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Some quotations related to the theme of the conference:

You say you want a revolution
Well you know we all want to change the world
Lennon/McCartney

Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. Leo Tolstoy

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Mahatma Gandhi

Never underestimate the power of a few committed people to change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. Margaret Mead

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. Aesop

Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Whenever men or women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe. Elie Wiesel (holocaust survivor)

To me it seems that to give happiness is a far nobler goal than to attain it: and that what we exist for is much more a matter of relations to others than a matter of individual progress: much more a matter of helping others to heaven than of getting there ourselves. Lewis Carroll

It is a brave and honest person who can stand apart from the masses and openly challenge its most treasured beliefs. Donna Evans

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win. Mahatma Gandhi

Now is a rushing river. There are those who would hug the shore, but there is no shore. Push off into the stream. Hold your head above the frey. See who else is in the midst of things, and celebrate. Native American saying

Only those who risk going too far can possibly know how far they can really go. T.S. Eliot

The only true failure in life is to stop trying. Author unknown

The possibility that we may fail in the struggle should not deter us from supporting a cause we believe to be just. Abraham Lincoln

The man who moved a mountain is the one who started taking away the small stones. Old Chinese Proverb

A hundred years from now it will not matter the sort of house I lived in, what my bank account was, or the car I drove...but the world may be a better place because I was important in the life of a child or one of God's creatures on this earth. Anon

The turtle only makes progress when it's neck is stuck out. Rollo May

Miracles start to happen when you give as much energy to your dreams as you do to your fears. Richard Wilkins

It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. J K Rowling

Today's mighty oak is just yesterday's nut that held its ground. Author unknown

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. Martin Luther King

My grandfather once told me that there were two kinds of people: those who do the work and those who take the credit. He told me to try to be in the first group; there was much less competition. Indira Gandhi

IBSCA Students' Conference 2004
Tuesday 8 June 2004

Hosted by St Clare's, Oxford, England,

in association with IBSCA

This is an annual conference, open to IB Diploma students in IB schools and colleges in the UK and Ireland.

This year's IBSCA Students' Conference takes place on Tuesday 8th June. Details of the day are still being completed, but the general format is as follows...

Theme
Organisation of the Conference:

Pre-Conference
Timings
Discussion Groups
Study Sessions
Lunch Groups
Post-Conference

Costs
Registration
Contact

Theme

It is often suggested that young people feel themselves to be powerless and yet they are concerned about the future. Many see the need for society to change to deal with issues ranging from environmental degradation and globalisation to inequality and conflict. Too often, they see "the system" as being impervious to their concerns. But, if they look, they can find examples of people who have made a difference – people who have pushed aside their familiar routines to facilitate change.

For this year's conference, we want to expose students to case-studies involving people who have tried to make a difference and to then facilitate debate on what they can do, including discussing the legitimacy of various modes of action.

The theme of this year's IBSCA Student Conference is therefore:

From Personal Change to Social Action

Organisation of the Conference

Pre-Conference

Visiting students, and their accompanying staff, are very welcome to arrive in Oxford on the afternoon of Monday 7th June. Accommodation will be available in one of the St Clare's houses.

On the Monday evening we will organise events in Oxford combining social activities with opportunities for visitors who are unfamiliar with the city to see more of it. We sincerely hope that students from a number of schools will take up this offer so that the degree of social interchange between students can be as wide as possible.

As another pre-conference event, we intend to screen a feature film such as Erin Brockovich, Gandhi or Schindler’s List if there seems to be demand for this.

Timings

The Conference itself is on Tuesday 8th June. Probable timings for the day are:

8:45 – 9:15 Registration (allocation to groups etc.)
9:15 – 9:45 Discussion group meeting #1
10:00 – 10:45 Study session A
11:00 – 11:45 Study session B
12:00 – 13:00 Study session C
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch groups
14:00 – 14:45 Study session D
15:00 – 16:00 Discussion group meeting #2

Discussion Groups

Each student will be allocated to a discussion group. Each discussion group will be arranged to include students from as many schools and as many nationalities as possible. Each group will contain approximately 14 students. The group’s first meeting will be for students to get to know each other and to start to explore issues relating to social change.

During the day, students will attend four different Study groups. The day will be arranged so that the members of each discussion group attend different combinations of Study groups. Then, in the final discussion group meeting, they will report back on the issues that they explored during the day and discuss the legitimacy of different modes of action.

Study Sessions

During each of the four Study sessions, there will be presentations and workshops. Further details on the presentations will be made clearer as we approach the date of the conference. Up-to-date information will be available on both the St Clare’s website and on this of the IBSCA website.

The current list of presentations (lecture-style format followed by questions) and workshops (discussions with people who have tried to or succeeded in effecting social change) is (this list will be up-dated as titles become clearer):

Taking risks for human rights – Peter Tatchell describes his use of direct action (e.g. his attempted citizen’s arrest of Robert Mugabe)
The anti-globalisation movement
Cycling from Cape Town to London to raise funds for Ant-Slavery campaigns
The risks of resistance during the apartheid years in South Africa between 1948 and 1994
Making the Personal Political (how to start a charity organization, how to promote/raise awareness of an issue, how identity and a sense of personal responsibility can make a difference, and how to effect change from abroad)
Working with the poor in Pinochet’s Chile
Student politics in Côte d’Ivoïre
Making a difference in Kenya
Supporting asylum seekers in the UK
Working with mentally-handicapped adults
The contemporary struggle for queer human rights (discussion group with Peter Tatchell)
Voluntary work in Africa
Setting up a charity (we have a number of possible workshops on this)
Campaigning for Friends of the Earth
Local projects to preserve threatened environments
Campaigning for the freedom of Tibet
The struggle for Palestine
Political action by the National Union of Students
From drug abuser to campaigner for drugs education
There are also a number of other ideas that still require a bit of "sharpening"

Visiting schools are encouraged to add to this list through presentations by their staff and/or students.

In addition, we are encouraging a few of our students to develop shorter presentations on successful Service projects with which they are involved. These include:

STEP (St Clare’s Tanzanian Education Project)
KEEN (Kids Enjoy Exercise Now)
St Clare’s Environmental Action Group

Visiting schools are also invited to give short presentations on distinctive Service projects.

Lunch Groups

During lunch we are hoping to set up further discussion forums where students can share their perceptions of the Diploma Programme and/or university preparation.

Visiting schools are invited to suggest topics/themes that they would like to include in these discussion forums.

Post-Conference

Visitors are also welcome to join in with activities after the Conference and to stay overnight if they need to. But, we would like all visitors to leave by 9:00 on the morning of Wednesday 9th (so that our normal teaching can resume).

Costs

Overnight accommodation costs £22 per person.
The day's conference (including lunch) costs £8 per person.

Registration

Visiting schools are asked to register students and staff by 14th May. Download and print out a conference registration form
(pdf file, 56KB). To view this file, you need Adobe Reader, a free download.

Contact

Please address queries on the Conference to:

Keith Allen
Vice-Principal
St Clare's, Oxford
139 Banbury Road
Oxford
OX2 7AL

Telephone: 01865-552031
Fax: 01865-310002
Email: keith.allen@stclares.ac.uk

International Baccalaureate Schools and Colleges Association (IBSCA)
www.ibsca.org.uk Email: info@ibsca.org.uk Contact the Webmaster

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