In this final installment related to the MBIS mission, the third aspect of our mission is highlighted. Diversity within our community is seen as a key strength of the school by design as well as by composition. Last weekend’s PTA sponsored Mela was a great showcase of our diversity. A poignant reminder of our shared humanity, love of differences and enthusiasm for great food, it allowed our community to gather and celebrate our values. A huge thank you needs to be given to all the organizers from the PTA as well as all parent contributors for all the effort and planning that goes into such a large event. I am told that we had over 680 attendees! The student, staff and parent performances were wonderful. Thank you all for being risk takers!
Our view of celebrating diversity certainly includes and is strengthened by opportunities to share cultures, food, celebrations and dress. However, it also extends beyond these ‘traditional’ understandings of diversity into a broader sense of difference. MBIS is an inclusive school where learners who are diverse in their languages, learning needs and styles and whose experiences enrich our education. We understand that a holistic education values the different domains of learning and allows students to synthesize learning from these different areas (you might remember my detailed discussion on holistic education from 2 weeks ago).
Similarly, celebrating diversity means developing an appreciation and tolerance for different world views and opinions. In the words of the IB Mission, to ‘encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right’. The development of international mindedness and global awareness moves students through the study of complex issues to internalizing these values.
[inpost_nivo slide_width=”700″ slide_height=”500″ thumb_width=”75″ thumb_height=”75″ post_id=”4627″ skin=”light” transition_effect=”random” transition_speed=”600″ autoslide=”5000″ control_nav=”1″ control_nav_thumbs=”0″ direction_nav=”1″ direction_nav_hide=”0″ controlNavThumbs=”0″ random_start=”0″ pause_on_hover=”1″ show_description=”1″ box_rows=”4″ box_cols=”8″ slices=”15″ start_slide=”0″ id=”” random=”0″ group=”0″ show_in_popup=”0″ album_cover=”” album_cover_width=”200″ album_cover_height=”200″ popup_width=”800″ popup_max_height=”600″ popup_title=”Gallery” type=”nivo” sc_id=”sc1477040997199″]