ECOLINT MAGAZINE • N°14 • SPRING 2014 · Que signifie être un professeur pour vous ? J’ai...

E C O L I N T M AGA Z I N E • N ° 14 • S P R I N G 2 014

A word from the DG

INSIGHTS

In good hands

Ecolint and the making of a documentary filmmaker

QUOI DE NEUF

Guiding principles for learning

Student counsel on 21st century education

A heart for the arts

ESPRIT ECOLINT

A visit to Auschwitz

Enabling learning

Etcetera, etcetera

LES ANCIENS ET PAS SO OLD

Say hello, wave goodbye

Brothers and sisters

COMING UP OR JUST BEEN

Annual Fund update

Rewriting history

Recycling fashion

A vos agendas

Kermesse at La Grande Boissière.

In partnership with the Alumni Association

2 echo14 | spring2014

A WORD FROM THE DG

These are exciting times at Ecolint as we edge closer to our 90th birthday. Students were invited to design a logo to mark this anniversary and among many ingenious proposals the concept of Ivan Matrosov, Year 13, Campus des Nations, has been chosen (here, top right); the finishing touches are being made to the Arts Centre building at La Grande Boissière and a director for the centre has been appointed (please see p.8). The new History of Ecolint is about to be published and you can read more about the project in an article by its authors, Othman Hamayed and Conan de Wilde, in this edition on p.17. Plans are taking shape for the Alumni World Reunion in June which coincides with the Kermesses at La Châtaigneraie and at LGB, so the sun must shine!

Meanwhile, one of the most significant pieces of work to be undertaken in recent months relates to the major strategic objective set out in ‘Our Focus for the Future: Steps Ahead’. In support of the educational objectives and in order to create the best possible learning environment for students and staff, we have produced on each campus and for ICT, a five year Capital Plan to include both maintenance and new projects, to be consolidated into a Foundation Capital Plan.

This has involved senior staff on each of our three campuses together with the Director of ICT, Mark Grace in assessing and setting out the capital and maintenance investment needed over the coming five

years. All these submissions have been assessed and prioritised to ensure that our planning leads to prudent decision-making and optimum use of our capital funding so that our students are learning in pleasant and safe facilities adapted for education in the 21st century. This consolidated plan was recently presented to the Governing Board. Our comprehensive approach also provides an opportunity to formulate our fundraising strategy as we approach the conclusion of the Arts Centre campaign (please see the article on p.8) and this edition of echo is an opportunity for me to thank our community for the indispensable support that they give to our fundraising efforts.

If my head has been buried in capital plans and operating budgets in recent weeks, let me assure you that our students, from the moment they join our school to when they graduate as adults, remain at the centre of my leadership as, with all my colleagues, we endeavour to provide the best, most relevant and most enduring education for today’s and tomorrow’s Ecolinters. To this end, and in reference to one of the pillars of our mission down the years, both our Foundation journée pédagogique in October and our annual education conference in January were devoted to the question: what do we really mean by a child-centred education? Some fascinating discussions have ensued on those eternal questions of the purpose of education; of what we should teach and how; what is the place of assessment, of technology in learning; what is the best use of time given there is never enough; what are the relative responsibilities of parents and the school to educate the child for adulthood and many, many more. In my address to the staff in October, I noted the paradox: firstly, our desire that child-centredness allows the child to be a child; secondly that we must work back from the adult we are preparing the child to be. Appreciating how much harder it is to maintain the innocence and simplicity of childhood for today’s children, it is important to focus on learning which introduces our young children to exploration, to nature, to touch, to song, to dance, to beauty, to make

believe so that childhood can be as magical as possible. As the father in The Coast of Utopia by Tom Stoppard, says, so movingly, following the death of his child:

“Because children grow up, we think a child’s purpose is to grow up. But a child’s purpose is to be a child. Nature doesn’t disdain what lives only for a day. It pours the whole of itself into each moment. We don’t value the lily less for not being made of flint and built to last. Life’s bounty is in its flow, later is too late. Where is the song when it’s been sung? The dance when it’s been danced? It’s only we humans who want to own the future, too. The death of a child has no more meaning than the death of armies, of nations. Was the child happy while he lived? That is a proper question, the only question.”

At the same time, our education needs to be underpinned by our vision of the adult that we want our students to become: decent, principled, considerate, responsible, emotionally resilient, balanced, non-threatening and non-threatened, able to apply himself or herself, persistent, spirited, thirsty for knowledge, hungry for life, capable of facing the obstacle course of adulthood in a world full of promise, pressures, nonsense, uncertainty, choice and unprecedented globalisation and longevity! So, in essence, an education that is nurturing but not indulgent, uncompromisingly rich in depth, stretch and opportunity. Striking the balance and achieving all this is a challenge but one that is endlessly stimulating and is at the root of a remarkable initiative led by the Director of Education, Dr Conrad Hughes, to develop a set of Guiding Principles for 21st Century Learning and you can read about this in an interview on p.6.

I hope that you enjoy the many articles in this issue of echo magazine.

Vicky Tuck, Director General

Introduction

3echo14 | spring2014

Insights

IN GOOD HANDSDans cette chronique, nous demandons à un membre du personnel enseignant de l’Ecolint quelles sont les raisons qui l’ont amenées à travailler dans notre école. Ses réponses nous permettent d’en savoir un peu plus sur sa philosophie de l’enseignement.

Votre nom, titre et campus ?Christophe Roux, Professeur à l’Ecole primaire et Coordinateur informatique, La Grande Boissière.

Depuis combien de temps enseignez-vous à l'Ecolint ?J’enseigne à La Grande Boissière depuis 1981, soit depuis trente-trois ans.

Comment en êtes-vous venus à enseigner à l'Ecolint ?En 1978, j’ai effectué un stage de plusieurs mois à LGB dans le cadre de mes études pédagogiques à Paris. C’est ainsi que je fis la connaissance de certains profs mythiques de l’Ecolint. Je citerai deux exemples: Alouette1, qui m’apprit le sens véritable du «mettre l’enfant au centre» et l’équipe pédagogique Gattegno2, qui m’apprit la rigueur intellectuelle absolument indispensable à toute démarche pédagogique active. Mon arrivée à Genève fut facilitée par le fait que je suis genevois par mon père.

Comment résumeriez-vous votre rôle ?Je répondrais par une autre question que je me pose toujours sans avoir la réponse: suis-je une source d’inspiration pour mes élèves ? C’est à eux de répondre, bien entendu.

A quelles initiatives pédagogiques particulières avez-vous participé ?J’ai participé à de nombreuses aventures pédagogiques en trente-trois ans d’Ecolint: construction du bâtiment des Marronniers (l’input des profs très apprécié, mais oui!), création de l’informatique pédagogique (lorsque j’ai mis un ordinateur dans ma classe en 1982, j’ai eu droit à un article dans

le journal...), ouverture du site ecolint.ch (j’ai été le premier Webmaster). Mais le projet dont je suis le plus fier est sans aucun doute celui du «musée des enfants»3. Il s’agit d’un projet organisant le travail des élèves (lecture, écriture, langues, art, éveil) autour des œuvres de grands artistes (peintres mais aussi sculpteurs, musiciens ou architectes). En d’autres termes, le pédagogique est mis au service du culturel.

Quel est le meilleur aspect de votre métier ?Le contact avec les élèves. J’avais la hantise de terminer ma carrière en ayant perdu cette petite flamme qui vous anime quand on est jeune. Les élèves m’ont préservé de cela. Quel beau cadeau !

Que signifie être un professeur pour vous ?J’ai envie de dire que pour moi, être enseignant c’est d’abord tenter de projeter son énergie intérieure sur sa classe. Ainsi, lorsque je suis enthousiasmé par quelque chose, les élèves le sentent et mon enthousiasme devient le leur. Après, bien sûr, il y a le contenu qu’on essaye de transmettre mais seulement après !

