To increase global understanding
"A different language is a different vision of life." - Federico Fellini, Italian film director "No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive." - Mohandas K. Gandhi, Indian nationalist and spiritual leader "In a world where nations and peoples are ever more dependent upon on another to supply goods and services, solve political disputes, and ensure international security, understanding other cultures is paramount. A person competent in other languages can bridge the gap between cultures, contribute to international diplomacy, promote national security and world peace, and successfully engage in international trade. As globalization and mobility and communications are bring the world ever closer together, ever more urgent is the need for global citizens to be competent in other languages". |
Most people in the world are multilingual, and everybody could be; no one is rigorously excluded from another's language community except through lack of time and effort. Different languages protect and nourish the growth of different cultures, where different pathways of human knowledge can be discovered. They certainly make life richer for those who know more than one of them.
(Nicholas Ostler, Empires of the Word) |
What is an IB Education?
"Intercultural understanding involves recognizing and reflecting on one's own perspective as well as the perspectives of others. To increase intercultural understanding, IB programmes foster learning how to appreciate critically many beliefs, values, experiences and ways of knowing. The goal of understanding the world's rich cultural heritage invites the IB community to explore human commonality, diversity, and interconnection." |