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STUDENT VOICE

A Portrait of Global Perspectives


Building blocks, playdough, crayons, and stickers-as soon as a child develops motor skills, we ask them to communicate through art.

Art provides a unique insight into student voice, allowing us to reflect on the human condition by seeing the world through the lens of the student. Art asks both the creator and the viewer to be vulnerable and open to empathy, new experiences, ideas, and viewpoints. It encourages analytical, as well as creative thinking, and inspires conversations about the world around us, our perceptions, reflections, change, and beauty.

By showcasing student artwork from around the world, we have the opportunity to connect our international school community through a portrait of global perspectives. We invite students of all ages and experiences to participate in this visual network by sharing their voice through art.

To contribute student artwork to A Portrait of Global Perspectives, please contact [email protected].

SEARCH

By Héloïse, year 13
11-May-22
As a student of color, I would like you to listen to me. As I grow into adulthood…I want you to make my education a safe space… ..more
By Cassie Cooke and Alysha Heller
27-Apr-22
Students from Zurich International School in Switzerland harness the power of short-form video storytelling to build awareness and inspire action towards the future they want. ..more
By Héloïse Hughes, year 13
13-Apr-22
A student’s contribution to an online affinity group tackles how a lack of teacher diversity can affect students. ..more
By Timur, Grade 9
13-Apr-22
I hope that after reading my story of realization many students and teachers will be able to put themselves in my shoes and, perhaps, this will help them understand that they are not alone in their feelings. ..more
By Mira Chan, Grade 10
30-Mar-22
Despite two years of interruptions, a school council empowers youth to remain passionate and committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. ..more
By Ahaan Chakrabarty, Year 11
30-Mar-22
If students are assisted in overcoming financial obstacles, they can accomplish miracles. Every school is booming with dreams, they just need the funds to turn them into reality. ..more
+ 2022
By Conrad Hughes
02-Mar-22
Conrad outlines some of the issues facing students at the end of high school. Join a discussion with 17-year-old students Meghana and Laeticia. ..more
By Anna, Year 12
16-Feb-22
In the spirit of listening and elevating student voices, Anna asks to be heard, to highlight the importance of a positive mindset, and to understand that teachers play an important role in a student’s adolescence. ..more
By Lou-Anne, year 11
02-Feb-22
A year 11 student from Utahloy International School, China shares her creative voice through cartoons to "make the current affairs in school more accessible and interesting for students." ..more
+ 2021
By Michaela Johnson, Grade 12
08-Dec-21
In this video, Michaela Johnson, a Grade 12 student at The International School of Zug and Luzern, speaks on her experiences with racism in life and school. ..more
By ACS Press Office
24-Nov-21
Students of all ages from ACS International School Egham have been “showing racism the red card” through a series of anti-racism awareness and fundraising activities. ..more
By Mealea Mang, Age 15
24-Nov-21
In this video, Mealea shares her perspective on the conventional classroom, establishing healthy classroom relationships, student ownership, and embracing flaws. ..more
By Sandrine Wessels, Grade 12
10-Nov-21
Grade 12 student at The International School of Zug and Luzern, speaks on the topic of depression and the experiences of students and teens struggling with mental health. ..more
By Students at the International School of Luxembourg
10-Nov-21
When incidents of racism and anti-Semitism happened in their school, the students at the International School of Luxembourg (ISL) took matters in their own hands. ..more
By Talon Podcasts
10-Nov-21
In this episode, fifth grade students talk about the need to rename Columbus Day in the Americas and propose three ideas for change. ..more
By CMRubinWorld
10-Nov-21
The Planet Classroom Network’s YouTube Channel will stream a stunning collection of shorts and features from some of the most talented and up-and-coming indie and youth filmmakers worldwide. ..more
By Sofia Alvazzi and Roberta Afonso Jugdar, Grade 10
27-Oct-21
The YCP is a virtual project aimed to connect youth with changemakers from around the world who are focusing on the UN Sustainable Development Goals in order to inspire action.  ..more
By Grade 5 Students
