Keystone Magazine Keystone Magazine 5th EN | Page 43

political or environmental events or crises.
You will notice that each of these units in the
three grades are envisioned for a different
stage of a child’s development, as they move
their understandings outward into a wider
understanding of the world.
world, its peoples, cultures and the roles
children play within the world community
is sometimes left to chance. Travel, media
or exposure to ‘Festivals, Flags and Food’
or so-called ‘International Days’ is just not
sufficient and often produces a superficial
understanding about cultural and global
Being a Member of a Global
perspectives. We want our kids at Keystone,
Community
through our philosophy and the IPC, to
As children grow and learn about what
develop and grow to understand what it
it means to be a member of the global
means to be part of a global community. We
community, they also become more aware of
want to challenge and inspire our students to
social expectations, rules and ways of being
ask questions, seek answers and explore. We
and acting. At Keystone in addition to our five
also want them to learn in a developmentally
shared values, we also have the IPC Personal
appropriate way, as they begin to look beyond
Learning Goals as well as our IB Learner
themselves, their own families and their own
Profile. These all set out to prepare children
contexts. We want them to truly understand
with the personal and social skills needed
people, cultures and communities of the
to participate in the world and guide their
world and take action where they believe they
philosophy towards understanding, service,
need to. Learning is at the heart of what we
and openness. These guide the creation of
do here, through the IPC, as we endeavor to
individual class rules or shared agreements
prepare students for the unknown challenges
that assist students in participating as valued
that lie ahead in our modern integrated world.
and equal members of community.
This learning prepares them for community,
For many curricula, understanding the our community and the community of the
Here is an example of a shared agreement
world.
from a foundation year class, which reflects
an emphasis on developing an awareness of
the ‘other’ in the context of understanding
the community.
year in a grade 3 class, as they were learning
through the ‘Different Places, Similar Lives’
unit. Students were exploring Kenya (the
home country of one of our teachers) when
they came across a brief video of a student
who adopted and cared for an orphaned
baby rhino. This was also around the time the
whole school had joined the ‘Global March’
to raise awareness about the plight elephants
and rhinos faced due to the illegal trade in
ivory. This primary school class connected
with the young woman in Kenya who sent
back a personalized video talking about her
accomplishments with her adopted rhino.
This inspired students take action themselves.
With the support of their parents they put
together a picture book and sold it in their
local communities, raising money for the
plight of these majestic beasts. Students have
also ‘adopted’ elephants of their own and
received an information booklet on each
individual elephant along with monthly
photos and updates.
• We care, love and help each other
• We respect others and listen carefully
• We care for our school and environment
• We will learn to be responsible
• We get on wel l w ith others and we
cooperate to solve problems
• We are happy, healthy, honest and
confident.
However, learning about the world around
us is not enough and ultimately we only see
the product of the knowledge, skills, and
understanding that children have through
the form of action or engagement. One
wonderful example of action occurred this
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