At XCL World Academy (XWA), students are encouraged to Aspire, Act and Grow (the school’s vision) — helping them realise their full potential and flourish into well-rounded global citizens. The student body is multilingual and multicultural, representing approximately 50 different nationalities, and the teaching colleagues represent approximately 25 different nationalities. Students can often find a staff member who speaks their home language, and this allows for multilingual students to feel connected to the staff, and to see themselves represented in the teaching and administrative community. During their educational journey, students actualise their full multilingual-multicultural potential and are encouraged to use their full linguistic repertoire through the supportive programming provided and the responsive changes made by staff to respond to multicultural developments within XCL’s communities.
XCL World Academy embodies their ambitious mission of “fostering an inclusive international community of happy learners who aspire to positively impact others” and aims to create an environment where students are not only academically successful but also experience genuine happiness in their educational journey. They believe that by nurturing a sense of belonging and promoting diversity, students are encouraged to become empathetic global citizens who strive to improve the world. The school recognizes the responsibility of parents and educators to prepare children for an uncertain tomorrow. More than just teaching facts and figures, students are mentored to find their own multilingual voice, to lead in global settings, to learn collaboratively and innovate for dynamic shifts — preparing them for the ever-changing future ahead.
Stephanie Drynan, Head of EAL, notes, “The MLRC has already been an incredible resource for partnered thinking around serving our
multicultural/multilingual students. Although the MLRC is a recent establishment, its roots lie within a well-established global network of keen global thinkers. Members of the MLRC were also participants in a recent study examining links between WIDA assessments and the Common European Framework of References for Languages where my depth of understanding was solidified immensely. As a member of the WIDA Global Community of Practice Community Gardeners, I had access to dynamic educational leaders across the globe, many of whom are now part of the MLRC School Network.”
XCL World Academy (XWA) will host a MLRC Research Symposium on December 2-3, 2023. The MLRC Research Symposium is a unique two-day opportunity for international educators – teachers and leaders – to engage deeply in existing research about multilingual learners, connect with global education scholars, inquire together about shared problems of practice and discuss innovative strategies for serving multilingual learners. The MLRC Research Symposium provides an opportunity for participants to develop a research-informed approach to improving school-wide systems by identifying strengths and goals for improvement. Throughout the two days together, participants will engage in disciplined inquiry with other participants with similar interests and questions, as well as spend focused time with their own school-based team to identify important problems of practice.
The MLRC is excited to welcome the XCL World Academy (XWA) as one of the inaugural members of the MLRC School Member Network! We look forward to learning and growing together, in support of multilingual students.