united world magazine (april 2011)

8/6/2019 United World Magazine (April 2011)

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April 2011

FeatureExploring impact

EducationThe UWC AtlanticCollege MissionInitiative

Spotlight onNational committeesreaching out


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News

Page 3Page 3

In this issue

On the coverStudents at UWC Atlantic College are studying or the

new Diploma. Read the article on page 16.

6 From the Chair

7 Fundraising

10 FeatureJennier Dueck discusses outreach and impact

or UWC

13 Proles

16 Education

Get in touchI you have an idea or an article, email brie

details to [email protected]

Comments and eedback on the magazine are also very

welcome. Email us or write to:

UWC International

Second Floor,

17-21 Emerald Street,London, WC1N 3QN, UK.

United World is distributed to all members o the UWC International

movement. Articles or comments attributed to individuals do not

necessarily refect the views or policy o The United World Colleges

(International). While every eort is made to ensure the accuracy o

inormation at the time o going to press, no responsibility can be

accepted or incorrect inormation included in good aith or subject to

subsequent change.

The United World Colleges (International)

is a company registered in England and

Wales and Limited by Guarantee No 908758.

Registered Charity No 313690.

20 Outreach

21 Spotlight

ExtranetThe new global UWC extranet launched in February and

at the time o going to print, 1,243 UWC members had

joined. The extranet will strengthen the UWC movement by

providing an online hub or members to make connections,

share inormation, debate UWC issues and keep in touch

with their peers. The extranet is the result o many UWC

members highlighting the need or a single online area to

create stronger UWC communities and allow members to

communicate and work together regardless o where they are

in the world.

The extranet is or all UWC members and will serve many unctions

depending on your connection to UWC or example, students mayshare best practice and evaluations o project weeks whereas national

committee volunteers can help each other with getting the most out o

their selections. Regardless o how you want to engage with your existing

UWC networks or make new ones, you now have a dedicated online

acility or it.

ObituariesIt is with great sadness that we report the death o:

Anne Meredith Stevenson Ginestier, ounding sta

member o Red Cross Nordic UWC and ounder o their

university oce, ormer sta member at UWC Adriatic.

Annes warmth and vibrant personality touched all o us

who knew her. She will be greatly missed but her spirit and

the infuence she has had on so many o us will remain in

our thoughts and approach to lie - a wonderul, inspiring

woman. John Lawrenson, Rektor, Red Cross Nordic UWC.

New UWC HeadsFUNDACEA (governing body o Simn Bolvar UWC o Agriculture)

is delighted to announce

the appointment o Dr Luis

Holder as the new Head

o Simn Bolvar UWC o

Agriculture. Luis joined

the college in February,

rom a previous position as

Executive Director o the

Bolivarian Agency o Space

Activities. Previous roles

include programmes and

projects o the World Bank,

IDB, Japanese International

Agency (JICA), World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)

and UNDP. Special thanks to Francisco Amos, General Sub-Director

o Operations who has managed the college during the three year

period the college has not had a Head.

UWC Atlantic College has

appointed John Walmsley

as the new Principal and

he will take up the role in

January 2012. John will

join UWC rom his current

position as Head o Sidcot

School, an independent

day and boarding school in

Somerset, UK. On accepting

the role John said UWC

Atlantic College and the

UWC movement is an

educational idea that I have been in terested in all my proessional

lie and it will be an immense privilege to lead the college in the

next stage o its development. Until January 2012, Paul Motte will

continue his excellent work in the role o Acting Principal.Discussion orums, a membership directory, event listings, a notice

board, resources and news stories, are the key eatures which will give

the UWC movement more cohesive and collaborative networks.

As a user generated s ite, the extranets success ultimately depends on

the level o usage o the site by UWC members. The UWC International

Oce will manage the site and maintain some content but the bulk o

content will come rom members so we encourage you to start sharing

your UWC stories, building your UWC networks and nding out how

the extranet can improve your UWC experience.

Join today at http://extranet.uwc.org/register/. Visit the FAQ section

or help on adding content and more inormation on how it works .

We will be looking at ways the site can be improved and value your

eedback Go to the orum section to make suggestions or

email [email protected]

3 News

Celebrating with ActionThe UWC movements 50th anniversary

is ast approaching and the aim is

to use the occasion to showcase

UWCs challenging and

transormational education by

demonstrating the impact o

that experience on our students,

alumni and other members. We

welcome your involvement and

participation to help maximise

the opportunity and to increase our

awareness and prole.

UWC Atlantic College opened on Wednesday 19 September1962 and to celebrate we encourage all our members to do

something UWC mission related.

UWC proposes a weeklong celebration between Sunday 16

and Saturday 22 September with Wednesday 19 September

as the ocal point. To ensure that this is a movement wide

celebration, we will leverage digital technologies to create a hub

or connecting and sharing the actions and celebrations that are

taking place around the world.

For urther details, please log on to the extranet

http://extranet.uwc.org


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age 4 Page 5

Admissions policies

and procedures

planning or the utureThe need-based scholarship pilot or entry 2010

United World, May 2010) concluded that the

omplete UWC admissions system required

ttention and that unding o scholarships and

he acceptance o parental contributions was

only one aspect o the system.

A new Admissions Policy and Procedure (APP) task orce

was established with a much wider remit, including a

eview o the oers policies o the schools and colleges

nd the subsequent impact on UWCs student body; the

meline o the oers process and the nancial aspects.

A review o the oers process is central to this body o

work, as highlighted in the conclusions o the NBS pilot.

At the current time, UWC is not in the nancial position

o oer scholarships based on need, as this would mean

aving to underwrite 100% scholarships or all students

nd the budget is simply not available.

rrespective o the unding issues, the task orce

dentied a need to go right to the very start o the

dmission process, beore the selection o the students

nd any nancial assessments could take place. There is

recognition that our student body is predetermined

y the oers made by UWC schools and colleges, or

xample a national committee with no undraising

apacity that only receives ununded places (average US

25000 per year) have little option but to target certain

reas o their society with the intention o asking parents

o pay. Regardless o personal or organisational opinion o

his practice, there is now a greater understanding o the

mpact o this on our diversity. As a result, a key piece

work conducted by the APP task orce is to look at the

iversity o current IB years and Simn Bolvar students,

which will involve an in-depth look at all aspects o their

ackground within the context o their home country.

he outcomes o this study will be presented to the UWCnternational Board in June and will orm a benchmark

rom which more eective plans will be developed to

chieve our diversity aspirations.

n the past UWC has reerred to diversity as h aving

tudents rom dierent races, cultures and nationalities

ut as our society becomes more globalised and

olarised we must ask ourselves i this interpretation

s still relevant? In the January 2009 edition o United

World Laurence Nodder discussed diversity and the need

or UWC to be constantly reviewing and evaluating

urselves. The results o this study will enable u s to

o this more eectively and to ensure that our oers

olicies and admissions procedures can support our

uture diversity goals.

Together or DevelopmentThe rst UWC short

course in Arica will

take place in Swaziland

in December/January

2011/2012 under the

strapline Together or

Development and will

ocus on the key challenges related to development in Arica. With a

strong ocus on Southern Arica, around hal o the 50 participants will

be selected rom Southern Arica and a th will be rom Swaziland.Organised by a group o teachers and alumni rom Waterord Kamhlaba UWC, the

diverse programme will include theme days exploring development issues aecting

Swaziland, involvement in local community projects and job shadowing. Like many

UWC short courses, participants will also explore projects that they can implement

in their own communities ater the course.

Organiser Sandhya Fuchs (WK 06-07) says What makes this short course so

incredibly special is that it will explore a globally relevant issue like development

in the very place that st ands at the centre o development discourse, namely

Arica. Not only are we trying to introduce participants to careul refection on

development issues as well as grass r oot level development projects, we are in act

discussing these issues and conducting these projects precisely where they matter

with the young people or whom they matter.

www.uwc-shortcourse-swaziland.org

New selection in MyanmarTwo students rom

Myanmar have been

selected to attend Li Po

Chun UWC in the rst

national selection process

to take place in the country.

