective) and of a smaller scale to the other major players in the WSC arena. In addition to producing multiple WSC world champion debaters, including two in a row in 2012 (Bangkok) and 2013 (Dubai) and literally hundreds of other honours, AISM has been Malaysia’s overall champion team multiple times over.
In life, balance is often best. Whilst some curriculums, such as many from the U.S. or the IB MYP, are more liberal and others, such as the British, French and Malaysian, are more conservative, the Australian curriculum provides a balanced approach, which takes some of the best elements of both ends of the educational spectrum and blends them with uniquely Australian educational values.
Having had the blessing of teaching and/or leading teaching and learning in seven different curriculums, my view is informed by more than just what can be viewed through direct academic competition however. Every system, every curriculum, every pedagogical approach has its great and not-so-great aspects and the Australian education system is the same. However, like anything in life, choosing the curriculum that you see as best, as the most effective at achieving its key goal, of preparing young people to be successful and productive members of society, I have voted with my feet and with the investment of my own children's education. After nine years of service at AISM, I left and was able to learn a great deal from the two amazing schools I had the opportunity to further my career with following this. In July 2019 I was provided with the opportunity to return to AISM and purely based upon pull factors I decided to take up the opportunity, This, together with the fact that I have chosen to uproot my own children one more time and invest their education in AISM, is the best and most genuine endorsement that I can give.
So what makes Australian education unique?
- Inclusion - Our philosophy is based on what is known these days as a ‘growth mindset’. Australian education is fundamentally rooted in the idea that any child, given the right support, can succeed. We don’t view the educational journey as linear and we believe wholeheartedly in the benefits of groups of students of diverse levels of current ability learning alongside one another;
- 2Skills Focus - Rather than prioritising the remembering of who, when and what, we focus on the ‘hows’, the ‘how tos’ and the ‘whys’;
- Investigation, Interrogation and Analysis of Information - When looking at content (facts and figures), which one should or could never seek to avoid entirely, we tend to value these moments as opportunities to investigate, interrogate and analyse information provided, rather than merely comprehending and recalling;
- Assessment Products - Assessment in Australian education is regular, progressive and product based, meaning that students’ knowledge and skills are regularly and rigorously examined through the production of original work products, essays, reports, oral presentations and various other mechanisms;
- Creativity - In the Australian Curriculum it is mandatory that students continue to formally develop creative design skills in all subjects, but this is especially emphasised through timetabled classes in Visual Arts, Music, Drama, Design and Technology, Software Design and Robotics in the Junior and Middle Schools and in the Senior School, where students begin to have some choice over their educational pathway, all of these subjects and others are offered at more advanced levels;
- Speaking Aloud - Our students are encouraged and taught how to speak aloud, to question everything, even the teacher, in constructive, eloquent and intelligent ways. This is valued as an integral part of the learning journey and students who do this best are praised, respected and highly regarded;
- Visible Learning - One of our antipodean cousins, Professor John Hattie, now based at the University of Melbourne, originated a research-based educational philosophy which places the student at the centre of a cooperational learning journey and this approach has been most greatly adopted in Australia and especially at AISM, the world’s first accredited Visible Learning school.
Yes, we do less external examinations, but is that important? Why focus an educational system around the repetitive practice of a set of skills that will almost never be useful in life? When, in life, is anyone asked to memorise an extensive set of content and then to recount this information in silent, written form, with no reference to any sources? I can think of none in our contemporary world. Ask yourself however, how many times will your child be asked, in their later working lives, to present to a group, to write a report of their findings, to work as part of a team, to lead a team, to creatively design something, to solve a problem, to justify their perspective? Wouldn’t it make sense therefore to orientate one's education and dedicate the greatest amount of time to the development of skills in those areas?
Also, does the fact that we don’t spend a disproportionate amount of time learning content and practising examination skills mean that our students couldn’t or can’t do well in exams? The reality is that we still examine in conventional ways as well: we couldn’t claim to be balanced, if we didn’t regard this method of assessment as being valid. We see this assessment method as one of many mechanisms, just not necessarily the most effective one. But, coming back to the WSC, in the competitive multiple choice examinations of that international academic competition, competing against students from every curriculum, our students have found more success than in any other event, achieving hundreds of gold and silver medals in each of the six subjects tested, year after year. Even though they are not asked to memorise and recount information in this way often, they do better than students who are almost exclusively asked to demonstrate knowledge in this way. Perhaps this is because we use the equivalent curriculum time to teach our students how to think, analyse, deduce and be creative. Somehow, when given a curriculum to master for examination, they are able to excel above those whose time has been focused upon practising examination skills. This is especially the case at AISM, where not only do our students succeed in WSC, they also excel in the Higher School Certificate and last year (2018) the AISM cohort achieved the best results internationally in these examinations.
Almost every school has great aspects, great reasons to choose them to nurture and cultivate your child’s abilities to be a successful and productive member of society. In choosing an Australian approach and specifically the AISM approach, you are choosing a focus upon, as our published organisational purpose affirms, one that strives, ‘to educate the youth of the world to take their place as leaders in the global community.’
Learn if Australian Curriculum is the Right Fit for Your Child at AISM’s Open Week
There is no substitute for experiencing what happens at Australian International School Malaysia for yourself. Experience a virtual campus tour that will allow you to make the best decision for your child during our Open Week from 24 to 28 August 2020. Speak to our Principal, Head of Schools and teachers virtually to understand more about our school and community. Register now at www.aism.edu.my/admissions/virtual-open-week.
