Empowering Students: How DISD turns potential into opportunities for growth
DISD fosters student growth through personalised learning and meaningful opportunities
Patricia Reisyan, Principal of the German International School Dubai (Deutsche Internationale Schule Dubai – DISD), on recognising individual potential, creating meaningful opportunities and empowering students to shape their own path.
Personalised learning begins with knowing the individual student. How does DISD identify strengths and interests and turn them into meaningful opportunities?
Every student brings different strengths, interests and ambitions to school. Our responsibility is to recognise them. Teachers know their students, encourage them to explore their strengths and create opportunities for them to develop further.
This happens within and beyond the classroom – through projects, extracurricular activities, competitions, student leadership and international programmes.
This thinking is also reflected in our newly created DISD-Q-LAB. The “Q” stands for Quality. Driven by our Educational Quality Management, I gave our School Development Team a dedicated space where those responsible for German language development, wellbeing, digital competence and student development and international programmes work side by side. Together, they create further conditions and opportunities for individual students to develop their potential.
Opportunities alone do not create success. What role does student ownership play in turning an opportunity into genuine personal growth?
A school can open doors, but the student has to walk through them. Independence – Selbstständigkeit – is deeply rooted in German educational culture. We encourage students to take responsibility for their learning, choices and development.
Teachers can recognise a strength and create an opportunity, but students must make the most of it. With opportunity comes responsibility: they must manage their academic commitments, contribute to the school community and be good team players and role models. Learning to balance these responsibilities is itself part of personal growth.
What can happen when a student truly takes ownership of the opportunities available to them?
Our current graduate, Luca Erkol, is a wonderful example. Ambitious and guided by a strong sense of justice, he approaches everyday life with balance and thoughtfulness. Give him a platform, however, and he articulates his ideas with clarity and conviction, advocating constructively for improvement and positive change.
One such opportunity took him to Geneva, where a DISD delegation attended the H20 Health Summit at the World Health Organisation. Together with fellow student Lara Gutmann, Luca addressed an international audience including WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, presenting their generation’s perspective on global health issues.
Today, Luca and Lara are Youth Ambassadors for the G20 Health and Development Partnership, an achievement earned through their own initiative and commitment. Luca is also World Student Representative in the network of German Schools Abroad and one of only 16 students selected for the KHDA Students Council following a highly competitive selection process.
He has proven himself and made the most of the opportunities throughout his school journey. That is what we want for all our students: to recognize their own strengths, take ownership of their development and discover where their individual path can lead.
