SCHOOL LIFESCHOOL LIFE
Every child has different personalities, interests, and strengths. Some enjoy exploring science, while others are curious about the humanities and social issues. Some students may still be exploring what they want to pursue in the future, even when they reach high school. Since every child is different, could learning also take different forms?
Traditional education has provided many students with a stable foundation for learning. As the world students will face becomes increasingly diverse, however, parents are also beginning to consider whether their children can experience different approaches to learning and education beyond the familiar educational environment. For some families, choosing an international education is not simply about changing schools. It is about giving their children the opportunity to experience a different educational environment and approach to learning while staying in Taiwan, with more space to explore their interests and discover their own paths.
At UEIS, we hope to start with each individual student and consider a learning path that reflects their abilities, interests, and development. To make this possible, the first step is for the school to truly understand each student, rather than simply presenting an educational philosophy.
With this approach to learning, UEIS maintains a 1:3 student-to-teacher ratio, giving teachers more opportunities to observe students' learning progress in their daily classes, understand their interests and responses across different fields, and create more opportunities to discuss their next steps in learning.
These observations and conversations also become part of curriculum planning. Students can choose areas of study based on their interests. Psychology, education, astronomy, criminology, physics, philosophy, anatomy, and many other fields can become starting points for exploration. When students develop an interest in a particular field, they can also share their course needs with the school. The school can then look for a suitable teacher, and once the teacher confirms their availability and interest, the course can be arranged. In this way, an interest does not have to remain just an idea—it can become a real part of the student's learning experience.
This approach to learning is also reflected in UEIS's “One Student, One Timetable” system. Students do not necessarily have to follow the same combination of courses. Instead, within a shared learning environment, each student can build a timetable based on their own interests and needs.
The true value of personalized learning, however, is not necessarily about helping students find the answer right away. At this stage of their lives, children do not always know what they want to become in the future. Sometimes, true exploration is not about immediately discovering what they love most, but about experiencing something and realizing, “Maybe this is not the direction I want to take.”
When students have opportunities to explore different fields, they can gradually get to know themselves through one experience after another—discovering what they like, what they do not like, and what they would like to explore further. These experiences are not simply part of learning. They can also become important references when students later consider their educational and future development pathways.
For UEIS, “One Student, One Timetable” is not simply about making every student's timetable different. It is about creating a shared learning environment where every student can have a way of learning that is more closely aligned with who they are.
Because every child is different, education can be full of different possibilities, too.
