The Scots College Research Office

Movers and shakers at ScotsIdeas ask how we can redesign education for a post-COVID world

26/11/2020

ScotsIdeas/IBE Online Forum | Redesigning Education and Society for a Post-COVID World | 18 Nov 2020 from Scots TV - The Scots College on Vimeo.

'Control based approaches are bad for the future. If we really want to encourage excellent teaching, teachers who are committed and passionate and prepared to have the emotional capacity to engage with their students in relationships to get the best learning from them, we need to free teachers from process-driven bureaucracy. We need to trust them despite the fact they'll sometimes make mistakes.'

So said Gigi Foster, Professor of Economics, UNSW, at our latest ScotsIdeas forum on 'Redesigning Education and Society for a Post-COVID World'. This evening, hosted in partnership with the College's Institute of Business and Economics, brought together a diverse panel of leading thinkers and practitioners in education to ask how we might make the most of the disruption brought about by 2020 in changing the way we educate.

Panelists included:

Honorary Professor Mike Conway, Founder and CEO of XVenture, University of Wollongong, emotional agility and mental coach for the Socceroos and former managing director of The Wiggles.
Professor Gigi Foster, Professor of Economics UNSW, host of ABC Radio National's 'The Economists', and 2019 Young Economist of the Year.
Mr James Oliver ('09), Research Director, Strategic Projects, NSW Department of Education.
Dr Ian PM Lambert, Principal of The Scots College

If you had missed it, I encourage you to watch the recording and delve into the compelling conversations and topics discussed, along with all other ScotsIdeas events here.

Dr Ian PM Lambert shared these reflections in his weekly newsletter:

“If we teach today's students as we taught yesterday's, we rob them of tomorrow.” John Dewey

This statement over a century ago by the great American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer, John Dewey, has never been more true. Casting a stark reflection on Australia’s current education system. For the past 20 years, the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach in our curriculum is now failing our students to prepare for the unexpected in their future.

For this year in particular, no one could have predicted its events and how it has led to the profound change in the way we operate, think and relate to one another. It has given society and Scots a reality check, reinforcing why we continue to forge ahead with our Reinventing Education strategy.

Education is not just about preparing for an ATAR or being ‘work-ready’. If one was to take a single learning away from 2020, it has taught us the need to be agile, adaptable and resilient in the face of challenges. This is a core of what education is. Many take for granted that being agile, adaptable and resilient just happens, but at Scots we believe, and have proven that, it can be taught.

On Wednesday evening at our latest ScotsIdeas event, I was joined by a group of experts in economics, coaching and education to deliberate on the topic ‘Redesigning Education and Society for a Post-COVID World’. The panel of experts discussed the global trends as a result of the pandemic and what in their opinion schools should be doing to better position students on how to tackle an uncertain society after school.

We look forward to sharing our exciting program of 2021 ScotsIdeas events soon.

Dr Hugh Chilton
Director of Research and Professional Learning

The real value of research in schools

6/10/2020

Education has never been solely about what goes on between 9am and 3pm within the four walls of a classroom and the two covers of a textbook. Classrooms, timetables, standardised assessment, and other long-standing aspects of schooling do have their place. But if they are its defining parameters then whatever education takes place therein may not be an education worth having. The unprecedented disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic has only served to further expose what is unnecessary and what is essential in education.

Challenging the industrial model of schooling is, of course, not a new refrain. Leaders in government, industry, universities and schools alike have for some time called for education to be reinvented. Yet despite substantial investment of money and energy, most efforts at transformation fail to deliver.

We contend that the heart of the problem lies in the way we think as teachers about our task. Our own schooling, our training and our experience (often largely on our own, behind our closed classroom door), has formed a powerful and often implicit mental model of what schooling should be. Take the usual constraints away and we often revert to what we’ve always done. To really be able to change we don’t just need new techniques or technologies. We don’t just need to work harder. What we need is nothing short of a reformation of our thinking — new mental models for what school could be.

That is why we encourage staff to be involved in research and why we commit ourselves as a learning organisation to partner in research. Discovering new knowledge is critical, of course, not least in inverting the assumption that schools only consume that produced by experts elsewhere. But perhaps more valuable than research findings is the formation in new ways of thinking that engagement in research brings. Thinking hard. Negotiating complexity and ambiguity. Testing ideas in action. Collaborating across boundaries. Communicating with precision. Being humble and hopeful. Always seeking to get better.

