Learning and Teaching Principles
At Vision International School all students will be provided with a rigorous and relevant educational path to support individual development at the highest levels. This will be accomplished through the experiential, problem-based approach in which we make content and skills standards come to life for students by connecting learning to relevant issues, their specific learning needs, and authentic audiences. Academic content is charged with rigor through the curricular structures of learning expeditions, case studies, projects, fieldwork, engagement with community experts, service learning, and exhibitions of student work.
The elements of our curriculum are approved by the Ministry of Education of Qatar. Together they form a curriculum vision and approach known as Expeditionary Learning. We apply this approach to immerse students in the culture, history, geography, language, and arts of the host region. We provide multiple ways for students to express their personal learning style and show what they know and are able to do through authentic assessments coupled with research-based differentiated and individualized instructional practices.
Our foundational theories are consistent with our principles of learning and designed to create independent learners with personal integrity, intellectual character, and interdependent community leadership skills. These skills are accomplished through integration of the following new Bloom’s Taxonomy and strategies:
- The Digital Bloom’s Taxonomy for development of sequential higher order and critical thinking
- Constructivist learning theory for all staff and students to provide a safe and respectful learning environment
- Creative and critical thinking for balanced child development across the disciplines
- Developmentally appropriate instruction to provide learning ladders for the early years
- Thinking Maps as the mental construct for organization of learning new material
- Integration of the arts in units of study
- Writing and reading across the content areas
- Vocabulary proficiency in the content areas for career path support
- Career preparation and mentorship opportunities
- Use of technology across the curriculum to support information literacy
- Parents as partners throughout their child’s learning experience
Our Objectives
A Vision International School education:
- Provides a wide range of experiences and programs that actively engage students and promote their growth intellectually, physically, aesthetically and socially while developing a depth of character that exhibits empathy, a sense of service, moral courage and humility.
- Sparks a passion in every student for learning and to become intensely immersed in their own education as its own reward. This will be accomplished by the provision of student-centered learning experiences that are real and relevant to the student and under the guidance of caring, nurturing teachers that recognize each child as a unique individual.
- Instill global citizenship by celebrating the culture and traditions of Qatar and other countries of the world. By experiencing the world through the eyes of others, and recognizing our similarities and differences, students become more grounded in their own culture, values, and traditions while gaining a broader understanding and appreciation of human diversity.
- Recognizes the unique learning needs of each student and will provide an appropriately rigorous program for all. Differentiated learning will establish expectations that challenge all students to grow beyond their boundaries under the tutelage and guidance of a teaching faculty that deeply understand the unique educational needs and capabilities of every child.
- Uses technology appropriately as a natural extension to enhance learning opportunities. Students will be exposed to, and engaged in, the use of technology on a regular basis to expand their classroom experience and provide them with new opportunities for self-expression and discovery.
