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We are living in interesting times...

... and arguably international schools face a bigger task than ever before

Does every generation believe that it lives in more sophisticated, more developed, more challenging and more interesting times than those of its predecessors? Perhaps so, though a visit to a 14th century cathedral in Europe, the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Stonehenge in England or the carvings of Easter Island might provide some pause for thought. And while there may be no evidence to support the apparently apocryphal claim that ‘May you live in interesting times’ is a translation of an ancient Chinese curse, there will be many worldwide who feel that we are currently living in times that are perhaps more ‘interesting’ than we might wish them to be.

Who would have anticipated in January 2016, for instance, twelve months before the publication of this issue of International School magazine, that the coming year would see such major shifts in the global political and social environment? At the time of writing, the current uncertainty about the implications and knock-on effects of these shifts is undoubtedly unsettling, and raising many uncomfortable questions about the direction in which our world is heading. No less unsettling is the fact that the dreadful situation in Syria and other parts of the world continues unresolved, with refugees fleeing to countries that are not always as welcoming as might be expected, and that are in at least some cases well-intentioned but struggling to cope with the scale of the problem with which they are presented.

What does all this mean for international schools? Arguably such schools now have an even bigger task ahead than ever in ensuring the achievement of the mission that many promulgate of supporting the education of young people to be respectful, informed and caring adults who will be culturally literate and will feel a shared responsibility for making the world a safer and more peaceful place for all its inhabitants – no mean aim in the current environment. It is clear that many international schools are taking this

Who would have anticipated in January 2016 that the coming year would see such major shifts in the global political and social environment?

challenge very seriously and, in response to our call in the Comment section of Issue 18(3) of this magazine, we have received a number of articles describing work being undertaken by international schools to respond to the humanitarian crisis that is the refugee situation affecting many parts of the world. We are including in this issue just one such article, by Matthew Baganz, about the initiative being taken by Strothoff International School in Dreieich, Germany to respond to the crisis. We plan to include more such contributions in a themed issue for publication later in the year. Please do contact us if you are able to submit a short article on this topic – or if you have ideas for an article you would like to discuss – with a view to contributing to the sharing of ideas within the international school community.

With our good wishes for a more peaceful (and in some respects, at least, less interesting) 2017.

Mary Hayden and Jeff Thompson

Mary Hayden and Jeff Thompson Editors Jonathan Barnes Editorial Director James Rudge Production Director Alex Sharratt Managing Director

For Editorial enquiries contact Mary Hayden and Jeff Thompson Email: editor@is-mag.com Website: www.is-mag.com

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