VIEWS & OPINION
‘Leadership is leadership’ Comment by CHARLOTTE ROWLEY, Acting Principal, St Maria
Goretti Catholic Academy
What a bizarre and difficult few years it has been for the world and of course, for the microcosm of education.
We received somewhat of an influx of criticism from the media, at times labelling us as lazy and inferior. Some people failed to recognise how during the pandemic teachers, leaders, support staff, catering staff and cleaners ALL delivered, but not only that, delivered with STYLE and always a smile, despite their own internal worries, stresses and strains. That was certainly the case in the schools where I worked and it only reinforced and reignited my love for working in education even further.
I am sure that many school staff would agree that a positive to emerge was that there seemed to be a greater togetherness between schools and communities, a tight knitted sense of care and compassion and a diffusing of data driven cultures and exam pressures. The sense of competition was gone because all that mattered was simply the health and well-being of all.
Tell people what you want
Having taught in secondary schools as an English Teacher, then Head of Year, Assistant Headteacher and being blessed with different roles and responsibilities, I had something similar to an epiphany in 2020, a realisation that although I adored my job, a particular passion of mine
Please pause and think about this among the hectic points of the term. You know it’s all worth it!
Working in Education, truly a vocation.
was key stage 2-3 transition and I wanted to make the move to primary leadership. During 2021 I was lucky enough to secure a secondment as Deputy Headteacher at an outstandingly primary school within our MAC and am now Acting Principal at another. I am sharing this simply because I knew what I wanted and I vocalised the dream to others, having previously assumed that the idea would be laughed at or dismissed. I was fortunate that even though we were still among uncertain times (and teaching only online! Remember that?!) the experience I had was invaluable.
What is leadership?
When I had the typical Imposter Syndrome voice of ‘You’re lucky. The luck might just run out’ and ‘Are you sure you can do this? It’s a big change’ somebody said to me, ‘Charlotte, leadership is leadership.’ Whether you’re working on a strategy to empower future leaders, observing lessons, engaging learners, supporting vulnerable groups, the foundations of your actions are always the same, the children and people in your care should always come first, whether 3 or 23. Yes, there are key differences between priorities at primary and secondary level, but they’re exactly that, just different and different challenges.
Compassion is key
Going back to my first point, we can learn a lot from the past few years. Working in education is the best role in the world! It can be fast paced, stressful and unpredictable, but I whole heartedly believe that with kindness and compassion we will steer the children and young people in our care down the right paths. We are all leaders in our own right and all have the potential to win hearts and minds.
The future of education Comment by FELICIA JACKSON, Chair of the Learn2Think
Foundation
Recent exam results have demonstrated how difficult it can be to judge expected results, but the emotional fall out of lower than projected grades and delayed results combined with a definition of success in terms of GCSE and A-level grades only serves to highlight how the educational system is failing our children. Despite the fact that its increasingly accepted that critical thinking is going to be a far more important skill in the 21st century than the ability to remember
details for an exam, the reality is that our educational system today is neither fit for purpose (if that purpose is giving our children an education that will enable them to thrive in the future) or framed in a way that is mentally healthy.
Levels of anxiety are increasing, especially amongst the young. Whether concern is about a burning/drowning planet, a recession and increasing inflation, or that a failure to achieve certain grades equates to an instant failure in life, we need to find new and creative ways to help children that they have some power over their future.
Yet it’s hard to find such new approaches when the structure of today’s schooling is geared entirely towards the generation of good results in an examination procedure set up for a schooling process that was antiquated by the end of the last century.
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www.education-today.co.uk
At the Learn2Think Foundation we have long argued that the key skills we need to teach our children are not being provided. It’s important that we raise a generation of independent thinkers, people who are not afraid to ask why, and prepared to keep asking until we achieve change. We can do this through harnessing the natural curiosity that children are born with, and using that to help build a more equal and sustainable society.
Learning to think, learning how to learn, is an important tool in helping all individuals adapt to a changing and increasingly complex world. Critical thinking fosters resilience, empathy, flexibility of thinking and self- confidence. Such skills offer the best immunisation against misinformation, bullying and indoctrination and yet our educational system insists on children being funnelled in particular directions at a young age, and then judged according to how they perform on exams.
There are certain questions that we have heard asked by teachers that need to be answered. Does our mode of assessment reflect the skills that employers want and need? Do we adequately recognise young people’s achievements beyond the classroom and beyond exam board specifications (which might do more to encourage extra-curricular engagement)? Are schools incentivised to think about (and track progress in) oracy, as they do in literacy and numeracy?
The key to success will lie in finding an approach which enables all children to learn to think, irrespective of the school that they attend, the grades that they attain or whether their ‘success’ or failure is decided at too young an age. For those without resources, a label of failure can halt education in its steps and can only lead to an increase in inequality in society at a time when we need to build more connections, so grow distance.
Every few years this subject comes up but its time that we took the bull by the horns and started asking the really hard questions. If today’s school structure and curriculum isn’t fit for purpose, exactly how do we change it for the better?
September 2022
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