Quel est votre style d'enseignement ?J’essaie de faire en sorte de tenir la chaîne par les deux bouts: d’un côté, que les élèves soient heureux de venir à l’école et de l’autre qu’ils apprennent de façon rigoureuse et bien structurée. Equilibre fragile mais passionnant parce qu’on ne sait jamais exactement où placer le curseur.

Que vous évoque votre fonction de professeur à l'Ecolint ?La fierté d’appartenir à une institution fondée sur un extraordinaire mélange d’idéaux Wilsoniens (l’amitié entre les peuples), de culture démocratique (nous sommes une Fondation à but non lucratif) et d’innovation pédagogique. Je suis fier d’appartenir à une école qui a inventé le Baccalauréat International mais aussi qui a eu comme professeur Jeanne Hersch, philosophe, représentante de la Suisse à l’Unesco et rédactrice de la Déclaration universelle des droits de l’homme de 1948 avec René Cassin, prix Nobel de la Paix.

Souhaitez-vous ajouter quelque chose?Un de mes plus beaux souvenirs de ces années passées à l’Ecolint est récent. C’était il y a deux ans, en 2012. Avec les autres classes de Quatrième primaire de La Grande Boissière, nous avions fait un projet pédagogique sur la paix. La paix à cet âge-là (8 - 10 ans) signifie la résolution des conflits. Pour couronner ce projet nous avions invité Loïs Meyhoffer, fille de Paul Meyhoffer, premier directeur de l’école et donc première élève de notre école. Un moment de qualité inoubliable, cette rencontre entre cette dame très âgée, icône de l’école et ces très jeunes enfants. Tout le monde dans l’assistance était fier ce jour là d’appartenir à l’Ecolint. Comme quoi, les bons souvenirs n’appartiennent pas seulement à un passé lointain…

1 De son vrai nom Michèle Joz Roland (1922 - 1999), professeur à l'école primaire de LGB pendant 42 ans mais aussi écrivain et assistante de Jean Piaget à l’université de Genève

2 Caleb Gattegno (1911 - 1988), mathématicien et pédagogue britannique d’origine juive égyptienne

3 http://www.museedesenfants.ch

Christophe Roux, Professeur à l’Ecole primaire,

La Grande Boissière

A WORD FROM THE DG


Robert Bilheimer, LGB ’62, is widely regarded as one of the most influential documentary filmmakers working in the fields of social justice and international human rights. It was a pleasure to catch up with Robert and hear about his time at Ecolint and the remarkable things he has done since.

ECOLINT AND THE MAKING OF A DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER

Insights

Robert Bilheimer was nominated for an Academy Award in 1989 for his first feature-length documentary, Cry of Reason, a profile of the South African anti-apartheid leader, Beyers Naudé. Robert is the President of Worldwide Documentaries Inc., a USA-based not-for-profit documentary company that makes films about a wide range of social, cultural, and humanitarian issues. Over the past ten years, Robert has made two widely acclaimed documentary films, A Closer Walk, about the global AIDS epidemic, and Not My Life, about human trafficking, that have reached hundreds of millions of people and have had a direct impact on awareness and understanding of these two defining human rights issues around the world.

How did you come to be at Ecolint?My father, Robert Bilheimer, was one of the founders of the World Council of Churches, which is still based in Geneva. A theologian and Presbyterian minister, he was a self-described “ecumenical engineer”, and a social activist very much in the tradition of Catholic liberation theology today. When he was offered a key job at the World Council in the mid-1950’s, our family quickly found itself on an ocean liner bound for Le Havre. I was a young boy at the time, and after a year at Ecole Brechbühl, found myself on the “côté français” of Ecolint, where I spent a few years before switching over to the English side. My younger brothers, Rick and Roger, were also students at Ecolint, and my mother taught in the English department. So our family’s ties to the school are

very deep.

What are your fondest memories?Absolutely and categorically, my fellow students and the friendships formed, several of which I still have today. I also very much appreciated the freedom we were given, as students, to express ourselves in extra-curricular activities, whether it was the Students’ United Nations (SUN), or, in my case, with a couple of friends, creating an “alternative” satirical student publication

called “The Third Eye”, which featured poetry, essays and

articles and which was, I


might add, eagerly read and anticipated by the teachers whenever it came out!

What did you do immediately after leaving Ecolint?I went to Hamilton College, in the USA, along with Ecolint classmate Erik Beukenkamp, followed a year later by Glynn Mays, another Ecolinter, and then by my brother Rick. We set up a real Ecolint “encampment” at Hamilton! It was fun for everyone, and Hamilton is a very fine liberal arts college, so I have been quite privileged with respect to my education all the way down the line.

And, then, after Hamilton?After Hamilton and graduation, in 1966, I chose not to go to grad school and became a freelance journalist in East Africa. I wrote for the Daily Nation, a daily newspaper in Nairobi, Kenya, and also did various freelance assignments for Time and Agence France Presse (AFP), including profiles of African leaders, and the great Mozambican revolutionary, Eduardo Mondlane, who was tragically assassinated not long after I did one of my articles about him. I was still young, so spent about three years in East Africa before being drafted into the Vietnam war in the late 1960’s. I wound up as a chaplain’s assistant in the Panama Canal Zone, and worked in the training and reprocessing centre, providing counselling to soldiers going to, or coming back from, Vietnam. I subsequently did go to postgraduate school, earning a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre and Film from Indiana University.

Do you think your time at Ecolint influenced your choices?There is no question. I feel very fortunate to have gone to Ecolint, as most Ecolinters do. To have grown up with young people from so many different backgrounds was a broadening and enriching experience.

When I finally got around to deciding I was a going to be a documentary filmmaker focusing on social justice issues, that decision, I believe, was influenced by the perspectives I gained at Ecolint. Also, becoming bilingual at an early age because of my time at Ecolint has been enriching and rewarding in so many ways, even to this day.

How did you get into documentary filmmaking?As you get older, you understand better who you are and what your influences are and, if you are fortunate, you realise what you really want to do. I had been a journalist, then went to grad school and studied theatre and film. I then worked as a director in professional repertory theatre and, for a while, worked as a creative director in an advertising agency: I learned how to make television adverts, working in a short form to tell stories quickly and efficiently. Eventually, all this came together, and I found a way, through the documentary genre, to express myself about things that mattered deeply to me. I have never really looked back. My first “major” film, which received an Oscar nomination when it was released, was about the Afrikaner anti-apartheid activist, Beyers Naudé, a great man and towering figure in South African history. Since then, I have made “big picture” films on other important human rights issues, including AIDS and human trafficking. I am always trying to find the human dimension that will give resonance and meaning to the storytelling.

What do you hope to achieve with your documentaries?My goal has always been to help my audiences come to a better understanding of “the way the world is” as I wrote for Glenn Close in the narration of A Closer Walk. What kind of world do we really live in? And what can we do to make it a better place, where there is less suffering, more justice, more attention to the needs of our

children and a greater understanding of what human dignity really means?

What qualities did Ecolint encourage in you?The climate and karma at Ecolint was always to encourage students to explore who they were becoming, and what they wanted to be. It was real freedom, but “controlled freedom” in the sense that academics and learning were always important, and the teachers understood that they were really preparing us for the rest of our lives. This kind of atmosphere and attitude was still very apparent to me when I spoke at La Grande Boissière’s Graduation Ceremony last June, fifty years after I had stood up in the Greek Theatre and accepted a diploma myself.

Where are you living and what are you doing now?I live in upstate New York, in the Finger Lakes region, a beautiful part of the state known as “wine country” because of the excellent vineyards we have here on the steep slopes of the lakes themselves. We also call it “God’s country”, because it is so special and peaceful here. I have been making documentaries for the past twenty five years and am going to carry on making them. I am also looking forward to writing a book or two one day.

