The
Whittier Miscellany OCTOBER 2018 • WILMINGTON FRIENDS SCHOOL’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER • WILMINGTON, DELAWARE
TOK AROUND THE WORLD: JAVIER ERGUETA’S SABBATICAL This past summer, ninth through twelfth grade Javier Ergueta, history and Theory of Knowledge teacher, and club advisor has been travelled to Europe for a year-long sabbatical. This trip, as he explained to his students upon sharing this exciting news, will be valuable for him in that he gets the chance to explore Europe with his family, and will be exploring Theory of Knowledge courses around Europe. With many IB diploma candidates every year here at Friends, this will be helpful in ensuring that the school provides the best TOK courses possible. In an email sent to students and advisees, Ergueta wrote, “My summer started with a study trip to Japan for teachers sponsored by a foundation and UPenn. For two weeks I toured historical and cultural sites with other lucky teachers, most of them much younger than me and from very different schools than ours. I took a similar trip to South Korea three years ago, and again I was thoroughly excited to find myself in another world of assumptions about what is important to remember about the past and how to see the world. I’m particularly fascinated by the intertwined influences of Confucianism, Buddhism and animism (like Shinto), all so different than the Judeo-Christian-Islamic “Abrahamic” religions in the West, on East Asian societies. My reading of several detailed histories about Japanese history and culture helped me to appreciate the many different sites we visited.” He continued, saying, “In the last half of August we flew back to Madrid and then drove first to Porto and then to Lisbon in Portugal. We rented a small apartment just across from one of the iconic churches in Porto, a stunningly beautiful
city built on the side of a cliff overlooking a river. Portugal is still recovering from a deeply damaging dictatorship that dominated its twentieth century, but in the 1500-1800 it ruled a global empire that included colonies all over Asia (including today’s Indonesia and parts of India, China and Japan), Africa and of course Brazil. This is reflected today in many originally Portuguese words and practices that we erroneously attribute to other cultures. For example, the Japanese
preparation of our trips for later in the year: communicating with TOK contacts, investigating the most economic transport and lodging options, and reconnecting with European friends. We also took advantage of our location in Spain. It turns out that Spain can boast of twenty-five Unesco World Heritage Sites, the top accolade that can be earned by a community based on its cultural and historical interest, and five are in the area of Madrid! In addition, our location in the mountains just north of Madrid puts us close to numerous picturesque hiking trails. We have enjoyed many excursions, and in several, we engaged knowledgeable guides, to try to get beyond the usual superficial touristic level. This has not always been fully successful.” He continues, “As I write this my wife and I are on an overnight bus from Madrid to Paris, where we look forward to seeing many old friends from the eight years we lived there. About a week from now, we’ll head to the Amsterdam area, where I have been invited by the IB TOK strand manager worldwide to participate on a 3-day planning meeting with senior TOK examiners and four other teachers from around the world, to help define the changes that will be made in the TOK curriculum as of 2020. We’ll then cross over to the UK, where I’m scheduled to visit three leading IB schools in England, including two very traditional ones which have a very Hogwartsian feel. Update: Upon arrival in Paris, we learned that tonight would be the opening night of a Victor Hugo play at the Commedie Française, France’s most prestigious national theater; I leaped at the opportunity, and it was stellar!” We are so grateful for the opportunity that Mr. Ergueta is bringing back home, and the wonderful adventures he is having along the way!
Photo contributed by Javier Ergueta
ELEANOR BRADLEY ’19 NEWS EDITOR
Ergueta and his group in front of the entrance to a Buddhist shrine in Tokyo
arigato (thank you) was the Portuguese obrigato, and tempura was a Portuguese food taken up by Japan. Portugal too learned the hard way that what goes up can come down a long way, but the country today reflects humility, modesty, a willingness to work hard, and a lasting appreciation for culture and beauty.” Ergueta wrote more about his travels in Spain. “In September and during the school days, my wife and I undertook various activities. Many days were invested in further planning and