Li Po Chun UWC had established

a link with the Thabyay Education

Network during Project Week

2010 when a group o Li Po

Chun students helped to build a childrens playground in Thailand near the

Thai-Burmese border. Founded in 1996, Thabyay Education Network is a

Thailand-registered oundation providing higher and adult education services to

support human development, peace and reconciliation in Southeast Asia, with a

particular ocus on Myanmar.

The selection process or 2011 entr y took place drawing upon the expertiseand support o Li Po Chun UWC , the UWC International Oce and the

Thabyay Education Network. Plans are now underway to establish the selection

committee as a new ocial National Committee.

Li Po Chun UWC teac her Selwyn Price, who was involved in the selection says, I

believe the selection process was done in ull accordance with UWC ideals and

protocols at all points and we were extremely impressed with the organisation

that had been put in prior to us arriving in Yangon. We were also impressed with

how well many o the candidates had prepared or the selection process.

Bolivian youth camp successThe third Youth Integration Camp, UWC Mayma took place in Bolivia

in January and ocused on the issues o social integration, confict

transormation, youth empowerment and environmentalism. UWC

Mayma is organised by W.H.Y. Bolivia, an NGO set up by Mahindra

alumna Geraldine Parades Vasquez (MI 98-00) in alliance with UWC

Netherlands and Anima Leadership. (United World, September 2009).

The programme is based on the established YLS programme run by the National

Committee o the Netherlands and brought together 70 young people rom urban

and rural areas rom across Bolivia. The coordinators o the programme were all

UWC alumni with previous experience o UWC youth leadership programmes.

New developments or 2011 included two new themes gender equality and care

o nature which were developed by a team o eight educators rom Bolivia who

had participated in a one year train the trainer programme run by W.H.Y Bolivia.

A series o training manuals are also being developed this year aimed at three

dierent target groups practical class room tools or teachers; a train the trainer

programme or UWC outreach leaders and a collection o readings and exercises

related to the programme or participants. The manuals will be available in English

and Spanish.

For the 2012 Mayma camp, W.H.Y Bolivia is encouraging all national committees in

the region to get involved both by nominating volunteers or the train the trainer

programme and by promoting the programme to young people in their countries.

[email protected]

Arica Region Meeting -

Addis Ababa, EthiopiaThe UWC Arica Region Meeting was held rom11 13 February in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and

was attended by representatives rom 20 Arican

national committees and six UWC schools and

colleges.

National committee region meetings are held in each

region every two years and provide a valuable opportunity

to increase peer support, share experiences, learn rom and

reinvigorate each other.

The programme or the meeting was put together by an

organising group which was chaired by Benedict Okoh (AC

82-84) rom Nigeria who is a member o the National

Committee Development Committee. Other members o

the organising group were Dawit Dejene rom Ethiopia,

Allan Cain rom Angola and Daniel Sopdie (WK 08-09)

rom Cameroon who led the discussions on creating a

pan-Arican alumni network. Laurence Nodder, Principal o

Waterord Kamhlaba UWC, ran one o the main sessions

on diversity.

Other key topics covered at the meeting included

promoting, selection and preparation three o the six

key unctions o national committees.

Having received ve times more applications this yearcompared to the previous year, Fabian Shaanika (AC 94-

96) rom the Namibian national committee ran a session

on application numbers. The presentation made clear to

other national committees that by taking small steps you

can achieve a lot.

The meeting also set into motion a project which will

develop a mentoring scheme in the Arica region. The

scheme will enable UWC alumni and other individuals to

mentor UWC students and recent alumni and give them

more o an understanding o the steps to take post -UWC.

The next region meeting is or the Asia-Pacic region and is

scheduled to be held later in this year.

Sessions at the youth camp.

Stephen Codrington with ShonaKirkwood and Ma Zin Mar, organiserso the selection process.

A session on selection training.


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Fundraising

age 6 Page 7

The Fund Development Function at UWC International was

recently set up to compliment the undraising currently

being done by the individual schools, colleges and national

committees by raising major gits rom prominent individuals,

corporate and oundations. Until now, the ocus has been

on laying the oundations or UWC to be able to undraise

eectively as a single entity. Now that the initial preparation

is complete and the transition to active undraising is

underway we would like to preview how the work will be

structured and request your participation in The Campaign

or UWC.

UWC International is currently entering what is known as the 'quiet' or'leadership' phase o a undraising campaign. This means that the research

and preparation has been completed, a

'case or support' has been developed and

a number o initial prospects have been

identied. It is now time to start securing

the rst leadership gits. During the quiet

phase the aim is typically to reach over

50% o the target goal, ater which there

will be the condence to go public and

launch a period o intensive solicitations

which continues until the campaign

target is reached.

The Campaign or UWC will ocus on

raising money or our distinct areas:

1. Scholarships

Scholarships have always been at the

heart o UWCs unding model. They are

our number one tool or creating the

deliberate diversity which is celebrated

at UWC schools and colleges. It is thanks

to this model that we are able to create national, socio-economic, ethnic,

racial, religious and cultural diversity. The Campaign or UWC will allow usto expand on our existing scholarship oerings and maximise our ability

to recruit a student body which truly refects the prevailing tensions

within and across societies.

2. FacilitiesOur historic ocus on undraising or scholarships has in many cases

been to the detriment o its acilities. It will come as no surprise to many

students and alumni that their school or college acilities are now in need

o a acelit. Communal living is a signicant part o the UWC experience,

especially or the thousands o students who make the UWC campus their

home during their time at UWC . The Campaign or UWC will highlight

this need or sustainable living and learning acilities and a ttempt to bring

about some much needed renewal and improvement o our physical

inrastructure.

3. Capacity building

Each year over 2,000 passionate and committed volunteers across 130

countries mobilise to select the students who will ultimately bring the

UWC mission to the wider world. Our volunteer net works and sta teams

are our most valuable assets as none o this would be possible without

their hard work and dedication. The Campaign or UWC aims to attract

more investment in the skills o our people and the internal structures they

make up. Developing and strengthening our key players will ensure that

UWC continues to oer a t ruly transormational educational experience.

4. Educational Innovation

In order to become a key educational infuence we must engage in more

systematic research, invest in orging partnerships with like-mindedorganisations and develop world-class projects, or example, laboratories

or pedagogical innovation and cutting

edge centres or confict resolution. The

Campaign or UWC will aim to provide

us with the nancial capacity to lead

the way with ambitious and enterprising

educational projects.

Many o you already make nancial

contributions to your schools, colleges,

national committees or other UWC

projects. We hope that knowing about

the Campaign or UWC at t his point

will make you think about your current

commitment and perhaps where you

can do more. I you are not curre ntly a

donor we hope that you will be inspired

to consider supporting UWC nancially.

UWC relies on the belie o its members

that UWC is an incredible organisation

which makes a sound investment in the

lives o young people rom around the world. That belie must be backed up

by the actions o our alumni.

And while direct nancial support is vital, there are other ways you can

help: what we really need to make the ca mpaign a success are names and

introductions o potential supporters o all kinds individuals, corporate

and oundations. On the whole, UWC alumni are incredibly well connected

in business and social circles. We would like to appeal to all o you to t hink

creatively about your own networks and where there may be opportunities

or UWC and to help 'open doors' to prospective supporters and partners.

I we can celebrate our 50th anniversary next year on the understanding

that UWC is on the way to nancial stability then our other ambitions and

aspirations come into reach.

For more inormation on how you can help or i you know o any

opportunities or UWC please contact the Fund Development team on

[email protected]

Introducing the Campaign or UWC

t is also important as we embark on the Campaign or UWC that we bring

ll our existing supporters together. Similar events will ollow in New York

n June and Hong Kong in October. The Board agenda was ocused on the

trategic plan. As the plan evolves, it is interesting to see how much linkage

nd overlap there is between the objectives.

On education, Lisa Darling, new Chair o the Heads Committee,

eported on progress towards a new evaluation or accreditation model

or our schools and colleges and also t he work to dene more clearly t he

istinctive eatures o UWCs education. The Board also had a discussion

bout who UWC should be educating: what we mean by diversity and how

we can accomplish it. We will have a uller discussion on this at the UWC

ouncil meeting in October in Hong Kong.

