Create Collaboratively

By Cindy Santos Bravo, interim director of visual and performing arts
When we work collaboratively, there is so much we can gain to advance education into its next chapter, but the opportunities can be overlooked if we splinter into singular accomplishments. How do we listen to each other, and what do we wish to cultivate for the next generation? Whether you are a part of the Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Gen X or Millennials, we are all living in a network, and we must connect ourselves to both the familiar and the unknown with an unwavering belief in each other.
 
In 2013, the business world transformed the military acronym VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity), to address strategic leadership in the world we live in. A VUCA world is a tumultuous and ever-changing set of global scenarios that trigger a broad-spectrum of responses in every generation. When I think of this term used in the service of education, I am moved toward a responsibility to participate and innovate with my peers and reassert my position in the world as an actively practicing artist.
 
What equips us to personalize and affect the environment we belong to? Recall Picasso’s statement that, “An artist paints not what he sees, but what he thinks about what he sees.” It is a remarkable moment when we freely share our ideas and construct them in real-time. We must practice thinking differently. This surge of awareness will take us into VUCA 2.0, where Vision, Understanding, Courage, and Adaptability lead every decision.
 
In today’s world—even with multiple generation gaps—we can make a daily choice to exist as a network, and it is important that we propose additional perspectives of humanity. Composer and playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda turned his concern for Puerto Ricans affected by Hurricane Maria into a collaborative song that brought together musicians from different eras to add optimism to communities needing to begin anew. Composer Tania León collaborated with interdisciplinary scholar Thulani Davis and historian Henry Louis Gates Jr. to create Little Rock Nine, a commissioned opera that shed light on the dignity of rising by learning.
 
“We need to restore the primal empathy that so many scientists are telling us is hardwired into our brains,” is a call to action set forth by Donna Hicks, Ph.D., and a beautiful reminder to stay connected. At La Jolla Country Day School, as a team of faculty, staff, administrators, students and parents, we must value diversity and seek common threads that will help us create our future, together.

Back

La Jolla Country Day School

9490 Genesee Avenue
La Jolla, CA 92037
858-453-3440

© 2024 La Jolla Country Day School 

Privacy Policy

COVID-19 Prevention Plan

Country Day Connection Newsletter