We are forever told, through government initiatives, race
equality organisations and indeed much mainstream liberal media,
that an acceptance of ethnic and cultural diversity is the
foundation of a tolerant and modern British society. However,
there remains, and perhaps there always will, a deep-rooted
distrust of ‘foreign’ influences in social
organisations and foundations. To some extent this must, of
course, be blamed upon archaic notions of superiority in civil
vocations but this is often accompanied by a fear that our own
citizens are unable to reach the skill required; the nagging
question of why do we need foreign nurses and teachers? Many a
debate could indeed ensue from such points but there is a simple
question that is rarely asked in such national institutions as
the NHS and state school system: is cultural and national
diversity a benefit in itself? Although there are many examples of foreign citizens in
British institutions there are few instances of British citizens
in foreign institutions in the UK. Founded in the early 1970s
while enthusiasm for the maturing European Union was at its peak,
however, was a series of schools across the continent that
fostered precisely this situation. Often associated with major
science research centres that required multi-national staff these
schools provided education for their children with the explicit
aim of both maintaining independent national identity while at
the same time experimenting with cultural fusion from an early
age. Having left a traditional prep school aged eight, I was
unprepared for this novel institution. At such an age we are
supposed to be receptive spongelike figures, ready to absorb
whatever is thrown at us, but I was already baffled. Separated in
language sections that we would stay in for the rest of our
school careers there was no option of changing classes and in
fact I was to stay in the same class with several friends for
eleven years. Large English, French and German sections dominated
the year group while smaller Italian and Dutch sections also
existed and the children in these ‘sections’ were
taught everything in their native languages alongside a second
language of their choice. Now obviously such a culturally diverse and unique education
clearly bred a generation of liberal Europhiles, multi-national
but lacking in distinct roots who would sooner jet off and work
in Swiss banks than study for a job in the NHS. Bollocks it did.
In many ways the sectarian system of language groups caused
strife and for my first years there all my friends were in the
English section. However, this is only partially true: none of my
friends were ‘English’, none had two British parents
and it was this type of set-up that the school thrived on. In individual families there was cultural diversity and I was
soon friends with people from over twenty countries without even
leaving my own classroom. And there was certainly no lack of
national pride or spirit. World Cups and European Championships
(the killer) would regularly degenerate into slanging matches
while lessons were often cancelled depending on the nationality
of the teacher and whether their team was playing. All the usual stereotypes and associated judgements existed
too: special directions were pinned to doors at parents’
meetings ready for the arrival of the Italian parents, always
half an hour late; rules had to govern German mothers who would
park across three spaces in the car park (saving them for
friends) ignoring the beach towel jibes from others; and Dutch
students always knew the best people to get dope from (often
their dad). These widespread national rivalries had the effect,
however, of resigning us all to the fact that we were different
and would always be so while at the same time forcing us to
accept it and indeed enjoy it. Visits to friends’ houses
were like trips abroad: one friend had no English food in the
house and only German TV, a little bit of Hamburg we used to call
his home, and an Italian I knew had cured hams and sausages
hanging above the dining- room table and even vines in the
garden. What these schools display so eloquently is that a fusion of
nationalities and culture need not destroy individual
nationalities or cultures, and that actually people can gain and
grow from interaction with their fellows without loosing their
own identity. Frightened of foreign influences, people are losing a crucial
opportunity to absorb and adapt; a necessary step in even basic
evolution. Such a display of weakness shows a lack national
pride, not a defence of it, by fearing the effects of foreign
cultures individuals stall a natural process, not of destruction,
but fusion.ARCHIVE: 4th week TT 2004
Euro Vision