Under the impact section o the plan,we had a very useul discussion

bout new school and college proposals. We know that UWCs urther

evelopment must not be at the expense o the existing organisation,

ut at the same time we are committed to increasing UWCs impact. We

ave started to see this as a question o capacity: understanding where a

roperly unded proposal will have the potential signicantly to increase

ur capacity. The Board agreed to give Initial Notication status to

roposals or new colleges in China and Germany. This is the rst s tage o

he planning process and gives no indication o approval and certainly no

uarantee that a college will reach ruition. However, it means that the

oard can start looking more closely at what is being proposed.

Also under impact, we had an interesting presentation and discussion on

utreach and how we can reach new audiences. The eature in this United

World edition explores this area o work in more detail.

Our ocus in national committee development was on aspects o the

elationship between schools, colleges and national committees and how to

ct when concerns are raised. A set o protocols, developed by the Heads

nd National Committee Development Committees, was approved and will

ive more structure to these all-important relationships.

On unding and nance, we had a brainstorming session on some o

he key nancial principles that underpin the work o the task orce on

dmissions policy and procedures. I we are to make progress nancially

s a movement, I believe that we have to nd a way through that is

cceptable to all our schools and colleges.

We were pleased to hear about the rst successes o the international

undraising unction. However, the hard work o crea ting development

pportunities has only just begun. The initial achievements give us good

From the Chair

cause or optimism, but momentum will only build i we have more names,

leads and introductions to potential international donors. I appeal to a ll

alumni and members to help us: please do think hard ab out potential

donors on your radar who will be interes ted in giving to more than one

school or college or who might respond better to an international-level

approach. The development team will do the hard work, but we need you

all to be thinking about where you can help.

An important communications goal is to make the best o UWCs 50th

anniversary in 2012. The Board approved an anniversary concept o

Celebrating with Action. This is broad enough to encompass activities

at all levels: individual, schools, colleges, national committees and alumni

groups. The common theme o action seems by ar the most appropriate

way to make an impact in our anniversary year with a particular ocus on

the 19 September 2012.

An important objective relating to organisational eectiveness is to

review our overall structure and how we work together. We agreed to

review all UWC policies or relevance and to develop these as the basis o

an agreement which all constituencies, old and new, sign up to.

Although this was a hugely positive meeting in almost all respects, the

Board is concerned about UWC Internat ionals own nances. The key

diculty is the lag between the work needed to meet our strategic

aspirations and the return rom our undraising investment. I am also

conscious about the very considerable pressure on our human resources

in the International Oce. The Board takes its res ponsibilities in this area

seriously and a number o solutions were discussed. The short answer

is that we need to identiy more unding specically to support UWCInternationals work i we are to continue with the sort o progress outlined

here and to meet the ever increasing expectations.

This Board meeting demonstrated just how much work is under way, and

how much remains to be done. We have more eective committees in

place to do it and an Inte rnational Oce which, somehow, manages to

keep on top o the workload the Board imposes on it. With more resources

we can do even more!

Tim Toyne Sewell, Chair

Our latest International Board meeting was in London inMarch. It was accompanied by a donor and supporter eventat the Royal Courts of Justice, attended by UK-based alumniand others who support our schools and colleges. The eventeinforced the idea that in everything we do we are stronger

when we work together.Tim Toyne Sewell


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Fundraising

Page 9age 8

A new partnershipUWC Atlantic College has launched a new outreach programme working

with the Associated Schools Programme (ASP). Supported by the Gareld

Weston Foundation and Agatha Christie Ltd, the college is working with

schools in disadvantaged areas in three parts o the UK: Birmingham,

Liverpool and the South Wales Valleys. The unding rom these two

partnerships has provided three bursaries or British students rom each o

these schools and has enabled exchanges or specic events to take place

between UWC Atlantic College and the schools.

Ken Corn, Director o Outreach at UWC Atlantic College comments As

well as providing scholarships, the unding enables us to put on valuable

Associated Schools Programme weekends and other events, without

expecting the schools or their students to have to pay." Teleri Roberts,

Development Director adds "the unding has enabled us to attract other

donors and next year we hope that we will be able to add a school in

Northern Ireland to the programme. We are very appreciative o our

donors continued and generous support.

Back in February this year the Associated Schools visited the college or

a weekend with between six and eight students rom each school. They

took part in the Model United Nations conerence with great success. One

student commented this has been a lie-changing weekend or me, as it

opened my eyes to all kinds o new possibilities.

Ruth Arnold, Head o Sociology at the participating school in Birmingham,

Broadway School concludes Not only have the students that attended

the conerence improved in condence, they have also disseminated their

new debating expertise! The whole class has become more involved in class

discussions and they are now developing their own debate groups. Their

language and discourse has become much less school centred and now

encompasses the sociological and political issues rom the doorstep to the

rest o the globe.

Teleri concludes, The success o the programme has been incredibly

encouraging and something that we will build on in years to come.

Week o GivingUWC-USAs class o 86 Week o Giving in

March raised almost US$19,000 in just seven

days and increased the number o alumni

giving rom ten to 62, representing 60%

o the total class. Elizabeth Morse, Director

o Development says Special thanks go

to alumnae Melanie Weston) and Colleen

von Eckartsberg (both USA 84-86), who

led the Week. They worked very hard in

reaching out to the entire class and keeping

the momentum going during the week. As

well as being a very successul undraising

initiative, it also brought the class togetherthrough shared memories, stories and

pictures which are now being catalogued

and serve as a precursor to the celebration

o the classs 25th Reunion, taking place this

summer.

UWC Atlantic College Model United Nations debates.

UWC Adriatic students take part inthe college Annual Fund campaignThis academic year, UWC Adriatic

Development Oce developed a new

undraising initiative by recruiting a group o

current students to help with the new Annual

Fund campaign. The UWC Adriatic Annual Fund

ocuses on UWC Adriatic students and their

immediate needs, allowing donors to have a

direct tangible impact on the current college

community.

Valentina Bach, Director o Development at

UWC Adriatic explains Our 100% scholarship

policy is still at the heart o our vision: nostudent is asked to pay or their tuition, room

or board but with the continuous decrease in

public spending in Italy, the college is counting

more and more on private giving as a source

o income. And who understands the value

o such support better than our alumni, who

know intimately what a UWC education is

and what it does or ones lie a nd sense o

identity and values?

Up until the academic year 2009-10, alumni

donations contributed only a tiny percentage

o UWC Adriatics annual income (0.46% in

2009-10). Faced with this reality, the college

decided to ocus their eorts on re-connecting

with their alumni, with the crucial help o current

students. A proven and eective way o doing

this is or current students to call alumni and

speak with them, mostly about their experiences,

but also about how they can help the college

nancially. We started doing this rom the

beginning o this academic year, using a method

inspired by the proessional approach used by

some Oxord Colleges during their Phonathon

campaigns which our ormer intern Andrew

Cairns, who came to us rom Oxord, introducedto us, says Valentina.

A group o 15 students volunteered or the newly

introduced Fundraising College Service and were

trained at the beginning o the a cademic year.

Each student dedicates two hours every two

weeks to this ser vice, which usually takes place

in the evenings. Valentina explains Students

engage in conversations with alumni, getting

to know what college lie was like years ago

or getting valuable advice on universities and

career opportunities. At the same time, students

can inorm alumni about current projects and

activities taking place at the college and ask

them to contribute towards the Annual Fund

Campaign.

For students, as well as making an important

contribution to the colleges undraising, the

practice was a valuable learning experience.

Second year student Paolo Malerba, rom

Italy, is one o the students taking part in

the service. He says The experience o the

Fundraising College Service is teaching me a

lot. It is interesting to speak with alumni o

previous generations and share with them

thoughts about the college and at the same

time get to know what the college was like in

their time. There are many dierences but we

still have a lot in common, especially in terms

o spirit and ideas. Furthermore this experience

made me understand how important alumni

contributions can be or the colleges income

and how even a little help can mean a lot. I

believe that understanding how important

alumni are or the college when they leave

Duino will make us contribute signicantly in

the uture.

