Category: Wellbeing And Mental Health

Announcing the Character Leaders in Education National Symposium 2022

10/3/2022

In partnership with The Scots College, The University of Notre Dame Australia and a School for tomorrow., we are excited to announce the Character Leaders in Education National Symposium 2022.

Building on years of research and engagement with schools around Australia and globally, the Symposium will bring Principals and leaders of character education in conversation with world-class researchers, including Harvard's Nancy Hill (President of the Society for Research in Child Development), and philosopher Professor Christian Miller (one of the world’s most prolific character education researchers).

Featuring more than 9 masterclasses, an exclusive symposium dinner, and profiles of leading character education work in Australian schools, this is a unique opportunity to think and network at the cutting edge of research and practice in human formation and explore being part of some exciting projects.

With 60 places available, and tickets selling quickly, register now to avoid missing out!

26-27 May 2022
Sydney, Australia

Find out more and register now at www.characterleaders.net

Shaping moral character: What stories are our boys living?

8/2/2022

In his landmark 1981 book, After Virtue, philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre describes two people, separated by centuries, looking up at the night sky:

‘The twentieth-century observer looks into the night sky and sees stars and planets; some earlier observers saw instead chinks in a sphere through which the light beyond could be observed. What each observer takes himself or herself to perceive is identified and has to be identified by theory-laden concepts.’

This is not a comment on advances in science or the merits of the empirical method. Rather, MacIntyre’s point is that the way we perceive the world and act in it is inextricably bound up in the theories we have about how the world works. Or to put it another way, how we think and what we do depends on the ‘big story’ we carry around in our heads.

And this really matters. For, as MacIntyre argues, “I can only answer the question ‘What am I to do?’ if I can answer the prior question ‘Of what story or stories do I find myself a part?’”

That was the question put to our staff as we began 2022 with our Term 1 All-Staff Professional learning Day on Thursday 27 January. We continued in our journey over the last few years to see how we might put our Brave Hearts Bold Minds philosophy of education into practice and become experts in ‘teaching for character’. This year year we focus on the ‘moral character’ qualities we aim to form in our boys: Our Faith and Tradition which inspire truth, honour, loyalty and commitment. Helping boys reflect on their understanding of right and wrong, of their place in the world, and their calling within it, starts with surfacing the stories that they (and we) believe about the world.

To help us do that, we were joined by Dr Justine Toh, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Public Christianity and author of the new book Achievement Addiction. Dr Toh engaged staff in a crash course in cultural criticism, sketching out four powerful stories that shape our culture and considering their appeal and their shortcomings. First, there’s ‘the meritocratic story’, which says that you are what you achieve — so be sure to try harder. There’s the ‘infinite browsing story’, where as in Netflix, so in life, we keep our options open but are plagued by FOMO — the fear of missing out. Then there’s ‘the technocratic story’, where everything can be 'solved', except, of course, it can’t! And last, there’s the Christian story of people created in the image of God with infinite dignity and special purpose, a story which challenges the reductive view of the human condition so often presented to us.

Dr Toh challenged our staff to consider the ways in which we reinforce various stories about the world as we talk with our students. Making a high ATAR the de facto goal of learning in the senior years can teach boys that success is about hard work, and not also a result of the blessings of their birth and opportunities, leading them to look down on those who ‘didn’t make it’. In undertaking group work, we can spell out how to relate well to those who we don’t necessarily like, and so tell a story about how relationships across differences are more valuable than tribalism. In encouraging boys to immerse themselves in the humanities and creative arts (even if they tend to be more drawn to mathematics and the sciences), we can help them see that life is more about asking good questions than trying to find neat solutions.

Opportunities to teach character are everywhere. The great challenge that lies before us as teachers, and much more as parents, is to get beneath the surface of boys’ behaviours to the beliefs that drive them. And it starts with asking that question of ourselves. What story am I living?

In coming weeks I look forward to sharing more about how we are helping our staff understand and practice expert character education at Scots, that our boys will go on to live ‘a better story’.

Dr Hugh Chilton
Director of Research and Professional Learning

Experts share advice at ScotsIdeas on helping children to deal with stress and uncertainty

9/9/2021

ScotsIdeas - Helping Children Deal with Stress and Uncertainty from Scots TV - The Scots College on Vimeo.

On Tuesday evening we were delighted to have hundreds of parents and teachers from Scots and the wider community join us for a special ScotsIdeas conversation, ‘Helping Children to Deal with Stress and Uncertainty’.

