IN ASSOCIATION WITH


School Bath


of most of the perpetrators, has prompted a great deal of soul searching. What values do these people, our fellow citizens, have? What sense, if any, of social responsibility or ties to society? For educationalists, it brings into sharp focus the vital question


of how we are bringing up our young people. A disaffected underclass is nothing new, of course, as anyone familiar with Hogarth’s depictions of Georgian London will testify, but I couldn’t help a wry smile when I saw TV footage in which those plundering a devastated Hugo Boss outlet entirely ignored the neighbouring Waterstone’s! Is it incriminating or just embarrassing for me to admit that if I were to go looting, I would be smashing my way into Waterstone’s? The great Swiss psychologist, Jean Piaget, famously declared:


“Intelligence is what you use when you don’t know what to do.” Perhaps I am hopelessly naïve, but my gut feeling is that many of the young people involved in the recent disorder were not inherently evil or hard-wired criminals. Rather, faced with an unfamiliar and adrenaline-fuelled scenario and a powerful group dynamic which normalised criminal behaviour, some at least simply made unintelligent decisions. For these decisions, many will now pay a heavy price, in the form of life-long criminal records. A central part of education in its broadest sense, then, must be


the process of equipping our young people to be able to think intelligently on their feet. But at the heart of this proposition lies a contested concept: for what exactly is ‘intelligence’? Perhaps the most important insight of recent times is that of Howard Gardner, author of the theory of ‘multiple intelligences’. Gardner asserts that there is not one intelligence but eight distinct intelligences: logical-mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily-kinaesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, naturalistic and linguistic. Simplistically expressed, that is numbers, sounds, sights,


actions, people, feelings, nature, and words. His theory represents a huge development. For much of the 20th century, ‘intelligence’ simply meant one’s score in IQ tests, which focus largely on the linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences, to the exclusion of the others. Gardner’s theory, on the other hand, liberates from being labelled as ‘thick’ many people who aren’t, people whose strongest suits are clearly recognisable, if not always straightforwardly measurable. We are all born with, and can further develop, a range of intelligences. So the question isn’t “How smart are you?” but rather “How are you smart?”


Below: Work hard at school and you will get a good job, people say, but for how much do exam results really count?


The intelligence debate T


Martin Priestley, headmaster of Warminster School, says let’s not perpetuate the great educational lie that if you do well at school you will get a good job. Martin says his view that exam results don’t count for everything may be heretical but ‘intelligence’ should be measured by more than grades.


HE CIVIL disorder seen across the UK over recent weeks has been a deeply troubling development. In particular, the widespread looting, given the horrifyingly young age


But what about genes and heredity, I hear the sceptics ask? Undoubtedly, some will have more potential than others. But to say that we can measure people at a given time, before their brain has fully matured, and accurately determine how clever or stupid they are, or ever will be, is like claiming to be able to judge how good a driver someone is, before they’ve even had a driving lesson. Heredity plays a part, but nothing that good parenting and good schooling cannot influence significantly. As Professor Robert Winston, that enlightened 21st century


scientist, puts it: “The kind of child you have depends almost entirely on how you bring it up. Genes and inherited dispositions are pieces of trivia, really.” So intelligence is not just multiple but malleable: if we teach children to be cleverer, and they work hard to try to become so, then they will be cleverer – and that, in my book, is at the heart of education. This brings me to the ‘Great Educational Lie’, pinpointed by


Ian Gilbert in his brilliant book, Why Do I Need A Teacher When I’ve Got Google? Peddled at all schools, presumably for centuries, it runs as follows: do well academically and you will get a good job. As a way of keeping noses to the grindstone, it is a powerful argument. This may explain its longevity but, as Gilbert points out, it is a dangerous lie, principally because of its unspoken but clearly implied flip-side: if you don’t do well, you are doomed to a life of unfulfilling drudgery. Such deterministic logic, of course, is likely to breed resentment, which does little to promote a well- functioning and orderly society. Thankfully, life isn’t that simple. You cannot expect to be given


a good job simply because you have done well academically. We have all met people who are highly qualified but who do not have a clue: “Big hat, no cattle,” as they say. Having top qualifications can open up great opportunities; having none can result in underachievement or frustration. But there is no direct causal link – and thank goodness for that, because if there were, then vast numbers of this country’s 16-year-olds would justifiably feel doomed to a life of failure. In fact, many other factors are at least equally important as academic qualifications: emotional intelligence, creativity, resilience, common sense, energy, determination, to name but a few. This may sound heretical for a headmaster to state, but reflecting on the events of recent weeks puts the frenzy around the publication of examination results into context, and that may not be a bad thing for all concerned.


• Martin Priestley (MA Oxon) has been headmaster of Warminster School since 2006. Warminster School is a co-educational day and boarding school of more than 600 pupils, aged three to 18. The school is a recent member of the prestigious Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference. To contact him, email headmaster@ warminsterschool.org.uk or telephone 01985 210100.


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WILTSHIRE LIFE Schools Supplement October 2011


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