124 Teachers Corner
C hristopher R. Tompkins, Principal of Horizon Private School Abu Dhabi, on why the best question to ask about any curriculum is not how it compares on paper, but what it produces in practice. The Caricature and the Reality There is a version of American education that its critics love to describe: undisciplined, uneven, more interested in self-esteem than substance. Like most caricatures, it holds a grain of truth. The United States is a vast, decentralised country and its schools reflect that. Some are extraordinary. Some are not. For families in the UAE weighing this question, the average is the wrong number to look at. What matters is what a particular school actually delivers. “The great American universities - Harvard, MIT, Stanford, the University of Chicago were not built by government mandate. AP vs IB: Different by Design Families in Dubai often ask how an American curriculum compares to the International Baccalaureate. They are different by design, not better or worse. The IB is a rigorous, inquiry-driven framework that has earned its reputation in this region and globally. Advanced Placement shares that commitment to depth and inquiry but works differently. thinkers who believed education’s purpose was not to produce correct answers, but to ask better ones” They were built by communities of independent
A confident classroom moment reflects Horizon Private School Abu Dhabi’s focus on curiosity, engagement and ask
Warm teacher-student connections help children feel known, supported and ready to learn
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