PRINCIPAL
THE PRINCIPAL : ON EDUCATION
MR TOM BATTY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
Essentially , education is a three-headed dragon :
Head 1 is named , ‘ What we Teach ’ and is often called ‘ Curriculum ’;
Head 2 bears the name , ‘ How we Assess ’ and is inseparable from its bed mate ‘ Qualification ’;
Head 3 is named ‘ How we Teach ’ and stands aloof , but not by choice .
Heads 1 and 2 have dominated discourse for decades because they are readily controlled .
But it is Head 3 which determines quality and improvement .
The purpose of school education has never been solely , even primarily , to equip young people with the specific skills currently required by the workforce . It has been , and should remain , to equip each young person with the means to take responsibility for her / his own life , and , in so doing , to equip each generation with the habits of mind that make for adaptable , diverse , cohesive populations that are economically and socially prosperous . Young people should challenge , rethink and advance what they find as much as serve it . As an elder on the Tiwi Islands put to me : The school is there to deliver a culture of participation . There is no Plan B .
The purpose of Head 1 is to provide a framework of rigour for consideration of all that has gone before , so it can best serve further advancement .
The purpose of Head 2 is to facilitate the coming together of people with interests and skills to serve this advancement , and , importantly , to hinder the evolution of counterproductive social hierarchies born of privilege and power .
If there is one important lesson to learn from this pandemic , it is that Head 3 remains the most important , if oft neglected , head of the dragon , and that :
• Teaching is inherently relational ;
• Schools are centres of their communities and thrive on intimacy and belonging ;
• Involvement beyond the classroom plays an important part in developing learning relationships ;
• The nature of the places we gather influences relationships ;
• Technology can continue to play a part in better personalisation of education ;
• The goal for young people is the unearthing of passions and the honing of mastery so these become habits of mind and practice . Changes to curriculum and assessment are required : we need a smaller core national curriculum and an assessment regime that does not dictate how we teach . This was true before the pandemic broke . During these times , our minds have been further accelerated to realise that the assessment / qualification jigsaw would benefit from more variety of pieces , including , for some , shorter course qualifications .
But such discussion should not cloud the ever more apparent truth in these days of connection : our quest remains that of improving the standard of our teachers ( and hence learning ) and the key ingredients are :
• intellect ;
• the capacity to build relationships ; and ,
• interests and talents to share , and the desire to share them .
The role of the governments and education boards is to deliver such teachers in maximum number and school environments that see them flourish . Curriculum and assessment play a part , but they do not breathe the fire .
6 Great Scot