Cross Cultural Workshops with Dr. Ettie Zilber

VIS staff, parents and students had a unique opportunity to work with Dr. Ettie Zilber for a full week in August. Dr. Zilber has served as the head of five international schools. She is currently consulting international schools worldwide with the aim to equip them with the skills, tools and dispositions to navigate our increasingly multicultural and interconnected worlds. VIS staff took part in a three day workshop during the two weeks before school. The workshop was a deep dive into the VIS mission statement “Cultivating learners to become culturally proficient human beings”. The journey to becoming a culturally proficient human being requires deliberate action, genuine curiosity and an inquiry mindset. As we move forward into the academic year, this mission statement will be at the centre of our teaching and we will be seeking opportunities to authentically and age appropriately cultivate this more in our classrooms, relationships with students and relationships with parents. 

On August 30th over 60 VIS parents joined "The cultural impact of sending your child/ren to an international school" workshop. Later, students atteneded cross cultural awareness workshops. Student representatives from grades 8-12 participated in a full-day workshop with Dr. Ettie Zilber on how we might embrace opportunities to develop intercultural awareness and perspective-taking throughout the VIS community. Approximately 5 students per grade were asked to join this session. These students will be encouraged to work with the school leadership over the course of the school year and into 2023.