Lifelong Learner

Educational Philosophy

As a 16-year-old attending my careers interview with the school counsellor, I was asked about my career aspirations; I replied, “I only have one; I want to be a teacher”. I vividly remember him being slightly bemused and then asking what would be the defining question of my educational career, “so why do you want to be a teacher?” I answered honestly, and still feel that response defines my educational beliefs and philosophy, “I am passionate about giving others the best opportunity to learn”. I have since navigated classroom teaching, middle management and now several years as a leader, embracing the mantra – what can I do and, latterly, what can we do to provide students with the best opportunities to learn.

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I am single-minded in the pursuit of something I call ‘change agency’. I drew inspiration for the term from Michael Fullan’s description of the importance of change agents in education. He believes that teachers and leaders in schools mustn’t be passive in the process of students self-actualizing as learners but as active agents of change. The latter part of the conflation is ‘student agency’, the power for students to act in the learning process, whereby learning is the product of both their action and initiative. The significance of ‘change agency’ is captured by Carol Ann Tomlinson, ‘learning has to happen in students, not to them’. To turn this into reality requires a paradigm shift from the traditions of pedagogy to the endless possibilities of heutagogy. The locus of control must transition from the teacher to the student.

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The greatest challenge in education at present is student wellbeing. Schools are where psychosocial issues come sharply and starkly into focus, and we have a responsibility to address them to best support our students. The neoliberal society of today is characterized by intense pressure, and for vulnerable adolescents, as Erik Erikson postulated, “the turning point of increased vulnerability and heightened potential, where the possibility of finding and losing oneself are so closely aligned”. Schools must proactively face the realities of student stress, anxiety, depression, social media, and risky behaviours so that students are informed and feel supported. We can instil important attributes and dispositions: courage, resilience and grit that will serve students well in their learning and life generally. As Michael Fullan alluded, our educational responsibility as schools needs to extend beyond making students strong academically and good at ‘life’.