Schools, Technology and Parents:

How should schools work with parents when things get back to normal?

A TTS webinar given on 22/06/2021

   

The State of Independence: the International Challenge

This article discusses the international challenge of educating the 263 million children in the world who are not in education and the part that both digital technologies and profit-making educational providers are likely to play in meeting this challenge. 

The International Challenge 

The past ten years have seen a rapid expansion in British curriculum education overseas. According to International Schools Consultancy (ISC Research), there are 5.15 million pupils studying at more than 9,854 English medium international schools around the world, of these more than 3,586 are British schools. In this time UK Independent schools have begun to establish overseas campuses which have focused on educating the rising middle classes. 

Despite this rapid growth, there is still a huge shortfall in the provision of schooling from a global perspective. Arguably, the greatest challenge facing education today is that there are an estimated 263 million children who are not in education (UNESCO Institute of Statistics Fact Sheet October 2016, No.39). Furthermore, the same report estimates that the world will need 3.3 million more primary school teachers and 16.7 million more secondary teachers by 2030 to meet future demand. 

Two important conclusions can be drawn from these projections. First, that the not-for-profit sector is not equipped to meet this level of demand; and, secondly, the traditional model of one teacher taking a class of 20-30 pupils is unsustainable – it is a luxury form of education which most developing societies cannot afford or achieve. 

Not-for-profit and For-profit Education 

Education in the West has traditionally been provided on a not-for-profit basis either by governments for state education; or, as in the case of most of the UK independent sector, by charitable organisations. State education provided by profit-making commercial companies is not common or popular in the West and is alien to the British psyche: a recent survey of parents by the Varkey Foundation found that UK parents are the least likely of parents surveyed in 29 countries to approve of private companies providing state-funded schools. Conversely, for-profit education is the norm in the aspirational developing world, so it is no surprise that Indian parents are the most likely to approve of private company involvement in education. 

Experience in Dubai has shown that the not-for-profit sector was not equipped to cope with the rapid increase in demand for expatriate school places as the city grew in population. Consequently, the for-profit sector stepped in, adopting a segmented approach to the Dubai market place. The larger for-profit schools’ groups offer parents a choice of price points ranging from ‘premium’ to ‘budget’ The level of provision, which equates with the fees payable, are differentiated by class size, the provision of on-site facilities, the amount of contact time, and the calibre and experience of the teachers. The Dubai for-profit sector has developed scalable models which benefit from economies of scale and from centralised administrative and training functions. 

For-profit schools’ groups, such as GEMS education, already see the developing world as a potential market and have begun to transfer the expertise gained from establishing schools in the Middle East to building and running schools on an ‘affordable model’ in India, South Asia and Africa. These firms have real potential to have a significant impact on the global demand for education over the coming years. 

Alternative Models for Schooling – Commercial Investment in Online Learning 

The sheer scale of the challenge of educating the hundreds of millions of children presently not in school, combined with the likely acute teacher shortage means that we need to find alternative models which extend the impact of a single teacher beyond the 20-30 students who are in their physical classroom. It is clear that digital technologies have the potential to play an important role to play in alleviating this pressure. 

Global education is very big business - it was a $5 trillion industry in 2014 and is growing by about $600 billion a year. It is no surprise that commercial investors are lining up to step in to offer solutions that will harness technologies to drive the education system of the mid-twenty-first century. The investment by these firms means that online learning programmes are becoming increasingly sophisticated. They promise to do tasks currently performed by teachers by offering personalised learning experiences at a fraction of the present cost. Typically, the program ‘teaches’ a topic (through online videos and interactive exercises); then uses low-stakes testing to assess the student’s knowledge and understanding, highlighting areas of strengths and weakness; before recommending which courses or units to do next. 

One of the great advantages of digital technologies over traditional industrial models is that they provide a cost-effective model for making education available on a huge scale. Once a digital lesson has been produced, the marginal cost of distributing it around the world approaches zero. 

Ten years ago, it was unthinkable that mobile phones would transform local economies in Africa , yet today it is a reality. Is it unreasonable to suggest that in ten years’ time a large proportion of those hundreds of millions of children who currently are not in school, would have access to a basic education through the internet?

This article was published in The State of Independence Eds. David James and Jane Lunnon

Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Education

What is AI? 

Artificial Intelligence refers to those computer systems which are both autonomous and adaptive; i.e. they are systems which have the ability to perform complex tasks without constant guidance by a user and they also have the ability to improve performance by learning from experience. The process of getting computers to learn without being explicitly programmed is called Machine Learning. 

We are all familiar with the increasing role that AI is playing an increasing part in our lives. Machine-learning is managing our email junk folders; it is suggesting the next word when we are texting; it is labelling and organising our photo albums; and it makes suggestions on what we should buy next from Amazon or watch next on Netflix. Most of these functions rely on ‘Supervised’ Machine Learning algorithms that are developed on the basis of an initial training set of data, which is then supplemented as further information becomes available. 

AI and Ethics 

Ethical concerns about AI revolve around ‘algorithmic bias’ i.e. around the validity of the way in which the algorithm is constructed and usually around the nature of the training dataset. These arguments take three forms: 

1. Concerns about Bias: the training dataset on which the algorithm was originally constructed may not reflect the composition of the wider population. To take an extreme example, a dataset that is based on American billionaires is likely to be white, educated, aged over 45, male and, by definition, rich.
2. Concerns about Fairness: the training dataset is based on accurate historic data, but those data reflect unfair practices. For example, in 2011 the City of Boston MA launched ‘Street Bump App’ which maps the location of potholes that needed repairing around the city by collecting data from the accelerometer in the Smartphone. The app successfully collected data and saved the City time and money in surveying the roads. However, a review of the project after 12 months showed that a disproportionate number the potholes identified and repaired were in affluent middle-class areas, to the detriment of those in poorer areas. This was almost certainly because affluent middle-class residents were more likely to own a smartphone and were more likely to download the app. In similar vein, data scientist
   
   Cathy O’Neill, author of Weapons of Math Destruction, has voiced her concerns about the way in which the algorithms are being used in the US criminal justice system. The police are using historic arrest data as a proxy for crime data to drive preventative policing models. Because of this, the algorithm simply reinforces historic practice by sending the police back to the neighbourhoods which they are already over-policing; and are not sent to neighbourhoods which have crime, but those crimes are found. The irony is that, in these examples, the intention was to create algorithms which were free from human bias, however, because of the way in which they were constructed that had unintended consequence of perpetuating historic inequalities. 
3. Concerns about Unethical Behaviour: the dataset is deliberately skewed or designed to behave in a dishonourable way. AI is fundamentally an ethically neutral platform. It can be used or misused like any other technology. History teaches us that most technologies are misused at some point. 

