DCSZ Students Joined 8th EiM Student Leadership Conference

The 8th EiM Student Leadership Conference with the participation of over 130 students and teachers from across 12 schools in 5 countries was successfully held at Dehong Xi'an (DEXA) between 25 to 27 January. Students and teachers from Education in Motion (EiM)’s family of schools gathered for this exciting event.  

The DCSZ Head Prefects from both Junior School and Senior school attended the conference and represented our school amazingly. The conference aimed to help the students develop themselves as positive change-makers. They built connections with fellow student leaders in the EiM community and, on reflection, all students discussed how much the conference helped them feel more confident in their ability to make a change and leave a legacy at our school.

Mr Edgar Zillmann，EiM Head of Events and Educational Partnerships/Organiser of EiM SLC

Delighted to celebrate the triumph of our 2024 EiM Student Leadership Conference in Xi'an, hosted on the wonderful campus of Dehong Xi’an School. With participation from 12 international schools from Europe to Asia, over 130 student leaders and teachers engaged in a transformative learning experience. We collectively advanced our commitment in supporting our students and communities to Lead Worldwise. The enriching cultural excursions in Xi'an added a unique dimension, fostering cross-cultural understanding and unity.

Here are the reflections from the students who attended:

Y12 Lauren X - Student Council President

The student leadership conference was a concentrated flurry of students, diverse perspectives, and varied leadership approaches. More than anything, it reframed our understanding of leadership by encouraging us to analyze leadership styles, identify the nuanced ways of inspiring change, and showing us the importance of realizing an authentic need in our school and local community. Zooming in on the experience, the JUMP team brought us innovative team-building activities and communication methods – ‘superman handshakes and concentric circles are my personal favorites – that we’ve been able to bring back with us. 

 Y12 Matthew L- Head Prefect of Wellbeing

We engaged in many fun and beneficial activities such as group discussions, icebreakers, and case studies. Through these hands-on experiences, I gained an understanding of the key components of leadership, including team dynamics, decision-making, and communication skills.

Insightful talks from experts involved professional knowledge on how to effectively motivate teams, or tackle challenges. It also introduced specific frameworks such as the MISO used for identifying authentic needs and the wellbeing framework which is applicable to both those who are in leadership roles and those who are not. This was an overall valuable experience which will make me more confident and informed in my future leadership.

Year 6 Austin C - Junior School Deputy Head Prefect

"This conference helped me develop as a leader by teaching us some of the best leadership characteristics. For example: model the way and encourage the heart."

Year 6 Finlay K - Junior School Head Prefect

"That even if you have done something good there is always somewhere to improve it or build on it. It takes confidence, organisation, and responsibility. These are all things that I want to build on in my role as Head Prefect'."

Year 6 Yerin L - Junior School Deputy Head Student

"I have learned that it is important to learn how to be the best we can be at representing our school and how to improve our school. We start this by looking at what gaps we have to fill with ourselves and in the community and then applying what we learned with our action plan."

Year 6 Nicholas S - Junior School Head Prefect

"When we visited the Xi’an film studio and learned about its history, I learned that in order to survive and thrive in the society you have be able to adapt to time flowing, like what ancient Chinese people said there is no strategy to win every war , instead you have to be like water and be able to adapt to your environment in order to thrive."

Year 12 Soonbi C - Senior School Vice President of the Student Council

"I learnt that oftentimes the method of storytelling has a huge influence on how people perceive certain issues or subject matters. It is a powerful tool in making changes. 

I also reflected on my previous preconceptions and demonstrations of leadership and planned out how I could improve my style and method of leading - how to reduce the power dynamic in the system and give each team member the freedom to contribute their strength, whilst still carrying out tasks in an efficient and organized manner. Leadership is about making the most out of different people's ability."

Year 12 Sumin C - Senior School Head Prefect of Academics

"It taught me that making changes doesn't only mean creating a completely new idea. It can also be developing the already existing products that someone else has created. 

It also emphasized that you cannot make a change alone. You will need other helpers, a team, that agree with you and share a same vision with you to make a change."

Year 12 Yuming L - Senior School Head Prefect of Global Citizenship

"I learned about the importance of patient conversation. A social experiment game about two groups of people who seemed to have opposing goals but actually just different goals taught me a lot. "

Here are some highlights of DCSZ students at the conference:

We would like to express our gratitude to Ms Yuki Tang, Assistant Head teacher (Senior School), and Ms Iman Farrell, Junior School Class Teacher and Head of Year 6, for their guidance and support in leading DCSZ students to the conference. Also, we are incredibly grateful to Dehong Xi'an School for hosting the event.

If you want to know more about leadership at DCSZ, let's join us this interactive panel discussion to listen, learn and share ideas on ho we can all help your children grow!