The Importance of Being an Agile Learner and How the Round Square Discoveries Can Help You Achieve This

A blog by Mr Michael Harrowell, Assistant Head of Secondary

‘If you do what you’ve always done, you get what you’ve always got’. This quote means an awful lot to me. It shows me that in order to grow we must constantly review the way we do things to ensure that we are maximizing our potential.

The modern workplace requires employees and leaders to be constantly evaluating the work they are doing and exploring new and innovative methods of solving problems. Employees and leaders must be agile learners who are reflective and adaptable. At Regents International School Pattaya we are developing young adults who are agile learners and who are ready to be challenged by the ever changing environment around them.

At Regents we put the Round Square Discoveries at the heart of everything we do, teaching them as valuable tools for creating learners who are able to reflect and improve on an ongoing basis. The Round Square Discoveries are:

• Inquisitiveness
• Inventiveness
• Problem Solving
• Communication Skills
• Teamwork Skills
• Courage
• Tenacity
• Compassion
• Self-Awareness
• Commitment to Sustainability
• Diversity
• Sense of Responsibility

The Round Square Discoveries are important to us as a school as they allow us to focus on the process of learning and not just the end result. Something I have been reminded about throughout my career in education is that if we get the process correct, students will fulfill their potential and achieve the best possible outcomes that they can. In our case this is about creating learners who are able to constantly reflect on their ability to fulfill the Round Square Discoveries and target specific areas for improvement in order to grow as a person and as a learner.

Students at Regents regularly reflect upon how they learn and we, as teachers, create learning experiences both inside and outside the classroom that push them outside of their comfort zone in order to develop these qualities even further. By doing this we are not only allowing our students to achieve amazing results in the IGCSE and IB Diploma courses, but we are creating agile learners who will thrive in life beyond Regents.

Instead of doing what they’ve always done and getting what they’ve always got, our learners explore new and imaginative ways to learn and grow, putting them on a path to lifelong success.