INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY SCHOOL OF ABIDJAN
The International Community School of Abidjan (ICSA) is a non-profit international school founded in 1972 by members of the US embassy in Cote d’Ivoire.
It is accredited by the Middle States Association of Schools and Colleges (MSA) and the International Baccalaureate (IBO). Teaching and learning is guided by the Common Core Collaborative (CGC) and AERO Standards.
The student population is 520 (Pre-K to Grade 12), representing 74 nationalities.
A teaching staff of 84 representing 19 U.S. citizens, 25 host-country nationals and 40 third- country nationals.
The International Community School of Abidjan (ICSA) is one of the pilot schools from our first cohort of work with the Association of International Schools in Africa (AISA). You can read more on this pilot here.
The ICSA school was keen to become GEC Members in order to:
… “DETERMINE THE STATUS OF OUR DEIJ CLIMATE AT ICSA. TO GAIN BASELINE DEMOGRAPHIC DATA FOR COMMON UNDERSTANDING ABOUT OUR VARIOUS AREAS OF DIVERSITY. TO LEARN MORE ABOUT HOW TO MAKE OUR DEIJ JOURNEY MORE ABOUT THE PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY BY HONOURING THEIR EXPERIENCES. TO FINALLY ASCERTAIN AREAS OF HEALING AND LEARNING, IN AN ATTEMPT TO BRING OUR COMMUNITY TOGETHER AND PREVENT BEHAVIOUR AND ACTIONS THAT MAY BE HARMFUL TO STAFF AND STUDENTS. WE WANT TO MAKE THE CHANGES THAT WILL ENSURE OUR SCHOOL IS PROGRESSIVE AND INNOVATIVE AND WHERE ALL STAKEHOLDERS FEEL THEY BELONG, ARE HEARD AND CAN CONTRIBUTE.”
“I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE GEC PLATFORM FOR SCHOOLS LOOKING TO GROW IN DEVELOPING THEIR BELIEFS, VALUES AND ACTION TOWARDS DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND JUSTICE.”
“THE GEC PLATFORM HAS BEEN AN ESSENTIAL TOOL IN PROVIDING US WITH A STARTING POINT FOR OUR DEIJ ACTION AND AREAS OF URGENCY. IT PROVIDES US WITH ONGOING GUIDELINES BASED ON THE EXPERIENCES OF OUR TEACHERS. IT HAS FOSTERED BETTER UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN US AS INTERNATIONAL EDUCATORS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS.”
SIENTANIA MCNEIL, ICSA GEC CHAMPION
GEC PLATFORM OUTCOMES
“Results illustrated that there were many blindspots that we did not consider when we looked at DEIJ at our school. GEC allowed for staff to participate with the assurance of confidentiality, therefore, participation was above our anticipated 60%.
The results affirmed some areas of challenge expected in our context of being a school with 84 nationalities, diverse cultures and languages, in addition to the socio-political external influences that exist in Côte d’Ivoire.
The results highlighted the need for our community to begin challenging our biases and reflect upon how problematic these are, with a commitment to model the change we would like to see.
The actionable items from the GEC Platform have given us practical guidance on the areas of needed attention-such as ensuring that policies of anti-harassment are accessible to staff, further offering us resources related to Microaggressions for example-to support our community to grow in our sensitivity towards inclusive behavioural practices.
The staff at ICSA also received the snapshot of the results which was followed by a presentation during orientation week. This was a deeper dive into the area of Belonging and Inclusion at our school. The demographic results gave us much needed insight into the various identities and beliefs that exist within our teaching staff. This helped to conscientize our broader sense of diversity and begin the conversation about what our DEIJ values are.
The results in this particular section brought to the fore areas of grievance that have not been addressed and gave staff a chance to be heard. Following the GEC Staff Survey, the school’s leadership team also facilitated team building through a local company for intercultural sensitivity in the workplace.”