Jul 25

An Olympian responsibility: Taking the opportunity to celebrate female shapes

An article in Monday’s Daily Mail reported the latest in a series of research studies on body image and body confidence in young people, and the results were unsurprising. This particular study, of 31,354 boys and girls aged 10-15, conducted by the Schools Health Education Unit, added to the increasingly loud alarm bells ringing about how young people view themselves, and how we have come to this point. According to the study, schoolgirls as young as 12 are unhappy with their weight and are skipping meals in order to be thinner; half of 12-13 year olds said they wanted to be thinner; and 58% of girls in Year 10 (ie aged 14 or 15) said that they wanted to lose weight. In case you were wondering whether in fact this was an appropriate response to an epidemic of childhood obesity, the researchers set the record firmly straight: “An analysis of the characteristics of the year 10 females shows that most wanting to lose weight are within the limits of ‘healthy’ weight, and some are already underweight.”

The reaction of Beat, the eating disorder charity, was quite straightforward: “One of the key features of current popular culture is a preoccupation with weight and shape … The fascination with celebrities, their bodies, clothes and appearance has all increased the pressure that young people feel … Celebrities are scrutinised for flaws and imperfections, leading young people to consider their own bodies in a critical light too.” Young teenagers are at a particularly vulnerable point in their lives, as their bodies are changing and they are developing their own identities; it is no wonder that low self-esteem and poor body image result from this obsession that we seem to have as a society.

So … with the Olympics almost upon us, we have an opportunity to celebrate a different range of female shapes, rather than the über-thin, airbrushed sea of images of models in which our young people are drowning. Sportspeople are of course obsessive and obsessed too, but their obsession lies in what their body can do, not what it looks like. With only two days to go before the opening ceremony of London 2012, it is a fair bet that all our Olympians are focusing, totally and utterly, on getting their bodies and their minds into exactly the right place to perform extraordinary physical feats. Yet even with this focus, danger lies not far off. A worrying and disappointing rash of pictures of British athletes in sexualised poses have been scattered over the Sunday papers – some in adverts, others simply illustrating articles. Britain’s beach volleyball pair have QR codes on their briefs, which effectively encourage spectators to take pictures of their backsides. Jessica Ennis was criticised recently for weighing too much – a statement that should be laughable.

Our Olympians have a real opportunity over the next few days (and, hopefully, weeks and months, in the afterglow of a successful Games) to be real, realistic, amazing role models for our young people in how they act, think, speak and behave. How they treat their bodies – and how they allow other people to treat them – is an enormous part of this responsibility.

 

Jul 22

The eighth habit

Stephen Covey’s death last week has sparked – quite rightly – a flurry of accolades for a man who has been described as a pioneer in the genre of self-help literature which aims to enable people to lead their best lives. His 1989 bestseller, ‘The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People’, subtitled ‘Powerful Lessons in Personal Change’, has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide. Whatever his personal and religious beliefs, with which many disagreed, there is no doubt that he was instrumental in making change happen for countless individuals. At his funeral, his children spoke warmly of his sense of humour and empathy, and it was clear that he was driven – positively and without taking himself too seriously – to make a real and personal difference amongst human beings in the world.

This was very much the tone of his sequel to ‘7 habits’ – his 1984 work called ‘The 8th habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness’. In it, he explained how being effective was not enough – we all need, in this age of information overload, to rise above mere competency and seek to ensure that whatever we did, it was with a greater goal in mind. “Find your voice and inspire others to find theirs”: this was his message, and it is in itself an inspiring one. It speaks to our need as a society to become more than a collection of individuals, and instead to recognise that we are all interrelated, and that our actions can and should affect positively those around us. We need to move beyond a self-restraining selfishness – or embarrassment – to realise that we all have something to offer the world, and that it is our duty and responsibility to do so.

