Image designed by Gloria Leyla Beretta - Year 7
Skt Josef’s International School
A 21st century education is about giving students the skills they need to succeed in this new world and helping them grow the confidence to practice those skills.
Skt Josef’s International Department has developed much of the teaching and curriculum to allow learners to be increasingly responsible for their own learning rather than being passive recipients from the teachers. They work on 21st century skills which include collaboration, communication, critical thinking, creativity, citizenship, and character.
With so much information readily available to students, 21st century skills focus more on making sense of that information, sharing and using it in smart ways.
The teaching of 21st century skills happens in all lessons, but it can be explicitly seen in the following lessons:
Global Perspectives
We use the Cambridge Global Perspectives program from Year 1 consider global issues from different perspectives but also to teach and apply 21st century skills to their work, life and directly to the world around them.
At the young years this is taught through topics such as reflecting on Reduce, Reuse, Recycle or researching Sharing Planet Earth. Moving into Secondary students look at topics such as Human Rights and analysing Globalisation.
“Critical thinking at the age of 5 may not be obvious to see in the classroom but it is there. Communication, collaboration and problem solving at a simple level is certainly possible.” Primary Teacher at Skt. Josef’s.
Project X
Project X is a project-based learning method in Year 7 – 9 in which students learn by actively engaging in real-world and personally meaningful projects. It was developed to target the skills that students will need in the future. Research has shown skills such as strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, leadership and communication are some of those essential skills that are less commonly found in people and more desired! The teacher sets the goals for the students, and then allows the student to explore the topic and create their project in groups. The teacher is a facilitator in this student-centered approach and provides scaffolding and guidance when necessary.
Critical Thinking
The best education for life in the 21st century must be built on the twin pillars of learning how to learn and how to think critically about the vast array of information that confronts students.
Skt. Josef’s International School has developed our own curriculum for Critical Thinking lessons based on Psychology, Philosophy, and Logic.
Through the course students learn how to evaluate arguments and pinpoint flaws in reasoning, survey some of the important and influential ideas about human nature in western history and look at some competing theories about how the mind works.
This gives the students the ability to think rationally and understand the logical connection between ideas.
The following is a link to an article wrote in the Times Education Supplement about why we run critical thinking lessons - and how to do it. Click Here
STEM
The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) club is an extra-curricular activity offered to all students in Year 6 (and to 4th grades in the Danish department). The idea is to encourage an interdisciplinary approach to learning which will hopefully increase the interest of students in these subject areas. This club is also designed to encourage cooperation between students in the Danish and International departments.
STEM has limited spaces
YearBook
An annual year book is produced by a group of students who are involved in every aspect from photography to layout.
Band
This group provides an opportunity for students to jam, appreciate music and occasionally perform. It is open to students from Year 6-Year 11 who already play an instrument or sing.