Universities are looking at more than grades alone in their student selection processes. Although newspapers frequently decry the state of schools today, the reality is that more schools in more countries are educating more children, frequently to a higher standard than ever before. More students are also going to college. In the past many students were admitted into the most elite schools simply because of their family name or the boarding school they attended, but this practice is much in decline, and the admissions process is increasingly competitive with quality educational institutions drawing applications from all over the world. For students who aim to attend the elite colleges in, for example, the United States, the acceptance rates are daunting: Amherst 14.2%, Princeton 9.3%, Yale 8.3% and Harvard a shockingly low 7.1%. The choice schools of the UK and elsewhere are equally competitive, and also receive applications from all over the world. How does a student make their application stand out from all of the other students applying who are also valedictorians and have a perfect grade point average?
In the past extra-curricular activities largely existed to build a sense of school community and to act as a hook to keep some of the less academic students coming to school. In many schools this is still true today, but in the more progressive schools extra-curriculars mean much more. Extra-curriculars offer a way for students to explore their interests, to apply skills and concepts from class in a real-life setting, and to become a well-rounded person.
Universities and the employers of the future aren’t looking for robots who have memorized millions of facts, but instead are looking for dynamic individuals who are life-long learners. They prefer applicants who can work with other people, who apply academic learning to solving real-world problems, manage their time and achieve work-life balance. Students who are toiling away at cram schools to get perfect scores on their exams face a losing battle - all of the applicants have exceptional results, so it is hard for them to stand out based upon statistics alone. Students who take a more balanced approach and who explore their interests and passions through well-managed extra-curricular programs take their fate into their own hands as they now control their narrative. Instead of merely presenting a list of statistics to schools, they now get to tell their own story about who they are, what their dreams are, their uniqueness, and their valuable accomplishments.
KIS International School, like many other IB schools, embraces a different approach to extra-curricular programmes. As an IB World School that runs all three IB programmes from kindergarten to graduation, KIS is set up to be more student-centered. The classrooms and extra-curricular programmes revolve around the needs and development of the student. Through running a three-programme school, KIS has time to prepare students for the academic and organizational demands of the IB Diploma so that it is a rigorous and challenging programme, but not one that is overly anxiety-producing. Additionally all of the programmes support outside of classroom learning that enriches and reinforces the school’s objectives.
Here is a look at the differences between a traditional approach to extra-curricular programmes and a more progressive approach:
“Extra-curricular” experiences within the curriculum:
One of the biggest benefits of the IB for parents is that its programme requires students to complete the types of experiences that make students look attractive to universities – students at other schools have to exert a great deal of initiative to seek out or create special types of opportunities, and their schools in many cases may even stifle this initiative. At quality IB schools it is expected that all students participate in community service, organize their own events, develop leadership and teamwork skills, and participate in the arts or athletics.
• At an IB school within the Primary Years Programme students complete 5th Grade with The Exhibition – a final transdisciplinary unit designed by the graduating class that explores a topic of their interest and demonstrates their learning. Last year’s 5th graders at KIS explored the topic of poverty’s effect on children through volunteering at local orphanages, hosting a gala that raised over 150,000 Baht, and organizing and running a Children’s Day at KIS for over 260 children from local orphanages and community centers. The teachers and parents supported the children, but the students were responsible for the planning and decision-making based upon the research they had done.
• At an IB school within the Middle Years Programme students present their Personal Projects at the end of 10th Grade. Students complete a 9 month-long project where they investigate a topic of their choice, create a product, and write a formal academic essay describing their process, decisions, and research. Last year at KIS students created business plans for restaurants, wrote autobiographies, created mosaics from found-materials, and created documentaries about the environment to be distributed to local Thai schools.
• At an IB school within the Diploma Programme students participate in the Creativity Action Service (CAS) programme. In the final two years of schooling students are expected to take on approximately 150 hours worth of self-directed activities that represent creativity, action, and service. Students explore areas of interest, learn valuable time management and organizational skills, and have opportunities to apply a wide variety of academic skills. So far at KIS students have taken on creating tutoring programmes, organizing and hosting benefit concerts, and planning a programme to build homes for less fortunate people in rural Thailand among other things.
“Extra-curricular” experiences outside of the curriculum:
In addition to the differences in opportunities that exist through the traditional curriculums, IB schools and other progressive schools approach extra-curricular activities in a different way. The approach is much more process oriented, putting an emphasis on creating ways for students to grow intellectually, emotionally and in their ability to lead and take on serious responsibility.
At a traditional school performing arts exist to spotlight the natural talents of the most gifted musicians and actors. Adults with more experience handle direction, costumes, set-design, lighting, and advertising. At a progressive school the performing arts are an opportunity for students to solve problems through making scenes, creating choreography, making decisions about set design and costumes, and to manage lighting, sound, and the stage.
• At KIS students several times a year create student-run productions. The students design and execute their own advertising, run lighting and sound, make decisions about direction, manage the stage, and in some cases create their own scripts or compose their own music.
At a traditional school the Student Council is primarily a social club that organizes social functions and charity activities.
At a progressive school the Student Council is an opportunity to engage in leadership, to develop programmes and policies to address student needs, and to negotiate and collaborate with adults in school to best serve students.
At a progressive school the Student Council is an opportunity to engage in leadership, to develop programmes and policies to address student needs, and to negotiate and collaborate with adults in school to best serve students.
• At KIS Student Councils have written their own constitution, engaged in campaigns with speeches, learned how to set and manage agendas and meetings, created a recycling programme, participated in designing and selecting the new school uniforms, and worked with school administrators to develop a policy to decrease waste from school printers.
At a traditional school athletics are oriented purely around performance and a few gifted athletes dominate most of the teams. At a progressive school athletics are oriented around developing leadership, a healthy lifestyle, and character. Participation and attitude are as important as performance because students aren’t training to become professional athletes, but instead are preparing for a mentally and physically healthy life.
• At KIS all students are encouraged to participate in athletics. Students develop leadership and organizational skills through organizing tournaments and using their knowledge and skills to help with coaching younger players.
Extra-curricular programmes should be fun and should help build a sense of community at a school, but they can be more than that too. Parents should encourage their children to participate in extra-curricular programmes that fit their interests, build on their strengths, and sometimes address their weaknesses. Schools must support their students through creating student-centered experiences that support growth, exploration, and the development of responsibility. Students must show initiative and take full advantage of the existing opportunities to develop their skills and knowledge.
There is no harm in participating in weaker programmes “just for fun”, but important opportunities for growth are missed. On the other hand participating in popular extra-curricular activities just to pad your college applications also misses the point. The key to the ideal extra-curricular experience is that it can’t be faked. It must be an authentic experience, whatever it is, where the student was committed, worked hard, and truly learned something. The student should be able to communicate about what made their experience unique and about how it makes them better prepared for the challenges of the future. Progressive schools and involved parents help children to gain essential, non “extra”, experiences that prepare students for life, with the added bonus that it helps them get into the university of their choice.
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