Dr Mark Potterton: “We mustn’t overlook the importance of human relationships in the
education system.”

It was a Friday evening unlike any other. I sat with a lump in my throat and goosebumps on my arms. There hadn’t been any gathering at the school for so long because of Covid19. The ceremony had been organised outside to ensure social distancing and the quad had been decorated.

Attending a gathering after lockdown and all the restrictions on such an auspicious occasion as a valedictory service was very powerful. Listening to our matrics, who had navigated so many challenges because of the pandemic, was inspiring. As I sat there, I thought to myself that Sacred Heart College is indeed a very special place.

What makes it so special? During the late 1970s, the school set in motion a series of  changes that would forever become part of Sacred Heart’s culture.

Neil McGurk, a Marist Brother who led the change, went about his work changing the school from an all-white boys’ institution into a racially integrated co-educational school. His down-to-earth nature and authenticity were his strengths. He always made sure that equity was addressed, especially during those dark apartheid times.

Defining the culture of a school

Ted Sizer, a leader in education reform in the US in the 1970s, aptly recognised that “to find the core of a school, don’t look at its rulebook or even its mission statement”.

“Look at the way the people in it spend their time – how they relate to each other, how they tangle with ideas. Look at the contradictions between words and practice, with the fewer the better… Judge the school not on what it says, but on how it keeps.”

The short, sharp and thoughtful speeches delivered at that Friday valedictory service reminded me again of our deeply held values, our experience of care and our sense of interpersonal responsibility.

The teaching-learning relationships described by students provided testimony to the dignity of all, mutual respect and a spirit of love and freedom at the school.

Seeing the matric pupils from Bishop Bavin School, which was abruptly closed, wearing their beautiful blazers was particularly moving. They had experienced an unexpected interruption to their schooling that year, but had been unconditionally accepted into our school community.

This spoke of the warmth and acceptance in our school.

At their heart, the values of Sacred Heart College are infused by the culture created by Brother Neil, which recognises that these values are dynamic. The school continues to live and grapple with its values in an ever-changing world. What kind of education must we offer in this world?

The feminist philosopher Nel Noddings believed that the desire to be cared for is a universal human characteristic, and that everyone wants to be received, to elicit a response that is “congruent with an underlying need or desire”.

Noddings argued that caring for children is a fundamental principle of education and cannot merely be seen as an adjunct. Human liberation and care can only be realised by caring people in caring communities.

I will never forget a visit to a primary school in Bushbuckridge in 2011, where I came across a very effective school feeding programme. I was moved by a story told by the principal when I asked him why there was an old pair of shoes held together by screws lying on the table.

He told me that they belonged to a child who lived a few kilometres away. His teacher discovered that there was no food at home and that the child had no other clothes. The teachers at the school bought shoes, other clothing and food, and took them to the indigent family.

Human relationships are key

In his book Natural Born Learners, education expert Alex Beard considers the future of learning by looking closely at artificial intelligence, our growing understanding of the infant brain, the roots of creativity and the exam factories of South Korea.

He concludes that education is intrinsic to progress and that there is no magic bullet to learning. Despite a growing appetite for technology or innovation that will transform education, he argues that the future of education lies with teachers. The most important infrastructure we have, he says, is our educated minds, and the focus of our mission is to strengthen the critical thinking and other human skills of our students.

Covid-19 demonstrated the potential for multimodal communication in schools through the appropriate use of existing technologies. In a student-centred school, students who have access to technologies that enrich the learning process will discover new ways of working individually and collaborating with others.

Realisation

Beard reaches the same realisation that Brother Neil did years ago: the perfect education system is not out there. The system is made up of people and requires relationships between people.

We need to rediscover our shared power to create a better future for our children. Families, schools and communities must become key players who contribute to the educational culture of our schools.

The Canadian Society for Safe and Caring Schools and Communities says that “a safe and caring school is a place where staff, students and parents create a shared vision based on collective safe and caring values… The members support and care for one another so that everyone can succeed both in school and in life.”

This all sounds simple, but it takes a lot of effort and commitment to make this happen every day for everyone, and it also takes a lot of emotional resources.

Dr Mark Potterton is a former principal of Sacred Heart College and director of the Three2Six Refugee Children’s Education Project.

(The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Schools Evaluation Authority)