Guest panelists included well-known psychologist and author Andrew Fuller, ‘Digital Nutrition’ pioneer and clinical psychologist Jocelyn Brewer, and Wellington College (UK) Deputy Head David Walker. They addressed a wide range of topics based on questions from attendees, including using technology well, engaging with frustrating behaviour, building relationships while remote, and supporting children to talk through their anxieties and aspirations.

Key take-away messages included:

Be curious, not furious. It’s easy to respond to frustration with more frustration. Take a step back back and recognise your own emotional and physical state.
When boys express frustration in poor behaviour, ask ‘What’s happening?’ Use the HALTS acronym to ask: Are you... Hungry? Angry? Lonely? Tired? Stressed?
Use this unique time to talk with your children about what kind of world we want to create for the other side of the pandemic. Engage them in thinking about making a meaningful contribution to the world, and stimulate projects to support this.
This is a pandemic, not a productivity contest. Don’t stress about students falling behind during the pandemic. Stimulate executive functioning skills like memory and self-regulation by building good daily and weekly rituals and routines as a family.
Take an interest in your son's gaming habits, by having a go yourself!
When wearing different hats as a parent (parent, teacher, coach), it’s important to frame this for children. ‘Now it’s time for learning’, ‘Now it’s mummy time. Shall we go for a walk?’

We are looking forward to continuing to work with Andrew Fuller through our partnership with Skodel, a unique wellbeing platform developed by Scots Old Boys Julian Fagan and Ian Fagan. In Term 4 we will be introducing the wellbeing check-in tool with our staff and Senior School students, and expanding our care coaching into 2022.

For more information about ScotsIdeas please click here.

Scots’ Year 5 boys explore technology & relationships with international peers

19/5/2021

It's no secret that technology can be a major help or hindrance to the relationships and wellbeing of young people. A growing body of literature points to the strong correlation between device usage (particularly for social media) and declining mental health in young people. Yet amidst all the messages boys receive about the problems of inappropriate or overuse of digital technology, they can often feel ‘talked at’ rather than listened to. The COVID-19 pandemic has only accelerated the need to think in a nuanced way about how our boys’ lives are being shaped by their digital world.

Partnering with fellow research-invested schools in the International Boys' Schools Coalition (IBSC) Year 5 Scots boys have been planning a research project to understand how technology shapes social and emotional wellbeing of their peers. This project is an off-shoot of a larger study the IBSC Research Committee is designing with University College London’s Knowledge Lab and the Relationships Foundation.

The five Year 5 boys have been working closely with Mrs Penny Ryder and me to help shape up this collaborative global study. They recently enjoyed their first Zoom meeting with boys and teachers at the partner schools: St Christopher's School in Virginia, US, Fairfield Country Day School in Connecticut, US, and Crescent School in Toronto, Canada. Over the next week, they will be surveying their peers to find out how they use technology to connect with one another, and consider the advantages and disadvantages that digital relationships bring. Along the way, they're learning the skills of research and inquiry, and looking forward to presenting their work to the other schools and their peers later this term.

Professor John Stackhouse in residence at Scots

27/7/2017

Over the past two weeks, the College has been privileged to host eminent Christian scholar, Professor John Stackhouse Jr, Samuel J Mikolaski Professor of Religious Studies and Dean of Faculty Development at Crandall University, Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada. Professor Stackhouse began his visit by speaking to all staff with nuance and grace, about the importance of 'vocation', or 'calling' to 'make shalom' and 'make disciples' in our work as a learning community. He explored this notion of vocation in more depth in seminars with each of the Senior School faculties, helping staff make the connections between what we teach (i.e. the subject), how we teach (i.e. the discipline and the pedagogy) and why we teach (i.e. our worldview and values). He also worked with Prep staff on the nature of the A Fine Scots Boy! The Positive Behavioural Plan and its connections to our Brave Hearts Bold Minds philosophy.

In sharing his own story with students at Senior School Assembly and House Chapels, Professor Stackhouse called for a greater epistemic humility - being aware of what we don't know or might have wrong - and an attention not just to our achievements but to our character. Such themes will be followed up in a special ScotsIdeas forum on 'Being a (Good) Man', this Thursday 27 July at 6:00pm. Professor Stackhouse's visit concludes with keynote addresses on Christian leadership at this weekend's Scots Leadership Program retreat, which involves a cohort of 20 staff, who have successfully won a place in this custom-designed 18 month training program.

It is a privilege to be in a learning community which draws on exceptional thinkers like Professor Stackhouse, reflecting our commitment to being recognised globally as a leading, caring school for boys. We look forward, in Weeks 4 and 5, to welcoming our annual Clark Distinguished Professorial Fellow, Professor David Smith from Calvin College, to speak on 'The World We Think We Live In: Schooling and Christian Imagination'. For more details and to register for the Clark Lecture, please click here: http://www.clarklectures.org/.

