The Week Without Walls (WWW) aims to reflect the ideologies of the IB learner through experiencing the values of education, internationalism and community outside of the school walls. This may be achieved internationally or locally.
WWW allows students to implement knowledge learnt at home and school into real life experiences, reinforcing the skills and content of the curriculum. This helps students to understand the world we live in and their role in it.
WWW allows teachers to share their 'out of classroom' knowledge with students in a dynamic and challenging environment.
WWW allows students to develop leadership skills and to give back to communities.
WWW should:
- Take classroom knowledge and apply it to the real world
- Develop cultural sensitivity
- Promote independence and responsibility yet foster the need for teamwork
- Create a greater respect for our environment
- Challenge the students mentally, physically and emotionally
- Allow students to meet curriculum requirements; for e.g. CAS hours, Science projects, TOK
- Develop student's self esteem, trust in their own skills and those of others
- Provide opportunities for all students, both locally and internationally.
- Provide work placement opportunities with 'Hemam Qataria'
How Does WWW Link to the IB Learner Profile?
Inquirers/thinkers/knowledgeable
Trips should provide students with the opportunity to ask questions and seek the correct answers. This knowledge is transferable from the classroom into the environment and vice versa.
Communicators
Trips encourage teamwork, which relies heavily on communication. Students will also be expected to communicate with people from other walks of life.
Risk-takers
Trips will encourage students to take risks, which, in turn develops self-esteem.
Principled
Students will be expected to exercise maturity. Trips will challenge students to go out of their comfort zone. They will be exposed to a variety of cultures and rules. Students will be expected to remain true to the principles that they have leant at home and at school.
Caring and open minded
Service work allows students to care about others regardless of their age, race, wealth or beliefs. Exposure to different cultures and activities will also create an open-mindedness to people and their ways of life.
Well-balanced
Students who are exposed to the world at large and not just the facts in the classroom will undoubtedly be a more holistically, well balanced and tolerant grown ups, making them more suitable to work in the global society that will face them in adulthood.
Reflective
Students will be required to write an essay on return of their trip/home-bound activities. This will form part of their term grades but more importantly serve as a way to look back and take stock of what the trip has meant to them. These memorable events will serve as lifelong reminders of what they have learnt.