Is there anything about your time at Ecolint that you would do differently?Not really. I wish I had been a more productive member of the Ski Team and probably could have done a lot better in Maths and Biology, but those are very minor compared with the rich experience my years at the school proved to be. I will always think of it as one of the best times of my life, and that is a lovely thing to be able to say.

ECOLINT AND THE MAKING OF A DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKER

Krista Clausnitzer, echo magazine editor

GUIDING PRINCIPLESFOR LEARNING

Quoi de neuf

Auriane Terki-Mignot (see article on p.12) interviewed Dr Conrad Hughes, Ecolint’s Director of Education, to find out what the new “Guiding Principles for Learning” are all about and what they should mean in practice for our students.

Auriane Terki-Mignot,Year 13 student

La Châtaigneraie,Editor in Chief of Etcetera

What are the “Guiding Principles for Learning”?Humanity is faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges: global poverty; unemployment; waning biocapacity; complex ethical questions about what it means to be human with the rise of artificial intelligence, neuroscience and stem cell research; a globalised economy based on a dysfunctional free market economy that threatens dignified working conditions, meaningful nation state sovereignty and sustainable local economies; knowing what information to trust in an age of big data; the list goes on. At the same time, we know much more about the way we learn having come through decades of extraordinary research in the interrelated fields of education, sociology and cognitive psychology.

The Guiding Principles were developed by hundreds of our teachers in collaboration with the Ecolint Student Councils (STUCOs), Strategic Planning Committee and academics from various universities and educational institutions across the globe. The areas that we believe the educational community should be reflecting upon in the 21st Century include: academic honesty, information literacy, critical thinking, creativity, Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (STEM) learning, concepts-focused learning, health & mindfulness, service learning, learning support and assessment.

The Guiding Principles go into each of these areas in detail and will be published in September 2014. A special edition of UNESCO’s Prospects journal, giving more detailed theoretical background to the Guiding Principles with entries from academic authorities such as Sugata

Mitra, Juan Carlos Tedesco and Paul Black, will be published in January 2015.

In practice, what will the Guiding Principles change for teachers and students at Ecolint?The Guiding Principles offer a common vision for what we are trying to achieve at Ecolint. They are there to stimulate coherent reflection, discussion and excellent practice. Whilst we believe in diversity and choice, it is important to have a common sense of where we are going and what we believe in. In practice, these principles will offer a framework to drive our educational mission in a single, clear direction whilst underpinning our values of universal human rights, a strong language profile and “l’élève au centre”.

In the Guiding Principles, you write, in relation to critical thinking and creativity: “Students should feel free to take risks, to be corrected without negative consequences, to challenge, to be challenged and debate opinions…” How can this be implemented alongside the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP), given that some of its requirements can hinder true freedom of thought or creativity? I am not sure I agree that the IBDP hinders such thinking. Meaningful,

mature freedom of thought and creativity come with a certain academic rigour and knowledge. To engage in creative and critical thinking at a high level requires deep understanding. One of the problems with the heavily mediatised sound-bites that circulate about critical thinking and creativity is a misconception that these skills are somehow opposed to knowledge. Knowledge and skills are not antonymous, they are reciprocal. This means that a rigorous academic programme like the IBDP will not prevent higher-order thinking, on the contrary, it is there to stimulate it.

The Guiding Principles mention the importance of service learning. Where does the teacher’s role stop and student initiative begin?The answer is in the question: service learning is more about learning than teaching. Students have to take ownership of service learning, they cannot just execute the teacher’s instructions. To serve another person is a spiritual, transcendental moment that tells us what it means to be human and, therefore, it stands at the core of a personalised education.

The Guiding Principles also mention the importance of assessment. How can we ensure that assessment has a formative purpose rather than a formatting purpose?Embedded formative assessment is quite simply good teaching. It is based on the idea that students learn best when they receive carefully crafted feedback on specific elements of their learning so that they know what to do to improve. We have set out principles for assessments with diagnostic, formative and summative purposes that will ensure effective, learner-centred practice.


GUIDING PRINCIPLESFOR LEARNING

STUDENT COUNSEL ON 21ST CENTURY EDUCATION

Quoi de neuf

Ecolint’s Year 13 Student Councils (STUCOs) were asked by Dr Conrad Hughes, Ecolint’s Director of Education, to consider what they think a 21st century education should cover and their responses make for interesting reading.

STUCO, Year 13, Campus des NationsIn a recent article on the future of jobs and the impact new technological developments would have on the future, The Economist concluded that technology will play an increasingly important role in all aspects of life and that automation would make critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving indispensable skills for people wanting to remain competitive in the labour market. Keeping this in mind, we feel that education in the 21st century should be based upon the guiding principles of mindfulness, technology, ingenuity and analysis. For these guiding principles to be nurtured, they must not only be woven into current learning objectives and curricula but also specifically addressed in entirely new classes.

Mindfulness should be pushed as an important notion to maintain throughout our lives and as something to consider when making any decision. The key in reinforcing this principle would be to connect projects and assignments to notions of mindfulness. The most obvious aspect is a connection to sustainability, for example assessing the environmental impact of an economic decision.

Technology has been acknowledged as an important tool for learning. Yet we believe teaching in this area is currently insufficient given its importance and the advantage it can provide. We would propose a class with the sole purpose of providing an in-depth understanding of how and why technology is being used (in search engines for example) and to teach, at the very least, rudimentary coding skills to students.

Ingenuity is something more difficult to define and therefore to nurture, but we would suggest modifying grading systems to include portfolio assessment of creative tasks, such as designing. This would force

students to further explore their creative capabilities and skills.

Analysis should be, and to some extent already is, taught in all classes, but to add a more real-world and interactive aspect to developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills, we would suggest a case-study based class similar to global affairs. Students should be introduced to a certain situation and asked to find solutions or ways to improve the situation, for example the logistics of providing relief to post-hurricane Filipino villages. Then students could present their findings to the class and, hopefully, create a didactic dialogue while discussing their proposed solutions.

It should be noted that although our propositions have been made from an IBDP perspective, we believe that it is essential for students to be introduced to these skills and concepts at the earliest possible age.

Lia Johansen, STUCO, Year 13, La ChâtaigneraieEducation in the 21st century is not about getting rid of academia; it’s about adding the option to take a different route. I believe the key lies in adapting education to the learner. If practical knowledge is more conducive to learning in some cases, then we should have courses that centre themselves on practical knowledge. At the same time, we should allow for the more traditional scholastic environment that other students might thrive in. Education should no longer assume the shape of a box that students bend over backwards to fit in, but rather be like a well-tailored suit fitted to individuals.

Another aspect of modern education that I think should be emphasised is language. If we can pardon the cliché, we live in an increasingly globalised world, and communication is the key to sharing ideas.

Languages like Spanish, Mandarin, Arabic and Russian are quickly becoming hugely important in the world, and a school that boasts of providing an education with an international perspective should focus on languages.

STUCO, Year 13, La Grande BoissièreAs students of the 21st century, we are preparing to be thrown into various new situations once we have graduated. However, it can be questioned whether we have the education needed to excel in today’s world.

Technology is a rapidly developing area which is becoming essential in most aspects of school and its requirements. We need to have a certain level of technological literacy and be proficient in all the basic current computer programmes. Although there are some students who are extremely “tech savvy”, many others are not. Therefore, we believe that it is imperative that in a 21st century education, technological skills are addressed and developed.

We believe that students need to understand that every endeavour does not result in success. People need to be realistic and understand their limitations outside of our protective school environment. We fear that once we leave this protective bubble, we will not know how to fail. Although not all of us will fail, some of us will, and it will be a difficult situation to cope with.

