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How metacognition, inclusion, and academic ambition work together at Dover Court International School.
By Chris Short, Interim Principal, Dover Court International School Singapore
Over the past few months, I’ve been having an unexpected but enlightening “conversation partner” — AI. Like many school leaders, I’ve been exploring how platforms like ChatGPT and Copilot gather and present information about international schools. In doing so, I became curious about something interesting: Dover Court International School (DCIS) often appears in searches for inclusive or SEN‑friendly schools, yet it doesn’t always show up in lists labelled “top” or “best” schools in Singapore.
What I found was revealing — and it highlighted why the educational philosophy we champion at DCIS is more relevant than ever.
Academic Achievement at DCIS: What AI Algorithms Miss
One of the biggest misconceptions baked into online algorithms is the belief that inclusive schools cannot also be high‑achieving schools. Anyone who knows our community knows this is simply untrue. DCIS students consistently perform at high academic levels across the school — achievements that AI currently overlooks, not because they aren’t real, but because they aren’t yet widely recognised as “search‑friendly.”
DCIS students achieve strong IGCSE, IBDP and BTEC outcomes year after year and secure offers to world‑leading universities—all within an inclusive environment.
Among them:
These successes exist whether or not an algorithm has learned to notice them.
Understanding AI Bias in Education
This led me to ask ChatGPT why DCIS doesn’t always appear on certain “top schools” lists. It offered an interesting explanation about how algorithms inherit human‑created narratives:
“Inclusive schools like Dover Court meet or exceed the same metrics as selective schools. Yet because they’re inclusive, they don’t fit the “prestige narrative” of what “top” usually means online. Algorithms are trained on that narrative → which reinforces it → which then shapes perceptions and content.” -ChatGPT
Algorithms are not biased against inclusivity; they are biased toward what is already most visible, most clicked, and most aligned with historical patterns. This creates a feedback loop — one that often overlooks schools like ours, where academic excellence and inclusion go hand in hand.
This is the same mechanism that can marginalise women in STEM or under‑represented artists on digital platforms. It isn’t intentional discrimination; it’s repetition of what’s already been amplified. And that’s exactly why we teach our students something AI cannot do.
The Skills AI Can’t Replace — And Why Metacognition Matters
Nord Anglia Education recently published a landmark metacognition study spanning 29 schools and more than 12,000 students. The findings are clear: when students are taught how to think, not just what to think, their human capabilities strengthen dramatically — skills AI cannot replicate.
Metacognition — the ability to understand and regulate one’s thinking — is becoming a defining skill for the future. As Dr Kate Erricker from Nord Anglia noted, AI can process information at scale, but it cannot help a child understand how they think, adapt under uncertainty, or collaborate meaningfully with others.
At DCIS, these skills are not an “add‑on.” They are central to how we teach and how our students learn.
What This Means for Families Choosing a School
As AI tools increasingly shape perception, we cannot rely on them to tell the full story — especially about schools where values like inclusion exist alongside academic ambition. But here’s the opportunity: If AI inherits human thinking, then we must teach the next generation to think better. That means raising young people who question information, recognise bias, reflect on decisions, and make sense of the world with independence and confidence. This is exactly what metacognition builds — and exactly what DCIS students practise every day.
Looking Ahead: Preparing Students to Lead in an AI Enabled Future
We’ll keep strengthening the visibility of our achievements so that families searching online see the full picture of who we are. But more importantly, we will continue preparing our students not just to thrive despite AI, but to thrive alongside it, as thoughtful, curious, compassionate leaders of the future.