“Celebrating
diversity
while
building
a
cohesive
community is an every day effort when your student body hails from more than 50 countries”, says Mrs. Cate Cooke, the Assistant Principal at St. John’s responsible for student life in grades 6 through 12. “How do we celebrate their cultures within our value system?” she asks. “How do we have conversations without diluting anyone’s beliefs?” The goal is to strike the proper balance. The key to building the community is to keep talking. “We have a St. John’s feel, and it’s really hard to describe,” says Mrs. Cooke, who has been associated with St. John’s for 20 years as a parent, coach, teacher and administrator. “We talk to each other through our three values. That is what defines us.”
“We can’t assume that just saying something once means
Those values are familiar to St. John’s students, teachers,
have to have other ways of helping them to learn and to
the students have understood us,” Mrs. Cooke adds. “We know”
administrators, and parents. But that doesn’t mean that understanding them should be taken for granted, Mrs. Cooke stresses.
Those values extend inextricably into the classrooms
Integrity: the courage to be true to ourselves, to each
followed by the school since 1978.
through the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme
other, and to our world.
“It’s not just a curriculum that we teach and they regurgitate at the end,” Mrs. Cooke stresses. “We
Respect: the appreciation of diversity amongst peoples,
encourage and need students to have conversations with
languages, cultures, and beliefs.
their teachers.”
Companionship: the gentleness to befriend and strength to accompany.
One example is a Theory of Knowledge class for grade 11
“You can’t just expect people to come in to St. John’s and
know what you know?
and 12 students, which asks the question: How do you
appreciate and internalise the values we have,” Mrs.
“Children are expected to have different and divergent
Cooke says. “We have to explicitly talk about and teach them.”
views,” Mrs. Cooke states. “We try to help them
Those lessons start with the teachers, as they are instructed
and violent place if we don’t respect those perspectives.”
understand that the world would be a very dangerous
about the vision, mission and values at St. John’s.
In public speaking and debate courses, for example,
Students in grades six through 12 are exposed to those
students in grades six through 12 learn the techniques
ideas during orientation. Those lessons are followed up
of debating topics.. They can disagree, but they must be
regularly in advisory sessions, expanding into discussions
respectful and learn the other perspective. “It’s OK to
on meaningful services, ethical and responsible decision-
challenge, to challenge assumptions and to be critical of
making, social awareness, self-management, personal
the information they find,” she says. “Our teachers expect
and social well-being and healthy relationships.
students to challenge and to ask if there is another way to do things.”
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