In order to avoid historic or intentional bias, it is necessary to develop new protocols. Once designers deviate from historic data and endeavour to build an algorithm which is based on data which is deemed both unbiased and fair, they are presented with some quite serious ethical challenges. Here there will be parallels here to the debates about the value of positive discrimination in the workplace. One way to manage AI is to establish some protocols which will ensure that we avoid algorithmic bias - and here diversity is the key. There needs to be a Diversity of Background and a Diversity of Mindset of the team building the algorithms to avoid “group think”; a Diversity of Data that comprises any training set; and Diversity of Algorithmic Models used. 

Looking ahead it is likely that there will need to be formal regulation of algorithm design (rather akin the way in which financial services is regulated) which will entail the development of regulatory function of ethical audit. This role will ensure that algorithms are not subject to intentional or unintended bias. 

The Ethics of AI in Education 

The use of AI in education is in its infancy. We are beginning to see adaptive learning platforms, such as CenturyTech, being used in schools, primarily to supplement and support what teachers are doing in the classroom. Whether or not this is the first tentative step towards the ‘Holy Grail’ of fully adaptive and personalised learning that does not require teacher input is a debate for another day. Looking ahead it is like AI in Education is likely to pose some significant ethical issues. 

1. First, as those who are embroiled in GDPR know only too well, there are a whole range of concerns about the security, ownership and privacy of personal student data that is captured and stored within an AI platform. There will need to policies and protocols in this area. 
2. Secondly, there are concerns about the fairness of access to AI technologies and the potential for AI to increase the ‘Digital Divide’ between those who can afford access to the technology and those who don’t. 
3. Thirdly, there is a danger of having a biased training set on which educational AI technologies are founded reinforce social/ cultural/ etc. stereotypes. For example, it is quite possible that the dataset for an AI learning platform might be skewed because the early adopters all come from affluent fee-paying schools who can afford to provide access. 

Assessment Algorithms. 

Perhaps the greatest ethical issues might come around AI being used to make significant summative assessments of students’ abilities in the allocation of places at university or into the jobs market. We have already seen the ‘Big Four’ accountancy firms preferring their own assessment platforms to consideration of A-level and Degree results in order to find recruits who have the most potential (e.g. ‘Big Four’ look beyond academics – Financial Times 28/02/2016). It is quite possible to conceive of a time when both universities and employers, motivated from the noble intention of assessing potential and facilitating social mobility, will rely on their own assessment recruitment algorithms to identify suitable candidates. If this were to have it would be vital that any algorithm be subject to rigorous ethical audit to ensure that it meets a standard test of fairness. 

Final Remarks 

We have only begun to realise the potential that Artificial Intelligence has to shape C21 society and, sadly, social and ethical debate is struggling to keep up with the development of the technology. There needs to be an informed debate about the place of AI in society, and particularly of how it is going to be applied in education. In order to do this, we need a much greater understanding in society of how AI and Machine Learning work – and that is a challenge which I hope will be taken up by schools over the coming months and years.

This article was published in Digital Strategy Edition 2, March 2019 by the ISC Digital Strategy Group.

The Rise of AI

A keynote presentation given at the ISBA Digital Strategy and Cybersecurity Conference at the BMA in London on Wednesday 27th March 2019.
The presentation looks at the following areas:

1. What is AI?
2. The Ethics of Ai.
3. AI, Education and the #FutureSchool
4. The threat of AI to Fee-paying Education

Olympic Sport and the Nation's Health

My article published in the latest edition of the HMC Insight magazine

Related posts

• Independent School Medallists at the Rio Olympics 2016
• Independent School Medallists at the London Olympics 2012

Independent School Medallists at the Rio Olympics 2016

Independent Schools continue to make a significant contribution to British Sport (28% of Team GB for Rio 2016 come from Independent Schools) - this is something that we should celebrate. 

The final statistics in detail:

• 62 women have won medals for Team GB (2 won two medals), 22 of whom were educated at a UK independent school – 35% 
• 73 men have won medals for Team GB (1 won 3 medals, 5 won 2 medals), 20 of whom were educated at UK independent schools (2 won 2 medals) – 27% 
• 135 competitors have won medals for Team GB, 42 of whom were educated at UK independent schools – 31% 

Congratulations to the following former pupils of Independent Schools who have won medals for Team GB at the Rio Games:

Gold Medals:

• Cycling
• Katie Archibald (Glasgow Academy) Team Pursuit (WR)
• Equestrian
• Nick Skelton (Bablake) Individual Showjumping
• Hockey
• Crista Cullen (Oakham) 
• Alex Danson (Farnborough Hill) 
• Maddie Hinch (King's, Taunton) 
• Shona McCallin (Repton)
• Lily Owsley (Clifton College) 
• Sam Queck (Birkenhead High - then GSA)
• Susannah Townsend (Sutton Valence) 
• Georgie Twigg (Repton) 
• Nicola White (Oldham Hulme Grammar)
• Rowing
• Helen Glover (Millfield) Coxless Pair 
• Heather Stanning (Gordonstoun) Coxless Pair
• Constantine Louloudis (Eton)  Coxless Four
• George Nash (Winchester)  Coxless Four
• Tom Ransley (King's Canterbury) Eight
• William Satch (Shiplake) Eight
• Andrew Triggs-Hodge (Belmont Grosvenor) Eight
• Phelan Hill (Bedford) Eight
• Sailing
• Hannah Mills (Howell's, Llandaff) 470
• Triathlon
• Alistair Brownlee (Bradford Grammar)