Certainly, I feel that this is what we seek to communicate in school. In order to become fully themselves, our young people need to learn first who they are – to test themselves and stretch themselves to become the best of themselves; then, they must learn the courage to take the next step – a step which will see them making a strong and useful impact on the world. ‘Making the world a better place’ is an incredibly useful mantra for each and every young person. We just need to keep enabling them, empowering them, and reminding them … and let us not forget to remind ourselves to do the same.

 

Jul 19

Picnic at Hanging Rock: why it is important for educators to keep reading

I recently read Picnic at Hanging Rock for the first time; I did so because it was the subject of a fabulous production at my new school, Ascham, in Sydney Australia. Although I could only admire the production from afar, the pictures and reviews were fantastic, and I congratulate the girls on what was clearly a marvellous event. Of course, I am trying not to read too much into the fact that the Headmistress of the piece, who eventually goes mad, was from England; I just revelled in the work (and will remind all who are listening that I am actually Scottish born and bred, and not a bit like Mrs Appleyard …).

Picnic at Hanging Rock, written by Joan Lindsay in 1967, is, as you will know if you have read it, a brooding and menacing mystery set in Victoria, Australia in 1900, and tells the story of an ill-fated school outing to the Hanging Rock, and the consequences of this. It is a captivating tale, most unsettling, and certainly the kind of novel in which one can lose oneself on a long train or plane journey. It was turned into a film, which was widely acclaimed and which won awards for its cinematography; I can imagine this, and would certainly like to see it one day … but no film can ever replace the magic of the interplay between an author’s words and a reader’s imagination, and this I treasure.

In fact, it is precisely this that I am reminded of each time I read a great work of fiction. In our busy lives it can be hard to find the time to pause and read novels, poems and short stories – and, to be fair, there is a lot of rubbish to be found gracing the shelves of bookstores, masquerading as literature. But to be able to distinguish between good and bad, to understand the impact of powerfully written works of fiction, requires time, practice and immersion in the art. A book is a living thing; it exists not in the marks on the page, but in the interaction between reader and those words; the reader brings his or her experience and openness, while the words themselves are the best attempt of the author to communicate his or her intent, which will be interpreted in different ways by different holders of the book.

Reading opens up new worlds – new places, new people, new relationships, new emotions. As educators, we want our charges to learn the joy of these new worlds, and how to access them, which means that from time to time we must too ensure that we remind ourselves of this, through the discipline and joy of our own reading.

Reading Picnic at Hanging Rock was a great prompt to remember exactly this.

 

Jul 16

What success really means for our young people – and us

Although term ended over a week ago, and it was a week before that that we celebrated our great Founders’ Day at school, I find myself still reflecting deeply on the day. Partly this is because it was my tenth and last at St Mary’s Calne, and so was very special indeed, but more importantly, it was a real opportunity to recognise true success, and we had an amazing, fabulous day. Days like this remain imprinted on our minds, and it is right that we should keep them alive in our minds.

Success is, of course, on all our minds this year in particular. 2012 has marked the Diamond Jubilee of our great Queen Elizabeth II, and we await in eager anticipation the London Olympics in the summer. It was fitting, therefore, that we chose as our focal image this year for our Founders’ Day the depiction of the Greek Goddess Nike, the personification of victory, who will grace each of the Olympic medals awarded in London in August.

In this image, variations of which have appeared on the Olympic medals since the Amsterdam games of 1928, Nike is usually shown carrying a palm and a wreath, symbols of victory. It is a strong female image; she is striding out, moving forward, propelled by an inner and spiritual force which encapsulates the power and symbolism of the Olympic Games. The arena of these Games, where the best athletes in the whole world meet and compete, is a place where we see and know that talent and interest are not enough to succeed. A great athlete is one who is highly motivated, who is inspired to work hard – so hard – in preparation and training, and who is utterly dedicated to the ultimate goal of success.

Great athletes, great human beings, are like gladiators, who get up again and again, whatever the setbacks they encounter, for it is in how they deal with adversity, as well as success, that defines their characters. To be equally gracious, equally magnanimous, equally focused on the next goal, in victory and in defeat, is what marks out great human beings, and it is this greatness in the arena of life that I firmly believe is sparked at school.