Such skills and character traits are essential for the success of our students as they navigate the future. Little can be more important, in forming young people, than in being reformed ourselves as educators. This is why we seek to be a research-invested school. This is what we mean by aspiring, through our Patribus Initiatives, to be an expert community of formation. This is at the heart of our vision for reinventing education, not just at Scots, but in partnership with others. If you're interested in connecting, please let us know!

The Vocation of Formation: A conversation about becoming a teacher

10/6/2020

Master Teacher Mrs Sandra McMurray and Year 4 Teacher Mr James Graham share their stories of finding and following their vocation as teachers, and what it means to grow as a teacher at Scots.

The Vocation of Formation - A conversation about becoming a teacher from The Scots College on Vimeo.

Thinking about character education in boys' schools

30/4/2020

Our critical friend, Dr Phil Cummins, shares some of the findings from a major International Boys' Schools Coalition research project on the nature of character education in schools for boys, of which Scots was a key participant.

Character Education at Scots from The Scots College on Vimeo.

Why ‘the system’ doesn’t work for boys: ScotsIdeas with character and relationships expert Dr Rob Loe

16/3/2020

The popular ScotsIdeas program of ‘compelling conversations in education’ is back for 2020 with more engaging, relevant and thoughtful voices to help you bring out the best in boys. On 24 February, a sold-out audience of parents and staff enjoyed a compelling conversation about the science and character of relationships in schools.

Dr Rob Loe, former teacher, senior leader and leading academic in the measurement and management of human relationships as CEO of the Relationships Foundation, spoke lucidly about why relationships matter and why we don’t understand them as well as we should. In an age obsessed with social networks, he called for schools and families to invest in ‘relational networks’. ‘Relationships are not about how well you like people, but how well you know them,’ and the foundation for flourishing individuals, communities and nations.

How can we build deeper relational networks in schools? Drawing on ground-breaking research with tens of thousands of school students, teachers and parents around the world, he showed the protective impact of good relationships, and how great schools invest seriously in creating belonging. Four key strategies for improving relationships in schools included:

Developing students’ awareness of unity over diversity
Exploit synchrony, those routines and habits that enculturate, such as uniforms, chapel and assembly
Create healthy competition among teams and not individuals
Instil in students an awe for something larger than themselves

See below for a full recording of Dr Loe's talk.

Why 'the system' doesn't work for boys | ScotsIdeas with Dr Robert Loe | February 2020 from The Scots College on Vimeo.

Professor Nicholas Aroney delivers 2019 Clark Lectures on law, religion and education

6/11/2019

Professor Aroney with members of the Centre for Public Christianity, for whose podcast 'Life and Faith' he was interviewed during his visit

Towards the end of 2019, the College hosted leading constitutional law academic Professor Nicholas Aroney as the 2019 Clark Fellow for a week. Named in honour of eminent scientist, inventor of the bionic ear, and Scots Old Boy ('51), Professor Graeme Clark AC, the annual Clark Lecture Series aims to inspire the best of thinking about faith, learning and leadership by bringing to Sydney the world’s finest scholars.

Professor Nicholas Aroney is Professor of Constitutional Law at The University of Queensland. He is also a Fellow of the Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law, a Research Fellow of Emmanuel College at The University of Queensland, a Fellow of the Centre for Law and Religion at Emory University and an External Member of the Islam, Law and Modernity research program at Durham University.

While at the College, Professor Aroney led a number of seminars, forums and lectures for staff, students, parents, principals and leading educators from other schools. Professor Aroney navigated the College community through the complex conversation of law and religious freedom currently taking place in Australia.

His visit to the College culminated with his keynote address at the annual Clark Lecture. Held at the Sydney Opera House, Professor Aroney explored the intersectionality of Law, Education, and Religion, discussing the manner in which these pathways of formation shaped a good society in Australia’s current day and age. It was a tremendous honour hosting Professor Nicholas Aroney as the 2019 Clark Fellow, and we look forward to seeing many members of our community at the 2020 Clark Lecture with distinguished parent educator Professor Nancy Hill, who holds the Charles Bigelow Chair of Education at Harvard.