13-Oct-21
In the spirit of amplifying student voice, two fifth grade students from Chile write letters sharing ideas for improving their educational experience. ..more
By Ahaan Chakrabarty, Year 11
29-Sep-21
Ahaan Chakrabarty discusses the global issues that we face right now and the importance of addressing them to achieve greater peace and good. ..more
Doline Ndorimana
01-Sep-21
In the spirit of listening and elevating student voices, TIE is creating a “Dear Teacher” series to designate a space to have these voices heard. ..more
By International School of Luxembourg (ISL)
15-Sep-21
Students at ISL realize that racism and racial discrimination is still very much alive and engage in a frank and open discussion on race relations within their school. ..more
By Dana Shpak
04-Aug-21
Grade 12 student, Dana: "Moving to a new place and learning a new language helped me become the best version of myself." ..more
If you are a student aged 12-16, working on a project to make our world sustainable, we want to hear about it! The #YoungGreenLeaders Award.   ..more
By Alec Roisko
22-Jun-21
This short story was produced by Alec Roisko at Frankfurt International School’s Writing & Art Symposium, where authors and artists worked with students on a bilingual interschool publishing project. ..more
By Hamsini Sivakumar
08-Jun-21
This short story was produced by Hamsini Sivakumar at Frankfurt International School’s Writing & Art Symposium, where authors and artists worked with students on a bilingual interschool publishing project. ..more
By Jeffrey Gibbs
08-Jun-21
Yasmin Erkohen, an eleventh grader and second year writing consultant for Hisar Writing Center has won the MENAWCA's annual award for providing exemplary service to students through innovative tutoring techniques and the quality of her tutoring work. ..more
By Anna Rose Sugarman
08-Jun-21
Feedback is most powerful when it comes from the student and is directed toward the teacher. Have yours had any voice in the trajectory of their learning? I have started to ask students what they consider to be the best ways for them to learn. ..more
By Sally Robertson
08-Jun-21
80 students from 10 schools in 9 countries on 4 continents collaborated to produce 60 stories in Hear It Out – A memoir of an extraordinary year, a performance project that celebrates real life stories and creates a significant piece of collective oral history. ..more
By Alexandra Bates
25-May-21
A graduating senior at Colegio Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Lima, Peru offers a beautiful reflection on her first day at the new school, capturing the anxiety and trepidation that so many international students experience in transitioning but also the enriching experiences of growth in community. ..more
By Ranjana Harlalka
25-May-21
Students at Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti school in Guwahati, India have been working with enthusiasm, hope, and determination on meaningful creative projects throughout the pandemic, sometimes in collaboration with students around the world. ..more
In a global competition launched by Book Creator and Planet Classroom, youth aged 11-18 were asked to create a one-page storybook, including a cover illustration, and to read it aloud. Over 480 stories poured in. ..more
By Richard Bampfylde
27-Apr-21
Students from twenty schools representing six countries across three continents participated in this 5th edition of BHSMUN, demonstrating key skills necessary for a balanced Middle-East region and to lead through very challenging times towards a bright future. ..more
By Ahaan Chakrabarty
30-Mar-21
For his Grade 10 IB Middle Years Programme Personal Project, Ahaan Chakrabarty decided to build a solar power bank that his fellow students would use at school to charge their phones. In the era of COVID-19, staying charged up and connected is all the more critical. ..more
By Justin Connors '21
15-Mar-21
Justin is a Senior at the Walworth Barbour American International School in Israel devoting his senior project to examining the means by which foreign students might receive better support at school by taking into account their pedagogical conditioning. ..more
By ACS Press Office
15-Mar-21
As schools across the U.K. return to on-site teaching and learning, ACS International Schools' parents, teachers, and students share their thoughts and feelings on the return to the classroom.  ..more
By David Willows
16-Feb-21
Has Covid-19 already started to mold and influence the ways in which today’s generation of students will choose the right school for their children? David Willows decided to test this idea on the school-aged people in his own family. ..more
