As the world get smaller and the threats get nearer, the need for our students to work, play and learn together in a connected global community becomes even more critical.

This week I had the opportunity to work with teachers who are starting student collaborative projects as part of the Department of Education’s Knowing Our Neighbors projects, where students learn about each other in our province. While not global in scope, I hope that many of these teachers and students will use these opportunities to develop the skills and insights to move to larger projects.

Tomorrow is November 11th, celebrated as Remembrance Day here in Canada. It marks the armistice to end WW1. We pause to remember and honor the many brave men and women who gave so much to protect our values. As I look around a shrinking global community fraught with dangers to our communities, I see an ever increasing need for students to connect, to share their stories, to understand.

I live in a community where many families have members of the military.  While I sometimes question our involvement in far flung conflicts, I do respect the tremendous dedication and sacrifice made by these soldiers and their families.  While military action is sometimes necessary, education will be the real artillery in the battle to shape the minds and values of tomorrow’s global citizens.

In honor of those brave men and women who fought so bravely in the past, and continue to do so today, I offer John McCrae’s 1915 poem…

In Flanders Fields…

In Flanders fields the poppies grow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

— John McCrae

tags: technology, education, learning, whipple