Greatness is more than an individual, however. The Olympic Games draw peoples of the world together in an arena where they may be competing as individuals but they are ultimately, collectively, representative not only of their nations, but of the human race. They are indeed striving to be the best for themselves, to push themselves to the limit, but they are also doing this for, and are inspired and given impetus and energy by, the millions of others who are supporting them and willing them to succeed.

When we see, before us, extraordinary feats of human endurance, then even national loyalties fade into insignificance compared to the shared sense of wonder and pride in what human beings can achieve. We are all in this together – in this world, in this time, at this point in history, and the Olympic Games remind us of this. We are many peoples with many viewpoints, but we are also one world. We have many varied and different perspectives on life, but we are one human race. We share in our destiny.

My travels abroad over the past couple of years, connecting the school internationally, have really brought this home to me. And I know that we have real work to do to help make the world a better, more unified, more harmonious, more understanding and understood place. Yet this is within our grasp if we are motivated, resilient, ambitious for others and prepared to think creatively and audaciously.

This is what we are really preparing our young people for: to lead good lives – great lives – in which they will make the most of themselves and will contribute – genuinely contribute – to improving the world in which we, and they, and the generations who will come after them, live. As I say often to the girls at school, it is their substance and their character that will ensure that they make a difference in this world. Cast superficiality aside, and move forward with the real business of living.

When they achieve this, with the help of all of us, this is what success will really mean. And the world will benefit.

 

Jul 13

Biography, change and two inspiring women

Founders’ Day at school was a great affair, and this was in no small part down to the two guest speakers we had: the Very Reverend June Osborne, Dean of Salisbury, in the morning, in our annual church service, and Miss Amy Williams MBE, GB Gold Medal winner at the 2010 Winter Olympics, in the afternoon, in the school marquee as part of our annual prizegiving.

After graduating in Social Sciences from Manchester University, the Very Reverend June Osborne went on to train in the Church’s ministry at St John’s College, Nottingham and Wycliffe Hall in Oxford. In 1980, she took up the post of Deaconess at St Martin-in-the-Bullring in Birmingham, moving on to the East London Old Ford parishes in 1984. In 1994, she was one of the first group of women to be ordained into the priesthood and moved to Salisbury in 1995, as one of the Cathedral’s three residentiary canons. In February 2004, she was appointed Dean of Salisbury, making her the Church of England’s most senior woman priest. In June 2009 she was appointed by The Archbishops of Canterbury and York to join a panel of clergy to help select and elect new Deans. She has recently led a delegation of the Church of England to South Africa to an Anglican Communion conference addressing the issues of global poverty and inequality, and is playing a key role in the Communion’s commitment to implementing the Millennium Development Goals. She is also a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire.  On 8th March 2008, she gave an uplifting Address at the School’s Thanksgiving Service at Salisbury Cathedral, in celebration of the 135th anniversary of St Mary’s Calne, when over 800 pupils, parents, old girls and staff attended, so she knew her audience.

For Miss Williams, too, this was a return visit to the school, as she had come as a surprise guest to our annual Sports Presentation dinner in April 2011. She lent a distinctive Olympian theme to the day; it will not of course surprise you to know that the focus on success and achievement was closely bound up with the impending London 2012 Olympics. Originally a runner, Miss Williams began competing in skeleton racing in 2002, after first trying the sport on a push-start track at the University of Bath.  Although unable to qualify for the 2006 Winter Olympics, she went on to win Silver at the 2009 World Championships in Lake Placid. She then qualified for Team GB at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, where she won the gold medal in the women’s skeleton racing, breaking the track record twice along the way, and winning by more than a half a second.

