Transcript Document

National Conference for
Principals
Leadership and Values in
the Contemporary School
Professor Bart McGettrick
5 October 2011
In contemporary society the main
function of education is –
The flourishing of humanity
including
personal and social well-being
and
developing gifts and talents in the
service of others
“Amongst the other blessings (which God gives)
it is to be reckoned not least that by assiduous
study man may win the pearl of knowledge. This
shows him the way to live well and happily and
its preciousness opens the door for him to
understand the mysteries of the universe; it
helps and raises to distinction those that were
born in the lowest places.”
(Nicholas V, Bull of 7 January 1451, Glasgow University
Archives)
Leadership and Values
Leadership requires attention to:
Clarity of vision
Consistency of action
Constant review of evidence
So what is the vision of schools of the
future?
Concern for the truth
Concern for values
Concern for the poor
Concern for relationships
These are unchanging principles… but
differ in the detail of our practices.
Is there is a crisis of values and of life-styles in
the world today?
There are certainly some areas where there can
be cause to concern. Among these would be:
Consumerism
Materialism
Economism
The self in relation to the other.
Overarching Challenges in Society
There is no vision
There is no fear
The school should offer a vision of a world
characterised by justice, hope and love.
That is a sustainable vision for the
educator.
This requires an understanding of
the human condition…
Set in terms of humanity –
both the person and
the community
Where do we see humanity flourish?
Have schools become the battleground
of values for the souls of children?
It is not difficult to see certain values
and influences as the enemy in the battle
for the souls of children.
Schools can enhance the place and the
practise of human rights by being
communities which are centrally
concerned with people:
with relationships
with caring
with values
with a better world.
Where these are at risk there is
discord and unrest –
Internally and externally…
Alienation, hopelessness,
disengagement, frustration, etc
Expressed in different ways,
including civic unrest and violence
towards society and its institutions?
Human flourishing requires that life
should be comprehensive (holistic and
integrated), manageable and
worthwhile. Where any of these are
missing then human flourishing is at
risk.
A worthwhile life carries a deep sense of
hope… and a lack of hopelessness…
We live in a world where rights and
responsibilities are generally better
servants than masters…
where we are to be guided not only by
the law, by the book, and by written
rights…
but also by the spirit that touches all our
lives.
Education contributes to this.
Education is to equip people for life in all
its richness. It is to improve the life
chances of everyone. It gives hope,
understanding, skills, happiness, etc
Education is NOT ONLY for
employability and professional
advancement. To drive that agenda fails
the majority in our society. It is an
inadequate conceptualisation of what it is
to be an educated person.
Education is not concerned with
gaining power but is the flourishing
of the person with all their gifts and
talents.
Knowledge is not a commodity or a
means of gaining material prosperity
and success.
It is a call to serve and be
responsible for others.
A school is a place where the values and ideals
of a community are expressed freely and with
integrity.
The school is a place where the spirit resides in
the hearts of the people and in culture of that
community. It is concerned with the individual
and the community.
A school gives priority to the lived human
experience and the relationships that form and
inform these experiences.
Education is not the pursuit of perfection.
It is the constant search for living the best
life that we can, whatever our personal,
social and cultural circumstances.
Education is concerned with the centrality of
the person; the person set in the context of
their community or communities.
We are seeking to develop in optimal ways
taking account of our human frailty and
vulnerability, and taking account of the
culture that forms us.
“Education thus presents itself as at once
preparation for life and an irreplaceable part of
life itself: Hence the good school is to be assessed
not by any tale of examination successes,
however impressive,
but by the extent to which it has filled the years
of youth with security, graciousness and ordered
freedom,
and has thus been the seed-bed for the flowering
in due season of all that is of good report.”
Secondary Education : A Report of The Advisory Council on Education
in Scotland, 1947
 Education is supporting people to go
beyond “potential.”
 There are no limits
 We should not set man-made limits.
 We should be respectful of ALL abilities
and gifts.
Education is not about consumerism
and commercialisation, but about what
it is to be fully human.
The emerging future of education has
to be explicit about the values of
JUSTICE - HOPE - LOVE
Among the global pressures are:
Individualism
Materialism, and
Economism
These threaten the interests of human
rights since they put undue value on the
self, on material well-being and on the
role of education in developing the
national economy that they subjugate
human rights and the centrality of
people in society.
These flourish in an environment of
freedom, health, happiness which are
among the human rights for which all of
us aspire.
We wish to form a society where people
will act
Through love, care and compassion;
With a care for beauty and wonder;
With a sense of hope;
By serving the world by her/his gifts.
Whatever we do in education has to be based
on an informed conscience. This means that it
is our duty to use what research there is, and
what insights we gain from our professional
reflections in the service of others.
In doing this we ought to take account of
evidence, and have it mediated through
professional reflection and, where we have
people of faith, to reflect on that faith.
Professional practices enhance the human
condition by having this vision of humanity
that goes beyond articulating the principles.
It is a matter of service, and of ethical
practices.
Too often this is perceived as a cerebral
exercise; and exercise for the mind alone. It
also has to do with the hand and the heart.
Good works on their own are not enough.
Professional practice is unswervingly to
improve the human condition of others.
