Learner Profile – Collaborative

Here at Green Point Christian College, one of the ways we seek to live out our purpose is through our Learner and Graduate Profile. The Learner Profile is not simply a nice image on the website, it is a document that the staff consider regularly and it helps us shape the work that we undertake here at the College. It represents the core traits and skills that we are seeking to form and nurture into our students.

One of the things that we desire for our students is the skills and character to be collaborative.

Today we live in a deeply individualistic society, our western culture’s dominant narrative is described by the philosopher Charles Taylor as expressive individualism. This idea is now so prevalent in our culture that it is largely assumed, and we rarely consider it overtly. We see evidence of it everywhere, in our public discourse, in the ongoing shaping effects of technology, and on our Tik Tok reels. Individualism has also reached into much of our work and school life, where our concern quickly is about my outcomes and my performance. This tends to drive competition and it weakens social bonds both in our schools and in our society more broadly. 

Here at Green Point Christian College, we are seeking to shape our students differently to this. While we uphold that everyone is made in the image of God and therefore precious and unique. We also believe that we are called to use our diversity for the benefit of our community. That we find our best selves in the context of others and in the context of the community in which we live.

In the Bible it speaks about this idea using the metaphor of the body. In 1 Corinthians it speaks of the different parts of the body and the vitality each part has in the context of the whole. In Ephesians 4 it says.

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Because we understand that as humans we work best in this way, here at GPCC we seek to help our students to have the skills they need to be collaborative. Skills such as sharing, active listening, emotional intelligence, adaptability, communication, open mindedness and organisation. These skills support students to be able to collaborate with each other and spur each other on. It help them to understand themselves in the context of a community of others, strengthen their sense of social cohesion and give them a sense of belonging.

Joel van Bentum
Principal