Flexibility in education

During the conference, Eindhoven's city writer, Corinne Heyerman, wrote and recited this poem. It paints a beautiful picture of the day and of what is happening in education in the region.

"Here are people who can say welcome
in several languages
salam aleykoum
welcome
merhaba
or good morning
dzień dobry
dobry ranok.

Here are people with invisible tentacles,
who embrace the children,
embrace all children,
just as they are.
And with that embrace
also the entire network around them.

Here,
people who know that
value is something fleeting
and, like soap,
not so easy to grasp.
That is why it is important
to let curiosity guide us,
to use our eyes,
to unfold our listening
like a carpet.
A foundation on which equality is created.

Five hundred heads here
are connected to lives there
and the faces that go with them.
Here we talk about
the children
the parents
the teachers
the caretaker
the driver
the councillor
the person at the desk
the librarian
and many more people.
All the people who hold the strings of that large entity,
that enormous, capricious balloon called education.

All the people here
have examples in their minds,
images accompanying the words being spoken.

Someone here thinks
of fourteen-year-old Sasja from Ukraine
who came to Eindhoven with her grandmother and mother 3.5 years ago
and moved from an international transition class
to mainstream education,
where she had difficulty making contact with Dutch-speaking pupils,
was amazed: “This mentality is so different”
and now has a bench where she waits for her inclusive group of friends every morning.

Someone else thinks of
the parents of students in vocational education with a language deficit
who can follow a course in care or childcare,
so that their potential is not wasted
and they slowly transform into role models.

Someone thinks of the Western perspective
that she gradually dared to abandon.

Someone thinks of childcare,
which can be the first place to provide important signals and a foundation
for international families.

Another thinks of
the neurodiverse student
who found better support
and is now approached from a position of strength.

Someone thinks of the importance of speaking German,
in the German school to which he is connected.
The children who have German as their mother tongue
and for whom it is important to learn Dutch
but also to continue practising German,
so that they can continue to communicate with their grandparents.

Someone thinks of the parent who was asked to read with his child every day,
but who, due to traumatic events and the accompanying chaos,
could not find the time to do so.

Someone thinks of the robot, which can be a great colleague.

Someone thinks of AI
and the developments it brings to education.

Someone else thinks of the library where he volunteers in the language café
and searched for the right words together with an Iranian mother
to talk about her child during the parent-teacher meeting.

Someone thinks of the booklet she made
in which pupils can read the story of Snow White and Rose Red in Ukrainian.

And so the heads here are filled
with faces
stories
successes
moments that rubbed doubts searches.
With those invisible tentacles a past is also held on to.

The story of Philips,
which goes all the way back to 1891,
when people already saw that cooperation was important
to achieve a liveable society.

To the Philips language schools for employees and their entire families.
But also to the past of
eight years ago,

the regional deal,
and the internationalisation that became a foundation as a result.
A collaboration and connection that is maintained in the city.

With those invisible tentacles, we are also
reaching for the future.
Because those involved in education
are shaping the future on a daily basis,
working on the present for the future,
a movement that is yet to take shape.

When asked whether we have overcome the biggest challenges,
only one person agrees.
The others think of polarisation, geopolitics,
the trends of a changing global climate,
concerns about infrastructure.
The others hold on to the strings to the future
with fear.
Or perhaps more with challenge, with strength.
With an attitude of:
There is still a lot to come,
but together we can handle it.

You might think that
with all those tentacles,
the people here are in a split,
in an impossible position,
like in Twister.
That does not seem to apply to these people,
these people here.
This attitude provides opportunities
and insights that are invaluable.

The people here
stand between the future and the present every day,
all with their chests out.
Proud of the foundation,
that patchwork quilt called education.
They don't need to reinvent the wheel,
they keep seeking connection,
dreaming without limits,
rethinking,
looking for talents,
being open,
searching for ways,
which are sometimes as simple as
looking
listening
and saying the word welcome
in languages
and in ways,

in short:
to everyone.“”