Silver Medals

• Canoeing
• David Florence (Stewarts Melville) C2
• Equestrian
• Fiona Bigwood (Croydon High) Team Dressage
• Karl Hester (Elizabeth College, Guernsey) Team Dressage
• Rowing
• Victoria Thornley (Rydal Penrhos) Double Sculls
• Olivia Carnegie-Brown (Queen Anne's Caversham) Eight
• Katie Greves (Headington) Eight
• Frances Houghton (King's Canterbury) Eight
• Polly Swann (George Heriot's) Eight
• Zoe de Toledo (St Paul's) Eight
• Rugby Sevens
• Dan Bibby (Kirkham Grammar) 
• Alex Davis (QEH Bristol) 
• Ollie Lindsay Hague (Millfield) 
• Tom Mitchell (Worth) 
• James Rodwell (Berkhamsted)
• Marcus Watson (St George's Weybridge) 
• Swimming
• James Guy (Millfield) 4x200m Freestyle Relay
• Duncan Scott (Strathallan) 4x200m Freestyle Relay
• James Guy (Millfield) 4x100m Medley Relay
• Duncan Scott (Strathallan) 4x100m Medley Relay
• Triathlon
• Jonathan Brownlee (Bradford Grammar)

Bronze Medals

• Athletics
• Emily Diamond (Bristol Grammar) 4x400m Relay
• Diving
• Tom Daley (Plymouth College) Synchronised 10m Platform
• Gymanastics
• Amy Tinkler (Durham High) Floor [NB current pupil]

Looking Back to London 2012

• Why did pupils from Independent Schools win so many Olympic medals in London 2012?
• Independent Schools and Team GB Medallists in London 2012- The final Stats

My thanks to Georgina Belcher at the ISC for helping me with identifying the former schools of TeamGB.

A ‘Customer-focused School’ - Some thoughts on school marketing and why, how and when we should listen to parents.

My opening address at the AMDIS Conference at The Belfry on Monday 11th. May 2015.

From the conference programme:

In his opening address, Mark Steed explores the concept of a "customer-focused school". The presentation will look at how schools, through collecting data about their current and prospective parents, can gain customer insight and thus ensure sustainable growth. Using practical examples from Barkhamsted School, Mark will discuss ways in which schools can develop what they have to offer to create new demand by opening up new markets; and how far schools should go in listening to their parents.

Squaring the Circle - The Greatest Educational Challenge

"One of the greatest challenges facing leading schools in this country is how best to prepare you, young people, for what is an increasingly competitive market place for top jobs. To some extent it was ever thus, but the difference between your generation and that of those of us who are parents is that you are competing in a truly global marketplace. You are not just competing with the best in the UK – you are competing with the best in the world. There are more A* and outstanding pupils in China than there are pupils in Britain, so if you are going to be the movers and shakers of the next generation then you will need to raise your game.

It is not so much “Berko’s Got talent” or even “Britain’s Got talent” – but it’s “The World’s Got Talent”. How will you compete? And how will your education here at Berkhamsted prepare you for that world? Britain has long since abandoned any pretence of having an economy based on making things. As Richard Sykes of Imperial College, formerly Chief Executive of Glaxo-Wellcome puts it:

 'We can’t compete against the manpower of India and China: we have to use our brains.' 

"Independent Schools like Berkhamsted have a long and distinguished history in producing world-class leaders in their various fields and they have an important role to play if UK PLC is going to remain competitive on the international stage. In the global employment market, you have a number of advantages – you are native speakers of the new global language and you have relatively cheap and easy access to some of the best universities in the world, but this is not enough – you need more – you need world-class schooling.

"The problem that we face in schools is that there is a growing dislocation between the standard school curriculum and the world of work. I believe that the exam system is the greatest obstruction to preparing young people for the world of work because it is completely out of kilter with what people actually do in the workplace. At no point in any job do people ever work alone, in silence, without technology or collaboration; and no one ever writes a handwritten essay. 

"Changes in working patterns and the increasing use of technology in business combined with subtle shift in our A-level system are making this dislocation even greater. In the past somebody who had a bit of flair could write an essay and be given an ‘A’ for it even if it was not the approach the examiner expected, because they had written it in an interesting way. But in recent years exam boards have tried to automate their marking processes and that approach has been drummed out of the system because examiners do onscreen marking with a checklist of all the key words which need to be there. The consequence is that we are coming up with a generation of people who are very accurate and don't make mistakes, but who also don't take risks. 

"So, at a forward-looking school like Berkhamsted we have to try to square the circle: we need to teach young people to pass examinations so that they can get the grades to gain places at top universities to have the start that we want them all to have in life; but we also need to nurture young people who can think for themselves, who are creative, who can solve problems, who can think out of the box, who can be an effective part of a team, who have passions and interests, who make connections, who are articulate, who are good with people, who have a sense of community and of service; and who, above all, develop the values that will enable them to make a difference in the world.

"Education is about so much more than passing examinations. It is not about cribs and shortcuts. It is about broadening the mind. It is about making connections. It is about abandoning the motorway and taking the scenic route. It is about making discoveries. It is about a deeper understanding that comes from really knowing something well. It is about kicking around ideas with like-minded people. It is about taking yourself out of your comfort zone. It is about taking risks. It is about taking time. I am not arguing this out of a romantic view of how education was in the past. I believe that these things are important for individuals and for us as a nation. Britain’s traditions in the creative arts, in science and innovation have been fed by an education system has led the world. Schools like these and our top universities have led the world by teaching young people to “think”. If all that teachers do is to teach to the exam, and if all pupils do is to learn what they need to know to pass the exam, then we are failing to educate. If we fail to educate, we will lose the Nation’s greatest asset. That is how we square the circle – that is the Berkhamsted vision for Education."

Part of my address at the Berkhamsted School Speech Day on Thursday 3rd July, 2014

A Guide to the Berkhamsted School Appraisal Grids

For more detail on the rationale behind this approach see the following blogposts:

• Part One: Background Thinking behind Berkhamsted School's approach
• Part Two: The Berkhamsted School HoD Appraisal PRP Consultation
• Part Three: The Self Appraisal Stage
• Part Four: The Review and Moderation Stage
• Part Five: The Feedback Meeting, Target Setting and CPD
• Part Six:  PRP for HoDs and Teachers

Soapbox: The exam system is seriously hindering efforts to prepare young people for the workplace.

