Learning

As both the starting point and the end goal of a UWCSEA education, our mission guides every decision made at the College. From our mission springs our educational goal, which is to provide a holistic, values-based education that supports our students to develop as individuals and as members of a global society.

Our wellbeing and learning principles help us to create an environment in which our students can develop knowledge and understanding through the five elements of the UWCSEA learning programme. 

The learning programme at UWCSEA consists of five interlinking elements: academics, activities, outdoor education, personal and social education, and service. While students do not spend an equal amount of time on each of the elements (for much of the year, the academic element takes up most of their day), we place equal value on them. 

The programme strives to give each student age-appropriate opportunities to develop qualities and skills that we have identified as necessary for them to fulfil our educational goal—and therefore our mission.

Education as a force

We genuinely believe that education is a force that can lead to positive change in the world and a better future for all. This has led us to our guiding statements, so that a UWCSEA education will empower our students to translate that force into individual and collective action that fulfill our mission. 

As members of the UWC community who are committed to a shared mission, we are compelled to work together towards a peaceful and sustainable future. In order to make a meaningful contribution our community strives to understand complex concepts like peace and sustainability, by unpacking some of the key concepts held within them. 

These often entail complex and difficult conversations, because building positive peace doesn’t necessarily mean avoiding conflict, and sustainability is about much more than simply switching off lights and using recycled paper. To build a sustainable future, we understand that our students will need to know how to think systemically, and to understand concepts like the circular economy, while balancing complex ideas around uniting people and cultures. In a community as diverse as ours, which translates in a mirror of the complex globalised world we live in, our learning programme is carefully constructed to prepare our students to create a shared future which values diverse voices.