6 minute read
The Needful by Peter MacKenzie
The Needful
by Peter MacKenzie
Market Harborough, The Book Guild (2022) Reviewed by Wilf Stout
Peter MacKenzie’s debut book has provided the world of international school Heads, teachers and Boards with a hilarious romp through a world that most readers, outside the aforementioned coterie, would believe was a work of extreme fi ction. Not a bit of it. The author has indeed done ‘The
Needful’, in providing a work that will resonate with Heads all over the world, but particularly with those who serve, have served in, or are contemplating a move to, Africa. He has provided a similar service for international schools to that provided by Tom Sharpe for Cambridge colleges! colleges!
Why do I make this statement? I can honestly say that I have shared almost every one of MacKenzie’s experiences whilst serving in the leadership role in six international schools in Africa. That is not to say that these experiences are unique to Africa. Arguably, unique to Africa. Arguably, the various constituencies the various constituencies – students, parents, staffs, – students, parents, staffs, Boards, national and local Boards, national and local authorities – that make authorities – that make up the milieu of most up the milieu of most international schools are international schools are pretty much the same. pretty much the same. The differences are the The differences are the location and the levels location and the levels of bureaucracy, or, on of bureaucracy, or, on occasion, indifference, occasion, indifference, encountered. Without encountered. Without doubt, the greatest source doubt, the greatest source of anxiety facing most of anxiety facing most Heads of international Heads of international schools is ‘The Board’. schools is ‘The Board’. MacKenzie’s narrative MacKenzie’s narrative reveals it as the reveals it as the educational equivalent of educational equivalent of ‘The Godfather’. ‘The Godfather’. Our hero, Peter Corby, arrives in Ndwalowe, the arrives in Ndwalowe, the capital city of Awanza, capital city of Awanza, a fi ctional country a fi ctional country ‘whose southern border touches the Tropic of Capricorn’, as secondary principal. Almost immediately he accepts the Board’s request to take over as Head of School, from a predecessor who was clearly delighted to escape from a school that had become bankrupt during his tenure. From then on, it is his intention to make this the fi nest school in the country. And isn’t this the aspiration of all Heads? Following the year that ended in the school’s bankruptcy, the resignation of the Board, and the departure of several staff, Peter begins a new school year with a brand new Board constituted just prior to his arrival, no secondary principal and a number of staff vacancies.
After many years of experience in several countries in Europe, and as a teacher and secondary school principal for fi ve years in a small school in Japan, Peter has never held the role of ‘Supremo’. The story follows a month-bymonth resume, describing how this day school, despite the legacy of bankruptcy, manages to recover in most respects during the school year following the appointment of Peter as Head. Almost immediately upon arrival he faces the challenges posed by the new Board. Mercifully, the Board Chair appears to be equal to the task and fully supportive of the new Head. The Board meanwhile appears to have little realisation of the fact that it does not own or manage the school, and the early months of Board meetings provide tense moments as one Board member takes exception
to whatever Corby recommends. Corby points out that in an ideal world the Head should be working with the Board and not for the Board. As the year progresses one follows with interest the way in which Peter manages to convince the Board that ‘management is about doing things right’ and ‘leadership is about doing the right things’. As such it is he, and not the Board, who has responsibility for both.
The descriptions of teaching colleagues and staff/faculty rooms run oh so true to form. It seems that the dramatis personae of this school staff throw up the same idiosyncrasies and problems that mar or make the life of any Head. All schools have a staff/common/faculty room, and everyone has territories marked out, often according to sex, age, tenure, and position in the pecking order. In general, the staff are supportive of Peter, who for most of the year lives alone as his wife is still teaching in Japan. Likewise, some parents can have unreasonable perceptions and demands. Here Corby recognises the need to ‘choose his battles’. Accounts of his dealings with support staff, whether secretarial, financial, ground staff, maintenance, transport or security, all provide a wealth of amusing incidents, giving rise to the book title ‘The Needful’. Those used to living in southern Africa will be familiar with the phrase ‘I will do the needful’ as an all-embracing term that comes as a response from one person to another when charged to fulfil a specific task however large or small, significant or insignificant, without any reference to detail or timescale. Whenever I heard this response, I usually remained totally bewildered as to how, when, or if, the said task would be carried out. educational experiences of those parents.
It is against this background that Corby shares his experiences both good and bad, but never boring. International school Heads bring their own flavours to their schools. Many such schools tend towards a US or British curriculum – IGCSE and A Levels, or the International Baccalaureate – and ‘ne’er the twain shall meet’. Aspiring Heads should think carefully before taking on a school outside their own ‘comfort zone’. We see this played out by Corby in an amusing way when it comes to dress code, the Prom, International Day, and so on. Throughout the book Corby’s affection for the Awanzan context
Unsurprisingly, the focus of the book is, in order of importance: children, parents, health and safety, staff recruitment, staff ‘issues’ and finance, and MacKenzie offers several amusing incidents which illustrate his interactions within these areas. Students represent a familiar eclectic mix of local nationals, children of multinational company employees and the Diplomatic Service, and first, second or third generation non-Awanzan entrepreneurs (usually from the Far East or the subcontinent), overlain in aspirational terms with children from the US, Europe, the UK and post-colonial nations. Parents of all children tend to react to the school in stereotypic ways, depending upon the shines through, and there are many fine moments where the reader is enthralled by the descriptions of flora and fauna, not only of the campus, but also of the game parks within Awanza that bring him relaxation.
This book is a ‘must read’ for staff and Board members in international schools; for aspirant Heads – to see what they are letting themselves in for, and for experienced Heads – who will take comfort from the resonance of past and future battles with Board members, staff, parents and local bureaucracy. Just remember ‘to do the needful’.
Peter MacKenzie, I salute you. I wish I had written this book. ◆
Wilf Stout set up the International School of South Africa, in Mafikeng, and subsequently established four more schools in South Africa before other roles including that of Consultant Headmaster, leading schools in Germany, Qatar, Thailand, Cyprus and Tanzania.