Another aspect that we believe is essential for a 21st century education is to have a global outlook on life. With rapid globalization, we need the skills to be able to adapt to new situations that will confront us in the future. Being in an international school, it is good that students have been exposed to the many international aspects of various languages and cultures.

echo14 | spring2014 7

The days are getting longer and we have even had some Winter sunshine at the La Grande Boissière Campus: all the better to appreciate the rise of the luminous façade of our much awaited Arts Centre! From what seemed the most inglorious start eighteen months ago, of felling trees and digging a large hole, we have seen the Arts Centre rise and rise. The four floors are now watertight and internal works are proceeding apace. There is also a full post-construction biodiversity enhancement plan to replace the trees! This magnificent new facility will start coming into use from late Spring of this year. We are pulling out all the stops so that the alumni returning to the 7th Alumni World Reunion from the 12-14 June can enjoy the wonderful new spaces the Arts Centre will afford. You can follow the building’s progress at: http://www.ecolint-arts.ch/en/chantier.

Talking about the new facilities, Marshall Sapherson, Head of La Grande Boissière Arts Department, said, “I hope to see the Arts Centre quickly become the cultural and social hub of our school community. Students, staff, parents and visitors will find wonderful spaces in this building designed for all forms of artistic exploration, presentation and performance as well as for collaborative projects, talks, meetings, assemblies, presentations and informal gatherings.”

Quoi de neuf

A HEART FOR THE ARTS

JOIN A COMMUNITY COMMITTED TO CULTURE

The Arts Centre is proof of our commitment to the arts and culture as essential parts of a well-rounded education. True to our not-for-profit Foundation status, we are financing the Arts Centre from a mixture of our own school funds and community philanthropic support.

There are still CHF 3.4 million of construction costs to be funded and your help is needed. You could name a music practice room from CHF 40,000, visual arts studios from CHF 350,000 or maybe there is another opportunity you might like to investigate.

Families, alumni, students, teachers and staff have all contributed to raising the CHF 12.6 million pledged to date for the Arts Centre. We thank everyone for their gifts.

To learn more about how you can support this project, please contact Michaelene Stack, Director of Development on her direct line: +41 (0)22 787 26 63 or by email to [email protected]

We are delighted that Anne-Laure joined us at the beginning of March 2014. Anne-Laure left the post of Head of Cultural Affairs of the University Hospital of Geneva (HUG) to take up her leadership role of our new Arts Centre.

Anne Laure has nine years of experience at HUG implementing a programme of exhibitions, concerts and conferences, as well as curating the institution’s collection of art works and medical instruments, and editing a series of books on the history of the presence of the arts in the hospital. She is a photographer at heart, trained in art history and philosophy, and with solid experience and know-how in the fields of arts and culture. Anne-Laure will relish the new challenge of working with students, teachers and cultural partners to make the Arts Centre a vibrant hub of activity. Anne-Laure says, “I cannot wait to start creating and developing an ambitious programme for the magnificent building currently under construction. Our community has understood the relevance of the arts in the education of our children and its fundamental role in our society. I am really enthusiastic about the prospects.” We are all really looking forward to working with Anne-Laure to make the Arts Centre hum.

Please feel free to see some of the inspiring work Anne-Laure brought to the HUG: www.arthug.ch

INTRODUCING OUR NEW ARTS CENTRE DIRECTOR, ANNE-LAURE OBERSON

www.ecolint-art.ch


Jean-Guy Carpentier,Campus Principal,

La Grande Boissière


Jamie Williams shares his experience of taking a group of students from Ecolint to visit Auschwitz in the Autumn of 2013.

On Wednesday the 27th November 2013, I was fortunate enough to attend the visit to Auschwitz - Birkenau with 5 students from Year 12 which was organised by the CICAD (Coordination Intercommunautaire Contre L’ Antisémitisme et la Diffamation). I had heard about the trip from a number of colleagues who had been in previous years and was always struck by the

impact that it had made on them. Modern History teachers who had taught this subject matter to students saw this aspect of World War II ‘in a new light‘ and with ‘greater sensitivity‘. I was intrigued to understand more.

The day itself was an emotional whirlwind, constantly trying to understand the scale of the events that had happened. The first visit that day was to Auschwitz II, the larger of the two camps. Experiencing the bitter cold as we walked round the site, it was incomprehensible that over 600,000 humans would pass through this camp in 1944. Considering that the population of Geneva in 2011 was recorded to be 195,000, the conditions these prisoners endured were, literally, impossible to grasp.

The visit in the afternoon was to Auschwitz I. Here, the buildings of the camp had been converted to house exhibitions. One exhibition particularly struck a chord with myself and the students: two and a half tonnes of human hair, the volume of which was beyond belief. But, on closer inspection, you could clearly see each individual lock of hair and that, in turn, each one belonged to an individual person. This perfectly demonstrated the juxtaposition of trying

to understand the scale of what had happened here, but also remembering that each of the statistics mentioned during the day was a living human being.

Although a harrowing day, this visit will certainly rest with me for the remainder of my life. To experience this with a group of students was extremely rewarding, their sensitive approach to the subject matter, sharing reflections and seeing their reactions was also a humbling experience. All the students were a credit to Ecolint and demonstrated great humility.

Esprit ecol int

Students who went to Auschwitz share their reasons for wanting to go on the trip and explain how they felt:

“All the knowledge one will ever accumulate about the Holocaust will forever be incomplete until one actually walks on the same soil as the victims of this great atrocity once did, witnessing the same sights that they witnessed.” (Marcus Mayers, Year 12)

“I decided to apply for this trip because I have always been fascinated by World War II. Visiting Poland and Auschwitz has always been something I have wanted to experience.” (Emily Whitaker, Year 12)

“I had spent so much time learning about Auschwitz and the events leading up to its creation and, yet, the concept of it and the cruelties that took place within its walls were so hard to grasp. Going to Auschwitz and walking on the same soil as its prisoners made it real. Seeing all the personal items that victims left behind including their shoes, hair, glasses, baby clothes and portraits in a sense brought us back to the cold atmosphere that filled the camp in World War II. It was definitely hard to see how much suffering and pain people had gone through, so this was the best and the worst part of the trip.” (Maria Salazar, Year 12)

A VISIT TO AUSCHWITZ

Jamie Williams,Assistant Principal,Secondary School,

Campus des Nations

Philippe (far right) and Hilda (5th from the right) during the ESP opening at La Châtaigneraie, November 2013

Esprit ecol int

ENABLING LEARNINGPhilippe and Hilda Setton, through the SASA Setton Foundation, have been committed supporters of Ecolint’s Extended Support Programme (ESP) since 2007. During this interview with Philippe and Hilda, I was inspired and humbled by their deep attachment to the ESP and how much they care about the children and families it benefits.

What motivated your first gift to the Extended Support Programme at Ecolint?When our son Samuel was at Ecolint, the specialised support system which he would have needed was not yet in place. In spite of this, he was very happy here. Unfortunately, he had to leave at age 15 when the school could no longer meet his needs. We wanted to do something that would enable Ecolint to continue educating students with similar needs so they would not have to leave.

From the outset, we wished for the programme to be integrated within the mainstream activities of the school. We wanted it to be open not only to current Ecolint students but also to new ones who really needed it. We had in mind both the students and parents, because we know how difficult it can be for parents to cope with their children’s difficulties and how devastating it can be when their school is unable to respond adequately.

What is the SASA Setton Foundation?The mission of our Foundation is to

help children have a better life. Aside from Ecolint, much of our work is in partnership with a project commissioned by the Israeli Ministry of Education to provide schooling to Israeli and Palestinian children in Israeli hospitals. It is unique in the world. Our partnership with World ORT, the SASA Setton Kav Or Initiative, is now in its fifth year and involves thirty one hospitals, including nine psychiatric hospitals or units. It benefits 120,000 children every year.

Our support includes distance learning technology and hardware, such as computer terminals and Internet access, to help minimise the isolation of hospitalised children and connect them to their regular classrooms, teachers and friends. We would like to promote similar programmes in other countries but this requires overcoming complicated state and institutional barriers.