Testing young people's ability to work alone in silence without access to technology is outdated and irrelevant, the Principal of Berkhamsted School tells Rachel Bridge

The present British examination system is seriously hindering efforts by schools to prepare young people for the workplace, says Mark Steed, Principal of Berkhamsted School, a highly regarded independent school in Hertfordshire. It stifles the very qualities that British businesses need and urgently needs reforming, he said. Steed said: "The exam system is the biggest obstruction to preparing young people for the world of work because it is completely out of kilter with what people actually do in the workplace. At no point in any job do people ever work alone, in silence, without technology or collaboration. And handwritten essays are just not something that anyone produces in the workplace."

The exam system is completely out of kilter with how people work in the workplace, says Mark Steed 

He said that while teachers have been quick to respond to the changing needs of the workplace by introducing technology and collaboration into the classroom, their ability to do more is being seriously inhibited by the need to prepare young people for exams which bear no resemblance to the way the workplace actually operates. He said: "Education is embracing new technologies at an extremely fast rate.

Teachers are using laptops and iPads and tablet devices in lessons and they are encouraging students to work collaboratively through software such as Google Docs. But the problem is that we have still got a 19th century examination system which involves sitting in rows in silence without technology or collaboration."

Steed warned that the present examination system also inhibits creativity and flair, the very things that we as a society should be encouraging in young people - not just for their personal development, but because they help drive the economy forward.

He said: "In recent years exam boards have tried to automate their marking processes so we have ended up with tick box marking of A levels. In the past somebody who had a bit of flair could write an essay and be given an A for it even if it was not the approach the examiner expected, because they had written it in an interesting way." "But that has now been drummed out of the exam system because examiners do onscreen marking with a checklist of all the key words which need to be there. The consequence is that we are coming up with a generation of people who are very accurate and don't make mistakes, but who also don't take risks."

He added: "The competitive advantage of Britain as a nation is based around problem solving and creativity but the exam system at the moment mitigates against both of those things. It punishes people who are creative or quirky or whose answers aren't the exact ones on the sheet. That means teachers end up having to rein in students' creativity and problem solving skills in order to prepare them to sit these exams."

Steed called on the government to urgently overhaul the examination system so that it rewards rather than stifles qualities needed in the workplace, saying: "We need an exam system that encourages creativity, and rewards students who come up with nonstandard answers. Creativity is one of the UK's great strengths - we produce brilliant designers and scientists, engineers and architects and we have some of the most creative and best problem solvers in the world. But unless we sort out the exam system we are in danger of losing that."

This article was written by Rachel Bridge and appeared in the Daily Telegraph on 09/06/2014

When choosing a school look for the skyscrapers

Great cities can be recognised by their skylines.

Some cities are dominated by ancient domes and spires testament to centuries of culture and learning; other more recent new-comers compete through ever taller and imaginative iconic structures; and truly great cities combine the two with a juxtaposition of history and an ever evolving modernity. 

However, on the ground, modern cities tend to be increasingly similar: shopping malls and business districts have a similar feel whether in Dubai, Kuala Lumpur or Toronto or Sydney. Life in one world city can be a very similar experience as life in another. 

In many ways schools are like cities. On the ground they all do very similar things: lessons take place, young people excel in music, drama, sport and adventurous activities; trips and visits go out both near and far. Some schools have long and distinguished histories and have the buildings to match, whilst others are forward-looking and have new technology and infrastructure to dazzle. So how to choose between them? 

Top independent schools, like world cities, have skyscrapers: areas of particular strength that define their skyline. These are areas where a school would consider itself making a distinctive contribution, areas where perhaps it puts a greater proportion of its resources than its peers. School skyscrapers are usually built on the foundations of long-standing tradition and expertise. So when choosing a school, consider the skyscrapers and ask yourself, 'Will the school in question provide my son or daughter the best possible opportunities to thrive, develop his/ her talents and, above all, to see new horizons?'

"Building Character" - the most important thing we do?

As a child, when my mother wanted me to do something that I didn't really want to do, she would describe the experience as "character-building". For her, the term was a catch-all that would cover anything from visiting an elderly relative, to speaking in public, to conquering a peak in the Lake District - usually in the pouring rain. Looking back she was right, those formative experiences made an enormous contribution to the person that I am today.

The word “character” derives from the Greek kharassō (χαράσσω), which means “I engrave”. Character is something that is etched into us by the experiences that we have as we go through life.

"Character building" experiences take us out of our comfort zones and force us to 'dig deep' to find new resources within ourselves. 

The experiences that we have when we are young are particularly influential for they shape the adult that we become. That is why Independent Schools are in the business of "character-building".

Good schools do so much more than focus on attaining a top set of examination passes , they seek to develop the whole person. Indeed, some of the most important parts of a good education take place outside the classroom - for these are the parts of the curriculum that provide the most "character-building" opportunities. It is for this reason that many independent schools have a commitment to an all-round education which aims to give young people a range experiences which will both stretch and challenge them.

In every school there will always be those for whom the stage, the concert hall, the sports field and the expedition centre will be a second home and independent schools have an outstanding track record of providing the facilities and expertise that will allow these pupils to develop their talents to the highest possible level. The number of former independent school pupils who make it to the top in music, theatre and sport is testimony to the sector’s collective success in these areas. However, we must also recognise that for others these arenas provide challenges which take them out of their personal comfort zones: some young people find that performing or speaking in public doesn't come naturally; others dislike physical challenge in any of its forms. This is genuine character-building territory.

Independent Schools invest considerable resources into providing specialist facilities, staffing and time to provide outstanding extra-curricular programmes. They are fortunate enough to have specialist sports pitches and indoor spaces, swimming pools, theatres, music practice rooms, rehearsal spaces. They do so, not just to provide for a sporting, theatrical and musical elite, but also to provide opportunities for all. One of the significant differences between the maintained and independent sectors is the extent to which a school can provide an extra-curricular programme - not just for a few, but for all. At Berkhamsted, every pupil is expected to be involved in a play, to sing on stage in a choir, to represent the school at a sport and to serve the local community. We believe that every pupil should have the opportunity to experience the teamwork and camaraderie that comes from being in a dramatic production, a choir or from being part of a sports team. Above all every pupil should be taken out of their comfort zone – to have to do something that they would rather not do, but something of which they would be very proud to have achieved after the event.

