Page 11 - FIS World

Cultural Differences Identifying, Sharing and Celebrating at FISW
One of the fundamental strivings of an inter- national school is to nurture the sense that stu- dents are members of a world-wide community and to cultivate acceptance and understanding of different cultures. In fact, the International Baccalaureate Organization articulates its mis- sion as follows: “The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable, and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. “
But how does an international school do this in fact? What does the curriculum look like and what school activities do students engage in?
A quote from Lyndon B. Johnson sums up very well the path to be followed: “If we are to live together in peace, we must come to know each other better.” A fine example of how a school can realize this is the recent Cultural Cele- bration at the FIS Wiesbaden Campus. The goal of the remarkable all-school project was to foster better understanding of other cultures through increased knowledge and familiarity. Over the course of three weeks, students would first explore their own cultural self-identity and then prepare a presentation to be shared with the whole school community.
Parents were engaged and together with fac- ulty helped the students discover what makes them who they are, if it be language, heritage, values or nationality. All 180 students were then divided up into 26 groups representing different cultural backgrounds. Within these groups, the
“If we are to live together in peace, we must come to know each other better.” Lyndon B. Johnson
students were asked to delve further into aspects of their own identity. What songs, celebrations, languages, beliefs, customs distinguish them from others. Then, often with help from their par- ents, they looked for artifacts and objects that were indicative of their culture at this point in time. It could be a kimono from Japan, beans and rice from Brazil, henna from India or the Jegich- agi game from Korea. These became part of a time capsule from each group which concluded the exercise on cultural self-identity.
The second aspect and the culmination of the Cultural Celebration was sharing their discover- ies and knowledge about their own diverse cul- tures with one other at assembly. Not only were the contents of the various time capsules exhib- ited in the FISW Museum of Culture for examina- tion by the whole school community, but each group also made a one minute video presenta- tion which highlighted one important aspect of their culture. The Australians felt it was the Aborigine people, the Egyptians the Arabic alphabet and the British their unique sense of humor. The tea culture of China, the many lan- guages in India or what water means to the Greeks were also identified as defining features in other cultures.
The silence that reigned in the Commons during the video presentations followed by the excited chatter upon viewing the exhibition gave testimony to the students’ interest and delight involved in learning more about one another’s cultures.
February 2015 FIS World 9