Other aspects of our work include funding for equipment such as electro-cardiogram machines for children in hospitals, providing a bus to transport disabled children, for an association in Lausanne, supporting a programme in Geneva that helps young adults find training and work and helping fund two orphanages for 3,000 children. The orphanages are in Israel and Greece.

What have been some of the challenges of Ecolint’s ESP?The programme can only take a limited number of students and is unable to fully meet the demand for education in this area. This is due to its high costs, both for the school and for the parents, which

“There is so much more pleasure in giving than receiving! Giving creates an inner well-being.”

Hilda Setton


On each of our three campuses, the ESP combines mainstream teaching with dedicated teaching to small groups or one-on-one and there are usually no more than eight ESP students per school at any one time

Michaelene Stack,Director of Development,

Ecolint

limit access. There is also a perception that the larger the programme, the more difficult it is to fully integrate.

How would you describe the programme to someone new to the region?What makes the ESP special is the uniqueness of the people who run it. It would be impossible to single out any one individual because teamwork is so fundamental to it thriving. Also, its full integration has been particularly successful. Ecolint itself is a marvellous school and the way it has embraced ESP is a token of its open-mindedness. This is something the school community can be proud of. The entire school has benefited from this experience.

It seems that awareness of special education is growing in society, generally. How does this increased awareness benefit these young people? Society has become more open to talking about individual problems. For example, autism is now the subject of many books and television programmes. The Internet has opened it all up. Even insurance companies have now improved the way they manage psychiatric and mental health problems. This helps families to cope better with the burden, as secrecy makes it so much worse, both for the parents and children. People can create a support network for each other and there is less isolation.

There are different views about the role of giving to the school. What would you say to those who question the importance of community philanthropy at Ecolint?There can be legitimate concerns. All donors and potential donors are concerned about retaining control of what happens with their money. What if the programme goes over budget and cannot deliver, even with the donation received? We have been very lucky to work with competent people who manage budgets and finances well. We only fund specific, very focused programmes which makes it is easier to maintain financial control and ensure transparency.

One must not try to influence people. Some people just do not have the budget to give and others will just never change the way they think about helping others. Giving creates an inner well-being that you do not get when you receive a present. It is more long-lasting than the pleasure of spending money to just buy things.

We would say to parents who do not seem to approve of personal philanthropy that they are perhaps lucky that their family has not needed to benefit from it.

What are your hopes and dreams for the future development of the ESP at Ecolint? Do you have a vision of your own future role in the programme?It is important for us that Ecolint has become a leader and a role model in

this field, demonstrating that special education students can successfully integrate with their peers, enjoy the same social and sports events and be part of school life in every way. We could imagine taking the Ecolint model to other schools and other countries, with Ecolint as a role model and mentor.

Demand is growing for wider options for students with specific needs. We are delighted that in addition to equipment and space transformations, our contribution encompasses an annual conference and specialised teacher training which has helped Ecolint recruit exceptional people. We have helped to fund the research which led to the introduction of the IB Career-related Certificate (IBCC) as an option for some ESP students. We would be prepared to explore opportunities to further develop the programme, should the school adopt such an objective. Our vision is being fulfilled and we are open to consider new needs as they evolve. We feel engaged with this programme, we are not walking away from it. The school has done a great job implementing this vision and building a trusting relationship with us.

Ecolint’s commitment to learning support for all students goes back many years, before the establishment of the ESP on all three campuses. Ceri Walker, an Ecolint parent in the 1990s, explains the positive impact the learning support programme has had on her children and their future.

“Our son, Gareth, struggled in his elementary years. The learning support programme at La Châtaigneraie taught him to have self-belief and be positive. Our daughter, Megan, has dyslexia and she too had help from the learning support programme. No school has offered the same level of help and support. I am happy to hear the programme is bigger now. My hope is that the good work continues and that parents are reassured that their children are getting the best support.

Gwilym, 19, just started studying sustainable agriculture. He swam through school with no effort! It made me realise


how hard my other two had to work to just keep their heads above water.”

Gareth earned a Doctorate from Keble College at Oxford following a Masters in Water Science from Oxford University and a Bachelor in Physics from King’s College, London. He is passionate about his job in water crisis resolution. Megan completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Massachusetts and is now working on a Masters in Education with an emphasis on special needs.


Esprit ecol int

Dr Conrad Hughes interviewed Auriane Terki-Mignot, a Year 13 student at La Châtaigneraie, and Editor in Chief of Etcetera, the Foundation’s official student newspaper, to hear about her work and how she thinks the paper helps to represent and unite our student body.

ETCETERA, ETCETERA

How long has Etcetera been running?I do not know exactly how long Etcetera has been running, however, it has gone through a period of great change since I became editor, a little over two years ago.

As editor, what are your main objectives?My main objectives have always been to provide students around the three campuses with a medium for expression, to promote collaboration between the three campuses, and to help develop school spirit.

In the past two years, the newspaper was entirely redesigned in an effort to align it with students’ expectations, in a time when technology and software such as InDesign, previously only accessible to professionals, are now becoming more and more user-friendly. The layout was modernised and the newspaper was expanded to include new sections, such as the technology section. The newspaper can also be found online on the school website*. I hope that, over time, students will come to perceive Etcetera as a powerful tool for the promotion of ideas, student-based projects, or even as a medium for expression that allows them to reach out to a wider public.

In your opinion, what makes a quality article?I think that there are no set “ingredients” for a good quality article. What truly makes a good article is being passionate about a topic, and having a strong desire to share it! When this happens, people will usually enjoy reading the article. In general, the best articles are written in elegant but approachable styles, and will explore a clearly defined theme in a structured manner. But beyond that, quality articles come in all shapes and sizes. The one tip I would give to students is to enjoy writing their article.

What do you think are Ecolint’s values and how does Etcetera promote them?It always seemed to me that one of the Foundation’s crucial values is the promotion of diversity. In the newspaper, we try to give students as much freedom as possible in their choice of topic, style, and format. We try to find articles written by students from all grades, and encourage students to write in English and French, but also in other languages! One of our aims for next year is to introduce a “Language section”, where students could find articles written in a variety of languages, other than English or French.

I also feel that the Foundation has students’ development at heart, both personal development, and their development into young men and women capable of having an impact on their community at different levels. Through the newspaper, we try to develop student initiative to give a voice to those who are passionate about a topic and who wish to act in the school community. In doing so, we hopefully encourage critical thought and enterprise.

Finally, I believe that one of the Foundation’s core principles is trust: trust between students, but also trust amongst all members of the Ecolint community. Because Etcetera is a student-led project that tries to bring the three campuses closer together, we greatly promote such relations between staff members, students and parents.

What do you think Ecolint should be doing to promote the student voice?Working as editor of Etcetera made me realise that being part of a student-led project can be one of the most effective ways for students to engage in meaningful action and learn from it. Because Etcetera is entirely student-led, all of its members are faced with more responsibilities, more choices, but also more freedom of choice. As a result, the students who choose to participate in it are those who are truly motivated. The genuine interest they have in journalism or in their section shines through during meetings and afterwards, as they constantly show initiative. I will be leaving the school in June to go to university, and I hope that when I come back to visit, I will see many projects like Etcetera flourishing on the three campuses. These types of projects are the ones that truly allow student creativity to be put into action.

Do you feel that Etcetera is helping to unite the Foundation?Definitely! In the past two years, we have worked in close collaboration with our editing team at Campus des Nations, receiving many contributions from its students. Working with all three campuses can, at times be difficult: despite being part of the same Foundation, they function differently! Yet, with the help of truly motivated students, I feel we have been able to create a link between the two campuses. Getting together with all editors regularly at meetings brings an entirely new dynamic to the team. We now hope that students and teachers at LGB will be ready to actively join the newspaper, and we hope to collaborate more with both La Châtaigneraie and Campus des Nations over the coming years.

