How Do You Cultivate Future Changemakers? An Int'l School Tells Us

When one hears the term 'international school,' what comes to mind is a learning institution that follows an internationally recognized curriculum, fosters a multi-cultural environment, and thoroughly prepares students for global higher education as well as future challenges and opportunities.

British School Manila (BSM), a highly regarded co-educational British international school, upholds these goals. In addition to these, they emphasize a few other key areas to make the kind of learning they provide more holistic—service, sustainability, and leadership. These are in line with the school's mission and vision, which is "to develop students as positive global citizens who are equipped with skills, understanding, and values to be able to contribute to our world."

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Nurturing Global Citizens

The British founded NGO, Oxfam, defines a global citizen as "someone who is aware of and understands the wider world—and their place in it."

The United Nations says "Promoting global citizenship in sustainable development will allow individuals to embrace their social responsibility to act for the benefit of all societies, not just their own."

The Global Citizenship Foundation describes a global citizen as "someone who is open-minded, curious, compassionate, collaborative, co-creative, inclusive, non-discriminatory, responsible, reflective, and well-informed."

Martin van der Linde, Head of School at BSM, emphasizes the importance of preparing students for global citizenship: "This involves two key components. First is helping students understand the world they need to address and engage with, equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills. As they step beyond the school environment, being global citizens is essential for meaningful engagement with the broader world."

The second component is more formal in terms of learning. "We use the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a framework to understand global issues. Thus, global citizenship encompasses both practical engagement and a structured learning approach," he adds.

The British School Manila campus 

Service and sustainability

A huge factor in molding BSM students to become global citizens is encouraging collaborative work with communities and non-governent organizations (NGOS) in tackling local and global issues.

In fact, as early as primary level, they are already exposed to issues such as animal care, food security, responsible consumption and production, access to clean water and sanitation, among others.

In later years, they are introduced to certain advocacies and allowed to take on leadership roles and establish personal connections with communities.

"BSM chooses to focus on supporting organizations within the Philippines," says Scott Justice, Marketing, Events & Admissions Senior Manager at BSM. "Instead of traveling to Thailand, Cambodia, or Vietnam, we partner with local providers so that we have long-term and meaningful relationships."

Justice shares about BSM students' experience working with Dumaguete folks. "They spoke about the issues surrounding deforestation, its implications for climate change, and how it was affecting them and their environment. They identified that deforestation required replanting, so the students helped with replanting efforts," he says.

Over the years, students revisit and observe the impact of their replanting activities while engaging in new projects, making the experience more meaningful. This approach empowers the local community, fostering dialogue rather than passive charity. BSM partners with MAD Travel, an eco-tourism platform, which has been instrumental in designing their trips and activities.

As early as primary level, students are exposed to issues like animal care, food security, responsible consumption, and access to clean water and sanitation.

Addressing real-world challenges

BSM reinforces its commitment to community support through active involvement in addressing literacy issues. The 2019 National Assessment Rapid Literacy report revealed that numerous early-grade learners continue to struggle to meet the learning standards in literacy and numeracy. Furthermore, it identified that low achievement levels in English, Math, and Science stem from gaps in learners' reading comprehension.

Through Project RAISE (Reading Activities to Improve and Shore Education), BSM has been supporting reading remediation activities to improve student’s reading level in Taguig schools and help close these gaps. “We are immensely proud to partner with Department of Education Taguig-Pateros and World Vision on such an important project and will continually seek further opportunities to collaborate with partners in support of community upliftment,” says van der Linde.

Beyond Project RAISE, they also launched a book collection drive to help promote reading among students in Taguig City. "We've collected over 3,000 books and sent them to Signal Village National High School. That's a wonderful project," offers Justice.

In line with its mission to encourage students to apply their learning to real-world challenges, BSM has partnered with the Department of Energy (DoE) to advocate for energy efficiency and support a sustainable future for the Philippines. The school has already initiated a phased implementation of solar energy, starting with a 99.76kwp system, and aims for complete solar coverage of the campus. Energy audits are also conducted to identify ways to improve energy use, with savings directed towards sustainability projects.

Through Project RAISE, BSM supports reading remediation in Taguig schools to improve student reading levels and close educational gaps.

Molding future leaders

BSM students are given opportunities to grow into various leadership roles, whether by leading their own initiatives for service and sustainability, or through formal leadership channels in primary and senior school.

Van der Linde takes pride in BSM students' efforts in pursuing service and sustainability initiatives that they come up with. In 2020, BSM alumna Mikaela Lim and fellow student leaders founded SariCycle, a student-led non-profit initiative aimed at promoting financial literacy and sustainability through sari-sari stores in the Philippines. Together with her classmates, Lim helped over a hundred underprivileged Filipinos across four different communities achieve financial stability.

Javea Maria Estavillo, a senior student at BSM, became the first Filipino youth delegate at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), a global forum on climate change matters. At the event held in Dubai last year, Estavillo, a passionate youth advocate, emphasized in her speech the urgent need for immediate and effective climate financing to support vulnerable countries like the Philippines. She also highlighted the importance of innovation, data analysis, and youth engagement in addressing the climate crisis. Estavillo had previously interned as a climate change and loss analyst at the Manila Observatory and served as a delegate to the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn, Germany.

A recent achievement for BSM is sending the country's representatives in the F1 in Schools World Finals, an international competition where student teams utilize CAD/CAM software to collaborate on designing, analysing, manufacturing, testing, and racing miniature compressed air-powered cars, all crafted from an F1 model block. BSM's AGILAS F1 in Schools Racing Team, formed in August 2023, is set to compete in Saudi Arabia this November. The goal of the competition is to cultivate the next generation of engineers, designers, and management executives through Formula 1.

Through a comprehensive and globally-focused education, BSM is not only preparing students for the academic rigors of higher education, but also equipping them with the values, knowledge, and skills to become global citizens. This holistic approach ensures that their graduates are not just academically proficient but also poised to become the future leaders and changemakers the world needs.