To find out more about Professor Nicholas Aroney, please click on the link here.

Mr Toby Castle
Research Officer

Scots staff shaping global expertise in the Character and Care of Boys

25/10/2019

Mr Duncan Kendall and Ms Elisabeth Smith presenting their IBSC Action Research on the power of old boys’ stories to develop character in Year 5 boys.

The 2019 International Boys School Coalition conference was preceded, as usual, by a series of meetings of the Board of Trustees and Committees. The Principal currently serves on the Board of Trustees as Vice-Chair (Australasia) and Chair of the Research Committee, where he is supported by Dr Hugh Chilton (Director of Research and Professional Learning) and Dr Caitlin Munday (Research Fellow). Leaders discussed the challenges and opportunities facing boys' schools, and ways the IBSC can continue to be a leading voice. One such exciting initiative launching soon is a major research project, a major study of the impact of new and emerging technologies (including AI) on the learning relationships in boys' schools. We look forward to contributing to this important research.

Our membership with IBSC also allows opportunities for staff members to participate in Action Research projects. Mr Duncan Kendall and Ms Elizabeth Smith were the 2018/2019 IBSC Action Research Participants. Over a period of two years, they participated in an Action Research Project of their choosing. The topic of their research was 'The Power of Old Boys' Stories to Develop Character'. They believe that through the storytelling of Old Boys' personal narratives and Year 5 Boys' narratives, meaningful connections could be made for students, with boys deepening their understanding of these qualities and how to enact them.

Four recent Old Boys of the College were chosen to share their personal stories, which richly exemplified one of the
attributes of the ‘Fine Scots Boy’ (Faith, Courage, Compassion or Integrity). The Old Boys were specifically chosen
because of the strength of their personal character and exemplary role modelling for younger students, their age
and the connection their stories had to boy’s interests.

After sharing his personal story in a campus wide context, the Old Boys and Year 5 Boys took part in a ‘fireside chat’,
sharing their personal stories together, debating the attribute, answering questions and together considering how
they could display these attributes in everyday contexts of their own lives. This action was intended to develop a
real-life, meaningful connection to the qualities of a ‘Fine Scots Boy’, thereby developing a rich understanding.

Key findings from the Action Research Project are revealed below:

1. The attributes of a Fine Scots Boy became personalised: They changed from being abstract, to being lived out
in a physical example of the Old Boys.

2. Boys learnt the meaning of the qualities to their own lives and asked for guidance and wisdom from the Old
Boys on how to apply these qualities.

3. Boys could communicate through their own personal stories their understanding, explaining why the
attributes were important and how to apply them to their lives.

4. The ‘fireside chat’ changed the hierarchical structure usually observed in a classroom. The Old Boys and Year 5
students felt it was a shared experience, developing community and camaraderie.

Scots boys learn entrepreneurship at Chinese summer school

13/9/2019

Professor Yong Zhao, world-leading educational thinker, has spoken twice at ScotsIdeas events in the last two years on how we can be Reinventing Education at Scots. Seeing the strength of entrepreneurship already underway at Scots, he invited the College to join a small number of schools from around the world to participate in a special cross-cultural entrepreneurial learning program in China this August.

Mr Jeff Mann and Mr Jonathan Le took four Year 9 boys to Chongqing, China, for two weeks to join the inaugural ICEE Festival. The main principle underlying the program is that every student has a unique set of talents and passions, and therefore can contribute value to others. Forty international students from the UK, US and Australia joined 200 local Chinese students to produce products which promote the city of Chongqing to the world. During this entrepreneurial process, the international students brought leadership skills and English speaking ability, whilst the Chinese students were experts on the treasures of their city. Eight production houses designed and created: video documentaries, coffee table books, websites or music videos.

The Scots boys had a rich experience of Chinese lifestyle (including squat toilets!) and made friends from across the globe. It was also a great opportunity to use their personal growth from Glengarry to serve others in leadership, as they each coordinated a team of five local students. Some of them commented that they had a new-found appreciation of how hard teachers work, and were either inspired or forever put off the idea of becoming a teacher!

We look forward to further opportunities to be involved with Professor Zhao and ICEE Festivals in future.