By CMRubinWorld
19-Jan-21
The Planet Classroom Network has launched its programming schedule with 28 cultural organizations committed to global programming. Young people from around the world played a significant role in conceptualizing, creating, & producing the network’s vision & programming.   ..more
By ACS Press Office
02-Feb-21
Open to all interested in building a better, more sustainable future, "The world needs global citizens" will be hosted by ACS International School Hillingdon on Tuesday 9 February and will feature a number of speakers who will share perspectives on the global challenges before us. ..more
By Ben Fishman and Josh Lange
19-Jan-21
Concordia International School Shanghai has forged a partnership that allows international school students and staff to work together with local Chinese in community development efforts, mainly through education and health projects in rural parts of the country ..more
By Mick Amundson-Geisel
06-Jan-21
The Myanmar International School Counselors Association (MISCA) has allowed its members to stay connected professionally and offer mutual support. But it has also empowered students to pursue their personal and educational goals. ..more
+ 2020
By Veenaa Agrawal
11-Nov-20
The Little Library, a student project spearheaded by Veenaa Agrawal of Lincoln Community School (Accra), is making a big impact on local students in her Abelemkpe community as access to learning resources grows even more limited due to the pandemic.  ..more
By Shwetangna Chakrabarty, TIE blogger
24-Oct-20
In the era of Covid-19, IB students at Utahloy International School Guangzhou have found a way to pursue service-learning opportunities remotely. Yes, we must practice social distancing, they understand; but this is no time to distance ourselves from social causes. ..more
By Diana Shanaa
24-Oct-20
Cairo American College Senior Abdullah Shamsi was chosen by the United Nations Department of Global Communications to be one of eight youth speakers at the UN International Day of Peace, held virtually on 17 September. ..more
By Sena Chang
03-Sep-20
The abrupt change in pedagogy at The American School in Japan (ASIJ) brought on by the pandemic has sparked many conversations about the effectiveness and value of digital learning. Three middle schoolers shared their views with ASIJ student Sena Chang. ..more
By Nafisa Mustafa, Age 10
15-Jul-20
"Throughout this learning experience, I have missed many things, but the biggest one is socializing. Being there in the physical classroom with the teacher was better and easier, for some inexplicable reason." ..more
By Jazz Victoria Griffiths, Grade 8
18-Jun-20
Without a doubt, this remote learning experience has brought both positives and negatives. At times I’ve been tearing out my hair, whereas at other moments I’m basking in a state of Zen that I’d never possessed while engaged in standard schooling. ..more
By Jinho Yoon, Grade 11
18-Jun-20
On the morning of 17 March, four Korean students and I entered the desolate Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun, India welcomed by the few that worked there with glances of suspicion and disgust. Leaving meant we would not be able to return to school, no matter how things evolved. ..more
By Azzah Abrar Dar, Age 10
18-Jun-20
This time pause has the power to teach me new things every day, Utilize every moment positively, keeping your gadgets at bay. Watching a movie together and these endless family chats, have the power to mellow down, even the nasty spoiled brats. ..more
By Thomas Ferrebee & Ernesto Carriazo
22-Apr-20
At Colegio Nueva Granada’s Writing Center in Bogotá, Colombia, students serve their peers in a space where the school’s core values of respect, responsibility, integrity, and caring are made manifest and academic rigor is cultivated in community. ..more
By Hovig Demirjian
22-Apr-20
Lebanon's economic and financial crisis brought thousands of young citizens and school-aged children into the streets to voice their anger and frustration. After much thought, I personally followed a group of my students, walking behind them as they chanted for justice, fairness, and economic equality. ..more
By Adam Carter
08-Apr-20
Why do we lock students out of educational conferences when it’s their education we are discussing and planning behind closed doors? Western Academy of Beijing (WAB) and OWN Academy recently set out to create a new model that includes students in the conversation. ..more
+ 2019
By Andrew Ranson
13-Nov-19
