The Opportunity of International Day of the Girl

Posted on October 18, 2012 by admin

One of the fundamental principles at LCC is equality: equality in terms of opportunity for all students, and of course, especially between girls and boys. We want each student to have an equal voice and capacity to discover and develop personal potential.

Unfortunately, gender equality is not practiced around the world. So much so, that on October 11^th, the United Nations launched the very first International Day of the Girl. It was an effort to recognize that gender divisions do exist, but in a positive way celebrate, discuss and advance girls and their potential. On this inaugural occasion, there was a particular emphasis on the need for basic universal education, which in some cultures is often denied to girls.

It was notable that around the same time as the first International Day of the Girl, a dreadful event occurred in Pakistan that highlighted the need for such a global campaign: the shooting of 14-year-old Malala Yousafzai. She’s a Pakistani teenager – a student who has openly advocated on an Internet blog for the rights of girls to be educated in Pakistan and other countries. Shockingly, she was viciously shot in broad daylight last week as she returned home from school. The shooter was a member of the radical Taliban extremist group seeking to stop Malala and other like-minded girls from going to school and speaking out. The shooting has caused global outrage and reminds us that there is much work to be done.

Beyond this abominable reality, consider a few of the issues faced by girls in our world:

Annually millions of girls are required to leave school after only a few years and forced to move into a lifetime of domestic chores with no more education made available to them.

It is estimated that today some 70 million girls under the age of 18 – and as young as 8 or 9 – have been forced into marriages where they have little say about anything, and these girls are often victims of domestic violence. Statistics show that 25,000 girls become child-brides every single day. One in nine girls between 10 and 14 years old has been forced into marriage. Child-brides are often bought, sold and discarded at the whims of men.

Often, girls and women in many developing countries have limited access to work and a fair wage, not to mention little or no legal rights to inherit property or wealth.

Issues affecting girls are not an exclusive matter of developing countries. Studies show that in United States more than a half of all rapes of females happen before age 18. One in five high school girls in the USA has been physically or sexually abused by a dating partner.

On this front the voices of Canadian girls and boys really matter. They can be advocates and should consider ways to speak out to increase global awareness. It is possible to better girls’ lives, allow them to reach their full potential and raise the level of development and engagement in the most challenged communities in the world.

Melinda and Bill Gates are co-chairs of the Gates Foundation, which funds health and anti-poverty projects in developing countries. On the occasion of the inaugural International Day of the Girl, Melinda Gates tweeted “A girl’s potential is explosive – the sky isn’t even the limit – so pass it on.”

Please do so. – Chris Shannon, Headmaster

Reading Renaissance?

Posted on May 24, 2012 by admin

There is a fair amount of speculation about the future of the book. So, is the book dying? Is reading on the decline? You’ll be pleased to know the answer to both questions is an emphatic “no!”

There is definitely a lot of shifting and change occurring in the book world, but the book is actually alive and well. In fact, it seems less about whether people are reading and more the question of format that is causing a stir. Recent data actually indicates that we seem to be living a kind of reading renaissance.

A few years ago there were many who predicted an impending apocalypse in the reading world, claiming the death of the traditional book bound on paper would lead to an inevitable decline in readership. However, the invention of the digital e-book has clearly changed the reading playing field – and it seems for the better. Regardless of format, we now have more books, more readers, and larger audiences for words and ideas whether presented to us on paper or pixels.

In its annual report published last august 2011, the Association of American Publishers reported that overall revenues and the number of books sold in all formats have grown significantly since 2008. However, without e-books the numbers would likely have been flat or declined slightly.

An American think-tank group that looks at current trends, called the Pew Research Centre, also reports an interesting development. Twenty percent (20%) of Americans report having read at least one digital book in the past year – and digital book consumers read more books per year (about 24) than the solely paper-bound readers. Another surprise: e-book readers also read a lot of paper books as they are comfortable in both formats.

It’s interesting to note that with the growth of digital books many authors are also making more money on Kindle, Kobo and iPad format sales than they did when we were limited to traditional publishing. E-books tend to be cheaper than traditional hardbacks as they are much less expensive to produce—and it seems readers are inclined to buy more given the savings. Think about it: e-books eliminate the pulping of paper, printing, binding, delivery trucks, stores with lots of sales employees and infrastructure costs.

But bound paper books still remain popular with people. A lot of people prefer the feel of a book, its smell and its portability. There’s permanence to the book that certainly has a special appeal to many.