Mr Jeff Mann
Coordinator of Student Experience

Leading Philosopher shares what works best in growing boys' character

12/6/2019

As part of our Patribus Initiative in educating for the Character and Care for Fine Scots Boys, last Thursday evening an audience of boys, parents, staff and friends of the College were treated to a masterful talk by leading American philosopher of character Professor Christian Miller (Wake Forest University). His talk, entitled ‘The Character Gap: What it is and why it matters for raising boys’, addressed what we mean by character, why it matters, and what approaches are more or less effective in helping boys develop it. Drawing on his recent book The Character Gap: How Good Are We? (Oxford, 2018), which reviews the insights on moral behaviour from hundreds of psychological studies over the past 50 years, he argued that:

Moral character, or virtue, leads to morally good actions and motives, displayed stably and reliably over time in a variety of situations.
We are generally not as good as we think. While we are not generally morally bankrupt, there is a significant gap between what we want to be and what we tend to be — a ‘character gap’. For example, studies on the ‘bystander effect’ reveal that the vast majority of us will follow the crowd rather than do what we know is right.
It’s best in schools to concentrate on a few, developmentally appropriate virtues consonant with the values of the school, rather than a broad swathe.

Strategies for promoting virtue at home and at school can vary in their effectiveness. Those which the evidence suggests are more likely to succeed include:

reminding boys of morally good behaviour (e.g. by an honour code);
encouraging boys to emulate virtuous role models (e.g. consider which films to watch and discuss as a family);
teaching boys about the virtues and helping them put them into practice (e.g. via a gratitude journal);
teaching boys about their own character flaws, such as hidden cognitive biases;
encouraging boys to engage in Christian practices (e.g. prayer, giving, worship) which have character improvement as as byproduct (e.g. humility, generosity, gratitude)

For more parent and teacher resources from Professor Miller, visit The Character Portal. If you are interested in finding out more about how we are building expertise in Character and Care, please don’t hesitate to contact me or Dr Tom Cerni, Head of Counselling, Character and Care.

Dr Hugh Chilton

International Adventurer Adrian Hayes speaks on 'Adventure' at ScotsIdeas

12/4/2019

International Adventurer tells of his two attempts to climb K2, and staff panel describes the place of adventure at Scots.

In our second ScotsIdeas event for 2019, we welcomed international adventurer Adrian Hayes to tell the story of his recent attempts to climb the world’s second highest mountain. Hayes’ resume of adventures across the globe is formidable, including trekking to the South and North poles, crossing the Arabian desert by camel, traversing the length of Greenland by kite-ski, and climbing Mt Everest! Notwithstanding this amazing achievements, Hayes described to our keen audience of parents, staff and boys that climbing K2 is a level beyond even it’s taller counterpart, with few ascents and a deadly statistic of one in four K2 climbers not returning alive. The unrelenting steep angle of the mountain, technical rock and ice climbing, lack of flat ground for siting tents, and deep snow conditions turned back Hayes’ first expedition, however he prevailed the following year and managed to both reach the summit and return alive.

Hayes also discussed the motivation for people to undertake adventures, and suggested that we need to be honest with ourselves and others about how we search for significance through our activities. He drew a parallel to our society’s obsession with projecting a desired image through social media, and through gaining value through the display of material possessions.

A panel of Scots staff helped to connect Hayes’ extreme adventures with adventure in the life of a Scots boy. Kym Mcmaster (Coordinator of Experiential Education) explained how adventure fits into the Brave Hearts, Bold Minds philosophy of education at Scots, and is embodied in our Experiential Education approach of ‘learning through doing’. Jeff Grundy (Director of Glengarry) talked about the essential elements of adventure in the Glengarry program, and how this ‘scripted adventure’ prepares young men for adventure in the world. Former Scots staff member and doctoral researcher at ACU, Matthew Pfeiffer, described his research showed that adventurous experiences at Glengarry developed important life skills such as self concept, internal locus of control and resilience.

Stay tuned for further exciting opportunities to be involved in shaping the future of education in Australia through bold, new approaches to imagining learning at Scots. If you missed the presentation, you can soon view this and all past ScotsIdeas events at scotsresearch.org/scotsideas.

Jeff Mann
Coordinator of Student Experience

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