This has been a difficult few weeks. The devastating nightclub fire in Bucharest, with the loss of young lives continuing, followed by the terrorist attacks in Paris, and news of other atrocities in Beirut, and ongoing tragedies in the Middle east and Africa, have led to an outpouring of grief on an international scale.
In the early hours of the morning of Saturday 14th November, I received an email notification of a message from Kevin Ruth, the Director of ECI Schools, which had been sent to Heads of all ECIS members. The content of the email was later shared as a blog, and on Facebook, and I have provided a link to it at the end of this article. In his message, Kevin speaks movingly about the role of International education in a time of discord and hate. I was profoundly moved by his closing words:
It is time for us, as international schools, to be bold in our pursuit of equity, justice, and peace at the frontiers. Our time is now. Our impact should be felt now.
As the Head of Avenor International High School, and with my role throughout the whole school in developing the Cambridge International Programmes, I was challenged to think what I could do, and what we can do as a school, to make this world a better place. We say that we are Creators of the Future, and I truly believe that we can be agents for positive change.
My teaching experience spans decades; I first stood in front of my own class in September 1982. I am also the mother of a son and two daughters. Since 2002, I have lived and worked overseas, and have taught in schools in Britain, Southern Europe, West Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, before arriving to take up my position at Avenor College. I have spent my entire adult life, since the age of 22, caring for and educating young people. The thing I have learned is that the dual concepts of the unique child and the universal child are mutually inclusive.
Over the years, I have had the privilege of spending time with children, day in and day out. I have met children who remind me of myself, and of family members; children who remind me of pupils I shared my own schooldays with; children who are similar to my son and daughters. Increasingly, I have met children who remind me of pupils I taught at earlier times, or in different countries. Every child I have worked with has been unique. At the same time, every child has features of the universal child. Whether in a private school in Bucharest or a state school in England; a small school on the island of Mallorca or a big boarding school in Africa, I can assure you that 14 year olds are all challenging and refreshing to work with in equal measure. Children moving from primary to secondary school, wherever they are in the world, have the same worries and hopes and dreams. Parents bringing their 5 or 6 year old to school for the first time in Britain, or anywhere else in the world have the same ripples of anxiety. The human condition is universal. Our caring of and providing for the unique child is encompassed by the concept of the universal child: every child in the world.
When Kevin Ruth says:
Should we not also pursue with utmost conviction the social impact that our schools can create now by considering all that is at our disposal, from facilities to technology to nourishment to purchasing power? How might we look at this richness of resources and identify multiple ways in which we can contribute that will lead to reconstruction and reconciliation for „the other?”
He speaks for all of us involved in the education of the next generation. We need to challenge those behaviours and attitudes which promote the concept of ‘the other’. Whether it is racisim, xenophobia, sexism, misogyny, homophobia or other intolerance; we need to meet these things head on and say ‘NO’. We need to raise a future generation who can make the world a better place. Our children need to be educated to ask questions, to look beyond headlines and political posturing. They need to be equipped by the confidence and self-belief that each of them, and each other person, is worthy of respect. They need to have faith that there is justice in the world. We need to confront and challenge hatred and to stand up for the values of freedom and justice that the world so badly needs.
We are living in difficult times. There will, no doubt, be more pain and more bad news to come over the next weeks and months. We have to look deep inside ourselves at this time, and to focus on the children in our care with fresh eyes. We need to look again at The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and to find ways of ensuring that future generations can see those rights respected fully throughout the world. We should begin with Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Our students need to grow confident in the knowledge that the adults responsible for them will protect and defend their rights, and the rights of others. We can make a change. We can make a difference. We can start today.
Denise Trickett, November 2015
You can read Kevin Ruth’s blog here: https://www.ecis.org/director-blog/post/our-time-now-impact-international-schools
