Global Mindedness: Newman’s Yearly Theme
By Evelyn Crowley and Naomi Gee-Burko
This year, Newman is focusing on the theme of global-mindedness. Global-mindedness explores the concept of respectfully understanding and appreciating different cultures, perspectives, and issues. Newman, being a very diverse school with students from all over the world, emphasizes universal belonging. Here, an example of global-mindedness could be getting to know our international students, furthering our understanding of different cultures.
At Newman, we follow the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum, which has a focus on the IB learner profile. The global-mindedness theme aligns with the IB learner traits, such as open-mindedness, inquiry, and communication. Open-mindedness centers on our ability to consider many opinions and points of view. This also requires being respectful towards differences without challenging or offending others’ perspectives, even if they challenge your own. This is important because Newman, as an international school, has students coming from all over the world with different beliefs and fascinating cultures.
Ms. Valérie Dubé, co-head of our International Students Club along with Ms. Agnes Lee, comments, “We want to uplift and celebrate each international student's background. The stories and perspectives they share can challenge this notion of ‘the greatest country in the world.’ Most people are really proud of where they are from and they love it. It is important to respect and honor where they come from. They come from a people. They come from a culture. The more students we will have in our Club, the more cultural diversity we will share. I love the diversity we have at Newman.”
The International student club.
Another IB learner trait–inquiry–explores the concept of curiosity and asking questions to further an awareness of a certain topic. Asking questions and hearing the answers from many different perspectives enables us to comprehend first-hand experiences and relate them to our own and others’. Ms. Dubé remarks, “We must keep in touch with what is going on in the rest of the world. Just for the sake of preserving our humanness, it is paramount to stay connected with other nations. There is not only one reality: being North American, speaking English, living in this culture... The United States, because of its size and geography is at risk of not having enough of the international perspective.” She continues to expand on how travelling is a great opportunity to gain a strong global mindset.
Finally, communication represents our ability to discuss difficult topics around a Harkness table or even have a lighthearted chat in between classes. These conversations, no matter their importance, shape us as Newman students. Even our motto “heart speaks to heart” reflects our thoughtful, communication-focused environment. In our International Students Club, co-headed by Ms. Dubé, communication is key to understanding and developing multicultural relationships.
Ms. Dubé adds, “In the International Students Club, there is a lot of life experience shared, and mostly conversations about our different international perspectives. We have two teachers at the helm, who bring topics that can hopefully be helpful to new international students.” At the club, they converse about and teach many real world skills, such as how to make a new place home, dealing with challenges when immigrating, or practical issues, such as daylight savings or dressing warmly for the cold New England winters. “We encourage students to seek restaurants they long for, and also work on a bucket list of things they might want to do while they study here in Boston.”
Outside of our Student Life opportunities, Newman students can expect more guest speakers at our weekly assemblies in the year ahead. Hearing from those who have had first-hand cultural experience is truly valuable for us to reflect and be inspired. All of us are also excited for the Czech Republic trip this spring. It will be an amazing opportunity to further understand Czech culture and grow closer bonds with classmates. The Japan trip last year was a great success, and the high school students hope to expand their global-mindedness further next March. Global-mindedness is the core of our school so this year, let’s continue to explore, understand, and celebrate the numerous cultures that make up Newman.
To join the International Students Club, use the link in this week's Community Notes: https://forms.gle/EoEs2218LLojbq268. You can sign up for the winter activities and clubs as well. Regarding the Czech Republic trip, if you are interested, please email Mrs. Brovender (sbrovender@newmanboston.org) or Mrs. Ollagnon (rollagnon@newmanboston.org).
