TRINITY COLLEGE

RATIONALE FOR INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY JOURNEY AND IMMERSION

PROGRAM

As a Catholic College, Trinity College first and foremost places the life of Christ and
his Gospel at the centre of all its educational endeavours. In considering Christs life
one sees a life lived in solidarity with others, always present to those on the
peripheries of society, the poor and dispossessed. Jesus recognized all he met as
his brothers and sisters each with absolute dignity and worth. Thus it is the example
of Jesus life that provides the motivation for the Solidarity Journey and Immersion
program at Trinity College. This program which, in conjunction with the other
educational pursuits of the College, seeks to deepen the understanding of young
people as to seeing the other as brother and sister and to bring them to an attitude
and a way of viewing the world that is motivated by the quest for the common good.

Through its Solidarity Journey and Immersion program the College seeks to give life
to the call made by The Congregation for Catholic Education as outlined in its
document Educating to Intercultural Dialogue in Catholic Schools: Living in
Harmony for a Civilization of Love. (2013) In line with this document the College
strives through its Immersion program, to provide students with a deep and rich
experience that helps them reflect on the great problems of our world, particularly the
difficult situations and poor living conditions of many of the human family. The
immersion program is designed in order that students might have the opportunity to
enter into a relationship and be in solidarity with people from a reality beyond their
own.

The international Solidarity and Immersion Journey offered to students of the College
is designed to promote a deep real life experience of another culture the likes of
which cannot be experienced within Australia. The purpose of this journey is for
students to gain insights into the realities of life for our poorest neighbours in both
village and urban contexts as well as to witness the work of the Church as it meets
the material, pastoral and spiritual needs of the communities served by its presence.

Consequentially, students not only learn more about themselves as a result but they
learn first hand about the lives of others living in a different culture. Such learning
sees students develop a sense of great empathy for others, a true and more
heightened awareness of the often great divide between the experience of their own
lives and that of others, particularly in the south East Asian Region, where many of
the countrys populations live in poverty. An International Solidarity and Immersion
Journey has the effect of opening the eyes of students to the world and having them
recognize in a real sense, possibly for the first time, that they are part of global
community. As a consequence of this learning it is hoped that they will take up the
call to stand in solidarity with the poor of the world as the journey of their own lives
unfolds.
The international nature of the Colleges Solidarity Journey and Immersion program
rests on, and is underpinned by, two important national policy platforms; The
Melbourne Declaration for Educational Goals for Young Australians and the
Australian Curriculum. The Melbourne declaration for Educational Goals for Young
Australians calls for the education of our young people to, amongst other things,
promote the development of active and informed Citizens. Citizens who are able to
relate to and communicate across cultures, especially the cultures and countries of
Asia. The Australian Curriculum builds on this, as named amongst its general
capabilities is Intercultural Understanding. Intercultural understanding is developed in
young people as they learn to value their own culture and the culture of others. It is
this development of intercultural understanding, amongst other things, that the
International Solidarity Journey and Immersion program of Trinity College hopes to
develop in students. This is in line also with the Queensland Catholic Education
Commission which is committed to international education that promotes
international cultural intelligence among students and staff at Catholic schools in
Queensland. (International education in Catholic schools in Queensland Position
Statement 2015) The Queensland Catholic Education Commission notes a number
approaches that schools might undertake to achieve this and includes cultural
immersion programs for students and staff as one such approach.