These two women were very different – different ages, different achievements, different life experiences and different life directions – but as they told their stories, they both communicated similar messages: the importance of not being afraid to work hard, to strive to change for the better, and to make the most of life. Both had a determination about them, a resolve to look forwards, and a deep joy that comes from the satisfaction of knowing that they had done their best, coupled with the knowledge that their path will take them on other, changing, seas of adventure in the future. Their stories are far from over; there is much more to be written on their tapestries, and I predict that what we will see there in a few years’ time will be still more spectacular. But their stories so faras told to the girls, were already inspirational, and I thank them for this on behalf of the girls and our community.

We learn a lot from people’s lives, if only we listen to what they have to say. Founders’ Day was a great, great day in this respect.

 

 

Jul 10

A lesson in Chinese culture and history – and a lesson in life

Well, my visit to China – to Shanghai and to Beijing as part of the annual symposium and conference of the World Leading Schools Association – was excellent. I met many outstanding educators and was able to share with them, and learn from them, in a way that only ever happens when people come together with a common purpose, which in this case was clearly defined: to seek to improve cultural and educational relationships across our diverse world. With an especial focus on China, this was a particularly instructive first visit from my perspective, and I learned a tremendous amount about the Chinese education system, coming away with a deeper understanding of where its excellence lies, and where it is planning to develop and grow.

I learned, too, about Chinese culture and history in a way which, again, can only really be done by immersing oneself in the place and moment. This is a lesson in itself, which we would do well to remember – the students in our classes need to be brought into that place and moment in order that their imaginations are captured and their thinking stimulated. Whenever we can, we need to transport them – figuratively, if not always literally – to these points where their learning can take off.

Top of my reading for the summer: the sayings of Confucius. Confucius really is everywhere in China, underpinning vast swathes of thought and understanding, that I sense we must, if we want to understand this great and ancient country – and its very modern incarnation – make an effort to read and appreciate the thinkings of one of the world’s great philosophers.

And here are some thoughts, just to get us started:

Learning without thought is labour lost; thought without learning is perilous.

Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a mind without moon and star.

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in getting up every time we do.

They must often change who would be constant in happiness or wisdom.

 

Happy reading and thinking this summer …

Jun 30

A visit to China: Taking Educational and Cultural Exchanges to the next level

Tomorrow I am headed for a week to China, first to Shanghai and then to Beijing, to participate in the annual conference of the World Leading Schools Association. I feel very privileged to be able to attend – partly because it is my first visit to China, and partly because it is always a privilege to be able to discuss with fellow educators how we can push the boundaries of what we currently do in schools in order to give our young people an even better springboard to leading a great life.

I shall be speaking as part of a panel on ‘Taking Educational and Cultural Exchanges to the next level’; school exchanges (whether as part of a group, or more individual) bring with them enormous benefits, and we need to discuss, together, how to develop them further. Every child who has ever been on an exchange will testify to these benefits: a greater understanding of self, of others and of a different culture; and a greater appreciation of self, of others, and of a different culture. Going abroad, living with others for an extended period of time, and immersing oneself in how other people do things, all add a real and deep diversity to life.

Why, though, are these experiences so important? My understanding of the world as an educator has two key elements: first, schools have a responsibility to educate about the world. Schools are designated by society as the place where our children learn about others and the world; they are there to impart the values of our society too: about being part of a whole, not just an individual. Secondly, this is a changing world, connected in ways that were not possible even a decade ago. Travel is easier than ever before. The possibilities for our young people to be able to connect and learn from one another are numerous. We – and they, especially – need to learn that this is a world of diversity – a world of many and varied cultures. So … it is important that we bring these together. Young people need to see and understand the world beyond their own four walls, their own towns, cities and nations. They need to meet other people, and understand from the inside what it means to be part of another culture. They need to walk in someone else’s shoes.

There is an enormous amount of injustice and inequality in the world. There is an enormous amount of poverty too. We have limited physical resources as a world, but this is compensated for by our unlimited capacity as a human race to think creatively in order to solve the problems of the world – the conflict, the disease, the cruelties and unkindnesses. All this is much more likely to happen if we can work effectively together, and this starts with understanding others. It is incredibly important for schools to ensure that our students have this opportunity, and that they are able as a result to help change the world for the better.

