Educational philosophy
Scholarship, integrity, balance.
Excellent schools instil three fundamental qualities in their students: scholarship, integrity, and balance. It is incumbent upon us to ensure that the young adults we send out into the world are the best that they can be, and are prepared for whatever future they face. Central to the achievement of this objective are, of course, the people we put in front of our students: their teachers. This philosophy shapes my advisory work with schools and education groups.
Scholarship
Decrying the conflation of examination outcomes and academic success is passé in modern education, but we are yet to find agreement on what can replace them at scale. Terminal assessments will likely remain a necessary evil for the foreseeable future and we must take a pragmatic approach to ensuring students are well-prepared for them, without squandering opportunities to go beyond the prescribed curriculum. Scholarship, at its core, is rooted in intellectual curiosity. But that is all too easily eroded by institutions with too narrow a focus on prescribed assessment criteria. The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake must be prized and every student should be encouraged to ask "why?" at every opportunity.
The increasing ubiquity of generative AI sharpens this. Embracing it (and the technologies that will follow) is no longer optional and it cannot simply be bolted on at the edges of existing practice. Rather, it must be woven into teaching, learning and assessment in ways that make asking "why?" more important, not less. When answers are at everyone's fingertips, the discipline lives in the questions: what to ask, how to interrogate the response, and when to stop iterating.
Integrity
However it is measured, academic success must not come at the expense of good character. Outstanding pastoral care goes beyond safeguarding students' welfare and supports them in developing a strong set of values that they have the integrity to live by. That said, prescribing such values is best avoided in an international environment with varied cultural and social influences. Principles embraced by some members of the school community may make others bristle, or even be deemed entirely unacceptable by the state.
Navigating the relationship between one's heritage and personal beliefs in a way that is compatible with modern global citizenship is perhaps the biggest challenge young people face. Our role as international educators is to afford each and every student the guidance, dialogue and space they need to establish their own values. We, as the adults they spend most time with, must also model the integrity we expect from them. When it comes to how they conduct themselves, students learn far more from what they see lived than from what they hear taught.
Balance
My use of the word 'balance' refers to each individual student finding the combination of interests and activities (academic and otherwise) that will carry them into adulthood. As I explored in an article for the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore's Orient magazine, modern education's compulsion to pigeonhole students according to perceived strength, background or (most egregiously) 'learning style' closes doors that should remain open. At a more systemic level, the headline-grabbing rush toward 'STEM' and skills agendas has hollowed out the arts in many schools and put the cultural and creative formation of a generation at risk.
Embracing balance means treating each student as a unique person, not as a member of a category. Those who are labelled, whether by their school, by their parents, or by society more broadly, often internalise that definition and stop exploring. We must provide them with as many opportunities to try new things as possible, avoid passing judgement on their choices, and trust that they will work out what completes them in the fullness of time.
Teachers
Regardless of the vision and the quality of the sales pitch, a school is ultimately only as good as its teachers. An excellent educator is one who is, first and foremost, passionate about what they teach. They must also have genuine care for their students' academic and personal development. Whether in a First School homeroom lesson, a Sixth Form subject specialist seminar or a co-curricular activity, it is the teacher's role to inspire their students to give of their best in all respects.
I am not a proponent of prescribed lesson plans and value teachers who are confident and knowledgeable enough to respond to the interests and needs of the class. This allows them to model the scholarship that I described above and better instil it in their charges. I am also committed to evidence-informed teaching. All educators should engage with academic research and professional development to support their practice, but never at the cost of losing what makes their lessons theirs.