The World Has Changed: Part 1

Early on, when we first arrived in Bermuda, I spent some time reflecting on "why here?" "why now?". I had built a career over the last ten years of criss-crossing the country, dropping pearls of wisdom, and then heading back to the local Maple Leaf Lounge before the dust had settled.
Planting my feet firmly on "the rock", I took some time to think about what clarion call had brought me back to my roots with kids, and families and dedicated front-line educators. Interestingly, it took events not in Canada or Bermuda to help to clarify things for me, but something quite unexpected. Here is what I recalled and reflected to my "new" community at the end of that first month:

One January, when I was in elementary school, we were marched down to the common room to watch history being made. On a black and white screen, with a shaky signal coming in over rabbit ears, a school full of Canadian school children watched John F. Kennedy take the oath of office to become the 35th President of the United States. Even then we knew that something had changed. His inaugural address was a call to action not just to Americans, but to a generation. The next decade saw great strides forward in democratic reform, tackling poverty, upholding civil rights, and even the “conquering” of outer space. Kennedy’s call to service was embodied in the line: “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

Forty-eight years later, I once again sat in a common room full of students, a thousand miles and a world away from where I grew up. Once again I watched a black and white image, brought in by online streaming, but still with rabbit ears and once again I knew, as did everyone in the room, that something had changed.

The audience of Somersfield students and staff, a wonderful blend of races, nationalities and faiths, sat in respectful silence, punctuated from time to time by spontaneous applause, to listen to the words of the 44th President of the United States, Barack Obama. He did not disappoint. Like my experience at the beginning of the 1960s, our students heard a new call to action.
Two parts of his address in particular resonated with me. The first:

The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness…for we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.

I don’t need to tell you that at Somersfield this statement embodies the heart of who we are. In our Core Values, in our Montessori and Middle School classrooms, on our playgrounds and in our day to day lives, we practice peace and we strive to help our students to understand not only their own cultures and personal histories, but to be open to the perspectives, values and traditions of other individuals, their families and communities. We honor the strength and ourage to stand for truth and we encourage our students to act with integrity and honesty; with a strong sense of fairness and justice; and, to continually show respect for the dignity of each and every member of our school community and beyond.

The second was also aimed right at us:

To those nations like ours that enjoy relative plenty, we say that we can no longer afford indifference to suffering outside our borders; nor can we consume the world’s resources without regard to effect. For the world has changed, and we must change with it.

At Somersfield, we believe that our students should have a personal commitment to service and act to make a positive difference to the lives of others and to the environment. Our challenge is to continue to help our students to maintain that balance between personal endeavour and accomplishment; and social responsibility and a sense of community. Because, as we all know, Barack Obama’s words and our core values and commitments make for ringing oratory and great reading, but they can sometimes get lost in the pressures and priorities of our day to day lives. It is easy to espouse values, but it is much more difficult to embrace and live them.

Like Kennedy, Obama has thrown down the gauntlet. We all know what we need to do, now it is time to role up our sleeves and make it happen. In education, we often talk about “teachable moments”. They take place when something unexpected happens that engages and inspires our students to think about things in a totally different way. For that room full of kids and their
teachers, for our families, and for our society, this is that ultimate teachable moment. It is our challenge to take that call to action and help our children internalize it as their mission as well. That will be our goal as a school, and hopefully of our community.

The world has changed, and we must change with it.