Berkhamsted School
Climbing Trip to the Alps 2013

Outdoor education in all of its forms has an enormous part to play in building character. Young people learn more about themselves and about their peers when they are exposed to challenging situations, be that camping out for the very first time, abseiling down a cliff or completing a high ropes course. Outdoor education provides opportunities for young people to face fears and to manage risk. Sometimes the lessons are learned the hard way: a poorly constructed shelter or the wrong choice of clothing can mean a damp few hours, but the individual is wiser the next time. Few meals are more satisfying than those cooked on a camp-fire outside one’s tent with one’s friends after a day navigating one’s way around the Lake District or Brecon Beacons. Memories, friendships, trust and, of course, character are forged here. It is for these reasons that Berkhamsted has made outdoor education a compulsory part of its wider curriculum so that every pupil has a 'bushcraft' experience and the opportunity to sleep under canvas. Climbing and ski clubs, a vibrant Combined Cadet Force and an extensive Duke of Edinburgh Award programme give further opportunities in these areas.

Schools are under increasing pressure to deliver measurable results, but some of the most significant parts of education don’t lend themselves to metrics – “Building Character” falls into this category. It is arguably the most important thing that we do.

Three Reasons why Schools and Parents are not nurturing a generation of Entrepreneurs:

A journalist contacted me last week to ask if I thought that schools should teach enterprise and entrepreneurship: How important is it? Is it a good idea? Is it realistic for teachers to try to teach it? and, if so, how far should we go?  Is there a danger that it could overshadow traditional subjects? The questions were framed in a way that suggested that, whilst attending various carol services and nativity plays, I had missed a pronouncement from the Secretary of State that 'Enterprise and Entrepreneurship' was to be the next candidate for inclusion in the Gove/National Curriculum. The questions posed struck a chord. They open up the important debate about how both school and home are bringing up this generation, and how this will impact on their ability to cope in the world of work . . . .

Qualities of the Entrepreneur

Three of the most important qualities of enterprise and entrepreneurship are arguably:

1. the ability to take risks; 
2. the ability to pick yourself up when things go wrong; and
3. the ability to make connections and approach a problem in a novel way.

Unfortunately, today these are alien concepts. Here are three reasons why I believe that the implicit messages that parents and schools are sending to young people foster quite the opposite values.

"Have you got a risk assessment for that?"

Think of your fondest childhood memory - I wager it was outside, and that was away from the supervision of adults. Chances are that your mother sent you out to play saying "Don't come back till tea time." Mine did - most did. Looking back on my childhood, it's amazing that I'm alive. We went off to play in the way that boys did - we climbed trees, we broke into condemned buildings that had collapsing floors, I explored all the loft spaces of the house, went on all-day bike rides, and so on. Undoubtedly it was dangerous - but we learned to take and manage risks. Children don't do that anymore. Their idea of danger is served up by Alton Towers:  it's scary, but fundamentally it's safe - you think that your going to Oblivion, but really you know that you'll get to queue up for the next ride.

The same goes for travel - so few pupils walk or even ride a bike to school. Most are chauffeured by parents everywhere - even to be dropped off to catch the School bus.  Few ever use public transport and most can't even read a railway or bus timetable, let alone plan a long distance journey. In contrast, I walked three-quarters of a mile to catch a train to school each morning (sometimes carrying a 'cello!) When I was 13 I was put on a train at Chelmsford and expected to get myself  to Valenciennes in north west France by train and ferry (operating for a part in my schoolboy French) to stay with my pen-friend. Unthinkable today - and all the more so when one thinks that we grew up in a world without mobile phones. It was a different world - but I'm not convinced that it was any more dangerous.

There is little doubt that we have become overprotective of our children, that they gain independence later (helicopter parents at University!) and that they are far less skilled at managing risk. If this is the case, how can we really expect this generation of young people to show enterprise and take the risks needed by entrepreneurs if on a daily basis they remain wrapped up in cotton wool?

"Practically Perfect in Every Way"

There is a growing culture in independent schools and amongst fee-paying parents that a B or a C grade is a failure. There are two factors driving this. First, A-level grade inflation means that top universities find it increasingly difficult to discriminate between candidates. In a world where significant numbers of pupils have A* and A grades - anything less and your chances of getting into a top 10 university goes out of the window. Secondly, School league tables (and therefore a schools' academic standings) are determined by the percentage of A*+A. 

The consequence of this is that young people are expected to be "practically perfect in every way" - or at least to have a perfect academic record. There is no doubt that young people are under much greater pressure to perform at a high level than we were at school:  last summer the vast majority of Berkhamsted Sixth held and made university offers in excess of ABB  - pressure reserved only for the most prestigious courses in the 1980s.

Perhaps the most bizarre unintended consequences of the "A-grade = Pass culture" is that children are no longer allowed to fail. Parents are increasingly vocal as soon as a grade drops below an A. Let me illustrate:

When an essay set early in the AS course is marked at a B or C grade, it is not uncommon for a parent to contact the school to ask why their child has dropped a grade. ["It has been very upsetting for her."]  It does not take long before the accusation that "The teacher clearly hasn't taught them properly!" is levelled. When it is explained to the parent that few experienced teachers would expect a pupil in their first weeks of the Lower Sixth to be writing at A grade standard [because it takes time to develop a mature essay writing style and that the transition from GCSE to A-level is not an easy one] a typical parental repost is along the lines of  "Well, your expectations should be higher, Mr Steed" or "Why set a task when they can't get an A grade?"

Something has been lost here. Getting a B or a C grade has always been a normal part of the learning process. B or a C grades should indicate that a pupil has reached a certain standard, but that there is more work to do. Yet in our "practically perfect" culture, any deviation from an A grade is seen as an aberration that in some way damages the young person's self esteem. 