* www.ecolint.ch/student-life/student-newspapers

www.ecolint.ch/fr/vie-scolaire/ journaux-des-eleves

Dr Conrad Hughes,Director of Education,

Ecolint

Auriane Terki-Mignot


Les anciens et pas so o ld

ETCETERA, ETCETERA

SAY HELLO,WAVE GOODBYE

Taking over…

From April 2014, I am taking over from Marie-Christine Muller as the Development & Alumni Officer for Ecolint. I am greatly looking forward to this new challenge and to building on the excellent work that has already been done in reaching out to the thousands of former students around the world. There is huge potential for continuing to develop our vibrant and engaged Alumni network that will bring benefits to current students, the teaching and guidance staff and, most importantly, to the Alumni themselves.

My own background is in communications, having worked for a diverse range of organisations, including the European Broadcasting Union and the European Association of Zoos & Aquaria. I am an Irishman, but have lived in the Geneva area since 2004, apart from two years spent in Amsterdam. My wife and I have a two-year-old son and another due to arrive just as I take up my new challenge at Ecolint. A busy Summer ahead! I am really looking forward to meeting many of you at this year’s 7th Alumni World Reunion taking place from 12-14 June 2014.

Eoghan (pronounced Owen) O’Sullivan

Stepping down…

Dear Alumni,

It has been a real pleasure for the (nearly) past 6 years to work as the Alumni & Development Assistant of this incredible school, Ecolint. Learning from you all about your time on your campus (La Grande Boissière, La Châtaigneraie or Campus des Nations) and meeting you during visits or at the Kermesses. I have been in touch with so many of you for so many different reasons that it is impossible to write to each of you personally to say goodbye and thank you, but be sure that you will remain with me in the same way Ecolint stays with you! For those who wonder why I have left, it is for a big new adventure: raising twins due in March!

I leave you in the capable hands of my replacement Eoghan O’Sullivan and I wish you all a fantastic 7th Alumni World Reunion in June!

All the very best,

Marie-Christine Muller

Eoghan O’Sullivan and Marie-Christine Muller

Ecolint is a not for profit educational Foundation created in 1924We depend on your support to continue providing the highest quality international education. Please consider: Leaving us a legacy or making an endowment gift

Make a difference

For more information, please contact: Michaelene Stack, Director of Development Email : [email protected] – Tel : +41 (0)22 787 26 63


Les anciens et pas so o ld

BROTHERSAND SISTERS

Christopher de Guzman, attended Ecolint at LGB from 1994-2006

What is your best memory?Playing in pre-school at the age of three, covered in hand-paints in the playground. Greatest achievement at school?Not giving up and, finally, getting the job done right.

What have you done since graduation and what are you doing now?I tried studying Architecture in Lausanne, but could not keep up with the fast pace and workload. I finally quit when I realised that I was learning more useful skills working at a burger bar start-up at weekends. I started as the dishwasher and ended up as the manager of the first shop when the second and third locations opened. I signed on full-time for three years until I had learnt all I could about entrepreneurship. I am now back at school, studying Media Engineering, married and we welcomed our first child, a boy, into the world last year.

Are you still in touch with other former classmates and the school?Of course, when you spend thirty hours a week with the same twenty people for ten years, you are bound to make some strong bonds. I had friends I got in and out of trouble with and there are a few rare pearls whom I still hold very dear. There are also two former teachers I keep in touch with and turn to for advice.

What advice would you give to students to make the best of their time at Ecolint?Good grades broaden the path ahead and allow you to choose once you know exactly what you want to do. When you are no longer in school, you will still have a lot to learn. My advice is to accept that, even in life, you are always going to be a student. Listen to the people who are willing to teach

you, filter out those who do not have your best interests at heart and follow the advice of those who do. Do not let your mistakes stop you but try to make each mistake just once. This challenge will last a lifetime.

Alma de Guzman Hiatt, LGB ‘00

What have you done since graduation and

what are you doing now?After graduating from Ecolint, I studied Biology and International Development at Brigham Young University (USA). I married shortly after university and worked for a year as a Science teacher in a middle school before starting a family. I have been a stay-at-home mother to my three children ever since. My husband works for the World Health Organization and we have lived in the USA, in Geneva for six years, and arrived in the Philippines two years ago.

Did Ecolint help shape the direction of the career/life you have chosen?Ecolint instilled in me a sense of global citizenship and challenged me academically. It gave me the confidence and ability to adapt to and handle whatever new situations life throws my way.

Are you still in touch with former classmates and the school?I would be lost without my friends from the “country of Ecolint” (which is what I want to answer when somebody asks me where I am from). The best thing about my Ecolint friends is that it does not matter how much time lapses between meetings, we pick up right where we left off.

What are your best memories? Learning to read and the assemblies in Primary School, the musical productions and competitions between the Houses in Middle School and the track and field

events and lunchtimes on the slope of the football field in Secondary School.

What are your worst memories? To this day, I still get the shivers whenever I go past the Salle Communale in Chêne-Bougeries where the IB exams were held. Any French exposé would be up there on top of my list as well.

What advice would you give to students to make the best of their time at Ecolint?Listen to your teachers! I am amazed at how much of my general knowledge of the world comes from my Ecolint teachers.

Lisa de Guzman, attended Ecolintat LGB from 1996 to 2002

Thank you very much to Lisa’s mother for recounting what Ecolint was like for Lisa.

Lisa attended Ecolint from early childhood to Year 3. Lisa has Down’s syndrome and she really enjoyed Music and Art in the classroom and was delighted to interact with all of her friends at La Grande Villa and Les Marronniers. The teachers and children were all very kind to Lisa.

The Primary School did a wonderful job of providing for Lisa’s special educational needs. Her teachers remarked on her positive presence in school. Lisa later transferred to the Geneva educational system for special needs children and her time at Ecolint was very helpful in preparing her for this.

Today, Lisa uses her creative talents to paint and make jewellery and is part of a loving community of adults who do many social and educational activities together. Her sweet personality is still much appreciated and she truly loves music, dancing, drawing and jewellery-making.

This is the final instalment from the last three of the eight De Guzman siblings who went to Ecolint from 1982 to 2006. It is a pleasure to hear from Christopher, Alma and Lisa about their time at school and what they have been up to since.

Krista Clausnitzer,echo magazine editor


BROTHERSAND SISTERS

Coming up or just been

ANNUAL FUND UPDATEWhat has been achieved so far?

La Châtaigneraie:

27% of our CHF 90,000 target.

Campus des Nations:

28% of our CHF 55,000 target.

La Grande Boissière:The Arts Centre capital campaign is still running.

Fast-tracking campus improvements:

the Annual Fund still needs your help!

Your gifts, large and small, will help complete our projects.

Please go to www.ecolint.ch/annual-fund to make an

online contribution or contact us for a payment slip at

[email protected].

David Woods, Secondary School and Campus Principal, “Annual Fund projects, chosen by broad consultation, enable us to take learning further and deeper. They enhance our offer, our appeal and our reputation for excellence - something everyone gains from. That is why the whole community should contribute to them.”

Primary School: Giving the atrium a central role in the life of the schoolThis year’s Annual Fund hopes to provide:• A sound system to improve assemblies in

the only space large enough for the entire Primary School community.

• A living garden to enrich the science curriculum with hands-on opportunities to grow things and observe life cycles.

Secondary School: Enhancing the performing arts

John Aram, Music Department Head,“Music making is an important part of every child’s education and we wish to provide the best preparation and opportunity for all our students. The cost of performance equipment has always been high. The Annual Fund can move us up to a higher standard in a shorter time. We are hugely grateful for the support of the community in building up these facilities.”

This year’s Annual Fund aims to provide:• New theatre seats, for more comfortable

viewing of plays and conferences.• Better quality music recitals, with new

staging and lighting modules.• Up-to-date practice-based learning in the

recording studio.

