Mr. Andre Shearer, our highly respected Newberry Chairman, CEO of CapeClassics and Founder of the Indaba Education Fund, recently attended – along with Chief Executive Officers of some of the world’s leading companies and other influential global leaders – the Horasis Global Meeting in Cascais, Portugal. http://www.horasis.org/event_global_2017.php
According to Dr. Frank-Jürgen Richter Chairman Horasis, who opened the event: The Global Visions Community Switzerland: “The Horasis Global Meeting aims to be the world’s foremost annual gathering of business leaders who interact with heads of governments and key ministers as well as Nobel laureates and other thought leaders. The meeting’s purpose is to advance solutions to the most critical challenges facing corporations today. Participants share a common interest in mapping our global economies.
Under the theme ‘Building Togetherness’, participants will share insights on the current state of the world which seem to become more fragile and fractious. Citizens around the world are less trusting of their governments, institutions, and neighbours. We need to build a new togetherness, to raise our belief in our inventiveness and in our ability to overcome oppression. The Horasis Global Meeting shall devise novel ideas to sustain and nurture our development in the future.”
Mr. Carlos Carreiras, Cascais Mayor, and host of the 2017 meeting described the purpose of Horasis as such: “We seek to build bridges, instead of walls, aiming at a more competitive, sustainable, solidary and free world. Our motto is that we may be a better place to live in, be it for one day or a lifetime. And, in order to attain our ambition, we need to be the best place to invest in, to start a business or to raise a family.”
These meetings are held in the recognition that growth strategies require thought leadership and mutually beneficial peer-to-peer networks. The programmes are structured to provide a maximum amount of knowledge exchange and interaction in a variety of formal and informal settings. The meetings permit candid and intensive dialogue whilst incorporating a diversity of views and experience.
Newberry House Montessori school considers it an honour that Mr Andre Shearer, our Chairman, was invited to not only attend this prestigious event but also address participants as part of the panel – “Educating to Shape the Future”, alongside peers such as, amongst others, Mathew Jacobson, Founder, Ducere, Australia; Paul Judge, Alderman of the City of London, United Kingdom; Ricardo Borges Rodrigues, Professor, University Institute of Lisbon, Portugal; Zhu Li, Member of Council, China Society of World Economics, China; and chaired by Keith Burnett, Vice-Chancellor, University of Sheffield, United Kingdom.
Education is an important pillar to create personal fulfillment as well as togetherness in society, and as such, the mandate of this forum was to address such issues as:
- What metrics exist?
- How to ensure all teachers teach well?
- What education modes are possible in different sectors in different cultures?
- What may be available in the future?
The talk presented by Mr. Shearer was titled “Montessori in Early Childhood as a pathway to community development”.
In Mr. Shearer’s words: “… it was a seriously impressive group of people and my overwhelming sense is that what we are trying to build at Newberry House, let alone the importance of our Indaba Montessori Institute AMI teacher training program, is SO current, relevant and cutting edge. The very future of education as it stands is in question. I met some remarkable people with whom we will develop cooperation in the very near future.”
We thank our Chairman for his commitment to Montessori education and to Newberry house, but mostly for his vision and leadership in the arena of transformational education. We reap the benefits of this each day at our lovely Montessori school.