International schools everywhere are seeking ways to help their students live the core values of the mission statements that define school communities. Five years ago, in our work as coaches of the high school girls’ volleyball team, my colleague and I began an experiment. ..more
By Global (Ayechan, Haein, Hayman, Phaebe, and Stuti)
03-Dec-19
Members of International School Yangon’s Eco Schools Team led a protest on 20 September 2019, highlighting their main concerns about the school’s contribution to climate change and advocating for the elimination of single-use plastics on campus. ..more
By Kristen MacConnell
20-Jun-19
In hosting the AASSA Educator’s Conference, our Nido de Aguilas Theme Team imagined a wide variety of partnerships. Little did we know, one of the most powerful partnerships to yield transformational learning was right under our noses. ..more
By Jill Barshay and Sasha Aslanian
04-Sep-19
Georgia State is one of a growing number of schools that have turned to big data to help them identify students who might be struggling – or soon be struggling – academically. Critics question if predictive analytics at college invades privacy and reinforces racial inequities. ..more
By Anya L.
01-Feb-19
iGEM is a premier synthetic biology competition for high school and university students, where teams use biological parts to synthetically design a system and operate them in living cells. The TAS team won a gold medal and was also nominated for seven other awards. ..more
By Brigitte Deussen
01-Feb-19
Bavarian International School recently held its third “BeInSp!red Innovation Summit.” Experts from innovation consulting, science, technology and design, together with 240 BIS students, developed ideas on the subject “Design your ideal school of the future!” using the creativity technique known as “Design Thinking.” ..more
By Anna Seipelt Goco
03-Jan-19
International School Manila’s Beamcats team was given the opportunity to carry out its proposed experiment at the CERN physics lab in Geneva, Switzerland. The project aims to determine the viability of using pion therapy as an alternative method of cancer treatment. ..more
+ 2018
By Elizabeth Rossini and Maggie Hagen
19-Oct-18
In our role as educators, it is important to offer our students choice, though we often fail to provide authentic, alternative learning opportunities. Without choice, how do we nurture intrinsic motivation and authentic learning experiences? ..more
By Will Griffin
23-May-18
Seoul American Middle School 8th grader Alexander Daniel represented the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) as a finalist in the 2018 National Geographic Bee in Washington, D.C. ..more
By Rich Lehrer and Kristen MacConnell
14-Oct-18
A new generation of technology is emerging that allows students to create highly refined, professional, and effective products with the potential for actual impact in their communities and the world. ..more
By Maya and Patricio Saenz Flores
13-May-18
This year, the AISA Global Issues Service Summit was held at the International School of Kenya (ISK), from 18–20 January. Schools from all over Africa, and even one from Europe, joined us for three days filled with inspiration, excitement, enjoyment, and hard work. ..more
By Tamara Studniski
06-Dec-18
At Xiamen International School (XIS), Secondary Principal Peter Burnside led a discussion with teachers that resulted in an agreement: limiting phone use to academic purposes was worth a try. Burnside, an avid guitar player, had an idea: why not give them instruments? ..more
By Freddie Oomkens
03-Oct-18
In honour of the International Baccalaureate’s (IB) 50th anniversary this year, students from 153 countries, studying all four IB programmes came together and developed projects in an effort to tackle real-world problems in extraordinary ways. ..more
By Kelsey Giroux
02-May-18
Build, design, create. Passion projects. Tinker Time. 20% Time. iTime… These are no longer the exception but part of the modern teacher’s daily lexicon of desired outcomes. However, the question of how to best structure time for these pursuits persists. ..more
By Chris Clark
28-Nov-18
WAB's Grade 7 students engaged in a month-long experience designed to enhance individualized learning. “What we’re aiming for is to have an individualized and personalized program that allows all students access to a range of opportunities to support their learning styles and their ability.” ..more
By Karim Dakmak and Wenlong Shao
02-May-18
The Theory of Knowledge (ToK) presentation accounts for 33 percent of one’s overall IB ToK grade. Its significance is, however, much greater. We decided to partner up, having noted that we both focused our research on how personal knowledge is shaped by shared bodies of knowledge at various stages of knowledge production. ..more