La Châtaigneraie

Year 6 families at La Châtaigneraie are working hardfor a joint gift tothe living garden:

Paige and Chris Finger, parent organising committee: “The Year 6 Gift project is special because it is about celebrating a whole group of students, rather than just one. It is about the Year coming together and leaving a lasting legacy. We really want the gift to provide a reminder for when our kids come back to the Primary School, even one day as parents.

We really hope the project can help establish a tradition and a culture of giving at La Châtaigneraie. It is something we believe is essential for a world-class school, especially a not-for-profit foundation. We are fortunate that our two children have had such a great Primary School experience, and we would like the gift to serve as an example for future classes.”

John Aram

Michaelene Stack,Director of Development,

Ecolint

Lesley Meyer, Campus Principal,“We all have a responsibility to encourage our students to enjoy the outdoors. By providing covering for Pregny’s play area, the students will be protected from the sun and rain and this should extend the days when they can play outside. At Saconnex, creating a green space on our terrace where students, and indeed the community, can socialise and where lessons can take place in the fresh air will have numerous benefits for health, for concentration and above all for that all-important sense of well-being. We are all members of the school and have a role to play in ensuring that our campus is as good as we can make it - educationally and as a place to work and learn. The Annual Fund plays an essential role in allowing us to reach this goal.”

Rohan Venkatram, 2012-13 Secondary Student Council President,“Most Year 13 students find it difficult to find a place to study, for example during our mock exams. The outside area could be useful. I think the idea of plants is wonderful, even maybe circular benches on the third floor terrace.”

Campus des Nations

Celebrating last year’s Annual Fund success: Thank you to all our donors!

At La Châtaigneraie, in October 2013, we inaugurated the new Primary School play cabins and the Secondary School’s mini-amphitheatre thanks to a generous anonymous family donation and the gift matching scheme.

At Campus des Nations, in November 2013, we witnessed just what a difference a good sound system makes to assemblies at the Pregny campus as we listened to our young singers perform. At the Saconnex campus, the nine new music practice cabins, including the one financed by the Annual Fund, have now been installed following meticulous customised preparation. They are already being happily used by students.

La Châtaigneraie:

Drawings of play cabins

by Primary students

Campus des Nations:Concert for the inauguration

of music practice cabins

La Grande BoissièreThe school community has been hard at work over the last three years consolidating its support for the new Arts Centre. The opening will be just in time for the 7th Alumni World Reunion in June. You can read more about this landmark project on p.8.

Coming up or just been ANNUAL FUND UPDATE (SUITE)

echo14 | spring201416


La Fondation Stereva a décidé en juillet 2009, à l’initiative de M. Nicholas Tate, ancien Directeur général de l’Ecolint, de subventionner le projet d’écriture d’une nouvelle histoire de l’Ecole Internationale de Genève dans une perspective quelque peu différente des excellents recueils historiques déjà existants. Pour mémoire, rappelons que la Fondation Stereva a été constituée par un legs de Vicky Stereva, ancien professeur de l’Ecole Internationale de Genève, dans le but de préserver les archives historiques de l’école.

The Director General, acting on behalf of the Stereva Foundation, asked us to write a history, not a hagiography. We sought to analyse the impact that the International School of Geneva has had on Geneva and on the wider world of international education. We also recognised the impacts that many world events have had on the Ecolint community. We were warned not to write “… a cosy self-congratulatory school history that perpetuated myths about the school, but a tough analysis of the kind of institution that it has been. If there is an Ecolint spirit this book should illustrate fearlessness about telling the truth however inconvenient it might be.”

It is in this spirit that we began our research in the summer of 2009.

La publication de cette nouvelle histoire était initialement prévue pour le début de l’année 2012 mais, sachant qu’elle couvrirait la période allant jusqu’à juin 2011, il est apparu que l’incontournable distanciation indispensable à une analyse et à une synthèse historiques et véritables de la période 2003-2011 demanderait plus de temps. Une édition préliminaire est donc parue en juin 2013 et fut soumise à la lecture critique de premiers lecteurs choisis pour leur connaissance de l’Ecolint. A la lumière de leurs commentaires et de leurs suggestions, une version définitive a été finalisée pour paraître sous peu.

Sur la forme, cette nouvelle histoire adopte une perspective globale et n’aborde pas les spécificités des différents campus de l’Ecolint, sauf lorsque les faits couverts ont un lien évident avec l’ethos ou l’évolution historique de la Fondation dans son ensemble. Sur le fond, les auteurs ont utilisé toutes les ressources existantes tant internes (archives de la Fondation, notamment les actes officiels du Conseil de Fondation et de la direction générale) qu’externes (Bureau International de l’Education, Université de Genève, archives de presse). Tous les faits relatés sont documentés.

Favouring what we hope is a fluent and intelligible style, we have done away with footnotes and detailed explanations of financial and institutional matters. Where possible, we have avoided pet names and Ecolint slang, which often differs from campus to campus. We have omitted the names of those involved in the school from 1970 onwards, with the exception of the Director General and the Chairman of the Board. We felt it unfair to involve those who may still be working in education, even if, in so many cases, it was simply to praise their efforts.

A new history of Ecolint has been written to coincide with the school’s 90th birthday this year, 2014. It was co-authored by Conan de Wilde and Othman Hamayed who explain why they embarked on a new history of Ecolint and what surprised them most about the discoveries made during their extensive research.


REWRITINGHISTORY

Othman Hamayed,ancien Directeur de l’Education,

Ecolint,Conan de Wilde,

English teacher,Campus des Nations

THE AUTHORS“We enjoyed writing this history immensely. We hope that reading it will bring you pleasure in equal measure.”

Conan de Wilde attended Ecolint, where he was a student of the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme at La Châtaigneraie. He

currently teaches at the Campus des Nations. He has also acted as a head of department, a curriculum coordinator and as a staff representative to the Governing Board of the International School of Geneva.

Othman Hamayed a travaillé pour l’Ecolint de 1974 à 2008 et y a exercé successivement les fonctions de professeur de

français, responsable de département, doyen du secondaire francophone puis directeur du secondaire réunifié anglophone/francophone de La Grande Boissière et, de 2005 à 2008, Directeur de l’Education au niveau de la Fondation.

The book will be on sale from 20 May 2014, for CHF 30.

Please contact: [email protected]: 022 787 26 12

It may also be purchased from the book rooms of each campus and will be available for consultation in the libraries. An online order form will also be in place.



RECYCLINGFASHION

The point of having a show with recycled clothing was to encourage the girls to reuse materials. They did not just reuse and recycle conventional materials such as cloths and fabric for their clothes but used a mix of things, from bubble-wrap to chocolate boxes.

Helping out back-stage at the Recycled Fashion Show was a completely different experience to watching it from the audience. Back-stage before the show, the girls were so nervous and excited. Even those who were normally shy were bouncing around and chattering loudly. Everyone was busy with preparations; putting the outfits in the right order, helping

the girls with their hair and make-up. The girls themselves practiced walking up and down the runway more times than I can count. But when the show began, they were all naturals. Their nervousness evaporated the instant they stepped onto the runway and faced their peers. That is not to say everything was perfect back-stage. Far from it, there were plenty of stressful moments due to lack of time but everything was smoothed over, and the girls enjoyed it immensely.

In the end, each girl had her own unique dress that was both beautifully stylish and environmentally friendly. Here are some of the photographs from the event.

In June 2013, students at Campus des Nations hosted a Recycled Fashion Show where all the clothes were made with recycled materials. Nethmi Karunajeewa, a Year 10 student, helped back-stage at the event and shares her impressions of the show.

Nethmi Karunajeewa,Year 10,

Secondary School,Campus des Nations

The history’s first chapters were written in English and the latter chapters in French. We hope that the reader will tolerate any stylistic idiosyncrasies which may result from this. Unlike this article, the history itself will be published mono-lingually and readers will be able to opt for either a French or an English edition. Because there were two of us writing the history, we met regularly, and we often met in the company of Michael Rowe, historian and school archivist, and Nicholas Tate. They read all of the chapters and they supported us with their advice. Indeed, many of you in the Ecolint community have already read the history and shared your thoughts on it with us. True to the Ecolint tradition of consultation, this is something of a book by committee.

