Introduction by Richard Calland
│Reminder of core questions underlying the series of conversations:
In what key ways are contemporary models of education fit for purpose/ what are their inadequacies?
How can educational leaders 're-wire’ their approach to address this question?
What are the main methods for accelerating this process given what we already know?
│Reminder of first seminar:
Problems arising with applying systems thinking to embed climate change in education.
Prompts with questions posed by Richard Calland
Prompt 1: Polly Courtice
│What have you learned about the trajectory of the corporate sector in terms of sustainability practices?
Struck by how much, or little, business leaders know about what is going around the world. They seem genuinely astonished by what is going on in the world once they think about it as a ‘system’.
│How much of this gap in knowledge is to do with education, and how much is it do with values?
Both - in the UK, education is narrowed down very quickly in order to specialise, and on the other hand, corporate environments can beat out the idealism of young professionals.
In a corporate context, people are quick to learn what it takes to succeed and this often means ‘parking’ your values.
│What is the relationship between the real economy/industry and educational institutions?
Civil unrest in young people at the moment is causing the establishment (corporations and universities) to rethink problems and issues they previously took for granted.
Along with other factors, changing societal expectations is forcing the corporate sector to adapt.
Opposition to change can come from various actors within an institution. You need the whole community to get on board with change.
│With this analysis in mind, what leadership in the education sector would you want to see?
An acute sense of awareness to challenges to the whole world
Willingness to embrace change and be excited about it and can think about the whole system.
Has a fundamental purpose that brings meaningful value to their own lives as well as the people they lead.
│How do you realign business models with that purpose in mind in a way that doesn’t compromise the success and continuation of the business? Are corporate leaders getting to this point?
Corporate leaders are struggling with long-term and have huge difficulty in defining “purpose”.
Locked into a share-holder model.
Need to make delivering long-term value to society non-negotiable in the success of a business.
│What are the leadership attributes that education needs to promote to deliver the tools students need to cope?
Leaders of the future need the skills to deal with complexity, rapid change and engage with all the evidence.
Not only manage change but thrive on it- they want to be change agents
We are not victims of the future, we are capable of moulding it ourselves.
Prompt 2: Mike Johnston
│Initial reactions to the first prompt
Exciting: immersive educational experience of putting complexity in front of students, letting them be excited about it and ‘dig in’.
Frightening: lack of institutions to enable this. Adults do not concede control.
Leadership and embracing change needs to be seen as positive in the school system and should be explicitly taught and fostered.
│Can you share your analysis of your colleagues in terms of leadership in the education sector?
A mixture of energy and enthusiasm to bring change as well as ‘curmudgeons’ who are obstacles to this change. The latter has a negative impact on the teachers, and in turn, the students.
│Can leadership be found at any level of education?
Yes. Positional leadership should foster non-positional leadership at all levels.
Need to create opportunities for students to take on responsibilities- this can shift the system.
│What powerful actors are obstacles in this change?
Parents, industry and employers, universities... many competing interests for children’s time.
They have to spend a huge amount of time satisfying the system’s requirements.
Small group discussion
Guidance question: what does good leadership in schools and universities look like? And what are the blockages that get in the way of this?
Debrief
│For good leadership in education a person needs to:
Understand their ecosystem as well as what is going on around it
Put human relations at the heart of all activities.
Clarify their purpose and prophetic vision: the school has a choice to make (a fork in the road...)
Understand the need to anticipate
Create a meaningful experience of education
Give opportunities to students to (1) understand how in turn they can become leaders and take control, and (2) develop skills to problem-solving skills to big problems in a way that is exciting, not anxiety-inducing.
Lead by example
Leadership comes from positional and non-positional areas.
│Challenges to good leadership:
Scalability
Other people misunderstand what changes need to be made and why.
Translating thoughts and discussions into actions and embedding values in daily life.
Existing systemic inequalities
Anger and violence is unsustainable
Systematic problem needs to be acknowledged
Need to fight these unequal systems and show students they are capable of changing these.
Agency in shaping the conversation around change: who gets to decide and shape the future?
Can make enthusiasm and optimism very difficult
Based on socio-economic context there are different expectations from leadership
Developing countries seek strong leadership to provide basic needs, whereas developed countries do not define good leadership in the same way.