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The Big Gold Box made its third visit to Wellington College last week, connecting pupils in Crowthorne with communities around the globe in a fully immersive experience. The gold-painted dimly-lit shipping container created by Shared Studios, uses video conferencing technology and a floor-to-ceiling screen to give users the feeling that they’re speaking to someone in the same room.
A collaboration across Global Education, the Chaplaincy and Global Citizenship, The Big Gold Box helps pupils to develop intercultural understanding, take part in transformational conversations, communicate ideas, gain perspective and build empathy. Over the course of five days, students explored important issues and universal themes including human and social rights, the climate crisis, beliefs and belonging, art and cultural expression and global education
For the first time, subject lessons were taken in the portal this year, alongside the usual open sessions that all pupils are welcome to sign up for. IB Politics students ran an engagement activity where they spoke to refugees in Erbil, Iraq about their experiences. Through curious, open-minded conversations they learnt about the factors that lead to displacement and how communities can start to rebuild. The Spanish Department ran lessons with native speakers in Mexico and Third Form English pupils spoke to a group in Johannesburg about storytelling and how poetry can inform and communicate identity. The Maths Society talked about climate change and statistics with a climate action group from Walkers Reserve in Barbados.
Other sessions included exploring art as a tool for problem solving with groups in Uganda who are finding creative ways to build housing and facilities with recycled plastic waste, and exploring how maths can be used to fight climate change in Rwanda.
Georgia H (L6) was part of a group of IB ESS pupils who spoke to university students from Kigali University in Rwanda about challenges to biodiversity around the world.
Georgia said, “I felt that I gained a new perspective afterwards. I always think that it’s one thing to visit a country on holiday or research about it, but the true knowledge and experience comes from the people who live there. I really enjoyed sharing ideas and problems; for example, I learned that one of the students has started up a project of creating a renewable source of fire starters. This helps tackle the issue of coal use when cooking in Sierra Leone as many people are getting severe illnesses and implications to their health after long-term exposure.”
All of the sessions in The Big Gold Box are facilitated by Shared Studios who set the scene, highlight the importance of respecting differences and encourage pupils to get involved. Last year, the pupils spoke to footballers and coaches from the Naki-Football Academy at the Nakivale refugee settlement in Uganda. Although their life experiences were starkly different, they found common ground in discussions around their favourite football players. Further links have been forged with communities within the Nakivale refugee camp after former Wellington drama teacher, Alex Mancuso, helped leaders at the camp set up drama workshops for some of the young people who live there.
All the sessions are designed to benefit both parties involved in the conversations. When Wellington pupils spoke to ‘We are not numbers’ in Gaza City, Palestine in 2022, the group wanted to share the human stories behind the numbers in the news. It’s as important for their voices to be heard as it is for Wellington pupils to discover the world outside their own and hear different perspectives.
After the previous visit of The Big Gold Box in 2022, pupils’ global competencies were assessed via survey and more than 80% of pupils expressed having learned something new, while more than 70% of students expressed a change in perspective on global culture. More than 80% of the pupils who completed the survey expressed a greater sense of connection to those different than themselves.
It is the third year that Georgia H has participated in The Big Gold Box and the immersive programme has had a profound impact on her.
Georgia says, “I have always had this fascination with other people’s cultures and lives as I have lived in multiple areas of the world. The most recent time I visited The Big Gold Box was the one I found the most interesting because the conversation turned from discussing the agriculture struggles between Australia and Rwanda – regarding landslides in Rwanda and the threat of bushfires in Australia – to conservation of flagship species such as gorillas and lions as in Rwanda alone tourism makes up for 25% of their GDP. I now have a wider perspective on the world as I was able to discuss matters in person, something that many people are not able to do. These experiences have definitely impacted my possible career choices. I want to venture into more unknown parts of the world to learn about new cultures and perspectives.”
Ana Romero, Head of Sustainability & Global Education Coordinator reflects that “As the Big Gold Box returned to Wellington College, it ignited a tapestry of global connections, weaving together diverse perspectives and fostering profound empathy. Through immersive conversations from Erbil to Johannesburg, from Mexico to Barbados, our students delved into the heart of pressing global issues, transforming classrooms into portals of understanding. This year’s journey, facilitated by Shared Studios, not only broadened our minds but deepened our sense of interconnectedness and empathy, echoing the sentiment that we find our common humanity in embracing differences.”
