The International School of Kuala Lumpur (ISKL) strives to nurture students to be all they are and to pursue their dreams and passions. The testament to this is the Pursuits Program, an alternative pathway pioneered by ISKL for the learning, development, and advancement of students who are on the way to being career-ready. Pursuits offer students the opportunity to combine individual IB, Advanced Placement, and High School Diploma courses to curate their own study program and delve into areas of distinction.
Such students are Sarah B. and Evelynn S., two Grade 12 students from the class of 2022 who have drastically opposite interests yet found a shared value in the Pursuits Program. As the Pursuits Program heavily emphasizes nurturing individual interests and strengths, Sarah could dedicate her time to build and cultivate the knowledge in her field of passion, Art. At the same time, Evelynn found her ardor in the field of Psychology.
This is what Sarah had to say about taking up the Pursuits Program:
“I was going through the Pursuits classes and Pursuits Projects class because I was thinking I could do something that I am passionate about rather than taking classes I wouldn’t really want to take anyways. I knew I wanted to have a path in visual arts, so I took Pursuits so that I could take more visual arts classes and do more projects that I found fun personally without being held back.”
Another vital component of the Pursuits Program is self-directed learning. Both Sarah and Evelynn have managed to expand their potentials by developing the very interests and skills within their areas of distinction.
“I personally chose the Pursuits pathway because. I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but with Pursuits, you can take more classes for what you want. So I decided to drop my language classes and was able to take IB Film, which I have never taken before. So I now have a really big passion for film too.” said Sarah.
“Pursuits is much more dynamic, and you have to be more organized to be able to know what you’re doing every day. It’s a really independent program. You really have to be on top of yourself if you want to get somewhere and learn.” shared Evelynn when asked about what the Pursuits curriculum is like.
Pursuits Practicum in Action
As the first cohorts of this program, both Sarah and Evelyn partook and completed their Pursuits Project in their second semester of Grade 11. The Pursuits Project allowed them to pilot and spearhead their own research and learning in their intended areas of distinction. It taps into another component of the Pursuits Program — Pursuits Practicum. By the end of the course, students are asked to demonstrate their learning through portfolios of work, a panel defense, an exhibition, or other displays relevant to their areas of distinction. This showcases the research and fervor of their areas of distinction that they had committed their time to hone and develop their knowledge.
Evelynn, for example, conducted a qualitative psychological survey to understand how online learning has impacted the development of elementary students.
“I’ve been reaching out virtually to elementary school and interviewing teachers, counselors, and to make observations on understanding how online learning has affected the development of elementary school students.”
She worked closely with elementary school teachers from Kuala Lumpur, Manila, and even Rome to collect data for her study. She compared and contrasted data from each student age group and ended with presenting her findings in an online Zoom presentation. However, the journey to her presentation was not without its challenges.
“One thing that was hard for me was planning all these interviews because that’s not something that you typically learn while at school, but I think it’s great practice for me to communicate with people who I am unfamiliar with, and asking if I would be able to learn from them.”
Ultimately, Evelynn was able to overcome her challenges and complete her project with the support and guidance of her mentors.
“All the teachers have just been very willing and excited to help me learn which I think has been great both for me and for them to have that mentor-mentee relationship. My mentor for the Pursuits Project, Ms. Becky Naughton helped me focus on the areas I wanted to learn, how to better organize and figure out in problem-solving obstacles.”
On the other hand, Sarah had her creative juices flowing as she planned and constructed an interactive art exhibit. Sarah explained her inspiration to create such an exhibit.
“You can choose an area of distinction for your Pursuits Project, so I’m passionate about the visual arts and world-building, and that’s why I wanted to do an exhibition. I’m really into the world-building of Dungeons & Dragons, which is really nerdy but, I look at those worlds and think, ‘How can I come up with characters, worlds, dynamics; what’s the story of this world specifically, what kind of aesthetic is it, is it futuristic is it fantasy?’ I hadn’t done something like this before, and I wanted to do something that the community could also enjoy, especially the little kids. Since I wanted to work with Elementary (school kids), I made it as an interactive exhibition.”
She also added the reason why the exhibit was important and the purpose it was intended to serve.
“I just want people to be inspired and think more about how they can bring a bit of that childhood joy back into their lives because I think that while we’re growing up, we lose a bit of that passion, and this project was to have people remember that you can escape and do all these fun things. You don’t have to be a kid to do it, and you can still go to interactive exhibitions such as mine, and have fun.”
Pursuits Pioneers
Being the first graduating cohort of the inaugural Pursuits Program, Evelynn and Sarah left some concluding remarks about the program.
“I really recommend this experience. Not only did I learn so much about psychology in elementary school, but also how I work best, how I can organize myself, get things done, and learn from my mistakes. I’m so glad that I chose Pursuits because I’ve had the option to focus on something that I care about and which I really wanted to learn and understand more of,” said Evelynn.
Sarah decided to leave a few words of encouragement for those who, like her, have an evident passion and pathway in mind for themselves and want to take up this program in the future.
“If you wanna go for it, just go for it. Whatever project you wanna do, whatever you wanna research, whatever internship you wanna do, go for it. Being able to show that you did really cool stuff in high school, that you have put all your energy and creativity into the Pursuits program; it’s definitely gonna help you in the long run. You’re gonna learn a lot, so push yourself as far as you can with this program because you’re never gonna get another opportunity like it.”
To learn more about the Pursuits Program, head over to the official page or browse ISKL’s 2021-2022 High School course guide (pages 17 – 19) for more detailed information about the course and options available for each area of distinction.
