Leaders – starting them young

I’m sitting at the edge of a classroom filled with young teenagers, a mix of boys and girls.

They come from different schools and, this being a Saturday morning, they’re all wearing their hippest gear – tatty jeans, mini-skirts, baubles, bangles, and a mobile phone in each pair of hands.

They share a common denominator – a Connecting Classrooms T-shirt.

A game is going on and this bunch of young students seem to be actually enjoying it all. The game sounds simple enough – remember a list of numbers, take note of a couple of crucial rules and be sharp enough when your turn comes next to remember everything you’re supposed to remember.

This is just one session of a project called Connecting Classrooms, a British Council initiative that sees the British Council working in collaboration with the Ministry of Education.

The initiative involves 10 Maltese schools and a couple of hundred students. The specific training course, which is being held at the St Ignatius Girls’ School in Blata l-Bajda, is aimed at engaging students into involving themselves for a few hours to learn how to become young leaders.

The British Council’s rationale sounds simple enough – this should be an opportunity for teenage students across Europe to get their voice heard and through their own voice, that of their community.

Apart from training youths in leadership skills, Connecting Classrooms also aims to train them in cultural awareness and hone their skills of global citizenship in a day and age when cultural boundaries are being knocked over sideways. There is more to it than meets the eye however, and it is not all about playing games in a classroom.

Earlier on this year a team of 10 Maltese teachers engaged in this project travelled to Cyprus to attend an International Coordinators’ Training Course. The teachers were provided with training in project management skills and in developing school projects with teachers from other countries.

The Connecting Classrooms project is not exclusive to Malta but involves 60 different countries with students from each respective country participating in collaborative projects. Through these joint exercises, geographical boundaries are reduced and cultural differences are better understood and accepted.

A direct aid to this project is a constant online link that helps create a vibrant online community of networking students and teachers. Maltese schools are at present actively sharing projects with students from schools in Wales, Cyprus and Ukraine.

This is not the first time such projects have been laid out by the British Council. Previous examples are legacy projects of proven success such as Indie, Challenges in Schools, and Dreams and Teams.

Through such projects, schools and teachers have been encouraged to change practices, structures, procedures and teaching activities to the benefit of their students.

The three-year project in which the schools are involved has varied Maltese teachers working independently to rope in students whom they identify as most likely to benefit from the experience, and in turn most likely to help others benefit from their newly acquired leadership skills.

One teacher explains, “Today we have some 100 youths here, an average of 10 from the different schools on board. It isn’t always easy to get teenagers to commit themselves to such events – we have to work hard to keep up the momentum and to keep them constantly interested to attend any events organised or the regular meetings at school.”

Another teacher says, “Definitely, these are interesting learning experiences for us all, but there is a level of regular commitment required us as teachers once we become involved, and from the students once they promise to become involved.

“We see that students benefit hugely from these events – they can connect and meet others; they are included even when they suffer a learning impairment, or have a different skin colour or religion… all features which could very quickly isolate them from the rest.”

A third teacher adds: “Maltese children and young people are not as tolerant as one would imagine them to be.

“All those who are somewhat ‘different’ can get picked on and that is definitely not a good basis on which to build our future societies. Therefore there are several youths from different ethnic backgrounds here, so that social boundaries can be better discussed and re-considered.”

In fact, one of the key factors in Connecting Classrooms is the raising of awareness of issues around inclusion. A strong communal feature of Connecting Classrooms is the active chat-line and Skype connection between schools of different countries so that Maltese students can speak directly to foreign peers and learn from the experience.

The games are based on premises indispensable to community – listening to others, being respectful, not being judgmental, embracing teamwork.Whether leadership skills are obtained through learning how to effectively remember the names of others on your team or through finger painting, it is evident that students are already feeling very confident with each other.

Andrew Norton, a 14-year-old Stella Maris College student says, “My teacher told me about these events and encouraged me to take part. As I’ve just come to Malta from the UK, it is a great opportunity for me to learn Maltese and mix with local teenagers.”

Hassan Mohammad, 13, who attends St Clare College in Gżira, commented: “I am excited about being with these students and part of an event happening all over the world. I was born in Dubai and lived in Pakistan until we came here two years ago. It is all very different but I already have many friends.”

Trinity Bugelli is a 13-year-old Canadian student from Maria Regina College Girls’ Secondary, Mosta. She says, “I really enjoy making new friends and learning about leadership skills.”

Sara Ezabe, 14, is from a Maltese-Libyan family. Like Jacqueline Licari, Sarika Ellul and Marina Mallia, she attends St Ignatius College of Blata l-Bajda.

“Our teacher told us about this seminar on leadership, and although we’re not all from the same class, we have become good friends through participating in Connecting Classrooms project.

“We enjoy these events. We all aspire to be good leaders when we grow up – we believe it will help us in our studies and in our future work opportunities. We also want to be more confident with others and this is an excellent way to learn.”

For more information on Connecting Classrooms, visit www.britishcouncil.org/learning-connecting-classrooms.htm.

Have your say

If you wish to contribute an article or would like a particular subject tackled in the Education section, call Davinia Hamilton on 2559 4513 or e-mail dhamilton@timesofmalta.com.