Long live the educational and cultural exchange.

 

Jun 28

A handshake, a smile and a thank you … and they were on their way

Ever since our annual Founders’ Day at St Mary’s Calne on Saturday 23rd June – my last at the school before I head to Australia in December – I have been reflecting on the departure of our UVI Formers. There were many special moments during the day – the service in the morning, the speeches in the afternoon, the Lily Ball in the evening – but one of the most special for me was the moment at the end of the prizegiving, after the Head Girl’s speech, when each of these young women came up to the stage to receive a final gift to mark the school’s appreciation of all that they had given to the school during their years here, and I shook each one by the hand before they walked down the steps, and on, out of the marquee. It was a symbolic moment, but also a beautiful one. To a young woman, they all smiled and looked me confidently in the eye; many said thank you, and with many we had a quick laugh at the realisation that they had – finally – made it!

I spoke in the marquee – and in the final service at the end of the day – about how wonderful they were, and how their futures stretched ahead of them, but I do not think that I said enough about what really defines them: their warmth, and the affection which they have for others and for the school, as well as the regard the school has for them. They are all, of course, marvellous, very different, individuals, and, as is to be expected, they are all only human, which means that they are gloriously imperfect, although they came pretty close to perfection on that Saturday, in every respect, and I am proud of them for that! What they share, however, is a strong bond, a togetherness, and an understanding of themselves and of the fact that they have a valuable role to play in the world. They could not have a better starting point for the rest of their lives.

Ahead of them lie many different paths – not all of them easy, and few of them entirely predictable. They will have many hurdles, but they know what these are, and the Head Girl herself reminded them – most topically and most humorously(!) – not to succumb to the lures of an airbrushed celebrity culture. These girls are more than equal to the task ahead of them, however, and I wish them the very, very best for the future. I really do hope, as I said to them all, that they will find happiness and fulfilment in their lives, their careers, their relationships and their families in due course. There is a lot to be done in the world, and it begins with each of us, and each of them. I am so very proud of them.

This was of course my last Founders’ Day, and next year I will be in Sydney, forging new relationships with girls from another great school, which is to become my new home for a while. I am looking forward to it tremendously. But I shall never forget the girls of St Mary’s Calne, and the leavers of 2012. If you are reading this, girls, I wish you the very, very best of luck. Go for it in life, and be the people you are meant to be. Onwards …

You are amazing.

 

Jun 25

A Manifesto for Young Women by Janet Street Porter. Some thoughts.

In today’s Daily Mail, Janet Street-Porter has written a great article outlining her ‘manifesto for young women’, which ends by saying that young women need to believe in themselves. She has some excellent advice, including ‘work like hell at school’, ‘hold your head high’, ‘set your goals’, ‘swap telly trash and internet twaddle for books, exhibitions and live events’. And she reminds us of the evidence from a recent survey that young people today have similar values to those of their parents, valuing marriage and children above wealth and possessions. This is all tremendously encouraging, and I agree with her – our young people are full of natural good sense and have immense potential to lead good lives and to make a hugely positive impact on the world.

I do wish, though, that she wouldn’t dismiss so readily the pervasive influence of the two aspects of modern society about which I have spoken out this week – our focus on a celebrity culture, and the prevalence of sexualised images which effectively objectify women. These aspects form, overwhelmingly, the backdrop to the lives of young people; they linger at every corner, on practically every magazine cover, and young people are bombarded by them online. Celebrities make the news, and images of semi-naked women, posing provocatively, have become so commonplace that we take them completely for granted. They have entered the mainstream, and we are surprised – and not a little put out and critical – when women in the public eye do not conform. (Witness the furore when Hillary Clinton, on a recent visit to Bangladesh, led meetings without make-up, and with her hair simply scraped back.)