Learning to cope with failure and disappointment is an important part of life and schools have a fundamental part to play in this. How a young person reacts to getting a B or a C grade is important: "What do I need to do to get an A grade?" "Where did I go wrong?" "What does an A grade essay look like?"  There the  is a real danger that we are creating a generation of young people who lack the basic resilience that is fundamental to success in the world of work - let alone embarking on a career as an entrepreneur.

"We are breading a generation of accountants, not entrepreneurs." 

There was a time when I started teaching when we all knew what an A grade essay looked like - it was sometimes difficult to put your finger on why, but we all knew one when we saw one. We knew for the same reasons that Oxbridge dons 'know' what a First looks like (or indeed an Beta+? for that matter) - because it had been passed down through the generations with professional rigour and pride. The old system could accommodate those with flair, it could accommodate the maverick. That was all part of the fun. Teachers would encourage the bright pupil to take a different angle or to make the quirky connection, knowing that she would be rewarded for doing so. Today flair is an alien concept to examiners: the mark schemes are so rigid that we only reward the careful. The consequence is that the bright pupil has the maverick beaten out of him. Flair has become a vice. Making quirky connections a menace. We have an A-level system that is breading a generation of accountants: they are reliable, they are careful, they don't make mistakes and they get the job done - they are trained to think in the same way. Consequently most bright pupils don't have an entrepreneurial bone in their body.

Final Thoughts

I'm sure that it would be very good for the country if more young people were to go out into the world to become Entrepreneurs. However, I don't think that 'enterprise and entrepreneurship' can be taught in a classroom - indeed the key skills are best taught outside of the classroom.

1. Risk:  "We expose young people to risk in controlled situations" (Duncan Hardy, Director of Outdoor Education at Berkhamsted). Young people need to learn to take and manage risk. Some of the most important things that we do at school are the most dangerous: the rock climbing club, the CCF survival weekends, Duke of Edinburgh Expeditions and so on - these activities teach young people a whole range of important skills and give them "character-forming" experiences that will shape them for life. They should be a fundamental part of every child's education.
2. Failure is a great teacher:  "Life isn't fair - get used to it."  Young people need to learn how to cope with disappointment and failure. Resilience is a vital life skill that can only be learned in the school of hard knocks. We need to let young people fail, if they are to succeed.
3. In Praise of the B grade:  We all need to see ourselves as "work-in-progress" - we are never "the finished article": to think of ourselves as A* is hubris.
4. Encourage the maverick:  We need people who can see problems from different angles. We need to value people who can make connections. We need to encourage intellectual risk-taking.  In terms of the examination system, this will never be possible if we continue on the path to tick-box examining.

What School Sport teaches young people (especially girls).

The Value of School Sport

Independent Schools devote a significant proportion of the curriculum to sport; indeed, here at Berkhamsted pupils spend more time at Key Stage 3 each week playing games than they do learning mathematics. We do this because we believe that sport has true educational value. 

Hilary Levey Friedman, in her book Playing to Win: Raising Children in a Competitive Culture, identifies five ways in which sport develops important transferable skills:

1. Sport internalizes the importance of winning;
2. Sport helps young people to learn how to bounce back from a loss to win in the future;
3. Sport teaches the importance of performing within time limits;
4. Sport helps young people to learn how to succeed in stressful situations;
5. Sport teaches the importance of being able to perform under the gaze of others.

Girls, Sport, Success, Self-esteem and Body Image

A study by the Women's Sports Foundation (in the USA) found that:

1. High school girls who play sports are more likely to get better grades in school and more likely to graduate than girls who do not play sports. 
2. Girls and women who play sports have higher levels of confidence and self-esteem and lower levels of depression. 
3. Girls and women who play sports have a more positive body image and experience higher states of psychological well-being than girls and women who do not play sports. 

Girls, Sport and later Business Success

A survey of top women business executives published by the Oppenheimer Foundation in February 2013 discovered that 81% of top women business executives played organized team sports growing up.

When asked how playing team sport contributed to their business, they commented that,

1. Sport developed leadership skills, 
2. Sported engendered greater discipline, 
3. Sport developed the ability to function as part of a team

A final thought . . . 
One of the most important aspects of School Sport is the camaraderie that it brings. When Old Boys and Old Girls come back to school more often than not they end up reminiscing about their sporting triumphs. It was a great privilege a forthnight ago to sit between two 95 year-old Berkhamstedians at a special lunch. It was not long before they were talking about their days in the First XV - one played Full-back and the other Lock - and that was some 77 years ago, but just like yesterday to them!

References and Further Reading:

• Hilary Levey Friedman, Playing to Win: Raising Children in a Competitive Culture (September 2013)
• Hilary Levey Friedman, 'Do Your Kids Need More Competitive Capital?'  Harvard Business Review Blog 03/09/2013
• 'Benefits - Why Sports Participation for Girls and Women' Womens Sports Foundation
• 'Successful Women Business Executives Don't Just Talk a Good Game... They Play(ed) One'  Oppenheimer Foundation Report: (February 2013)

How technology is changing education in our independent schools - An overview

Introduction 

Great claims have been made over the past twenty years about the impact that ICT would have on teaching and learning, most of which only succeeded in disappointing. However, at long last, the combination of reliable ICT networks, affordable equipment, innovative educational software and an increasingly ICT-literate body of teachers means that we are beginning to see ICT making a real difference to the day-to-day education in independent schools. The impact of new technologies is being seen in every area of school life: academic, pastoral, co-curricular and in school administration.

Academic 

Martini Learning. Widespread access to new technologies has been one of the most important catalysts of the shift in emphasis from classrooms being about teaching, to them being about learning. Pupils now have access to web-based to learning resources at school, at home and on the move. Learning is no longer confined to the classroom or to the prep room, it happens “anytime, anyplace, anywhere”: we are in the age of “Martini learning”. Most Independent senior schools now have the necessary WIFI infrastructure in place to support mobile learning and this is likely to be greatest area of growth over the coming years.

