In our second edition of The Takeaway, we interview Nichole Schmidt, High School Principal at AISJ

Summer is around the corner, and international school leaders have an opportunity to take a breath, reunite with their values, and activate change. In doing so, they can make room for teachers and other members of the community to increase their capacity and enact their values as well.

Notes from an interview with Rachel Hovington on November 22nd, 2022

When I think of neglect, I can’t help but picture her: an affluent student at a prominent international school, who wore the same clothes day after day, complained of a forgotten lunch, and was distant and uninterested in school. She was passed up to the next grade, to the next cohort of teachers, to the next school. Yes, we were concerned. Yes, we wrote it down. Despite our concerns, little changed for this girl. This student, and the thought of how I might have failed her, has me thinking about why the system didn’t work and the importance of our responsibilities as educators to protect children. Did we not act more swiftly because we didn't think neglect would be an issue in such an affluent community? What did we miss along the way?

Welcome to Sea Change’s inaugural launch of The Takeaway! Each featured write-up shines a spotlight on one of our partner schools. Our first edition takes a look inside our visit with the American School of Lusaka.

Students in upwardly mobile communities are feeling pressure from their parents, peers, and community members to excel at multiple academic and extracurricular pursuits to bolster their long-term prospects. Recent studies are finding children who attend competitive schools- many of them private schools, serving affluent families, including Third Culture Kids (TCKs)- are experiencing the effects of this trend towards “hyper schooling” which can have negative implications for growing children and adolescents.

Stress itself is not always negative, in fact some is necessary for optimal performance. However, when pressure is chronic it can be harmful to adolescents. In his book, At What Cost? David Gleason describes the issue with hyper schooling and makes recommendations for how administrators can mitigate their negative effects.

United Nations International School of Hanoi Vietnam had been reviewing their Homebase advisory program to ensure it was supporting students in the way they intended and being implemented with purpose and clarity. Sea Change was brought on to support this process and a current state assessment was performed. This was the first step toward their goals- which included a focus on the program structure, content delivery, and mentor training.

Lina Paumgarten has been building mindfulness programs in schools for 13 years. In this interview she gives advice on what works- and what doesn’t- in mindfulness.

In response to an increase in student anxiety and social skill challenges after three years of the Covid pandemic, schools have been viewing Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) with renewed interest.

Prioritizing SEL in schools is a great investment, but in order to do this effectively, there are a few things we should take into consideration.

School and university leaders are facing unprecedented and profound challenges. Guiding an organization through a global pandemic whilst also attending to personal circumstances requires extraordinary effort. Key amongst these are the efforts that leaders are making to protect the mental health and well-being of their communities.

Announcing the launch of Sea Change Mentoring and Globally Grounded’s independent research project into transitions support at international schools.

What happened at the FIRST Global 2017 Challenge, was more than just a robotics competition. The event held in Washington DC, which hosted young people from 150 countries, was an opportunity to build bridges, demonstrate resiliency, crush stereotypes and damaging misperceptions, think creatively, and collaborate cross-culturally.

Lately, I have been thinking about the moments and days after 9/11. That is the last time I experienced a disruption to my everyday life and a range of emotions that were difficult to understand. While the Coronavirus pandemic is much different, I find I’m using what I learned during that time to help me.