Some o the students acknowledge that at

rst they elt uncomortable making an ask, as

second year Andrea Longo, rom Italy explains

At rst I thought I would eel uncomortable

about asking or money but then I realised

that it was easier than expected because the

people I was calling went through the same

experiences and emotions as me at UWC. First

year student Piyari Paienjton, rom Pakistan

adds Though it can seem a daunting task at

rst, its simply a matter o time beore there

are sparks o interest at both ends and, in

talking about the college current experiences

and old memories, a real connection and senseo camaraderie is established. Not all responses

are positive, and there are many answering

machines and invalid numbers in store, but

just that one wonderul conversation, the one

brilliant connection, can make your day; maybe

even your week!

Summing up the campaign Valentina concludes

Alumni response to the launch o the Annual

Fund Campaign in September has been heart-

warming. In the period September-December

2010 more unds were received rom alumni

than in the whole o 2009. Thank you to all the

alumni who contributed!

The student undraising service team.

PepsiCo Foodssupports SimnBolvar UWCFUNDACEA (the governing oundation o Simn

Bolvar UWC o Agriculture) has established

a new partnership with PepsiCo Foods which

is supporting scholarships or 11 Venezuelan

students to attend the college. As well as

nancial support, the partnership provided

opportunities or the students to do their one

month community internship in rural villages

located close to PepsiCo Foods actories in three

Andean states o Venezuela. In addition, their ourmonth arm internships will be undertaken with

potato armers supplying PepsiCo Foods. Potato

armers, students and teachers also participated

in a meeting at the college at the end o 2010

which provided the opportunity to exchange

experiences relating to the internships and training

in sustainable agricultural practices. Izamar Alvarez

(AC 77-79), Executive Director o FUNDACEA

says PepsiCo Foods Venezuela has expressed an

interest to continue providing scholarships and

exploring new avenues o cooperation

with Simn Bolvar UWC o Agriculture so we are

optimistic that this partnership will continue in

the uture.


6/13

age 10 Page 11age 10 Page 11

Exploring impactbeyond our schools

and collegesBy Dr Jennifer Dueck (LPC 93-95), Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford. Jennifer isconsulting with UWC International on plans for outreach and the MENA Initiative.

At a workshop on UWC outreach in March 2010 (United World,

May 2010), one ice-breaker asked people to cite their avorite

Kurt Hahn quote. O course the usual suspects came up: There

is more in you than you think; and You are needed. My

personal avorite is Hahns notion o spectatoritis, something he

described as an epidemic o declining initiative in the youth o

his day.

Solidarity against spectatoritis nds wide expression among

UWC students and teachers, among national committee

volunteers, on UWC Facebook groups, and now on the new

UWC extranet. You neednt look ar to nd someone saying that

UWC has an impact in the world and that we

should all aspire to make that impact greater.

Whether teachers, students, alumni, Board

members, or enthusiasts, UWC members do not

consider themselves spectators on the worlds

stage; they expect to make a dierence. Thats

what national committees tell prospectiveapplicants and their parents. Its what UWCs

undraisers tell potential donors. And its what

UWC Internationals 2010 Strategic Plan tells us all: a key

strategic objective is to increase UWCs impact.

But what does increasing our impact in act mean? When we

boldly claim to be making a dierence, how many o us are ully

condent that we can answer the n ext logical question: You say

UWC has an impact: how do you know?

Schools or youth organisations with a less ambitious mission

than UWCs might be content to count the number o alumni

who turn up at class reunions, or who join the organisations

Facebook page, or who donate to their alma mater. But UWC

claims to make education a orce to unite people or peace and

The impact o UWCalumni as individuals

is, o course, only oneway that UWC claims

to make itsel elt inthe world.

a sustainable uture. Thats heady stu, with an impact that is

much harder to measure. Scratch the surace o UWC and youll

soon nd people scratching their heads about how UWC ever

has, or will in uture, concretely demonstrate that it is making

a dierence. And there is no easy answer. As one UWC head

recently put it: the challenge is to nd ways to measure what

we value; the danger is that we start to value only what is easy

to measure.

The impact o UWC alumni as individuals is, o course, only one

way that UWC claims to make itsel elt in the world. There is

growing discussion at UWC International, and in UWCs colleges,

schools and national committees about

increasing UWCs impact through outreach

programmes. And these debates are part and

parcel o an ongoing conversation that the

UWC movement has engaged more broadly

about UWCs educational model and practices.

Outreach is one o those tricky words,something very much dened in the eye o

the beholder. To some it means enabling more

young people to have a UWC experience, such as a UWC short

programme. To others, outreach represents interaction that

current UWC students have with a community o-campus,

through, say, CAS activities. To still others the word signies an

institutional relationship that UWC constituents establish with

other organisations or companies.

But lets suspend disbelie or a moment about slippery

semantics and imagine that outreach means bringing a mission-

driven UWC experience to young people beyond existing

UWC communities. UWCs ambition on outreach in the 2010

Strategic Plan is summed up thus:

What standards

do we expect o amission-driven UWCoutreach programme?

A programme thateveryone across the

movement would beproud to say yes,that is UWC?

Building on the experiences o the sc hools and

colleges, short courses and similar programmes,

dene the scope o outreach activities that

extend impact and can be brought within a

UWC ramework, connecting this denition

with plans or a system o recognition or

certication and supporting the development

o existing and new outreach programmes.

Granted, thats hardly the rousing stu with

which to rally the UWC movement. Stirring

poetry it is not. Yet prosaically there it is in

black and white. And those neatly-typed

words do carry meaning. Namely that UWCs

International Board and Council are committed

to growing UWCs outreach prole. The

conversation at UWC International has moved

past the question o whether we should, to the

more raught question o how we should.

Armed, then, with a meager budget line and an

action point in the Strategic Plan, weve taken

two particular steps in the past twelve months.

In March 2010, or the rst time in UWCs

history, representatives rom the rontlines o

UWCs outreach work across the movement

gathered at UWC Adriatic. The purpose was

to share outreach programmes and practices

and, more important, to begin to imagine what

UWCs dream vision or outreach might look

like.

One major challenge to emerge rom the

workshop was the dearth o acts at our

ngertips about what UWC outreach currently

consists o, or how its practitioners are trained

to carry it out. We soon realised that we

needed an exercise that would tell us how

the UWC movement, with all its diversity o

moving parts, is actually doing outreach now.

In response, a group o largely volunteer act-nders including a UWC parent, a UWC

Council member, the director o the Pearson

Seminar on Youth Leadership and a ounder o

the Dutch Youth Leadership Summit began

a movement-wide act-nding study late in

2010, expected to last about 10 months.

Thus ar, act-nders have visited UWC Atlantic

College, UWC Pearson College, UWC Costa Rica,

UWC-USA, UWC Li Po Chun and UWC Adriatic,

as well as gathering inormation rom national

committees including Bolivia, the Netherlands,

France and Israel. The acts in question cover

a broad range o subjects, including acilitator

training, UWC school and college outreach

programmes o all types, CAS activities and

UWC short programmes. According to Chrissie

Tiedeman, who has conducted the visits to ve

UWC schools and colleges in Europe and the

Americas: I keep seeing how excited

UWC students and teachers are about sharing

their networks, ideas and experience o

outreach across the UWC movement. Everyone

appears intrigued to know what the other

UWCs are doing and eager to nd ways to

discover more, aster.

But beore getting ahead o ourselves and

notwithstanding the

objectives set out in UWCs

strategic plan, its worth

asking a ew questions

about whether UWC should

indeed make outreach a

strategic priority.

First, do UWCers really

want to make the UWC

club that much bigger? In

talking to many national

committee members

about outreach, I requently encounter alumni

who eel uncomortable about involving past

participants o UWC short programmes in

their committees. Anecdotes rom US and

UK universities suggest that, during their

undergraduate studies, UWC alumni seek

each other out in what sometimes appear like

exclusive cliques. And o course, UWC alumni

happily marry each other at what eels like

an astounding rate. As one o the worlds best

kept educational secrets, UWC is a cozy and

comortable club. I now we make a substantial

push to increase the number o UWC membersthrough, or example, UWC short programmes,

might the club start to eel less c omortable?

