Schools
‘Everybody has won and all must have prizes!’ Discuss. Duncan Piper knows that, with the support of Shaw and Newton, leadership can become the foundation of every school Tina Seelig, the insightful professor of Stanford’s d:school, says that “culture is like the background music of any community”. I became fascinated by this music, aged 17. I was unexpectedly appointed as Head of School in my final year at Highgate and became increasingly attuned to the varied attitudes of individuals towards themselves, other people and their own surroundings. What did a Year 9 boy expect of himself? Was there mutual respect between Sixth Formers and the younger years in the school? How did teachers treat support staff? How did pupils view teachers? Did teachers feel that the school had their back? And did everyone feel that this was their school, or did they just happen to work there, or learn there? I now have the pleasure of spending time in dozens of schools across the UK and, though they all have much in common (with pupils learning and teachers teaching), I’ve come to realise just how different they can feel. Some schools have Chopin’s “Nocturnes” in the background. Others have Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now”. How do you change the track? This is something I’ve been working on since 2012. Visiting schools demonstrates that, while they have much in common, they all feel different
18
Spring 2017
It was George Bernard Shaw who wrote, “The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” I founded The Unreasonables to support the UK’s most ambitious schools to create what we call “cultures of leadership” – environments in which everyone is expected, and supported, to lead. Cultural shifts are possible, but not easy. The first stage is simple – you’ve got to want it, badly. I spend ample time with Heads that still aren’t sure – they stumble across “leadership” with a raised eyebrow and degree of caution.
Concern number one: do we want everyone to be a leader?
I’d say that not everyone can be in charge all of the time, of course – that would give rise to impossible pandemonium. But my sense is that leadership is about two things: leaders create change, and leaders create leaders (as opposed to egotistically measuring themselves by the number of followers they’ve enlisted). So, do we need more people that have the capacity to
