I have. It’s a weird feeling as what you presume is normal and proper, is thrown out the window and the urgency of the moment pushes you into a whole new paradigm of thought and action as you squat precariously over what can best be described a waste-hole trying desperately not to overbalance.
After a somewhat hazardous experience in a public rest room in Shanghai, I challenged a friend, who was showing me the sights, about how a public restroom like this was still in service even though we have such modern inventions as the pedestal toilet. My friend looked horrified as he recoiled from the very idea of his bare skinned bottom sitting on a ‘seat’ that many other people have already ‘touched’.
What I thought was normal and proper suddenly was thrown into question. I had to justify my preconceived opinions and compare them to an alternate view that was passionately held by another.
The opportunity to learn from other cultures and look at life from a different perspective is something that has become more accessible as our world has become much smaller. Crackling phone lines plagued by the dreaded time delay has been superseded by real time video communication such as Skype and FaceTime. Google Earth can allow you to see almost every nook and cranny of the planet. The unattainable cost of international travel that was common in the last century is now in the grasp of many people. Airbnb and Uber means you no longer have to stay on the traditional tourist path and can connect with the real culture of a country.
Global Education has become a common term as schools grab hold of new technologies to bring the world into the classroom and also look at opportunities for students to be released from the barriers of a classroom to explore the world as part of study tours and exchanges.
At Hillcrest Christian College it’s been exciting to see students connecting more and more with global communities. Our classes are Skyping with other schools and interviewing experts who live in other countries. This term one of our HASS classes is investigating the issue of clean water in Thailand by connecting with a community along the Thailand Myanmar border. Next semester we have over 100 students from Hong Kong and Japan visiting our College to interact with our families and students and share about their culture and learn about ours.
To what end? Why do we seek to give our children a ‘global perspective’, especially when others are currently calling for more of a nationalist focus. One of the simple answers is the squat toilet. Challenging students to consider a new paradigm of thinking and giving them experiences that throw the ‘normal’ out the window will challenge them to know why they believe what they believe and help them to learn about the amazing world that God has given us to explore.
As the Head of Teaching, Learning and Global Education, I have the privilege of seeing our Hillcrest students, who come from other parts of the world come to our College, go through this very process of considering new paradigms and new ways of thinking as they learn about the Australian culture. For many this is a very different culture to their own.
Below is an excerpt from a report written by Jennifer To, a Year 11 student from Vietnam.
“I came to Australia two months ago. The Education system here is completely different from that in Vietnam. The selective subject system helps students spend much more time on specific fields and on experiencing real life.…. It actually evokes my interest and trust in the nature of schooling. Life is changing second by second, both around me and inside of me. The new experiences in Australia are coming to me day by day to form new parts of my identity and to refine and help me to understand and polish it beautifully.”
I pray that all students have opportunities to ‘polish their identities beautifully’ through the ministry and work of Hillcrest Christian College.
Vince Wakefield
Head of Teaching, Learning and Global Education
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