More signicant is the perennial question

o money. Can outreach generate revenue

or UWC? Should it? Opinions within the

movement are varied. They range rom those

who reuse ideologically to entertain the

idea o revenue in any conversation about

UWC programmes. To others who see raising

revenue or scholarships as a primary purpose

o outreach. To still others who suggest that

outreach should generate revenue but only

rom companies or oundations, not rom

individual participants. To others still who

argue that participants should pay as long as

need-based bursaries are available or those

who cant. Each option has implications, but

rst and oremost, do any o these options

stand in the way o a programme meeting the

UWC mission?

There can be little doubt that in the present

climate o austerity and cuts, both within UWC

and without, UWC Heads and Boards will be

queasy about taking on nancial obligations

without condence that those obligations

will bring a nancial return on investment.

Beyond the tuition ees that

participants may potentially

pay, what sort o nancial

return can we imagine rom

outreach programmes? Some

proponents o outreach say

that more programmes will

have an indirect revenue-

generating impact by inspiring

alumni donors. Others argue

that outreach programmes can

be a platorm or developing

partnerships that bring UWC exposure on new

stages, which will in turn give the movement a

more compelling case or donor support. Those

convictions, or the moment, remain hopeul

yet largely untested hypotheses.

Alongside all the talk about revenue, a third

question looms: what standards do we

expect o a mission-driven UWC outreach

programme? A programme that everyone

across the movement would be proud to say

yes, that is UWC? And, in a similar vein, what

is it that makes a UWC outreach programme

distinctive amid a very crowded market oyouth leadership options? With the plethora

o models or outreach programmes within

the movement, a snappy soundbite on UWCs

unique selling point is elusive at best. The

landscape o outreach programmes that UWC

currently oers is quite rankly bewildering at

rst, second and even third glance.

Taking just one example, we might cite an area

where UWC claims particular strength: the

UWC short programme, variously called Short

Courses, Leadership Summits or Seminars on

Youth Leadership. In the last ew years, schools,

colleges and national committees have run


7/13

Page 13age 12age 12 Page 13

Quang grew up in a small village in DakLak province, in the centre o the

country. He rst discovered UWC reading a newspaper that his mother, a

teacher brought home rom her school. Once I accidentally read aboutUWC, I was immediately attracted by this unique model. I imagined one

day I would go to a UWC and I decided to search or more inormation

about UWC and apply, he recalls. Quang says that although his parents

were very happy to hear that he had been accepted, they were worried

about him leaving home to continue his education abroad and he had to

persuade them that he would be able to handle it.

UWC Maastricht ocially became a UWC in September 2009 but

didnt have boarding acilities until the rst national committee selected

students joined, as the other students all live in Maastricht. For Quang,

the boarding house aspect o lie at UWC Maastricht is his avourite

element. I live with 50 other students rom dierent countries, we

have good care rom our house parents and we do everything together.

Living all together helps me be happier and not homesick, he explains.

The boarding house is located 3km rom the school so the students use

bicycles to travel there and back. Quang enjoys this aspect o lie at UWC

Maastricht, saying there is nothing

better than cycling in the resh air in

the morning.

Alongside the boarding students there

are 39 day students in the IB1 year.

Quang acknowledges that early on

this brought challenges but believes

these were overcome quickly: At

the beginning, some o the day students joined our induction week and

introduced us to the city, but there was some reticence, I think, because

boarding students ocused on getting to know each other. Some day

students used to ask me why we got scholarships but they did not, so I

explained the national committee system and how we got here and once

that was cleared up and we joined in many activities together, started

helping each other in study, discussed in class together and talked more, I

ound that they were very riendly and welcoming.

Because we live in the boarding house and spend more time together

I eel that my relationship with boarding students is a bit stronger but

sometimes when we have activities in the boarding house we also invite

the day students to join in together and now I eel we are all the same.

Another aspect o the UWC education that Quang particularly values is

the learning environment which is quite dierent to what h e was used

to in Vietnam. Teachers here are so enthusiastic that although they

are very busy, they can still take time to explain to us what we do notunderstand. They understand and help us to improve our knowledge as

well as practice skills. They are always willing to listen to us he enthuses.

Like many UWC students, Quang nds time management the most

challenging aspect o his UWC education saying , An IB student is a busy

student since there is so much work to do and I believe a UWC student is

even busier, so sometimes you can eel tired. The time management skill

is very important. I know we will be even busier in the uture but rom

what I have learned so ar, I believe I c an handle it.

UWC Maastricht has provided Quang with opportunities to try out new

activities including art club, ootball and piano lessons. Like at all UWC

schools and colleges, service is an crucial element o the education and

Quangs main service activities is volunteering with an organisation

called Stiching Gehandicaptenzorg Limburg (SGL) which provides

activities or adults with disabilities. Every weekend we work with a

group o volunteers rom SGL to help the clients with dierent activities

such as swimming, visiting a museum, shopping etc. In Vietnam I used

to volunteer with children helping children but I had never worked with

disabled people beore so it was challenging to me at the beginning but

the project has helped me to improve my skills and my abilities. I am

more careul and patient and I can learn a lot rom them. When they are

happy, I also eel happy. I think this is the most important thing I gain

rom the activity.

Quang also volunteers in the primary section o the school, helping

younger students with activities in the tennis club. Lots o secondary

students also volunteer in the primary school, assisting with existing

activities or creating new ones and Quang values this opportunity to

engage with the younger students.

Quang has chosen to study Sc iences and Maths at higher level as a step

toward his ambition to study medicine at Harvard. I want to improve

the health care system in the developing countries like my own country,"

he says. He is also taking ull advantage o the opportunities to learn

rom his peers. UWC Maastricht is a unique chance or me to learn

many things about the world just rom people around me so I always

take opportunity to learn as much as possible. To me, UWC Maastricht

brings great opportunities to be successul. I have many chances to learn

new things, do something new and challenging that I did not do beore.

Student profle:Quang Do LienQuang Do Lien rom Vietnam joined UWC

Maastricht last September as one o the

rst national committee selected students

at the school.

I have many chancesto learn new things,do something newand challenging thatI did not do beore

UWC outreach a college perspective,

John Braman, Director, Outreach

Programme, UWC-USA

UWC short courses as evolving phenomena will express

themselves in ways we cannot predict. UWC-USA just

launched a two-week Global Leadership Forum that will

eature media studies and intercultural leadership development

(www.uwc-usa.org/gl)

But the expansion o our mission takes other orms. A ew

years ago, UWC-USA convened 200 members o the local

community to envision an arts centre or teens in the heart

o an underserved, historic district o the nearby City o Las

Vegas. Implementing a programme to match the o riginal idea

is still unolding. But the planning process revealed a new

vision: our school as a catalyst or community development,

beyond community service outreach. This possibility o a

public purpose embraced a new idea: working in partnership

with other agencies to develop a community where youth are

passionately engaged in their learning and active participants

in shaping their communitys uture.

Last summer, the school urther experimented with this

concept. We teamed up with artists, shop owners and

proessionals and created a band o volunteers. We oered

workshops that met or several weeks in borrowed oce

spaces and an art gallery. Topics were creative writing, studio

arts, hands-on leadership development and robotics. The

sta had basic qualications: caring about youth and the

shared assumption that youth yearn or applying learning and

listening adults. Activities developed core employment skills,

including learning how to work as a team, the capacity or

adaptive change and basic literacy.

How does this short course represent our commitment to

the public purpose o our private school? Youth need to have

experiences where knowledge is grounded in its application.

They need the satisaction o making positive changes in

the world around them. Disconnect ed cognitive learning is

a modern inrmity that Hahn would have bemoaned. We

can help. While our eorts in downtown Las Vegas remain

experimental, we are moved by a vision o whats possible.

