The breaks in our school calendar offer us the privilege to pause, reflect, and consolidate learning at individual and institutional levels. Then, with renewed zeal, we return to classes, embracing our ISZL journey, steered by our commitment to learning, community building, and fostering belonging in a world that can sometimes feel chaotic.
In this context, Margaret Wheatley’s “Islands of Sanity in a chaotic world” concept (Wheatley, 2023) resonates with our efforts at ISZL to ensure an inclusive environment where everyone is valued and encouraged to contribute their best. Her focus on generosity, creativity, and kindness echoes our mission to cultivate these traits in our students and ourselves as adults.
Wheatley encourages us to believe in the inherent goodness and potential of people, a belief mirrored daily at ISZL through our students’ curiosity, our staff’s dedication, and our community’s united efforts. These experiences have enriched our learning, strengthened our connections, and underscored the transformative power of education.
The ability to turn learning into action was exemplified yesterday as our High School students hosted a parent Youth Forum Switzerland (YFS) Climate and Sustainability evening featuring exceptional local and international speakers. It was an inspiring event, reinforcing how the Islands of Sanity we have created through common purpose, interconnectedness, and hard work have resulted in impactful learning experiences and outcomes, as evidenced, for example, by our students’ Himalayas Climate Action Expedition video.
This was a precursor to tomorrow’s Youth Forum Switzerland event when more than 1,000 students and adults from ISZL and worldwide will converge at our High School campus. The day, designed by ISZL students, for students, ensures that young people’s voices are amplified and heard on the issues that will impact their future. You can watch the event live on the YFS Website.
Looking ahead to 2024, ISZL aims to continue serving as an ‘Island of Sanity’ – a nurturing space for personal development, creativity, and diversity. At a time when there are so many global challenges and crises, our unwavering commitment is to a path forward of continued collective growth, embracing generosity, creativity, and empathy.
Reference:
Wheatley, M. (2023). The work of sane leadership. Leader to Leader. https://doi.org/10.1002/ltl.20781