“A thought transfixed me: for the first
time in my life I saw the truth as it is set
into song by so many poets, proclaimed
as the final wisdom by so many thinkers.
The truth - that love is the ultimate and
highest goal to which man can aspire.
Then I grasped the meaning of the
greatest secret that human poetry and
human thought and belief have to
impart: The salvation of man is through
love and in love.”
“Man’s Search for Meaning” Viktor E Frankl,1959
The values of my school
What values
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Action for
Greatest
implementation challenge
National Conference for
Principals
Relationships at the Heart
of Learning
Professor Bart McGettrick
6 October 2011
In contemporary society the main
function of education is –
The flourishing of humanity
including
personal and social well-being
and
developing gifts and talents in the
service of others
Education is based on the centrality of
relationships.
Relationships are not about “control”
or aspects of enforcement.
Learning really occurs in the space
between learner and teacher.
Space and the development of the self
are of paramount importance.
Through effective relationships with a
responsible adult the child forms the
scaffolding for her/his thinking and
development.
This becomes the mental scaffolding that
allows the child to make sense of the world.
It forms the intellectual and emotional
structures which provide the capacity and
ability to see the world in positive ways and to
give structure to cognitive thought and to
knowledge itself.
Where there is the absence of this relationship,
the child is unable to see the inter-relatedness
of knowledge and struggles to make progress
in formal educational systems.
This is why children who do not have parental
or other positive adult role models are likely to
find formal education difficult.
Consequently they have difficulties in
obtaining formal qualifications and find
themselves unable to advance in life through
those structures.
Education is incarnated in a person…
It exists in the hearts of people.
The curriculum is a means to the end
and not the purpose of education.
Sometimes we need to protect children
and others from the negative effects of
oppressive educational regimes.
We talk so much about change in this
world, but one aspect which dos not
change is the fact that children still
need to love and be loved.
Is it too much to think that this may
indeed be a human right?
This remains as perhaps the one area
we still need to conquer – the depths
of the heart… A vision?
Is education able to address the crisis of
moral change? We live in the real world
and are part of it…. Not removed from it.
We require to see humanity flourish–
both in person and
in the community
Where do we see humanity flourish?
Have schools become the battleground
of values of our children?
Where these are at risk there is
discord and “crisis” –
Internally and externally…
Alienation, hopelessness,
disengagement, frustration, etc
Expressed in different ways,
including civic unrest and violence
towards society and its institutions?
We live in a world
where each child has the right to be
literate… but where there are over 800
million people who are not;
and where we are guided by the law, by
regulations, and by written rights…
Education is not about conformity to
legislation and plans, but the freedom of
the human spirit.
Education contributes to human freedom
A Celtic way of thinking is always to walk
with two steady feet…
one in the spiritual world and one in the
here and now of daily life.
That is what gives the human being
balance. The footsteps are more important
than the signposts on this journey of life.
That allows us to appreciate that not all of
life is found in the here and now.....to
believe in a spiritual life where we can get
beyond the immediate and engage with life
at a deeper level.
Education gives access to
Personal Identity … personal well-being
Social mobility …employment and
economic sustainability
Emotional well-being …contentment and
social sustainability
Cultural diversity … peace and cultural
sustainability
Creativity … new knowledge & change
Education is more than function
although it includes it.
The purpose of education is not the
curriculum. The curriculum is a means
to the end, not the end in itself.
Being educated is not primarily the end
in itself. It gives people feelings of
identity, well-being and purpose.
It gives hope….
Education resides in people and in our
humanity… It is incarnated.
Education is not found in the endless
papers that we read and even produce.
It does not exist in the eloquence of the
talks you hear and even give.
It does not even exist in the thoughts we
have; but it exists mainly in the actions we
take to benefit others.
Education is not simply a matter of
teaching about the facts and skills and
techniques.
We have much deeper responsibility for
forming a society that cares;
loving our neighbour;
sharing all our gifts;
promoting people of hope.
It is through relationships that society
will thrive and humanity will flourish.
A Model for Learning
Content – Principles,
Knowledge, Concepts,
Ideas, Skills
Relationships
Dispositions to
Learning –
Learning to Love
Learning
Emotional and
Spiritual
Space
Educating the Teacher
 There are three kinds of knowledge
to be addressed
– Academic Knowledge
– Professional Knowledge
– Personal Knowledge
Through this kind of relationship the
child forms the scaffolding for her/his
thinking and development.
This becomes the mental scaffolding
that allows the child to make sense of
the world.
It forms the intellectual and emotional
structures which provide the capacity
and ability to see the world in positive
ways and provide a moral compass by
which we can navigate the secular
world.
Progression on being educated
Teaching Learning Thinking Being Becoming
(Didactic)
Control
Facilitation Enabling
Self – Constant
Aware Aspiration
Curriculum Prescription Personalised Values
Education
& Assess’t
Weak
Relationships
Strong
Trust and Respect
Education is not about consumerism
and commercialisation, but about what
it is to be fully human.
The emerging future of education has
to be explicit about the values of
JUSTICE - HOPE - LOVE
The centrality of relationships which
carry the spirit of our lives and the values
we espouse.
In a world of change the leader knows
where the branches are that can move
with the wind… where the trunk is that
remains a steady presence … and where
the roots are that feed and sustain the tree
of knowledge… the tree of education.