Online Apps and Collaboration. Some of the most innovative work that is going on in schools at the moment surrounds the use of Online Apps (such as the Google Apps suite and MS Office 365). These technologies allow pupils and teachers to collaborate online by working on the same document. Teachers are taking tasks that traditionally were set as homework (say, read and note chapter 7 of The Lord of the Flies under the following headings . . . ) and developing them into class collaborative piece of work. The result is that pupils gain a range of insights from their peers whilst practising the important life skill of working with others. Anecdotal evidence is that pupils make a greater effort when working collaboratively because of the public aspect of publishing ideas to their friends. Online collaborative working is so popular that many schools are finding that pupils find it their preferred form of independent learning, setting up shared documents to work on homework without any teacher input or encouragement at all.

Social Network CPD. Collaborative new technologies are also transforming the staff room. The rise of social media platforms (such as Twitter, online forums and blogs) has heralded an unprecedented period of collaboration and mutual support. Teachers now are able to share lesson ideas not only within the department but also with colleagues around the country. This has both facilitated the spread of ‘best practice’ and established an important vehicle for INSET.

Pastoral 

e-Safety. Independent schools pride themselves in having outstanding levels of pastoral care and devote time and money to providing it. The Internet has brought with it a number of important challenges for all schools and e-Safety now has a central place on any PSHE programme sitting firmly alongside drugs and alcohol as one of the greatest threats to young people. Whilst many of the issues are fundamentally the same ones with which schools have been dealing for years (cyber-bullying is bullying, Internet porn is pornography, cyber-safety is personal safety), there are a number of new challenges. Arguably, the greatest dangers that young people face come, not from what they can download from the Internet, but from what they are able to publish to it. Ultimately, it is impossible to control pupils’ access to the Internet and the only way forward is to educate the young people in our care to use the Internet responsibly.

Communication. One of the greatest pastoral challenges that new technologies have brought for independent schools is that pupils have immediate access to their parents; and that parents, in turn, have immediate access to teachers, houseparents, and senior leaders. Minor issues and incidents, which only ten years ago would have been dealt with in-school and forgotten before the end of the day, are blown out of all proportion, causing unnecessary anguish, management time and paper-trails.

Co-curricular 

One of exciting benefits of cheap and ready access to new technologies is that it is relatively easy for pupils to do things today that in the past would have taken hours and an enormous budget. Every pupil now has the opportunity to make a video, their smartphone the camera and their laptop the editing studio; to publish articles and to engage a world-wide audience. There is no doubt that new technologies have given a new status to creativity. In a world where YouTube videos and blogposts can go viral – the opportunity for “15 minutes of fame” is there for all. Independent schools are well placed to harness the creativity in young people in a range of co-curricular clubs and societies of which we (of a previous generation) could only dream.

School Administration 

As with all organisations, independent schools have implemented a range of new ICT initiatives to improve school administration. It is generally accepted that ICT will not save schools money (Bursars stopped asking, “when will we see a return on this investment?” years ago) but it has raised the bar. Independent schools undoubtedly hold and analyse more data on pupils than ever before. 

Communication with parents has changed beyond belief. On the positive side, almost all independent senior schools have ditched hand-written reports and moved to a database system. No longer do teachers have to queue up in the common room waiting for the ledger containing Form 3A’s reports, but they can log into the school database from the comfort of their home. Many schools are now making the move to publishing reports only online through the ‘Parent Portal’. Whilst letters home lost in school bags are a thing of the past, one of the greatest challenges caused by new technologies that schools face today is the unprecedented level of email traffic that flows between home and school. Most schools (and, indeed, parents) can’t cope. 

Many schools have even embraced biometric technologies using them for registration, library withdrawals and even to control door entry about the school site.

Conclusion

Some people talk about ICT in Schools as if it were a project that one day will be complete. That is about as wrong as asking, “When will the London skyline be finished?” Independent schools have an excellent record at harnessing new technologies for education – and we can be confident that that will be the way of the future.

An article written for the Independent Schools Show magazine

The Importance of Independent Learning

"One of the key responsibilities of any good school is to provide the context in which young people learn how to study on their own. “Learning to learn” is a complex process that entails pupils taking responsibility and playing their part within the educational process. You can see the shift in mindset when a boy or girl moves from saying “Here’s your homework, Sir” to “Here is my work.” After all, schooling is not about teachers teaching great lessons – it is about young people learning and understanding things. 

Independent Learning is important because it develops creativity and intellectual curiosity. Independent learning is about pupils being active rather than passive. It is about them working out the answers rather than being told them. It is about them wanting to study because they want to understand more, rather than taking a Utilitarian stance that I am doing this because I want to pass the examination. Independent Learning is not the easy option – it is tough. 

Here at Berkhamsted we are committed to fostering Independent learning and, parents, you can help us here – we need your support. But before I say how, let me first explain why. 

As a teacher I have a choice. If all I want to do is to get results, I can spoon-feed you. I can give you dozens of model answers and I can get out my big stick and I can make you learn them.

But if I want to educate you, I will encourage and inspire you to explore the subject, to make discoveries and set you tasks that will challenge you. There will be times when you will feel out of your depth, but as you develop new skills and greater resilience, you will begin to understand the subject and to make connections. Alongside this I will teach you the techniques so that you can answer any question that the examiner chooses to throw at you. 

The “give a man a fish, you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish you feed him for life” principle is at work here. 

This year we have had a focus on independent learning and the teaching staff have been encouraged not to spoon-feed, but to set challenging tasks. It may sound counter-intuitive, but I have encouraged teachers to be less helpful and not to just jump straight in with the answers. For it is only by being less helpful that pupils will have the opportunity to develop the resilience and problem-solving skills that will help them rise to future challenges in life. 

And this is where you come in as parents; or more to the point, this is where you shouldn’t come in as parents. The response this year of some parents to our shift towards more independent learning has been to complain. “My daughter has been set a prep on a subject she hasn’t yet been taught.” “My son has dropped from an A grade to B – what is going wrong?” etc. 

Here at Berkhamsted we are committed to educating young people – not just cramming them for examinations. A true education is challenging. A true education will involve failure. Getting an A grade all the time is probably a bad sign.   