Character Education Focus Groups

18/5/2017

During Term 1, The College community participated in a Character Education survey in partnership with the International Boys Schools Coalition (IBSC). The purpose of this survey was to provide the first layer of data in an attempt to orient the College community towards a greater understanding of its practice and pursuit of the Character and Care of our boys.
This week, as a continuation of this process, principal researchers Miss Rachel Yijun and Mr Hugh Ouston, from CIRCLE - The Centre for Innovation, Research, Creativity and Leadership in Education, conducted focus group interviews as a means of gaining a richer understanding from parents, staff, and boys in most aspects of College learning community, from Transition to Year 12.

Research suggests the quality of a students' relationships, the structure behind their social processes, and the philosophy that undergirds their collective agency affects how and why we learn in all spheres of life (Elias et. al, 1997). In a broad sense, character education refers to the engagement with core values and virtues and the development of personal traits or character strengths that promote well-being, purpose, and success. Character education includes what happens throughout the College, formally and informally within the: curriculum, co-curricular, character and care, leadership development, physical activity, ceremonies and events, and relationships more generally.

The Research Centre wishes to thank all members of College community who wilfully volunteered their time to contribute to this endeavour. It is highly appreciated and seen as a valued investment in the future lives of our students, contributing to their longitudinal development for the common good.

Mr Toby Castle
Research Officer, Experiential Education and Leadership Development

Scots hosts IBSC Australasia Teachers New to Boys' Schools Conference

24/4/2017

The Scots Research Office had the privilege of hosting the 2nd Australasian International Boys' Schools Coalition Conference for Teachers New to Boys' Schools, Tuesday 11th - Thursday 13th April. Over thirty teachers from around Australia and New Zealand attended, spanning a range of teaching areas and levels of experience, but sharing a common commitment to excellence in educating boys. Keynote addresses were given by the likes of Dr John Best, former Wallabies physician, Professor John Fischetti, Dean of Education at the University of Newcastle, Dr Phil Cummins and our own Dr Tom Cerni. From the nature of transformational learning in the 21st century, to character development and formation, these addresses proffered the challenge not only know our boys but to also know the world that they are in.

Reflecting upon his experience of the Conference, Science teacher Nick Little commented “All of the keynote speakers were excellent but two stood out to me in particular. Dr Best talked about caring for boys in three areas: mind, body and spirit. In this way we should aim to teach boys holistically. Similarly, Dr Cummins spoke about the need to quantify and measure character development in children and adolescents. I had only imagined this as an abstract concept, but now am convicted of its value and importance for implementing holistic care programs in schools like ours, both now and in the future”.

Attendees also found plenty of time to discuss shared practice in stage-specific groups and participate in elective workshops on a range of issues, from classroom management to differentiation. You can access the keynote addresses and read more about the conference here.

Australia's leading mental health expert Professor Ian Hickie AM at ScotsIdeas

24/3/2017

ScotsIdeas: Beyond Mental Health with Professor Ian Hickie AM from imageseven on Vimeo.

"Countries must learn how to capitalise on their citizens' cognitive resources if they are to prosper, both economically and socially. Early interventions will be key."

Quoting a recent publication in Nature, eminent thinker Professor Ian Hickie AM opened our recent ScotsIdeas forum, Beyond Mental Health, with this provocation. As he explored the unique developmental differences between individual young people, and the value and importance of 'kin' - networks of relationships within communities who are invested in that individual's care and flourishing - it was the nature of such interventions that characterised much of his subsequent discussion. As those in attendance will testify, the evening offered an important and timely exchange of ideas about the ways we can best care for the social and emotional wellbeing of our young men.

The video of Professor Hickie's presentation is now available online - please click here to view it in full. It was a true privilege to have such world class thinkers contributing to our knowledge and practice as a College community, particularly as we look to create the first of our five Patribus Centres, focusing on the character and care of fine young men.

Be sure to visit scotsresearch.org/scotsideas to watch videos of past forums on topics ranging from sustainability to speechmaking, sports science to the art of motivating boys. We look forward to seeing you at future ScotsIdeas events in 2017.

Dr Caitlin Munday
Research Fellow (Professional Learning)

New insights into the concerns of Australian youth

2/12/2015

Mission Australia, one of the nation's oldest and most respected Christian charities, has recently released its annual National Youth Survey. The Survey involved almost 19,000 Australian youth between the ages of 15 and 19. In its 14th year, it continues to be a major resource for policy formulation.

Here are some highlights, courtesy of Mission Australia's research and evaluation team: