Echoes

We don’t own the words of course, but it was fun to come across these words from the PDS mission statement:

Poughkeepsie Day School graduates students who:

• Possess a rich academic knowledge base and know how to think as creative, flexible, independent, resourceful learners for life
• Are intellectually curious, active seekers, users and creators of knowledge

echoed in the words of the New Zealand Ministry of Education National Curriculum issued last November:

Thinking

Thinking is about using creative, critical, and metacognitive processes to make sense of information, experiences, and ideas. These processes can be applied to purposes such as developing understanding, making decisions, shaping actions, or constructing knowledge. Intellectual curiosity is at the heart of this competency.

Students who are competent thinkers and problem-solvers actively seek, use, and create knowledge. They reflect on their own learning, draw on personal knowledge and intuitions, ask questions, and challenge the basis of assumptions and perceptions.

The New Zealand Curriculum: key competencies