Sidcot's Centre for Peace and Global Studies: an exciting and evolving venture
I was delighted to be invited to Bristol University this week to present at a seminar at the Graduate School of Education. Although a slightly daunting experience speaking to an audience of academics, many of whom were experts in their fields, it was an opportunity to talk about some of the things we have been doing at Sidcot; particularly our Centre for Peace and Global Studies. The underlying concept behind this project has been creating a focus for the issues of conflict resolution, linking Sidcot with networks; locally, nationally and globally, and providing a tangible focus for Quakerism within the school.
It continues to be an exciting and evolving venture that is influencing our culture as it embeds. However, one of the key off-shoots of the work of the Centre is to introduce our students to complexity. You cannot begin to engage with the issues around conflict resolution without realising how complicated, inter-related and dynamic they are. Perhaps this is one of the most important aspects of the Centre’s work – to prepare our students for the world beyond Sidcot where they will need to be resilient, empathetic and self-aware in order to be effective and caring members of a truly international community.
IWK – May 2016