United World Colleges: Applications for the 2019 – 20 school year are now open
UWC is a global educational movement founded in 1962. Teaching is conducted under a two-year program of International Baccalaureate Diploma program, Pre-University training, the important part of which are socially minded projects and personal growth through creativity, sports, and research. UWC makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future.
UWC colleges are located in 17 countries, including Armenia – UWC Dilijan College.
17 schools and colleges, including one located in UWC colleges are located on 4 continents. There areToday,
The benefits of studies at UWC:
- a deliberately diverse student body from many different national, socio-economic, cultural and political backgrounds, sharing of knowledge and experience;
- education under the most recognised global pre-university program and an opportunity to go to the leading universities of the world;
- developed social and creative elements that help the students to fulfil potential and to open new horizons before them;
- the international teaching body, the combination of theoretical and practical studies, advanced learning technics;
- opportunities to realize own ideas aimed at making the world a better place.
Any high school student from
UWC in
Students from different countries are selected for UWC colleges by the National Committees of their countries. Currently, there are National Committees in over 150 countries across the world.
The first students from
A wide variety of individuals make up UWC national committees including UWC alumni and teachers, education professionals and community leaders. They promote UWC among gifted and active teens, encouraging them to apply to schools and colleges, select candidates and prepare students for their UWC experience.
Since 2013 Charity Foundation "Scholae Mundi" has actively supported the operations of the UWC Russia. Thanks to the foundation’s support and the tireless efforts of the National Committee team, 2014 saw a substantial increase both in the number of candidate applications to UWC colleges and in educational financing opportunities for admitted students.
The National Committee system operates under the support and guidance of the UWC International, located in
About UWC:
United World Colleges makes education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future
Values
UWC believes that education can bring together young people from all backgrounds on the basis of their shared humanity, to engage with the possibility of social change through courageous action, personal example and selfless leadership. To achieve this, UWC schools and colleges all over the world deliver a challenging and transformational educational experience to a deliberately diverse group of young people, inspiring them to become agents of positive change in line with UWC’s core values:
- International and intercultural understanding
- Celebration of difference
- Personal responsibility and integrity
- Mutual responsibility and respect
- Compassion and service
- Respect for the environment
- A sense of idealism
- Personal challenge
- Action and personal example
1. UWC Community: A deliberately diverse, engaged and motivated community in pursuit of the UWC mission
Guiding Principles: “This education should take place within a diverse community. The selection of students should ensure representation from regions and social groups that reflect the wide range of tensions among and between people.”
Explanation The core of the UWC experience lies within a diverse community of learners who share a common commitment to the mission and values of the UWC movement. Diversity is supported by National Committees in over 140 countries which interview and select students who have made the most of the opportunities they have had and who exhibit qualities that fit with the UWC mission and values. Students are then chosen to join school communities to ensure cultural, racial, gender, socioeconomic, and language diversity in pursuit of a common mission. In this way, each campus reflects a global diversity that enhances connection, sharing, debate, and community living; and, thus encourages opportunities for growth, empathy, and understanding. Faculty and staff actively engage in community life as teachers, tutors, mentors and learners.
2. UWC Values
Guiding Principles: “All schools and colleges share the same basic values as outlined in the UWC mission statement – international and intercultural understanding; celebration of difference; personal responsibility and integrity; mutual responsibility and respect; compassion and service; respect for the environment; a sense of idealism; personal challenge; action and personal example.” “This education requires active promotion of intercultural understanding and the development of genuine concern for others founded on shared life experiences, and cooperative and collaborative living. This includes reflective dialogue on global issues and critical and courageous engagement in the pursuit of peace.” “Community interaction is placed at the heart of college life. This requires the full and active participation of all members of the school or college.” “Opportunities for students to practice personal initiative, self discipline and responsibility, to manage risk and embrace challenge must be provided. Where appropriate, these opportunities are supported by a reassuring adult presence.”
Explanation: This part of the model, together with the outcomes, speak to the values infused in a UWC education throughout the movement.
3. Teaching: Experiential Learning
Guiding Principles: “Requires active promotion of intercultural understanding and the development of genuine concern for others founded on shared life experiences, and cooperative and collaborative living. This includes reflective dialogue on global issues and critical and courageous engagement in the pursuit of peace.” “Community interaction is placed at the heart of college life. This requires the full and active participation of all members of the school or college.” “Students are able to engage in continuing, positive action towards issues of sustainability, on both an institutional and individual level.” “Opportunities for students to practice personal initiative, self discipline and responsibility, to manage risk and embrace challenge must be provided. Where appropriate, these opportunities are supported by a reassuring adult presence.”
Explanation: Experiential learning is fundamental to UWC. Experiential learning is the process of making meaning from direct experience. Young people are thrust into a dynamic and diverse community. This situation provides a plethora of challenging experiences to inspire a range of emotions and learning opportunities. These experiences can be challenging, joyful, frustrating, and life-changing. UWC provides a safe and supportive environment from which to learn through direct experience. By living and working together, students develop empathy and make sense of their experiences through such means as reflection, dialogue, trial-and-error, and perspective taking. Along with living in a diverse community, students have opportunities to initiate and collaborate on areas of passion, interact with the larger community, and take advantage of service, creative, and physical opportunities. All of these programs provide rich experiences for making meaning and learning. Experiential Education is a more formal pedagogy that employs a philosophical stance and a variety of methodologies. Teachers and staff intentionally provide opportunities for students to engage in activities, exercises, and events to mindfully make meaning and apply emerging skills and understanding.
4. Experience: Active – Academic – Social – Personal – Outdoor – Service
Guiding Principles: “Recognition is given to the fact that each individual possesses unique talents and abilities. Programs should exist in each college which enable all selected students to fulfill their potential.” “Physical fitness and a healthy lifestyle are integral to the balanced development of the whole person. Unhealthy lifestyles limit human potential and hinder progress in all dimensions of development.”
Explanation: Within the context of the experiential process are the actual experiences shared within the UWC community. These are both formal and informal activities, programs, and situations that challenge students on a variety of levels. Formal experiences balance high expectations within the context of a rigorous academic program, along with a rich and varied co-curricular program in which students engage in creative, physical, and service learning both offered by others and initiated by students. Students are also informally challenged through interactions in an intercultural and diverse environment in their residence life and social activities. These challenges encourage sharing, dialogue, conflict transformation, and reflection to encourage seeing the world from a variety of perspectives.
5.
Guiding Principles: “Underpinning these principles is the pursuit of peace and justice as the founding aim of UWC.” “UWC schools and colleges offer life-defining experiences for young people, enabling them to discover the possibility of change through courageous action, personal example and selfless leadership. This education enshrines a commitment to the balanced development of the whole person; that is, its task is to encourage an integrated development of human potential across a range of different dimensions, including the intellectual, moral, aesthetic, emotional, social, spiritual, and physical.” “Students are able to engage in continuing, positive action towards issues of sustainability, on both an institutional and individual level.”
Explanation: By bringing together a diverse and motivated student body, immersing them in a global community experience based on the UWC values, and challenging them formally and informally, students grow in their abilities to be active global citizens. The holistic UWC experience leads to learning skills, competencies, and outcomes toward the UWC mission to make "education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future."
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