An interview with Emmanuel College Principal Peter Morgan.
Part of the stated Mission of Emmanuel College is to empower students to serve and act with compassion and justice as members of a global community. Students need to know how to be successful in an interconnected global society.
But how does a school educate regional-living young people to be good global citizens?
I find that young people are generally open to new perspectives, and schools are ideally positioned to convey them. At Emmanuel College we take quite a multi-faceted approach to educating our students to be citizens of the world.
Through the academic program we want students to gain a deeper knowledge and understanding of world history, geography, economics, health, science and the environment. All of these of course, have a global dimension and everything we do as individuals can have an impact on individuals on the other side of the planet.
Religious Education is a compulsory subject at Emmanuel and our students learn about the world’s major belief systems – one of the most basic human expressions of cultural difference. Through the RE program we aim to give understanding and understanding leads to a positive disposition towards different cultures and religions. We want to see our students going beyond tolerance to acceptance and respect.
To develop in students a sense of justice and reconciliation with people and groups who are marginalised is also really important and it’s a real strength of the program. It’s not just about sitting in a classroom and learning the theory – it’s about having our students out in the community supporting programs that help homeless people and those in need, whether it’s at a local level, in Melbourne or in East Timor.
It’s important to be able to give students opportunities for meaningful, first-hand cultural experiences.
How do you provide those experiences?
Our Alternative Schoolies program is a significant initiative that has been running for a few years now. It is a great opportunity for senior students to travel overseas and immerse themselves in another culture while serving a small community. Emmanuel College has established a relationship with the people of Atauro Island, East Timor, building connection with the local village school. This has been a life-changing experience for the students who have taken part. World Challenge is another option we offer to Year 10 and 11 students and this also has a social justice and personal growth focus. We have students who will soon be travelling to Laos and Cambodia.
Languages are obviously very important too. Emmanuel College has developed strong partnerships and sister school relationships with schools in Japan and France. I was fortunate enough to accompany an Emmanuel College Language Study Tour to Japan last year and it was great to see the confidence our students gained through being fully immersed in the language and culture. Second languages really are key to a global mindset.
Being in a small regional centre that has such a strong Anglo-Irish heritage it is so important to give students every opportunity to become more ‘worldly’ and to become familiar with other cultures and ways of life. The students who are at school now are going to have multiple career paths within a global economy and we need to make sure they are as well prepared as any other student in any other school in any other part of the world.
Emmanuel College has developed strong partnerships and sister school relationships with schools in Japan and France. These inter-school relationships complement the Language Study Tour Programs and allows Emmanuel students unique opportunities to: immerse themselves in language and culture, participate in exchange programs and to welcome students from overseas into their own homes, College and community.
Our Sister School - Oberlin High School
Emmanuel College first signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Sister School Oberlin High School in Tokyo in 2008 but the relationship between the two schools dates back over 20 years. Students from the two schools have the opportunity to participate in an exchange in alternate years.
The Sister school relationship provides Emmanuel students a valuable immersion experience in the language and culture of Japan, attending school at Oberlin High and staying with a host family along with some tourist travel as a group. In alternate years Emmanuel families have the opportunity to host a student from Oberlin and benefit from the cultural exchange. See the Language Study Tour section of this website in the Unique Programs section for more information on Study Tours. Students can excel when they are offered the opportunity to immerse themselves in language and culture.
Along with our Sister School, Emmanuel College has established partnerships with the following schools:
Collège Louis Leprince-Ringuet in Gènas near Lyon, France is a junior high school, enrolling students from the equivalent of Years 7 to 10. Emmanuel students are offered a one-week exchange.
Lyceè Pierre-Marie Thèas is located in Mantauban, France Emmanuel students are offered an extended exchange program from November to January each year.
This school is the larger of two high schools located in the city of Bayeux, France. Emmanuel students visit this school on the French Language and Cultural Study Tour. Emmanuel students are offered a one-week exchange program. The host families are extremely generous in their efforts to make our students feel welcome, taking their guests on visits to surrounding areas during the weekend.
Tokiwamatsu High School is located in Tokyo. Emmanuel College hosts Tokiwamatsu students in term 1 every year.
Miura is a sister city to Warrnambool. Each year Emmanuel College, in partnership with the City of Warrnambool, hosts visitors from Miura. The City of Miura provides a language assistant to the College for a one-year stay each year.
