Concordian School uses its heart to develop youth, drive change through learning, and create youth to grow up strong and of quality, along with a rapidly changing society.
Even though we live in a world of technology where people can live comfortably today, under the advanced innovations, climate change, environmental threats are becoming more severe. What we as adults should ask is how do we prepare our youth to grow up strong in a society that is moving forward rapidly?
In a world where the world is interconnected without borders, creating quality global citizens may need to be nurtured from when they are still small seedlings, gradually watering, tilling the soil, and instilling academic knowledge along with intellectual knowledge and a balanced life.
We spoke with Ms. Wannee Jearavanont Ross, Director of Concordian International School,
about her vision of creating a “school” that is not just a rectangular “classroom”, but a space without walls where children can learn and grow to understand themselves, the people around them and society, and even the world without borders.
Lessons for Understanding Fellow Humans
Since the very first day of its founding, Concordian has remained true to its unwavering commitment to fostering excellent education while fostering morality, ethics, and, most importantly, compassion.
“ There is no guarantee that the best students who go to the world’s top universities will be successful. Because success in life is multidimensional, just like knowledge has many fields. The question is, when a person has excellent knowledge, what do you use it for? When a person has virtue, is instilled with compassion, it is difficult for that person to use his knowledge and abilities to take advantage of others. In the past hundred years, if you read history, you will know that the people who have messed up the world are all highly educated people.”
Ms. Wanee explained how Concordian’s teaching and learning uses the IB Leaner Profile curriculum, which not only emphasizes cultivating global citizens and good leaders, but also aligns with Concordian’s mission of practicing and interacting with others with an open mind. Each student will learn more than one language, as we believe that language opens the world to understanding human diversity.
Different languages contain different cultures. Some words do not even have translations in all languages. For example, the word Ambitious has a positive meaning in English, conveying the determination to reach the desired goal. However, in Thai, it is translated as Ambitious or Ambition, which has a negative meaning. The difference in meaning of these words shows the differences in the way people live their lives in different languages and cultures. Therefore, having an understanding of many languages is like many windows that allow us to understand the world more broadly and understand people in other cultures more deeply.
Learn through practice
In addition to regular classes, Concordian students are required to complete a series of group projects, called Group Work, which occur approximately six times per year. That means every six weeks, students are starting a new project with a new group of friends.
“ Working with a group of friends teaches children that our society is made up of many different types of people. There are friends who work hard and friends who don’t do things well. Doing projects like this automatically trains them to look for the good in others. Group work progresses when we respect that everyone has different abilities, interests, and expertise.”
Ms. Wanee talked about the project that the children will do a lot of research. Concordian has a large database that consists of information and knowledge sets from around the world for students to access. The by-product of the project is not only training the children to read, but they will also be able to analyze that information because nowadays knowledge is everywhere and has no limits. This is considered a great fortune for the current generation.
When my son was young, he had to research Captain James Cook, the colonial explorer who discovered New Zealand. Different sources told different stories about this captain. The first article described him as a great hero. The second and third articles praised him, but by the fourth article, other aspects of his work included the slave trade and wars with the natives.
“So I asked my son what he thought. In conclusion, was colonial exploration good or bad? What the elementary school boy replied to me was amazing. My son explained that whoever benefits sees it as good, while those who lose see it as bad. From his perspective, sailing to explore and find new resources is good. But why did some colonial explorers have to take everything from the natives? Why didn’t they share? Why didn’t they exchange technology for resources? This is what a Grade 5 (10) child thought and analyzed from reading and understanding stories from various dimensions,” said Ms. Wanni with a smile.
Everything we do has an impact on society and the world.
Every time we do a project, there is a reflection section where the children have to reflect on how what they are doing affects society and what they will do about it.
“There was once a student who did a project on endangered animals, both land animals that are hunted for their fur, and marine animals like sharks that are killed just for the shark fin dish. In the end, that kid made a vow to never eat shark fin again for the rest of his life. What was impressive was that he convinced his relatives and explained the information he had learned about the project to them, until the whole family stopped eating shark fin.”
Ms. Wanee explained that reflection has no limitations. Help can come in many forms, without any process. Some children may do it themselves, such as picking up trash or teaching underprivileged children. Some choose to support people who are already working on solving social problems, so they open for donations and do fund raising to give to foundations. Meanwhile, some feel that this problem needs to be made aware, so they will think of online communication campaigns and make posters to post to inform the whole school.นรู้
“Children who come from well-off families have the opportunity to grow up to be business owners. Think about how business executives from their grandparents’ generation, or even their parents, may not have understood environmental issues at all. Until this child’s generation, he grew up with the ability to understand himself and the society around him. Whenever he makes a decision, he always considers these things. Before buying a sports car, he approves the improvement of pollution treatment systems, converting entire factories to clean energy.
“The environmental movement will only happen seriously if administrators and teachers truly believe in it, and those beliefs will be even more powerful when they are instilled from a young age.”
Teaching that reflects back as lessons
Ms. Wanee concluded by saying that what she has learned from establishing and managing the school for over 20 years is a thorough understanding of the saying that children are like blank canvases, which is not just a definition and is the ultimate truth.
“The environment around us is what shapes how a child grows up. There are environments that lead to good paths and environments that lead to bad paths. And if a child happens to be born into a family with a bad environment, school is the place to change the environment around him to a good one. Every child has something special, and it is the duty of us teachers to find and nurture that specialness, to give him pride. I believe that every child is a flower waiting to bloom. Each person has a different time. Some have left us long ago, so it is their time to bloom.”
We adapt, the world changes. The Next Generation: Concordian changes the world with the power of learning.
Or you can choose to listen to the program in Podcast format at:
We adjust, the world changes The Next Generation because we all can “change” the world for the better. Meet many ideas and actions from the new generation who have risen up to “adjust” their thinking and take action to jointly create a sustainable world.
WeShiftWorldChange #NextGeneration #WeShiftWorldChange #EveryoneCanChangeTheWorldForTheBetter
