Desired Student Outcomes

09 Jun Desired Student Outcomes

The next part of the plan we are working on involves reviewing the Desired Student Outcomes. We have had a fairly short list for the last few years, and it seemed clear that they were neither comprehensive enough to base our curriculum planning on, nor specific enough to Woodstock to differentiate them from many other schools.

We met as a school planning forum two weeks ago, and began to answer the question: what should a Woodstock graduate take away with them? What tools do they need in their “toolbox for living”? Amy Seefeldt, Assistant Head of Senior School (Academics) then carried out the big job of collating the ideas into a comprehensible and logical statement, reproduced below. We’d be interested in your comments.

Desired Student Outcomes

Increasingly seeing learning as a way of living, Woodstock students demonstrate the following skills, attitudes, and values:

In equipping themselves to survive and thrive in the 21^st century, Woodstock students:

1. Know how to learn and are comfortable with exploratory learning.
2. Think critically, actively applying their knowledge and analyzing patterns.
3. Practice and master methods of scientific inquiry and research
4. Effectively communicate orally, in writing, using multimedia and through creative forms of expression; constructing and supporting sophisticated arguments.
5. Utilize technological resources responsibly and with ease.
6. Succeed on standardized exams.

In developing a profound sense of self, Woodstock students:

1. Act with integrity
   1. Persevere, with conviction and courage as sources of motivation
   2. Seek to acquire wisdom and discernment in making ethical decisions
2. Possess focus and passion
3. Remain open, teachable, humble, with an ability to follow when appropriate.
4. Pursue well-being through these practices:
   1. Celebrate achievement and remain resilient through failure
   2. Reflect continuously on their own lives
   3. Stay physically fit
   4. Think strategically and practice self-discipline
5. Explore and identify with their own culture, language, religion and history

In developing healthy interpersonal relationships, Woodstock students:

1. Learn collaboratively, working with diverse people in an effective team
2. Demonstrate empathy for the hopes, dreams, and struggles of people around them, celebrating the achievements and mourning the failures of others.
3. Respect the dignity of others by understanding, appreciating, and articulating their perspectives.
4. Remain flexible and adaptable, able to absorb others’ ideas and able to live with ambiguity.
5. Lead in the following ways:
   • Bring out the best in others
   • Model desired attitudes and actions
   • Take and give effective feedback

 In developing as citizens, Woodstock students:

1. Maintain a sense of personal responsibility for communal welfare, thinking strategically and practically to find sustainable lifestyles.
2. Cultivate curiosity and appreciation through their exploration of diverse cultures, languages, religions, and histories, including building an understanding of Christian beliefs, practices, and rituals.
3. Remain comfortable in multiple environments because of their cross-cultural competency.
4. Possess a strong sense of social justice and concern for those less privileged than themselves.
5. Understand and seek to preserve their natural environment as good stewards of the earth for future generations.