Laurin Gschwenter (Grade 8), American International School Vienna
27-Sep-18
It’s a Friday afternoon. I have social studies class… boring. I’m supposed to do a task on zoomin. Instead, I take out my phone, stand up and sit someplace where my professor can’t notice me. Instantly, my other mate takes his phone out too... ..more
By Maciej Sudra and Denzil Mackrory
11-Jul-18
Hand Out is a project led by a group of ISK students who use 3D printing technologies to create mechanical prosthetic hands for individuals who need them in underprivileged communities. The club is part of a larger global network known as Enabling the Future (ENABLE). ..more
By Beckett Haight
19-Oct-18
International schools are quickly moving in the direction of ensuring broad support for students, wherever their needs may lie. Just because a student is in a college prep school or has been accepted to be full IB, doesn’t mean that staff won’t need to collaborate and co-plan. ..more
By Kevin Glass an Mike McCarthy
19-Jan-18
Kevin Glass of AIS and Mike McCarthy of CNN International want your school to join hundreds of others around the world in marking #myfreedomday, a global day of action to help end modern-day slavery. ..more
By Tara Russell Ethridge
03-Oct-18
Female students in a writing class at the Udhailiyah branch of the Saudi Aramco Expatriate Schools decided to write a persuasive letter to Nike asking for some samples of their new Nike Pro sports hijab. It worked. ..more
By Chris Clark
19-Apr-18
Western Academy of Beijing’s (WAB) annual Global Issues Conference (GIC) aims to explore and raise awareness about challenges of our time. But this year was different. The focus was on inspiring action to make a difference in the world. ..more
By Jade Fulce
03-Oct-18
Five Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) students were named among 2019 National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists this year by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC). ..more
By Jeff Johanson
04-Apr-18
Those of us who have spent years in education have inevitably come across bullying and have tried to address its causes and effects with varying degrees of success. The practice can take so many different forms. ..more
By Kelly McKay
11-Aug-18
Themed Theater is a strategy for educators. A theme is chosen, by the teacher and/or students, and a script is written based on the theme. At American International School – Riyadh, students chose to focus on the third-culture experience. ..more
By Kristen Lowman
23-Mar-18
The team from Taipei American School (TAS) won the High School Grand Prize at the 2017 International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Championship in Boston. Their project, NANOTRAP, focuses on developing an effective mechanism for removing nanoparticles from wastewater. ..more
By Linda Egan
08-Mar-18
GIN was founded 15 years ago at the International School of Luxembourg and has since become a global phenomenon with over 100,000 members spanning five continents. Its purpose is to empower young people to collaborate locally, regionally, and globally in order to create sustainable solutions for global issues. ..more
By Marcelo Calero
20-Jun-18
Six Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) schools were selected as 2017-18 state-level winners and honorable mentions in the eCYBERMISSION competition sponsored by the U.S. Army Educational Outreach Program. ..more
By Kathy Decker
20-Jun-18
I had been warned by friends having held this job of the many challenges involved in putting a school yearbook together. I’d been cautioned about the unfinished students pages, about the blurry, low-resolution photographs, about the nonstop work a month (or two) prior to printing... ..more
By Emma Harper
07-Jun-18
A small group of high school students at the American School of Milan (ASM) are gearing up for a special service trip to Puerto Rico. This is the third such trip organized by ASM math teacher Dovid Fein, who has been focused on providing students with volunteer opportunities abroad. ..more

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The International Educator (TIE) is a non-profit organization committed to matching highly qualified educators with international schools around the world. For more than 30 years, TIE has been the most comprehensive service for securing a job in an international school. TIE is dedicated to advancing the highest professional teaching standards and promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the international school community.

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