I UWC wishes to

grow its outreachprofle, we will need

o fnd institutionalmechanisms toensure quality andprovide resources to

hose implementinghe programmes.

such programmes in places as ar-fung as China and

Bolivia, amid scenery ranging rom the Red Sea desert

to the Canadian West Coast orest to sailboats on the

Mediterranean. Some o these programmes are unded

by ee-paying participants; others have signicant donor

support and oer scholarships. Their topics include

a plethora o themes such as personal leadership,

communication skills, intercultural learning, anti-racism

theory, sustainable development, environmental issues

and confict engagement. Their very diversity begs the

question o what makes them all distinctly UWC? With

such an array o programme models and topics, do we

run the risk o trying to be all things to all people?

Whatever soundbite we eventually nd about UWCs

unique selling point or outreach, i UWC wishes

to grow its outreach prole, we will need to nd

institutional mechanisms to ensure

quality and provide resources to those

implementing the programmes. Anyviable mechanisms would need to

be cost-eective and nancially sel-

sustaining. That much is clear. But an

institutional structure to grow outreach

programmes would also need to be

nimble enough to oster the creativity

and entrepreneurship, while having

sucient teeth to ensure quality and

accountability.

The idea o quality standards is one that requently

sets UWCers on edge. Let alone the idea o any kind

o bureaucratic structure enorcing those standards.

And given the anxious reaction that UWC members so

oten have to any suggestion o quality accountability,

its worth asking again, do we really want to embark

on a plan to increase our market share o impact on

the worlds youth? The answer to that question might

reasonably be yes or it might reasonably be no. But one

thing the answer cannot be is: Lets increase our impact

through more outreach programmes without having a

conversation about quality and acc ountability.

Anyone reading this article would be right to notice thatright now we still have a good many more questions

than we have answers. To come back to Kurt Hahn: You

are needed. Please tell us what you think. Findings rom

the current work will be presented in October 2011.

Increasing UWCs impact and giving more young people

a UWC experience is a terric ambition. And one that is

ully endorsed by the UWC Council and Board. The real

challenge beore us is to gure out a sustainable plan to

achieve it.

Share your views on outreach on the extranet orum. Visit

http://extranet.uwc.org/forum/

See all the short courses/programmes taking place across

UWC this year at www.uwc.org/short/


8/13

age 14 Page 15Page 15age 14

Charlie Young (AC 08-

10) rom the UK is

dedicating his gap year

to environmental causes

and will begin a course in

Environmental Studies at

Yale in September.

Just some o the projectshes worked on include:

interning or climate campaign

group 350.org in Mexico City; leading the UNairplay team

as a delegate o Kiribati at the COP16, Cancun (he was also a

delegate at COP15 while at UWC Atlantic College); volunteering

on an agroorestry and erosion control project in Costa Rica, and

interning at the New Economics Foundation in London and New

Economics Institute in New York on The Great Transition model

or a sustainable economy. A lot o my gap year projects have

been acilitated by UWC riends and contacts. For me UWC is

like an arboretum pumping out sanity, creativity, beauty into

the ordered chaos. Without its nurturing Im sure the world, and I

(and many o those I love), would be very dierent."

www.UNfairplay.info,www.350.org

Claudia Ricca (PC 83-85)

rom Argentina in based

in Buenos Aires and works

or Friends o the Earth

on a project in Paraguay,

building the capacity o

small armers to resist the

advance o soy plantations

into their communities.

The project ocuses on socio-legal training, community radio

development and the promotion o sustainable agriculture. It also

involves lobbying municipal and national authorities to enorce

environmental law and protect local communities against the

eects o chemical spraying o GM (genetically modied) crops.

I visit Paraguay every six weeks or so and travel to the dierent

communities we work with, accompanied by Sobrevivencia,

our local partners. I love my job and the possibility o bringing

sustainable change to people long orgotten by the state and

the international community. Its not so dierent to what Ive

done in the past: a major part o this project relates to the

administration o justice and most o my previous jobs have

been in the eld o human rights. I probably decided I wanted

to do this kind o work while I was at Pearson College and I eel

particularly lucky that I can continue working on these issues

now that Im back in S outh America, nearly 30 years on.

www.oei.org/

Tobi Kellner (MI 98-00)

rom Germany is an

Inormation Ofcer

at the Centre or

Alternative Technology

(CAT) in Wales and

is also studying or

an MSc in renewable

energy at the CAT

graduate school.

Ater graduating rom

Mahindra, I went on to

study Articial Intelligence

and Computational

Linguistics in Edinburgh, Scotland, and Saarland, Germany. I

spent almost ten years ater graduating rom UWC studying

computer related stu, only to then realise that I actually

wasnt all that interested in that eld. It was through a UWC

email list that I ound out about a job vacancy at the Centre or

Alternative Technology, applied and got it. Never think youre

stuck in a certain eld! Working in an alternative technology

education centre allows me to combine learning about

interesting technologies solar panels, wind turbines and the

like with working with people or example through teaching

courses. Im passionate about sustainability because it is the

precondition or everything else you cannot have lasting peace

or justice i you abuse the very basis o your existence.

www.cat.org.uk

Snapshot:Other alumni passionate about the environment.

Bjrnar Sandberg (BiH 08-10) rom

Norway has dedicated the his time

ince graduating rom UWC in Mostar

ast May campaigning with Natur og

Ungdom Nature and Youth, the Young

riends o the Earth movement in

Norway. With 7000 members ranging

rom age 14 to 25, it is

big voice in Norways

nvironmental debates.

He was elected to the

teering group last July and

s responsible or developing

he organisations politics on

nvironmental matters and

working on the environmental

auses that members agree

he organisation should ocus on. Bjrnar spent

he rst six months working on campaigns on

iodiversity and public transport. Since January,

is ocus has been on the oil campaign which iscause very close to his h eart.

Upon graduating rom UWC, Bjrnar elt it was

ght or him to put urther studies on hold to

oncentrate on the environmental cause. I am

ternally grateul o getting to spend two years

t UWC in Mostar, and eel now the necessity

o commit to something greater than mysel. I

ave chosen to do things important to me right

ow, he explains.

My motivation and interest or environmental

work comes rom the understanding o nature

s the basis o our development. Having later

earnt that much o what we do as humans

leave traces and is done at the expense o

biodiversity and a stable climate, I gured that

I should join the environmental movement

to infuence decisions towards a sustainable

direction. As its the largest environmental NGO

or youth in Norway, Nature and Youth was the

natural movement or me to join.

I grew up in the Looten

Islands and in that matter lived

great parts o my lie close to

nature and with a amily eager

to get out and experience it.

The ght against potential

oil drilling outside Looten is

the organisations top priority,

as this year the Norwegian

government will decide

whether or not to start an opening process or

oil activity in this area. The seas around Looten

contain the worlds largest cold water coral

ree as well as huge populations o close-to-endangered sea birds and the worlds largest

remaining population o cod. An oil spill here

would be a catastrophe.

Having elt unchallenged by his schooling

in Norway, or Bjrnar, the appeal o UWC

was the international dimension and he

ound the perspectives gained rom studying

in an international environment the most

intriguing aspect o his education there. The

interpretation o what we studied in English,

history, economics and especially ToK varied

vastly rom person to person and also rom

nationality to nationality. With the mash o

angles each topic was looked at, everyone

ended up much more open and c onsiderate o

all possible perspectives there might be on

all issues. He also believes this is the way

in which his UWC experience has shaped

his outlook the most. I understand and

notice more sides in every confict and look

critically at news reports containing only one

perspective, he refects. In the end, looking

back, what Im let with is not a diploma

but a new way o looking at everything and

memories which will ollow me a lietime.

Bjrnar valued the community service aspect

o the education enormously, especially as it

was not a part o his education beore. At UWC

Mostar he worked or two years on a project

called Roma Neretva, assisting Roma ch ildren

in Mostar with maths and reading and also

organising play activities. It was a remarkableand I learnt a lot rom both teaching them and

just spending time with them, he recalls.

Bjrnar considers his biggest achievement

so ar to be arranging a youth orum or civil

society on the energy situation in the Barents

region which he worked on also or Youth and

Nature. It was a very rewarding experience

having the opportunity to co-organise such a

orum. It was or youth NGOs rom Russia,

Norway, Finland and Belarus and it was very

interesting to learn about working or youth

NGOs in other countries. The orum had about

150 participants and ocused on civil society

and the energy situation o the Barents region

(the confict between ossil uels, nu clear power

and renewable energy).

