Great Scot April 2018 GreatScot_153_April_2018_Online | Page 6

Principal
MR TOM BATTY
SCHOOL PRINCIPAL
Mr Tom Batty – School Principal
Bringing lit flame to
the challenges and
opportunities of the age
At some point in my A level physics course, I
was introduced to the concept of entropy and its
relationship with energy, and something of the lesson
has stayed with me. I claim no expertise beyond fading
Nuffield course memories of entropy being measures of
the number of possible microstates that might deliver
the observed macrostate, and of the unavailability of a
system’s energy to do useful work.
I recall that, by way of example, our teacher asked
us to consider a jar of petrol in two states:
1. left alone, covered with a lid
2. left alone, uncovered
Our teacher noted that state 1 was one of low but
very stable entropy, with the energy potential of the
system remaining constant, and, therefore, unable to
do useful work. In state 2, he noted that all the petrol
evaporates resulting in an increase in the number of
possible microstates, and, therefore, high entropy, and
again the system’s energy being unavailable to do useful
work.
He introduced a third state, that in which the cover
in state 1 is removed and a lit match introduced. Here,
he noted, entropy rises as the system’s energy is put to
work.
Some years later, while undertaking my main
teaching placement in a London comprehensive, I
formed the view that there were two easy ways to
teach: strict, rigid, distant ‘them and us’ authority, and
allowing a total free for all; and that both contributed
little to the learning of boys and girls.
I had always been (and still am) interested in the
relationship between the micro and the macro, and
‘parallels’ in the social world to mathematical and
scientific patterns, and suspect this was why, at this
key juncture of my teacher training, memories of that
physics class came flooding back. It seemed to me that
the strict, rigid, distant ‘them and us’ approach was
akin to the covered jar of petrol: low, stable entropy
and the energy of the system (boys and girls in the
classroom) unavailable for any useful work. While
the ‘let them do what they want and learn as they
do so’ approach could be likened to the uncovered
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jar of evaporated petrol: high entropy and, again,
unavailability of classroom energy for useful work.
I took the view that the way forward lay in my
physics teacher’s third state. By adopting an engaged
relational approach based on conversation, reciprocity
and knowledge of, and passion for, subject matter, the
teacher provides the spark to light the latent energy
present in each child, and, in so doing, initiates a chain
reaction of colliding curious minds.
If such an approach had currency amongst the
pastel-clad, Cortina MkIII bound casuals of the ‘80s,
it gains greater authority as we continue our emergence
from the assured linearity of the industrial and post-
industrial ages, to a connected environment founded
in ready access to information and the free sharing of
interests and talents. I suspect that, rather than the
oft-mooted lifetime of 20 careers, most of this and
coming generations won’t even know what a career is,
as skills become increasingly interconnected, delivering
a dense network that ‘fogs out’ the once clear paths of
employment.
I see this as hugely exciting. Increasingly, the
interests and talents young people acquire through
school and further education will be woven seamlessly
into their capacity for service and wealth creation.
It will be the passions Scotch boys unearth and
become skilled in that will light up unforeseeable
networks through the fog. It could be that an interest
in photography and imaging leads to advancement
in ophthalmology or the treatment of skin cancers.
Perhaps proficiency on jazz piano might initiate work
with the rhythms of electromagnetic waves to restore
movement in limbs after nerve damage. Success
declaiming poetry might find a boy developing a dating
app based on the resonance and intonation of our
voices. Maybe a love of debating and proficiency with
technology could join forces in a robot that delivers
good discussion for those who live alone and like a
good argument.
Programmes, culture and landscape must work
in harmony to deliver an educational environment
responsive to such opportunities and recent years
have seen significant advancements at Scotch on these
Great Scot Number 153 – April 2018