OPINION
We managed to build a school which created a buzz all over the world for its innovative practices and processes
change. We want to assist them to marry their expertise in leading teaching and learning with real-world know-how in managing change, in order to maximise their impact on our children’s capacities, skills and readiness to face the daunting challenges of the 21st century. I met Richard when we were brought together by our mutual friend and mentor Sir Ken Robinson. I am a campaigner and consultant, best known in music education circles for championing the Music Manifesto; Richard is a former primary school headteacher, now a sought-after international speaker and consultant on change, creativity and educational strategy. Together we have formed Think Again Education, which offers a range of courses and development opportunities in three key areas: managing change, promoting schools and their achievements, and attracting new investment into schools. Richard visits schools every week and it’s clear to him that the demand from heads and senior leaders for support in these areas has never been greater.
‘Many senior educators feel alone,
without the guidance and resources that used to be available from central or local government. But most educators know the answers. They know what’s right for children – it’s what drives them every day. They
Above: Richard Gerver
need support though, to give them new confidence and skills.’ Richard and I first met in New York, where we were helping Sir Ken Robinson with various projects. I’d heard a lot from Sir Ken, about how Richard had turned around a really under-performing school through imaginative approaches to learning, the curriculum and creative leadership, not to mention a lot of hard work. We started talking in the living room of one of the founders of the Blue Man Group theatre troupe. They wanted our thoughts on creating the Blue School in Manhattan. Their vision was to inject the same creativity and energy into elementary education as they put into their spectacular music, comedy and multimedia performances. Richard’s work as the headteacher of the Grange School near Derby had brought him to international attention. Encouraged by Sir Ken to tell his story more widely, he was signed up by the Washington Speakers Bureau and began travelling the world, talking on education, innovation and change. His audiences now range from educators to the likes of Google, Microsoft and MacDonald’s. The Grange was on the brink of closure when Richard arrived, and he soon realised that only a radical, very different approach could save it.
‘With the help of a remarkable team of people, and 500 extraordinary kids, we managed to build a school which created a buzz all over the world for its innovative practices and processes, and the way we put what were traditionally regarded as soft skills at the heart of the curriculum.’ I quickly realised, as we talked in
New York, that Richard and I shared a lot of thoughts about how education systems could serve our children better, and how teachers themselves could be empowered to act differently. Fired up by our trip and interest in each other’s work, we vowed to stay in touch and to keep talking. In 2004, well before I met Richard,
I had been asked by the then Schools Minister, David Miliband, to advise government on music and arts education and to champion the Music Manifesto (to which Yamaha was a leading signatory). It became the most successful arts campaign in UK history
and led to significant new investment in the teaching and learning of music, as well as landmark schools’ programmes, like Sing Up. Keen to continue supporting organisations and individuals to innovate and make changes, I had begun working with two colleagues from my days as a commissioner at the BBC, and had formed the consultation and training agency, Think Again Media. Soon, the first opportunity for Richard and myself to work together presented itself.
Think Again was running a series of training seminars and development programmes with the Federation of Music Services, Sing Up and other arts organisations. With an election pending, we had predicted the climate of the Henley Review and felt strongly that brilliant music educators had been doing wonderful work in and out of schools, but hadn’t been given enough credit for it locally. Our mantra was, ‘Get heard, and get your work noticed by heads, parents and decision makers. Be less humble and less modest because what you do for children is too important to undersell. I invited Richard to add a headteacher’s perspective to the training. He helped music services in particular to re-think the way they sold themselves to schools. And he proved an immediate hit. Richard’s insights showed that, as well as being recognised for their contribution to pupil attainment and school life, music teachers needed to feel more confident in their own powers of communication. They needed to be able to inspire school leaders and excite them about the importance of music and the wider skills it brings to children and young people. I began to realise these were behaviours that school leaders also needed to apply in promoting the value and impact of their schools on children’s lives.
Our clients loved Richard, not
least because he connected with their mission and their passion for children’s music. I believe he brought a real sense of what it is like at the coalface of British education right now, and an understanding of what is going on in the busy, pressured minds of headteachers and senior leaders. He also gave a sense of how things
could be different - why what music educators do is so important. At the same time, his own passion for learning shone through, reminding everyone of why they got into
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