So we should all realize that we are living through a time of profound change – probably equal to when Guttenberg invented the printing press in the mid-1400s. The good news is people appear to be reading more than ever before. –Chris Shannon, Headmaster

Having the Courage to Act

Posted on April 13, 2012 by admin

During the March break I attended two alumni receptions in the UK: one in London with LCC grads ranging from 1943 to 2007, and another with a group alumni from the Class of ‘57, celebrating their 55^th reunion at one of our graduates’ homes in the town of Canterbury. Although now in their 70s, each LCC grad was sure to remind me that they are still proudly grounded in the experiences, foundations and traditions they shared while at LCC.

Before the reunions I took the opportunity to accept an invitation to visit Gordonstoun School in the north of Scotland; a school founded in the mid 1930s by Mr. Kurt Hahn, the educator whose ideas led to the creation of the Round Square international association of schools—today about 100 schools strong. We have now been a member of this organization for five years.

Round Square has the following mission:

“To empower students to become the leaders and guardians of tomorrow’s world.”

Kurt Hahn stated: “Education must enable young people to effect what they have recognized to be right, despite hardships, despite dangers, despite inner skepticism, despite mockery from the world…”

In thinking about the establishment of the Round Square as a global association of schools—which occurred in the mid 1960s—knowing Hahn’s background as a man and educator is important.

Hahn was different than traditional educators of his era. Like most, he did believe in the importance of hard work and skill development in the classroom. However, in some ways he was radically different than other independent school principals. He saw the greatest challenge for schools as existing outside of the traditional classroom. He stressed the importance of developing students’ moral character and leadership skills, as well as developing personal conviction and courage. Interestingly, he himself displayed an extraordinary amount of courage, which is directly linked to the founding of Gordonstoun in 1934.

Hahn was a German Jew whose first school was Salem, a school in Germany, which opened its doors immediately after WWI in 1920. In January 1933, Adolph Hitler came to power with openly racist policies and violent visions of territorial expansion across Europe.

As Hitler and the Nazi party gained influence and public support, Hahn found himself increasingly philosophically opposed to the German fascist regime, particularly after five Nazi soldiers trampled a young Communist to death while his mother looked on. What’s striking is that after Hitler came out in support of the soldiers, Hahn reacted by sending a public letter to all Salem school alumni saying:

“This is a crisis that goes beyond politics. Germany is at stake, her Christian civilization, her good name, her soldiers’ honour. Salem cannot remain neutral. I ask the members of the Salem (Alumni) Union who are active in the S. A. or S. S. to break with Salem or break with Hitler.”

“It was,” said a British teacher who was teaching at Salem at the time, “the bravest deed in cold blood that I have witnessed.”

Not surprisingly, Hahn became a marked man. In a series of mass arrests one month after Hitler came to power, Hahn was jailed in February 1933. The shock waves swiftly reached Britain where his friends took up his cause. When British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald made official representation, Hahn was release and in July 1933 he left Germany for England as a political refugee.

Unable to return to his German homeland, the following year, 1934, Kurt Hahn established Gordonstoun School near the blustery North Sea coast of Scotland.

Hahn made it his life’s mission to promote peace through education, remaining as headmaster at Gordonstoun until 1954. From 1920 until 1954, Hahn focused on the importance of service learning, outdoor education and experiential/adventure education, founding the Outward Bound Movement in 1941—itself largely a response to a war dilemma (low survival rate of British merchant seaman in the Battle of the Atlantic).

Hahn was not idle in retirement. In 1962, at the age of 76, Hahn established The Atlantic College in Wales. The Atlantic College was the first of 10 United World Colleges—still a popular group of schools designed to bridge the international gap between secondary education and university level study by offering a universally recognized degree—the IB International Baccalaureate. The students at these colleges come from many different countries and the educational program stressed the importance of outdoor activities and of service to the community. One of the World Colleges is located in Canada (Pearson College in British Columbia).

Wrote British Admiral D. J. Hoare:

It was always Hahn’s view that education was a means of reducing national barriers and fostering international cooperation. When two people of action meet and find themselves of common mind, things happen…The United World College has a distinctively Hahnian component, referred to as its “humanitarian curriculum.”

Clearly, Kurt Hahn had an outstanding career. After 13 years at Salem he stood tall against Hitler and the Nazis and established service, adventure and international education as important pillars during 20+ years at Gordonstoun in Scotland.

So back to my visit to the UK in March. It was impressive to see the old buildings on the Gordonstoun campus and to consider the inclusion of rescue skills as part of that school’s curriculum at sea, and firefighting and disaster relief training on land. I reflected on the courage required by Hahn to challenge Hitler.