The outcome o the Looton campaign is still

unknown and although the campaign has a

lot o support, Bjrnar is acutely aware o the

power o the oil lobby in his country.

The ght involves a great bunch o activism

combined with some lobbyism. Wedemonstrate, arrange events and in general try

to show the great resistance there is against

oil activity outside Looten. For the entire

month o March, we demonstrated outside the

house o the Norwegian PM every morning. We

also lobby quite a lot - attend meetings with

politicians to show that we know enough to

say no to oil, try to convince the businesses o

Looten that the development should be based

on renewable resources, not ossil uels.

What the decision will be in the end, we do not

know. What we know is that we are making it

very hard to open or oil drilling.

What Im let with isnot a diploma but anew way o lookingat everything and

memories whichwill ollow me alietime.

Alumniprofle:BjrnarSandberg

Liam Goodacre (AC

02-04) teaches

philosophy at UWC

Mahindra College,

where he helped to

establish a new student

service working with a

local organic arming

collective called

Gomukh.

Students walk over the hill three times a week to

volunteer at the arm ater classes. The project is in its

early days, but is already very rewarding. Ater a long day

in the classroom, nothing is more satisying than to work

on the land. We have already learned a great deal about

our local environment and our eorts have been valuable

to the arm. We hope to develop the project in many

ways, including building a seed bank or local heirloom

crops and trying to link up the ood distribution system

with our caeteria."

gomukhproject.wordpress.com/ www.gomukh.org


9/13

age 16 Page 17

The need to recognise and celebrate all

hat a UWC education encompasses

hrough a UWC Diploma is an idea

hat has been explored around the

movement or a number o years.

United World September, 2008).

More recently, work has moved on

o a broader discussion on defning

he UWC education model, seen as

prerequisite to a diploma. The UWC

Heads and International Board have

produced the Guiding Principles o

UWC education rom which the

practice o education at UWC schools

nd colleges is derived. Meanwhile, the

evelopment o the Atlantic College

Diploma represents one o the frst

ormal implementations o the idea

cross the movement.

he Atlantic College Diploma includes the

nternational Baccalaureate as its primary

cademic curriculum but the college has

reated the Atlantic College Mission Initiative

ACMI) to acknowledge the additional

spects o the UWC experience. ACMI is the

mbodiment o the UWC mission, bringing

ts constituent values to lie, and is made up

seven strands ace-to-ace community

ervice, action based service and outdoor

ursuits, environmental and sustainable uture

awareness, global and intercultural awareness,

approaches to learning, artistic creativity and

physical health and well being all o which

are additional elements o a UWC education

not covered by the IB. Students are required

to participate in all seven o the strands and

specialise in two o them.

The driving principles were

based on the need to actually

have a curriculum that

developed the mission in a

structured way explains Tristan

Stobie, Director o Studies at

UWC Atlantic College. The

only curriculum at UWC

Atlantic College prior to theAtlantic College Diploma was

the IB Diploma programme and the college

requirements to do a certain number o service

hours and activities. None o this looked at

education in a holistic way or specically related

that education to the mission. No attempt

was made to ensure a broad and balanced

educational experience that dealt with all

aspects o the common UWC mission.

Agreements on the experience that all UWC

Atlantic College students should receive during

their two years at the college have helped

to shape the diplomas structure. On top o

classroom based learning students participate

in conerences and programmes that explore

some o UWCs core values and straddle

the realms o academic and non-academic

education. Importantly these conerences and

programmes are not just treated as extra-

curricular pursuits space is made within

timetables to enable students to properly

engage with the events and

treat them as an essential part

o their UWC education.

The diploma has proven to

be hugely popular with the

students currently studying it,

allowing them greater scope to

explore new subject areas and

take greater responsibility ortheir educational experience.

Mubarak Sanni, rom Nigeria, was orthcoming

with his praise or the diploma and its ability

to implement UWCs distinctive ethos,

the Atlantic College Diploma is a unique

representation o what a UWC Atlantic College

student is, it is based on much more than an

individuals academic perormance.

Tristan places huge value in the act that

the Atlantic College Diploma has allowed

pursuing the UWC mission to become a

much more robust and q uantitative process.

Existing practice assumed that many student-

run activities automatically resulted in the

The Atlantic CollegeDiploma providesa curriculum thatdevelops theUWC mission in a

structured way

Tristan Stobie

The AtlanticCollege Diplomatakes a considerable

step beyond thealready impressivecurriculum o the IB

Ken Corn

The UWC International Heads Committee

started work on exploring the UWC model

o education in late 2009. The work arose

rom the need to quantiy what constitutes

a UWC education to ensure a consistent and

coherent model is being delivered across

all UWC schools a nd colleges. The UWC

strategic plan outlines the organisations

intention to create a movement-wide UWC

Diploma as a way to recognise the whole

o a UWC education. Although the IB is the

dominant academic component o a UWC

education this may not always be the case

i the agriculture model currently unique

to Simn Bolvar UWC expands, and also i

we select more students on potential who

may not necessarily be able to cope with

the academic demands o the IB Diploma.

In order to build a oundation rom which

to develop the UWC Diploma the rst

document produced by the heads was

the Guiding Principles which was ormally

approved in October 2010 and outlines

the principles rom which the practice o

education at UWC is derived.

All work on developing the UWC model o

education has been consciously sympathetic

to the culture and tradition o each school

and college and the work done by the Heads

Committee has progressed into a number o

dierent initiatives across the movement.

UWC Mahindra College students have been

volunteering or in-depth refection on their

activities whilst UWC Pearson College has

been exploring ways to assess students

perormance in their non-academic

activities. No timerame has been put on

producing a UWC Diploma but work to build

the oundations rom which to develop the

diploma is progressing well.

development o mission related goals. For

example international understanding was just

assumed to occur as a result o the multicultural

and multinational composition o the student

body. It was not ormally developed in well

thought out structures with appropriate

expertise and leadership.

The Atlantic College Diploma

has addressed these limitations

and now oers a new level

o accountability or those

charged with protecting and

instilling the mission. Visibility

and clarity o the teaching

process however are not the

only positives to arise rom the

diploma, it also helps to give depth to students

personal statements and provides opportunities

or students to specialise in chosen areas anddevelop leadership skills.

Ken Corn, Director o Outreach at UWC Atlantic

College, believes the benets o the diploma

or students are great and varied, The diploma

embodies and gives practical pathways or UWC

Atlantic College students to ollow as they

pursue the UWC mission o achieving peace and

a sustainable uture. With the diploma we are

exploring and engaging with contemporary

real-world issues that our students need

to address. This oten includes working in

partnership with other like-minded NGOs and

charitable organisations who share a similar

belie in the power o education to positively

shape our world or the uture. This approach

leads to practical actions which are in line with

UWC Atlantic Colleges mission commitment

to Lie-Long Service.

Turning the UWC mission into the Atlantic

College Diploma has allowed the college to

urther develop how it interprets the mission

exploring its practical application has allowed

UWC Atlantic Colleges understanding o the

UWC mission to evolve and strengthen, a view

shared by Tristan and Ken. One element that I

eel quite strongly about and I believe is more

than simply a matter o semantics, is the way in

which some o the terminology

we use conveys our purpose

Ken says. Previously at UWC

Atlantic College we spoke o

international understanding,

now we speak about inter-

cultural engagement. Clearly

weve moved beyond the

limited notion o nation-states

dening culture, hence inter-

cultural. To my mind, we also need to move

ourselves away rom the merely passive concept

o understanding towards an insistence on allthe active learning and doing that the word

engagement implies.

Using the IB, a qualication broad and fexible

enough to be taught by over 3000 schools

and colleges worldwide, to ormally accredit

UWCs distinctive educational values has long

prompted the question o whether anything

other than a UWC-specic qualication can

do the movement justice. The Atlantic College

Diploma will go a long way in attempting to

inorm how a global UWC Diploma could take

shape and its implementation will explore

some o the diculties involved in establishing

a diploma designed specically to accredit a

UWC education. This may be a long time in

the uture says Ken Corn but I would like

to see UWC develop a holistic and cohesive

educational model that might nd currency

in its own right. I believe that we should be

ambitious with this project, and be as visionary

as UWC claims to be.

