Year: 2024
Written by: Douglas W. Ota
Safe Passage for Attachment Systems
Can Attachment Security at International Schools Be Measured and Is It At Risk?
Relocations challenge attachment networks. Regardless of whether a person moves or is moved away from, relocation produces separation and loss. When such losses are repeatedly experienced without being adequately processed, a defensive shutting down of the attachment system could result, particularly when such experiences occur during or across the developmental years. At schools with substantial turnover, this possibility could be shaping youth in ways that compromise attachment security and young people’s willingness or ability to develop and maintain deep long-term relationships.
Dr. Ota’s PhD research investigates the theoretical and empirical basis for these claims.
What my Readers Say
Safe Passage for Attachment Systems
Professor Geert-Jan Stams, University of Amsterdam
I want to congratulate you with this great dissertation. It reads like a novel by the Japanense Nobel-Prize winner, Ishiguru. I believe that’s the greatest compliment I can give you to.
Safe Passage
Jane Larsson, Executive Director, Council of International Schools
Reflection on identity is a critical first step for international educators who encounter change on a daily basis as they pursue careers in new countries and new cultures. Safe Passage took me on an emotional journey–one that helped me to understand the experiences that have shaped me. I believe it will help others too.
Safe Passage
Professor John Hattie, University of Melbourne
My synthesis of 1000+ meta-analysis relating to enhancing achievement has systematically shown that mobility is the most disruptive influence. Ota accepts this evidence, truly cares about this issue, and wants to make mobility a positive not negative influence. This is the book you read when thinking about moving, when someone moves to and from you, and when you want a moving story.
Year: 2014
Written by: Douglas W. Ota
Safe Passage:
How Mobility Affects People and What International Schools Should Do About It
Safe Passage explores how mobility shapes the emotional lives of people in international schools—both those who move on and those who stay behind. Drawing on the largest study in educational research history, psychological theory, and findings from modern neuroscience, Safe Passage unpacks how transitions affects people, challenging not only students but also the adults charged with their care and education.
While clear-sighted about the challenges, Safe Passage also emphasizes how transitions provide powerful opportunities for growth. When people adequately understand mobility’s emotional impact on a school community, transitions can be transformed into a collective experience that builds character and resilience. Firmly grounded in theory and yet oriented toward practice, Safe Passage charts a hopeful course for individuals, schools, and accrediting bodies, reframing mobility as a shared human experience relevant to any school where a significant number of people come and go.