Critical Engagement

We’re reading a book in English Lit right now called Truant by Horatio Clare. The man who wrote it actually went to the school from 1990-1992, and he speaks about it for ten pages in the book. One paragraph I really liked of what he wrote was:

We live in a paradise of diversity and novelty. No one’s ‘culture’ is quite the same as anyone else’s. Everyone has different music, different politics and different clothes: the college ‘look’ is a chaotic blend of whatever we have worn at home crossed with Palestinian scarves, Kenyan cotton, cheap Welsh wool jumpers and thick checked shirt. No one has to make an effort to be different or to fit in. We are all different, so we all fit.

Critical Engagement

Our second diploma period! This one is led by eight past students, graduating from 2004-2009.

Our days start at 9:00 where we have Thematic Workshops from 9:00-10:30, a half an hour break and then 11:00-12:30, lunch from 12:30-2:00. We then go to two workshops in the afternoon (2:00-3:15 and then 3:45-5:00) that we choose ourselves, led by the Alumni in their fields of expertise.

I’ve now completed two days! J

I’m in a group 5 with about 20 other students; we spend our mornings in SOSH. Our facilitator is Pedro, the youngest of the group who is leading the Diploma Period, graduating in 2009 – so my fifth year. He is now studying Civil and Environmental Engineering at Imperial College London. Really cool guy.

Anyways, on our first day we spoke about Identity. What it is, is it nature or nurture and how is group identity structured. We did an Identity Map, trying to list all of the different groups that we identify with at AC. From being in AOC, Morgannwg House to being in the Afro-Caribbean and Dorm 12. The discussions we had afterwards of how we identify with others and the feeling of belonging and wanting to diversify was very interesting- something you’d only experience in a UWC environment sitting between an Israeli and a German.

We then broke into smaller groups, my group discussing on how religion can cause conflicts around the world, of how others believe their religion is the ‘right’ one and the feeling of needing to eradicate the other. Other groups spoke about things such as Social Class and Language.

That afternoon I went to Critical Engagement and Gender and Critical Engagement and Energy and Sustainability. In the gender workshop we discussed the difference between sex and gender, how it’s viewed in different parts of the world, and what it means to be a man and woman in a changing world. The workshop was led by Mika from Finland, graduating in 2005, he studied Anthropology and Gender Studies in the University of Sussex.

Lastly I went to Pedro’s workshop where we went “CRAZYYYYY”, in thinking of ways to make our school more sustainable. From using the cow and goat waste and capturing methane and then changing it to less harmful Carbon Dioxide which we could then make soda from, to using the extremely heavy castle doors as a form of kinetic energy (I didn’t quite understand the Physics of it when it was being explained, but boy was it impressive).  Really fun. J

Today in the morning we spoke of Diversity, challenging the complacency that often accompanies notions of diversity. How in a multi-ethnic society can coexistence and integration between cultures be enabled? We then broke into smaller groups again and spoke of terrorist attacks. My group of six had two Norwegians so we began speaking about the attack in Norway over the summer, I didn’t realize how hard it would be to speak about it, but hearing in their voices the sadness and their connections to teenagers was something that really impacted me. It was monumentally devastating. Other examples used was the Turks in Germany attacks in 2006 (I think that was the year Leo said) and the school shootings in the USA.

The workshops I did this afternoon were brilliant!

The first one was led by Will, graduated in 2004 and then earned his BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University. The workshops was called Critical Engagement Through Play. We did a series of short energizing games that pushed us to reconsider our moral and political beliefs, what was fair and was not. How competitive is it necessary to really be in a game of Pictionary? Is there any skill in Rock, Paper, Scissors? (yes, says the winners).  It was a lot of fun and a new take on standard games we all knew very well.

My last workshop was Critical Engagement and Community Projects. What grassroots community projects are and the steps involved in setting them up and sustaining them to achieve meaningful outcomes.  We also had a short debate, one side the Local Authority taking away funds from the other side, a children’s charity.  No doubt, we all got a bit heated. It was led by Ari who graduated in 2005 and went to study International Development and Spanish at Sussex University. Her father is actually one of the English teachers here and she grew up on campus.

Early night tonight, but for now – Open House!   [I think it’s pancakes J]

******