I believe we need to put the Hahn’s educational theories into a modern context. This begs the following questions for LCC students:

Have you integrated service in some meaningful way into your life?
Are you finding a way to engage with the principle challenges of our times, locally and internationally?
Are you proactive in seeking outdoor opportunities in the natural world, and thus have you gained an appreciation for the importance and fragility of our natural environment and the global ecosystem?

Hahn wanted all young people in independent schools to throw off “the shackles of their privilege” and develop tenacity, fitness, enterprise and compassion. I invite you to consider if you are trying to explore developing these important qualities.

We have ample opportunities at LCC. Challenge yourself and through experience you will likely surprise yourself with your own potential and what lies dormant within you now. Like Hahn, I urge you to have the courage to act. – Chris Shannon, Headmaster

Career Landscape

Posted on April 3, 2012 by admin

Our grade 10 and 11 students are eagerly participating in Career Day this week. It’s something we have done for a long time—long enough for the ground to have actually shifted from under our feet. It has always made sense for students to aspire to traditional professions: lawyer, doctor, engineer. However, the concept of career has changed and fragmented a great deal in the past decade. Young people should no longer expect a long career with a single firm or institution. Change and transience are now the norm. We have also learned a lot from university dropouts, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, that has shattered well-entrenched notions of success.

With the development of the Internet, businesses, governments and learning institutions can now communicate directly with potential clients. Ingenuity and new digital tools have essentially redefined the world of work. Yes, there is still a need for traditional professions. However, even those professions are having to adapt.

As we move forward, noted Harvard educator Tony Wagner in his book, The Global Achievement Gap, stresses that it is now less about preparing for a specific profession and more about teaching and refining the following core skills:

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
Collaboration across Networks
Agility and Adaptability
Initiative and Entrepreneurialism
Effective Oral and Written Communication
Accessing and Analyzing Information
Curiosity and Imagination

—Christopher Shannon, Headmaster

The Value of “Almosts”

Posted on March 1, 2012 by admin

We almost did it… We got so close… So frustrating! There were a lot of LCC athletes with that feeling last week. Within 24 hours, four very solid LCC Lion teams of athletes lost four separate nail-biter games; two of them at home and two on the road. Close. So close. There’s an old saying that “close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” Although this presents some interesting imagery, I disagree with the premise of the statement. We all learn from coming close, from the pile of “almosts” we accumulate in our lives. They are valuable learning moments.

I had the good fortune of seeing both of our home games: Juvenile Boys Hockey vs. Selwyn House and the Juvenile Girls Basketball game the following day against John Rennie. Both were great games; evidence of lots of solid preparation, with a lot of skill on display, solid teamwork, physical hard work and genuine emotion laid bare on the ice and on the gym floor. I’m told it was the same for our squads playing playoff games away: Bantam Boys Hockey and Juvenile Girls Hockey.

The Juvenile boys game on our home ice was a classic barnburner. It took five periods and a 16-man shootout to decide the outcome. Well before the shootout began, the piles of snow were becoming ridiculously thick since they hadn’t cleaned the ice in so long, and it had become almost impossible for players to handle the puck.

Without a doubt the four final outcomes were frustrating, disappointing and upsetting: but they were also so memorable. In fact, that is one of the greatest qualities of competitive athletics in school. We don’t always win. You can’t always win. There are always factors beyond our control, and even when our teams play very well—as they did last week—a roll or a bounce or a fine play by an opponent can make all the difference, but not always in your favour. I am certain that for all our athletes on those four teams, they would have surely preferred a different outcome. But they will never forget that difficult loss and the experience will help make them better next time…. Not just as an athlete but when they find themselves under pressure, when emotions are high and something important is on the line.

We all like to win and we’d all like to see an “A” on the report card in every subject but despite our efforts to control our fate and destiny, real life has a way of creeping in and reminding us that despite all the hard work and preparation, things can’t always go our way. That’s a key element of life that we all learn one way or another and, in an odd way, it’s good that our students have such valuable concrete experiences with hurdles and frustration during the high school years.

That said, I congratulate all of our teams who proudly wore the LCC Lion on their chests last week. They did their best and impressed all of us who were out to support. They have all progressed a great deal since the start of their respective seasons, and the coaches deserve much of the thanks for that. We thank them for their dedication, inspiration and helping our students develop the resiliency necessary to pick themselves up and stay positive.

I also saw these same qualities at play at the robotics competition last week at Vanier College—where our team placed among the top 10 teams, including CEGEPS—and in the creative flair presented in the Senior School play, “Departures and Arrivals.” Great job, LCC Players!

All of these activities outside of the classroom have helped to make each of you stronger, wiser, better teammates, more insightful.–Chris Shannon, Headmaster