Scorpions in a Bottle
Scorpions in a Bottle
Shirley Williams, the former Secretary of State for Education in the UK, opened an IB (International Baccalaureate) conference in 1981 with these words: “The world is becoming like scorpions in a bottle who have learnt in a very short time that they either live together or they mortally wound one another”.
The statement was made in the context of a different world than the one we inhabit today. In 1981, the threat of nuclear holocaust caused by superpower rivalry was regarded by most young people as the biggest threat facing the planet.
The Cold War may be over, but I think Shirley Williams’ statement is as true as ever. Whether we like it or not, we are all interdependent to an extent unprecedented in world history. The links may be seen as being environmental, economic, political or social – or (more likely) a complex combination of all of them. We often reduce this interdependence to a level that our brains can process by applying the over-simplistic label of “globalisation”.
Why am I thinking such sombre and serious thoughts? We are coming towards the end of our academic year here at LPCUWC. Our 2nd Year students are doing their final IB Diploma examinations now. Our 1st Year students have finished classes for this year, and begin their end-of-year examinations on Tuesday. It is time for everyone to begin the healthy annual process of reflecting on the year, a process of unscrambling the egg in an attempt to celebrate the successes and learn from the mistakes. In any reflection of life at LPCUWC, where we share a campus with students from more than 80 countries, issues of global awareness and interdependence become central.
And yet, mere “awareness” is really insufficient. In today’s world, it is not enough simply to be aware of other countries and to take an interest according to whim. Our duty is to understand what is happening globally, if only for the minimal selfish reason that what happens on the other side of the world can affect every individual extremely quickly.
At LPCUWC, we do emphasise concern for global issues at a deeper level than mere awareness. There are many examples of this, but to give just one, I consider one of our great successes in recent years to have been the establishment of GIF (Global Issues Forum). This was a student-initiated activity that has now been running for over two years. Every Thursday evening, a student or small group of students presents a significant issue of interest to the College community, followed by questions and discussion. Last Thursday we had our last GIF for this year, and it was on the theme of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, featuring presentations by two of our students, one from Israel and one from Palestine.
There must be few places anywhere in the world where this complex and divisive issue could be opened up in such a calm and explanatory manner with thoroughly researched input from well-informed young Israelis and Palestinians sharing the same microphone. It IS extraordinary, and it provides a concrete basis for hope of a better world in the future. This is what was intended when United World Colleges were first conceived almost 50 years ago, and yet it is such a common occurrence at LPCUWC that I fear our students often simply accept it as “normal” and take it for granted.
We are aiming to produce young men and women who are genuine global citizens – not at the expense of their own national or cultural identities, but in the context of something much deeper and much richer than that. Authentic global citizens recognise that they are interdependent and they want to make a contribution to that interdependence. They embrace and celebrate cultural differences rather than seeing differences as something to fear or to escape. Authentic global citizens want to interact with others, they want to contribute – and I am fortunate to have a College full of them!
In 2005, shortly before he retired as Director-General of the IBO, George Walker wrote this about international education: “To those who ask me ‘how can I best see international education in action?’, my reply has always been, visit a United World College”.
Perhaps we are the glass bottle where the scorpions have learned not only to live together, but to thrive as they do so.
Sunday, 6 May 2007
I photographed this scorpion in the Nokhur region of Turkmenistan while on expedition there in July 2006