I wonder if our parents have taken their kids to see Pixar's latest film —Soul.

Allow me to briefly spoil some inspiring moments from the movie.

Joe Gardner, a part-time middle-school band teacher, finally gets a full-time job offer from his school. However, he was not happy. Deep down,  his dream is to become a successful musician –the “Spark” in his life –eschewing the stable teaching job his mother always wanted him to take. 

One day, Joey gets the chance of a lifetime to play at the best jazz club in town. 

He believes this will be the turning point in his ordinary life. 

Unfortunately, on his way to fulfill his dream, he got into an accident and died.

Before he even knew what happened, he was on his way to "The Great Beyond.”  

Joey cannot accept the fact that he has "passed away" and refuses to go to "the Great beyond.” He believes his life has just begun, and he couldn't end it this way.  

He tries his best to escape, but instead stumbles into the magical space of "The Great Before,” a fantastical place where new souls obtain their personalities, quirks and interests before they go to Earth.

Throughout all of human history, all the souls who have made great contributions to the Earth will come here after their lives to act as mentors to the baby souls.

Influential figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Archimedes, various celebrities, and all kinds of astronomers, doctors, and scientists have been assigned baby souls to be their pupils.

Determined to return to his life, Joe teams up with a precocious soul, referred to simply as “22,”  who has never understood the appeal of the human experience. 

22 has lingered at “the Great before” for more than 1,000 years. Before Joey arrived, she was labeled as the most difficult soul,  for the resistance she has put up during the process of becoming "human".

Many well-known celebrities throughout history had been her mentors, but they all gave up on her;it seemed impossible to help her to find her "Spark."  

Since 22 doesn't yet know what it means to be a human being, she can't find her own purpose. This is why she hasn't yet been able earn her "pass" to the earth. 

But Joey, accidentally assigned as mentor to 22 despite his lack of significant contribution to humanity, turned out to be a surprise for Number 22. 

Joey doesn't want to help 22 find her Spark nor help her to become a human being.  Instead, he and 22 came to an agreement: he would help 22 to find her "spark", thus granting her access to the earth pass.  

Joey could then use the pass to return to Earth, while 22 could continue happily evading her destiny to be born on Earth.

However, during their journey of seeking purpose – the “Spark” –  22 experienced a feeling that she had never felt before: this feeling inspired 22 to begin thinking about the meaning of being alive. 

What's the missing piece of her Spark?  For the first time, she felt the urge to become a human being, and to feel, touch, and to experience different sensations.

STOP！

I should stop spoiling more about this great movie now. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, please do not hesitate. 

How this movie really inspired me, was in witnessing how hard Joey tried to get back to his life, driven by his Spark to fulfill his music dream, despite the fact that his life seemed so ordinary or even pathetic from the common perspective. 

The motivation, passion, and enthusiasm he displayed makes me believe that this must be what makes us human. 

This is the energy I want my child to have. 

This is what we as educators want to do: we want to help our kids to find their "Spark".  

We believe that meaningful learning is enhanced through active involvement in the learning process. Learning is a life-long activity.  

We want to use the Common Ground Collaborative framework for learning at NCIC Immersion School. 

We believe this is the right pathway: to motivate children to seek out what drives them. 

Take a look at the CGC Pathways model we use in our curriculum and ASA for children. It perfectly reflects the learning map of all the baby souls in the movie.

Isn't that what  we as educators want to inspire our own kids? 

At NCIC Immersion School, we are capacity builders, building student experts in three core capacities. Conceptual, Competency and Character.  

Experts have a deep conceptual understanding of the essential ideas in their respective domains exhibiting high levels of competencyin skills relevant to their practice. 

Additionally, in order to complement student development in conceptual and competency capacities, we are also committed to producing expert human beings with strong, positive moral character. 

Consequently, we identify specific Conceptual, competency and Character Learning Goals in all aspects of our work.

• Purpose and Balance

• Individuals and Groups

• Patterns and Principles

• Sustainability and Systems

• Imagination and Creativity

• Patterns and Principles

• Stories and Signals 

Along these six pathways, we nurture children using a systematic and holistic approach.   

We help them discover that the Spark of life is not just about finding a purpose, but about exploring the world tuned in to the full spectrum of human experience – to be exposed to diverse interests, cultures and knowledge. 

Before they move forward to college or to society at large, we prepare our students to be self-motivated by guiding them along a wide variety of different pathways, aiming to inspire a thirst for learning. 

This is the Spark for us as educators. 

Children who are immersed in this diverse learning system become skilled Negotiators, Collaborators, Inquirers, and Complex Thinkers in an ever-changing world.  

They will easily be able to present a comprehensive portfolio to colleges, and remain competitive in the job market thereafter.  

Not only do our students achieve excellent academic results, but will also continue to be life-long learners, retaining their own unique and interesting soul.

Cher Zeng

ACM Manager