Dewey wasn't wrong, nor should his ideas be rushed.

As we begin our two-week spring break here at Frankfurt International School, I find myself reflecting on its significance of the various breaks we take in our academic calendar. While many school holidays owe their historical roots to agricultural necessities, religious observances, or local culture (yes, we take a ski break), time away from the formal classes also serve as essential moments for meaningful rest and reflection, something increasingly scarce in the fast-paced educational landscape found in international schools.

The International Baccalaureate diploma programme's emphasis on continuous reflection of the final 2 years of high school is admirable for fostering deep thought and self-awareness. This educational approach is one of the main reasons why FIS chose to be one of the programme's pioneering schools back in 1968. The IB's founders were heavily influenced by a number of educational visionaries, including the American Psychologist John Dewey, who offered the following:?

“When we reflect on an experience instead of just having it, we inevitably distinguish between our own attitude and the objects toward which we sustain the attitude….. such reflection upon experience gives rise to a distinction of what we experience (the experienced) and the experiencing - the how.”[1]

While I totally agree with reflecting on experience, I am worried that the time between experience and expected reflection is growing ever shorter. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the May exam calendar for IB schools in the northern hemisphere now begin in the last week of April, shortening the overall length of the time for the teachers to deliver the curriculum, let alone reflect on it. This year’s spring break (and presumably future breaks at this time of the year) will not much of a hiatus for Grade 12 students, but rather a continuous transition from learning the final curriculum content into reviewing for final exams, further reducing the reflective process that the IB aims to cultivate.

As a community of international school educators this irony should not be lost on us. Dewey wasn’t wrong, nor should his ideas be rushed. In a curriculum that champions reflection, the very structure of the IB diploma now undercuts the time and space needed for genuine introspection. Are all the extra reflections and external assessments necessary, or are they distracting from the core purpose of the IB itself: to create a better and more peaceful world?[2] How can we ensure that the process of reflection remains enriching and meaningful, rather than just another task on a checklist, and then on to the next scheduled event in the calendar?

So, this break, I’ll not only be thinking of our personal and collective learning journeys so far this year, but also how we can cultivate an environment where reflection is integrated genuinely into the fabric of learning—a space where students and educators alike can thrive, not just by doing but by thinking deeply about what we do.

[1] Dewey, J., 1916. Democracy and Education. New York: Macmillan. p. 173

[2] See the IB Mission Statement: https://www.ibo.org/about-the-ib/mission/