So, parents, bear with us.
Support us.
Encourage your children to stretch themselves.
Encourage your children to take responsibility for their own work.
Encourage your children to take risks.
And, above all, encourage to your children to learn from their mistakes."

Extract from Berkhamsted School Speech Day Address 4th. July 2013

There's a brain drain coming - the battle to attract and retain talented educators has begun.

As educators we have long seen it part of our responsibility to prepare our pupils for careers working in the global economy. Like many Headteachers a regular theme of my assemblies is to remind the school that they are going to be competing in a marketplace for top jobs not only against the brightest and best in the UK but against the cream of the crop from around the world.The interesting development is that the same arguments now also apply to the staff room. 

With the explosion of new top quality independent schools in Asia Pacific and the Middle East, there are now unprecedented opportunities for teachers abroad too. In a recent conversation at the ISBA conference, one CEO of a schools group backed by venture capitalists put estimates of the number of additional English-speaking teachers required in the Middle East in the next ten years at 300,000; Dubai alone needs 100,000. Given the relative tax regimes, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that many of these will come from the UK. Ten years ago having overseas schools experience on the C.V. was viewed at worst with suspicion ("Something must have happened for him to have to go abroad") and, at best, as a rather colourful deviation from the best practice we have in the UK. Soon it will be an essential component of any aspirational teacher's career.
Government and School Governors take note: there is going to be an enormous battle ahead to attract and retain our best educational talent. (I acknowledge that it is a generalisation, but) it is most likely that this will impact most on those at the the beginning and end of their careers, for, on the whole, it will be the under 30s, who are yet to start families, and the over 50s, whose families have left home, who are more likely to be free to move abroad.

A global market in NQTs
In a world where young teachers are starting work burdened by student debts and with little prospect of getting together a deposit for a mortgage on a house, how will UK schools in independent sectors continue to recruit the best talent when schools in the Middle and Far East are offering competitive packages with  tax-free salaries teaching highly motivated students? Here at Berkhamsted we have one solution that is making a great difference and that is that we are able to offer subsidised accommodation to recent graduates which enables them to save enough for the first deposit to get them onto the housing ladder. More schools need to look to initiatives like this, if they are to maintain high standards of graduate recruitment.

A global market in Senior Leadership
It is not just teachers who will be heading abroad: Headteachers, Senior Leaders and School Inspectors will get in on the act too. Indeed we have begun to see it already: Vicky Tuck, former head of Cheltenham Ladies and President of GSA, is now Director General of the International School of Geneva; Dr Helen Wright, former Head of St Mary's Calne and GSA President, is now Headmistress of Ascham School in Sydney Australia; Dr Chris Ray, High Master of Manchester Grammar and Chairman of HMC is moving next year to be Principal of The British School Al Khubairat in Abu Dhabi, and Frances King, Headmistress of Roedean is moving to be Director of the Collège Alpin Beau Soleil, Switzerland. And it's not just senior school heads, Paul Brewster, Head of the Beacon Prep School and one of the driving forces behind the Prep IB, is moving to become the Chief Education Officer for Repton International. All leading lights in the UK independent sector wooed abroad. The brain drain has begun.

Retaining the very best Senior Leadership talent will be more of a challenge for Independent Schools. Ultimately there is little more Governing bodies can do than to offer very attractive remuneration packages; thus it is highly likely that we will see salary levels for top Senior Leaders rise sharply over the coming decade as a consequence. 

Leading Staff and Parents through Change

A presentation given to Headteachers at the Independent Schools Association Annual Conference in Eastbourne on Friday 17th May 2013.

 

How Schools can support Parenting

A presentation I gave last year to a meeting of ISA Heads

 

Failure . . . a key educational experience

As a teenager one of my favourite reads was Stephen Pile's The Book of Heroic Failures, which distilled failure into humour and thus made it fit for human consumption. Failure may be funny when served with a side order of schadenfreude, but in the real world, it really isn't all that popular at all.

Perhaps it has always been this way, perhaps I'm just noticing it more, or perhaps it's a product of the easy A-grade culture, but I am increasingly conscious that parents don't like their children failing. And I'm not talking here about the fundamentals - no one wants their child to fail their A-levels or to fail to get the grades for a chosen university course - but parents increasingly intervene when there is a slightest blip from the flawless path of success. Here in the independent sector, there is a growing constituency who believe, just because they are paying fees, that they are buying success. We are in danger of falling into the trap of creating a false universe where the only thing that matters is success. (And we in schools are just as guilty -  we celebrate success in every assembly, on every website post and in every Speech Day address.  When did we last celebrate a failure?)

As parents and educators we want our children to grow and thrive. We want them to have a range of experiences that develop them as into mature, thoughtful, productive, independent adults. We naturally want to protect our children. But protecting children from harm is one thing, protecting them from failure is quite a different matter.

Real life - especially very successful life - is made up of both success and failure. In "bigging up" our children, we are neglecting to see the value of failure as an educational experience. If we are to equip young people for the real world beyond the security of our homes and schools, we need to give them the strength and resilience to cope with failure. Failure is only a bad thing if we let it defeat us. It is how we respond to failure that matters most - indeed, it is what my parents' generation would call "character-building" (a phrase we rarely hear anymore - why?). 

One of the consequences of the "succeed, but don't fail" culture is that young people become risk averse. The much-quoted research of Carol Dweck at Stamford University has demonstrated that the young people who have a "fixed mindset" are less likely to cope with failure and more likely to take risks academically, than those who have a "growth mindset" (See Carol Dweck's Mindset). What is clear from Dweck's research is that we need to encourage young people to take risks, to allow them to fail, and to teach them to learn from their failures - thus developing resilience. (There are excellent summaries of Dweck's research in both Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers and Matthew Syed's Bounce).

The last word here must go to Michael Jordan in his iconic Nike Advert (which makes a great school assembly!).  

"I've missed more than nine thousand shots in my career. I've lost almost three hundred games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot, and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life . . . . . . . and that is why I succeed."

Further Reading:

• Malcolm Gladwell 'The Talent Myth' New Yorker 22/07/2002
• Malcolm Gladwell Outliers: The Story of Success
• Carol Dweck Mindset
• Matthew Syed Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice