PRINCIPAL's CORNER

Knowledgeable: We develop and use conceptual understanding, exploring knowledge across a range of disciplines. We engage with issues that have local and global significance.

Reporting season is upon us. Teachers and students have been working since the beginning of September to ensure reflections for students in Years 7-11 and teachers’ comments for Year 12 effectively capture the learning that has taken place this term. I have read a lot of comments and reflections lately and the basis of the vast majority of them is knowledge: knowledge developed, knowledge sought, knowledge lost (and soon to be regained!), etc. While these are all essential aspects of learning, it is the transfer of knowledge that is truly important for success and I have been delighted to see more mention of this in both teachers’ comments and students’ reflections.

Transfer refers to the ability to take knowledge or skills gained in one setting and apply them to another setting. You see this from the earliest stages of development. My son is 15 months old, but learned early on that if he dropped his pacifier out of his crib, I or his mother would pick it up and give it back. Soon, it became more about the attention we gave him than about the pacifier and it did not take long for him to transfer that learning to other areas. If he is in his playroom and wants attention, he begins throwing his toys out of his playroom (this usually gets our attention). If he is in his carseat and wants attention, he throws his water cup, toys, or whatever else he has out his reach in the hopes we will pick them up and pay attention (this rarely gets our attention until he starts crying because he doesn’t have any water or toys).

As children develop, transfer becomes more about skills than it is about general knowledge. In a concepts-based framework like the IB, it is crucial that students’ knowledge is based in understanding, rather than memorization, as students are asked to transfer skills from one subject to another. Without conceptual understanding, this is not possible. The ability to interpret a graph is equally as important in Science as it is in Math as it is in Humanities. The ability to elaborate on the concept of identity in Language and Literature is transferable to the development of digital applications in Design. In the MYP, this is accomplished explicitly through Interdisciplinary Units (IDU) and in the DP this is further developed through connections between Theory of Knowledge (TOK) and the other subject groups.

Regardless of the subjects, our teachers carefully plan their units and individual lessons with this in mind. Looking at student reflections and reading teacher reports, it is apparent that our focus on conceptual and transferable knowledge is embedded in teaching and learning at GJS. In a world where anybody with a smartphone can Google general knowledge, the ability of our students to understand and apply what they know to make connections and create new understanding is what will set them apart.