This study of the International School of Geneva has left us with a wide range of fascinating stories, and with a number of impressions about the school. While our primary objective was not to draw lessons from the past, this history provides evidence

to support the following observations of Ecolint’s cultural realities:

• Des valeurs humaines immuables. • Des principes pédagogiques toujours

présents: éducation active, rousseauiste, primauté donnée à l’élève, liberté pédagogique. L’histoire nous montre que, si les principes sont toujours là, ils se sont structurés, construits et ont été explicités (programmes d’éducation internationale, programmes des écoles). On note récemment une résistance à la codification, à l’harmonisation des programmes de peur de perdre la liberté pédagogique.

• Une participation communautaire de type coopératif depuis le début et encore persistante.

• Un bilinguisme et une biculture institutionnels depuis les origines, maintenus à travers les époques avec plus ou moins de succès et de convivialité.

• Caractère international et multiculturel, évident depuis toujours parmi les élèves

(grande diversité de nationalités, d’origines et de langues), beaucoup moins évident parmi les enseignants, l’encadrement, la direction.

• Une école difficile à conduire, dit-on. Certes, parce que complexe de par sa diversité socio-culturelle toujours en mouvement et son mode de fonctionnement participatif.

• Complexe, oui, comme toute entité vivante, mais d’une grande solidité si l’on se réfère à la permanence de ses idéaux, à la pérennité de son existence malgré toutes les crises externes (guerre, événements mondiaux, problèmes économiques et financiers mondiaux) et internes (crise de 1966, fusion des écoles de la Fondation, crise de croissance des années 1980-90, crise de confiance et de croissance des années 2001-2002).

• Socialement privilégiée, certes, malgré les tentatives faites avant la Guerre pour l’instauration de bourses ou encore dans les années 1990 pendant la période George Walker.

REWRITING HISTORY (SUITE)Coming up or just been


Coming up Each year on our three campuses, many events are open to all community members. Why not come and join us? Please check the school and alumni websites for more information about dates or call the schools directly.

Chaque année sur nos trois campus, de nombreux événements scolaires sont ouverts à nos alumni junior et senior. Vous êtes cordialement invités à y assister.

Dates and details will be updated regularly and are available on our websites:

School website: www.ecolint.ch

Alumni community at: http : // alumni.ecolint.ch

Alumni Office: +41 (0)22 787 25 55 Reception telephone numbers• La Grande Boissière:

+41 (0)22 787 24 00

• La Châtaigneraie: +41 (0)22 960 91 11

• Campus des Nations: +41 (0)22 770 47 00


A VOS AGENDASFOUNDATION

01.04.2014 Meet the Candidates to the Governing Board – Campus des Nations, 5 to 8 pm

03.04.2014 Meet the Candidates to the Governing Board – La Grande Boissière, 5 to 8 pm

09.04.2014 Meet the Candidates to the Governing Board – La Châtaigneraie, 5 to 8 pm

10.04.2014 Voting for the Governing Board Opening

27.05.2014 Consultative General Assembly, La Grande Boissière, 7.30 to 9 pm

23.06.2014 Study Day for Year 11, International Labour Organization, 9 am to 3.30 pm

SCHOOL EVENTS08.04.2014 La Grande Boissière IB Vernissage, Athénée 5, 5 to 8.30 pm

08.04.2014 The Performing Arts Soirée (Year 3-4), Campus des Nations, 6 pm

01.05.2014 La Grande Boissière Annual Sports Banquet (Middle & Secondary Schools), 6 pm

28.05.2014 La Châtaigneraie Graduation Ceremony, 4 to 6 pm

03.06.2014 The Performing Arts Soirée (Year 5-6), Campus des Nations, 6 pm

13.06.2014 Campus des Nations, Graduation Ceremony, 5.30 pm

20.06.2014 La Grande Boissière Graduation Ceremony, 3.30 to 5.30 pm

25.06.2014 Campus des Nations, MYP Graduation Ceremony, 4.30 pm

26.06.2014 La Châtaigneraie Promotions Maturité, 1.30 to 3 pm

SUMMER CAMPS ON ALL THREE CAMPUSES July & August 2014 Creative Play (ages 3 and 4 only); Multi-Activity (ages 5 and 6 only);

Multi-Sports (ages 7 to 14 only); Total Drama (ages 7 to 14 only) and more.Full dates & registration details on www.ecolint-camps.ch

PTA EVENTS04.04.2014 La Châtaigneraie Primary Spring Festival (provisional date),

5.30 to 7.30 pm

04.05.2014 La Châtaigneraie Car Boot Sale, 10 am to 1 pm

14.06.2014 La Grande Boissière Kermesse, 10 am to 4 pm

14.06.2014 La Châtaigneraie Kermesse, 11 am to 4 pm

21.06.2014 Campus des Nations Kermesse, 11 am to 4 pm

ALUMNI EVENTS12-14.06.2014 Alumni World Reunion 2014 organised by the Alumni Association

Dates and details will be updated regularly and are available on our websites:

Alumni web community at http://alumni.ecolint.ch

School website at www.ecolint.ch

Michaelene Stack Director of Development – Catherine Mérigay Development & Communications Associate – Eoghan O’Sullivan Development & Alumni Officer – Francis Poncioni Graphic Designer – Nicolas Smiricky Development & Information Officer – Christophe Tournaire Web Commmunity Manager – Sandra Venturini Assistant to the Director of Development

Edited by Krista Clausnitzer – Designed by Francis Poncioni – Printed by PCL Presses Centrales S.A. – Production 13,500 copies

International School of Geneva – 62, route de Chêne – CH - 1208 Geneva – www.ecolint.ch

Alumni community : http : // alumni.ecolint.ch [email protected] – Tel : +41 (0)22 787 26 19 – Fax : +41 (0)22 787 26 35 [email protected] – Tel : +41 (0)22 787 25 55 – Fax : +41 (0)22 787 26 35

The International School of Geneva does not discriminate on the basis of gender, race, religion or national origin in its admission policies or in the administration of any of its programmes. Submission of articles, letters and photos from staff, current and former students and their families is welcomed. echo is published twice a year by the Development and Alumni Office, International School of Geneva and is also available on the school and alumni websites. For more information about echo or to submit information for publication, please contact the Director of Development. If you would like additional copies of echo, please contact Nicolas Smiricky the Development & Information Officer. The Development and Alumni Office has made every effort to ensure that the information contained in this edition is accurate and complete. However, despite our sincere desire to avoid errors, they do occur occasionally. © Copyright of the International School of Geneva, April 2014.IM

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RECYCLINGFASHION


HumourTrying tests

Question: Sea salt is commercially obtained from sea water by the process of evaporation and crystallisation. The main component of sea salt is sodium chloride. What type of attractive force or bond holds the sodium ions and chloride ions together in a crystal of sodium chloride ?

Answer:James Bond

Question Explain why phosphorus trichloride (PCI3) is polar.

Answer: God made it that way

Advertising in echo

Where are you now?Please join our alumni community http://alumni.ecolint.ch

Update your online profile or send your contact details to [email protected]

La Châtaigneraie - Graduates - 2002

echo magazine is published twice yearly (in the autumn and spring). It has a print run of 13,800 and is distributed to current and former students and their families, our staff and corporate and institutional partners. The next issue is due out in Autumn 2014.

If you would like to advertise in echo magazine, please contact [email protected] or call +41 (0)22 787 24 31.

Got an article idea ? Please email the editor: [email protected]

ECOLINT MAGAZINE • N°14 • SPRING 2014 · Que signifie être un professeur pour vous ? J’ai...

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