Activities such as the lie boat service are now part o the ACMI strand 'action based service and outdoor pursuits.'

The UWC AtlanticCollege Mission Initiative


10/13

Page 19Page 19age 18

In the February 2008 edition o United Worldwe explored the

work done by the Spanish national committee in partnership

with the ONCE Foundation to select one disabled student

a year. Most o the work done at this point was ocused on

selecting students who were visually impaired. UWC Red

Cross Nordic has been working closely with the Haugland

rehabilitation centre that shares its campus in eorts to

increase its outreach to

students with other physical

disabilities.

John Lawrenson, the colleges

Rektor, outlined the guiding

principle behind this initiative,

UWC Red Cross Nordic

subscribes to the undamental

Nordic belie in a society

based on the principle o social

solidarity a society that gives

all its citizens the right to reedom, social security and societal

participation. In practice this means a culture where disabled

people have equal opportunities to take part in all aspects o

society and where disabled people are equal in all respects and

ully integrated into their communities.

Creating access to all social and learning environments is

essential in making the college accommodating or students

with physical disabilities. Work has been ocused on installing

automatic doors to all public buildings on

campus and building ramps to make these

doors accessible. Paths have been widened,

angles o walkways have been adjusted and

one student house is being internally adapted.

Bathrooms have now also been equipped with

accessible acilities. In a ew cases, we have

reduced the number o students in a room

rom ve to our. We are determined to do

everything we can to ensure that physical

disabilities dont prohibit our students

education says Arne Osland, Director o

Development at the college. In uture selection processes, i

a candidate has specic requirements due to a disability we

will run an assessment so that we can make considerations

about what kind o individual adaptations will need to be done,

well then commit to making those adaptations to ensure that

student can attend Arne continues.

UWC Red Cross Nordic is now poised to begin its new

initiative o selecting students who are victims o landmines.

UWC Red Cross

Nordic believes ina culture wheredisabled people haveequal opportunitiesto take part in allaspects o society

John Lawrenson

A UWCeducation isabout givingthe individual

the courage andability to expandtheir own limits

Arne Osland

UWC Red Cross Nordic: Educating the body & the mind

age 18

The rst intake will begin in August 2011 with the selection o

three students, one each rom Nicaragua, Ethiopia and Vietnam.

They will be selected by the national committee o their country

using the same selection criteria used in standard UWC

selections.

In the preparation or the intake we have looked into

how we can make use o the expertise at the Haugland

Rehabilitation Centre, Arne says. A crucial part o this

is to understand that our education is ab out giving the

individual the courage and ability to expand their own

limits to achieve this there are many areas where

direct support should not be given. We do not want to

educate dependency, but to enable or an active lie.

The landmine victim project represents a huge step

orward in the colleges commitment to actively recruiting

students with disabilities and will play a big part in the uture

o that commitment. It is our ambition that the recruitment

o landmine victims shall carry on or many years and that we

will recruit rom a broad range o applicants, explains Arne.

This project can help to put ocus on what great problems

these explosives represent in many parts o the world and will

compliment the important work that the Red Cross and other

organisations do in order to limit this damage.

The campus has been adapted to accommodate students withphysical disabilities.

The Hauglandrehabilitationcentre (let)shares thecampus.


11/13

Page 21age 20age 20 Page 21

We explore two very dierent ways national committees are working to broaden their promotion,

selection and preparation selection rom SOS Childrens Villages and the experience o the Angolan

Committee in selecting students a year in advance and establishing the oral histories project.

The newly ormed National Committee o Syria

recently ran a short course aimed or students

who are interested in social responsibility. In

partnership with the Shabab Program o the Syria

Trust or Development, a leading Syrian development

organisation, the course taught skills such as project

planning and management with social responsibility

as its core value.

The course adopted a new model that made it distinctive rom

other UWC short courses it was held over a succession o

our weekends, traditionally UWC short courses are held over

a successive period o days. Maya Alkateb, one o the courses

trainers, ound many advantages to utilising weekend slots,

Spotlight on nationalcommittees reaching out

Syrian Short Courseholding the short course over a number o weekends allowed

us to expand the number o students who could participate as

it didnt disturb their school studies they could attend their

normal classes during the week and still be available or our

course Maya says. We actually ound that the weekday breaks

between the sessions helped what was being taught to sink in

better, the structure was conducive to a very successul learning

process.

The short course was the result o positive enthusiasm and

shared interests in the area as Maya explains, two national

committee members were interested in giving the training, the

Shabab Program were willing and ready to host the course and

to help nd participants and UWC were looking or ways to

increase access to a UWC educational experience in Syria.

The short course aimed to empower students to take positive

social action by raising awareness o students responsibility

towards society and helping them to understand and value the

concepts o social responsibility and sustainability. Building

the individual capacities o the students was key to the course

and was achieved through sessions teaching sel-evaluation,

strategic thinking, the value o working with others and public

speaking skills, amongst other things. Skills like these are not

only transerable to other aspects o students lives but are also

skills that students will retain and be able to use in many aspects

o their lives.

UWC short courses enable UWC to deliver a transormational

educational experience to a greater number o students. This

is especially important in countries like Syria where UWC has

traditionally not enjoyed a substantial presence but where

eorts are being made to increase impact and allow more

students to share UWC values and become ambassadors or a

more peaceul and sustainable uture.Course participants taking part in an exercise on levels o responsibility.

A team gets eedback rom Maya, on o the trainers on their LogFrame Table ater presenting it to the group.he course utilised the Logical Framework Approach to teach project planning.

Carlos Paniagua (PC 03-05),National Committee of GuatemalaLast year we had the opportunity to select a student

rom SOS Villages or UWC Costa Rica. This meant some

extra eort rom the national committee but it was really

rewarding process.

We started by meeting with the Guatemalas SOS Villages

Head and explaining to him that there was a strong

commitment rom the UWC movement to select SOS

students and that the national committee and UWC

Costa Rica would be supporting both the students and the

organisation. We were really grateul or all the enthusiasm

show by the central organisation and also by all the dierent

villages in Guatemala.

We worked very closely with them and they started the

process by identiying the students that would be able to

apply or the scholarship, based on a prole we gave t hem.

All the SOS applicants participated in the s election process

as any other student and were evaluated using the same

criteria. This was a great opportunity to show that SOS

students are as capable as any other candidate to develop

the necessary skills to be excellent UWC students. We were

nally able to nominate two students to UWC Costa Rica

and were delighted that one started last September.

One o the challenges we ace while selecting students

rom SOS Villages is the act that the academic background

may not be as strong as some other candidates. Because o

that, we have to be take a lot o care to select very mature

students who, rom our point o view, have the potential to

ace the challenges that a UWC education represents.

lvaro Zuniga Cordero (LPC 00-02),National Committee of Costa RicaThe National Committee o Costa Rica has longstanding links

to SOS Childrens Villages, we were selecting students rom the

Villages to attend UWC schools and colleges beore UWC Costa

Rica opened. Additionally we sometimes organised community

service or candidates in the Villages as part o our selection

process. We are currently selecting SOS students or UWC

Costa Rica.

When assessing SOS students we have always tried to apply

our established selection criteria and put applicants through the

same stages as the rest o the applicants. However, sometimes,

the SOS candidates join the process at later stages and so we

have had to amend the process.

The main challenge or us is in encouraging SOS students to

apply. Although there are only three SOS Villages in the country

and we are oten selecting or UWC Costa Rica, we are not

always able to select a scholar and our attempts to promote the

scholarships in the Villages have not always been successul in

increasing applications.

To overcome this we are trying a new st rategy this year. We are

establishing more direct contact with the amilies in the villages

and making the selection process as inclusive as we can. The

idea is to talk directly to with the SOS mother and hopeully her

children, promote the scholarships. We also leave them printed

i

united world magazine (april 2011)

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