When people from different traditions mix, it's hard to say what the result will be. This reality is already affecting many schools, and as migratory exchanges increase over the coming decades, it will continue to spread.
Of course, the host society will have to teach the common language, but it's an illusion to think that this same society won't also absorb some of the attitudes, ways of doing things and behaving of the thousands of people arriving with their material and cultural baggage. Certain principles will impose themselves on them, while others will be adapted and exert an influence on the environment that receives them.
With the Internet, we can see what is being done elsewhere in the world; ideas are exchanged at a speed never seen before. The hybridization of ideas is also underway, both good and bad. As with viruses, social organizations are learning to develop their antibodies, and schools are at the forefront of educational initiatives. In the face of corruption and exploitation of the slightest human failing, the ideas of freedom, mutual aid, fairness, respect, communication, accuracy and many others deserve to be affirmed. Why aren't these values better defended? To what extent can mixing cultures help us retain the best of what each has to offer?
Making the right choices certainly implies selecting, but according to what values? The most balanced answer probably lies on the side of those that benefit our entire milieu, which extends beyond national borders, schools of thought or privileges, considering the lives of humans, other living species and everything that makes life better, for all. We can free ourselves from fear of the other and of the future; we can learn to trust our creative and collaborative abilities; these are skills that can also be developed at school, with a little perseverance.
Denys Lamontagne - [email protected]
Illustration: Gerd Altmann - Pixabay
