Sixty-nine students.
Eight schools.
Six continents.
Sharing one purpose.
This is GAIL.
This year, The Western International School of Shanghai as a member of the Global Alliance for Innovative Learning (GAIL), had the pleasure to host the Gail Conference – 2019 Edition in Shanghai.
The GAIL Conference is held at different host school at the beginning of summer every year in order to give students the chance to have a truly innovative global learning experience.
A Global Learning Adventure at WISS
Our school worked hard to make this event, which took place at the beginning of July, possible. WISS was the meeting point for more than 69 enthusiastic students who traveled from all around the world to join the GAIL Convention 2019, and they were welcomed with open arms.
For those who have never heard about GAIL, here’s a recap of everything that happened at WISS and around Shanghai during the conference. It was a week full of excitement, culture, learning, and entertainment and won’t soon be forgotten.
What is GAIL?
GAIL is formed by eight schools that have a common goal. Each school is committed to developing informed, globally active learning communities that encourage contemporary solutions to international issues through collaboration, inquiry, and service-learning initiatives. Under this umbrella of goals, each year GAIL meets at one of its member schools to continue development and to dive into a new culture.
Since 2006, the Western International School of Shanghai (WISS) has been educating students from all around the globe to be compassionate, brave, and ethically-minded global citizens into the world. As an international school, it is important to us that our students are healthy, balanced, confident and ethical people with the skill and intellect to help shape the future.
For these reasons, WISS is one of the member schools of GAIL. We strive to educate in a global context and we certainly believe and share GAIL’s aims.
A Balanced Life
Every year, the GAIL convention is focused on a specific theme related to the essential values necessary to be a true global citizen.
This year’s theme was “A Balanced Life” But, what does having a balanced life mean? To introduce the idea and give students an overview of what this means clinical psychologist, Dr. Elizabeth Sadock, was a featured speaker during the opening ceremony.
GAIL in the News
Workshops Promoting Inquiry
The Western International School of Shanghai also organized a variety of different workshops for the GAIL participants. These workshops were led by expert teachers who conducted the lessons and shared their expertise and knowledge.
Students experienced alternative photographic and mathematical processes, rock climbing, digital collage, learned about communication, and explored social and emotional concepts. They had the chance to learn about China and its gastronomy by cooking one of the most famous local dishes-dumplings!
Getting to Know Different Cultures
One of the aims of the GAIL conference is to dive into different cultures. This means not only meeting people from other countries but also learning from them to get a valuable cultural experience that helps students expand their horizons. Each school prepared a cultural presentation that showed something related to their country/culture. Students learned from each other about different traditions through dancing, singing, food, games just to name a few.
There is no doubt that learning about different cultures helps us to be open-minded citizens, ready to deal with the real world, to be accepting of others, and to be part of one global community.
Leisure and Enjoyment in Shanghai
One of the must-dos in Shanghai is trying out KTV, local karaoke tradition, and that is exactly what we did! Students, teachers, and staff had an amazing night at one of the most famous KTV locations in Shanghai, where delegates let loose showcasing all of their talent and proving that they are all stars!
Shanghai is an incredible city to visit! In order to get to know the city better, we organized a jeep tour and scavenger hunt around one of the most beautiful areas of the city. Students enjoyed discovering the city and its inhabitants while having fun. The day ended with a beautiful walk at the Bund under the colorful Shanghai skyline.
In addition, students got to play at the trampoline park JUMP 360º. All of them had a great time jumping and (literally) bouncing off the walls!
Why is GAIL So Special?
GAIL is unique because GAIL friendships have no borders. Every year, students make friends from all around the world, they interact, share their experiences, life lessons, and passions.
Participants learn through workshops led by experts. This summer our school offered a total of 7 workshops focused on different areas ranging from art, design, and photography to rock climbing and mathematics.
It’s also a rare opportunity to visit the different host countries around the world and to learn about their cultures and traditions. For all of these reasons, GAIL is really special for us and we are very proud to be part of this incredible project.
We hope both the students and teachers involved, had an amazing and unforgettable week in our company and they will keep GAIL 2019 in their memories.
GAIL students at WISS
GAIL in Images
Looking forward to experiencing the next conference in New Zealand! See you all very soon 🙂
Do you want to find out more about GAIL? Visit our website .