The effect of this backdrop is pernicious, and mitigates against the very messages that Miss Street-Porter is communicating. She is quite right – young people do need to believe in themselves now more than ever. But this is hard to do when you are being asked to measure yourself constantly – consciously and subconsciously – against images of female ‘perfection’. Jo Swinson’s Parliamentary Report on Body Confidence, published at the end of May, and which regrettably did not achieve nearly as much media coverage as my comments last week on that one symbolic photo of Kim Kardashian on the front of Zoo magazine, revealed that half of the public suffer from negative body image. The Report pointed out that girls as young as five now worry about their size and appearance, half of girls and one quarter of boys believe their peers have body image problems, and appearance is the largest cause of bullying in schools. It reported that media (43.5%), advertising (16.8%) and celebrity culture (12.5%) together account for almost three quarters of the influence on body image in society, yet the ‘ideal body’ that they typically present is estimated to not be physically achievable by nearly 95% of the population.

It is commonsense that girls – and boys – who worry about their body image, who feel inadequate, and who lack self-confidence as a result, are not in a position to believe in themselves as they could be. They have a major psychological hurdle to overcome, and this is a hurdle which as a society we are not tackling sufficiently strongly, despite the clear and unequivocal messages of last year’s Bailey Report and a growing unease amongst parents and educators about the effect of our laissez-faire approach to the images that our young people encounter. People in the public eye – ‘celebrities’ of every ilk – have a responsibility to make sure that they are helping young people become truly themselves, and it is not good enough simply to point to their admirable financial astuteness to excuse the overall effect of their actions.

We have an opportunity to do something about the oppressive weight of this culture on our young people. We all need to step up to the mark.

 

Jun 24

What sort of schools do we need? Reflections on a debate at the Wellington College Festival of Education

What a stimulating day! It was a pleasure to discuss wide-ranging educational issues at the Wellington College Festival of Education; I sat on a panel debating the question: What sort of schools do we need? For me, the answer is simple – we need great schools. There are, I believe, three main elements to this greatness: schools need responsiveness, outstanding educators, and a strong social and moral purpose.

What do I mean when I say that schools must be responsive? In short, it is that they must recognise that they are educating unique individuals, and while they are right to focus on core skills, enabling all their students to access and operate in society, they also need to spend time identifying and releasing the potential of individuals. Schools in effect need the freedom to be able to create a radically different curriculum, and radically different working practices, to be able to inspire young people and tap into their potential. Schools need to be able to build meaningful relationships between teachers and students, which is an argument for small schools, or at least small units within larger schools; moreover, schools need to be able to offer real choice for parents and young people –different strands of education, multiple opportunities, with ease of movement between them – opportunities for gender-specific groups, and non-age-related groups, for instance – and all of these must be equally and genuinely valued.

Secondly, great schools will be run by outstanding educators. Educators and leaders need to be liberated to pursue their passion and vision for education for young people. How do you grow and develop outstanding educators? Well, you inspire them, you pay them really well, you give them autonomy, you value and you trust them. There is still far too much suspicion about the profession, and we need to move right beyond this.

Finally, schools need to have a strong social and moral purpose. Why else have we created a huge educational structure other than as because as a society we believe in schools? I think we often forget that schools have a community and social role, not just a role for individuals to develop themselves. When a child is born we – as a society – enter into a social contract with them which is actually lifelong, whereby we undertake to give them what they need to be successful in society, and they in turn will learn how to give back. All too often, we are afraid to state these expectations of our schools and young people. Schools are meant to educate to change the world for the better. They are meant to have a strong moral purpose

It  goes without saying, that schools also need to be well-funded and free of political interference … a whole other debate resides in this. Essentially, however, we are an intelligent people with the scope for great educators and great schools; let’s just find a way to let them be great.

A simple answer to a simple question … and while the solution will not be so simple to find, if we are strongly motivated by the kind of consensus and determination which I witnessed at the Festival, then we have a pretty good chance of getting there eventually.

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