Transcending instability
As ASCL embarks on its 150th anniversary, it’s not easy to look back and analyse education in Northern Ireland over that time given the complexities faced by communities in this part of the world. Northern Ireland has itself only been in existence since 1921, which reflects the instability and flux endured here.
That being said, no matter what has gone on politically in this place in that time, there is no doubt that one constant has been the excellent education provided by our schools, spearheaded by our school leaders.
Through wars and conflict, our schools continued to provide outstanding education to the communities they still serve. Through changing policies, rare periods of political stability and extended times of political instability, the experience of school provided a welcome sense of normality for many. The power of education, empowered by exceptional leadership, helped to bring about peace – of that there is no doubt.
As I write, we have only just had the Executive restored after two years with none. The education of our children and young people, not to mention the value placed on our staff, has been used as a bargaining chip by politicians and this is not acceptable.
I am thankful that ASCL Northern Ireland represents a much more collaborative and inclusive membership – school leaders from all contexts with a strong moral purpose who are not afraid to lead. They make difficult decisions every day, they work with colleagues from all sectors and they continue to get the job done in the face of adversity.
Change is inevitable and, as we look to the future, with the Independent Review of Education findings now in the public domain (see
tinyurl.com/yvmfwu4d), we must brace ourselves again.
John Trueman
Director of ASCL Northern Ireland
@ASCLNI
Problems of today
Lately, I’ve had one phone call telling me that I can claim insurance for a car accident I didn’t have, another call telling me that I can recover funds stolen from my bank account for a scam that didn’t happen, a WhatsApp message about my daughter’s lost phone, which isn’t lost and an email from my phone provider to say that my direct debit has been frozen when it works perfectly well.
These attempts at scamming may well be familiar to you. All these are new problems, the likes of which our predecessors – education leaders from 150 years ago – would never even have dreamed of.
The question then is how will our young people manage to work out what’s real, what’s fake and, indeed, who to trust? When what looks and sounds like legitimate communications turn out to be fraudulent, where does that leave us? Add into this the plethora of conspiracy theories, fake news and deepfakes, and we now need to work even harder to sift out who and what we can trust.
It has probably never been more important to teach digital competence and digital literacy in our schools and colleges. We neither want our young people to be paranoid, trusting nothing, nor do we want them to believe everything they see, hear and read. Technical and emotional discernment in the face of the bombardment of falsities can be arrived at if our young people know how and what to look out for.
In Wales, we have a Digital Competence Strategy, which, as part of the curriculum for statutory aged learners, touches upon these issues. I sincerely hope that it goes far enough in addressing such prevalent problems.
If, as history shows us, we can be fooled into believing that spaghetti grows on trees, as was the April Fool’s Day trick played on BBC viewers in 1957, our credulity today is stretched past breaking point.
As the author Oche Otorkpa puts it, “Fake news is like ice, once it comes in contact with the heat of the truth it melts quickly and suddenly evaporates.”
Eithne Hughes
Director of ASCL Cymru
@ASCLCymru
Building on a great past
As I write this on the train going to a meeting with the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills, I am minded how crucial a role School Leaders Scotland (SLS) plays in Scottish education, and by extension, the role the whole ASCL family plays across the UK. The influence we bring to bear in our different nations is substantial and vital to ensuring school leaders the length and breadth of the country are represented, supported and listened to, as they are the ones who know precisely what is going on in schools and what is required to ensure that young people learn, achieve and prosper.
In Scotland, we are in the midst of education reform with a plethora of reports whose recommendations are waiting to be enacted. We are keen to see progress on many aspects of the reform programme: the reforming of our national curriculum body, Education Scotland; the hiving off of HM Inspectorate from Education Scotland to once again be an independent body; the renewal of the National Qualifications body; and the reform of the qualifications system as highlighted by Professor Louise Hayward in the 26 recommendations from her group. SLS supports these reforms, but they must be well planned and properly resourced.
As a school leaders’ association, we will continue to give our considered views and perspective on all things educational. Our new steering groups involving more than 10% of our members will make that easier. Our roadshows to each local authority in Scotland also give us the chance to hear members’ views and learn about local issues that are important and particular to them. These actions allow us to reflect better on improving the service we provide to our members.
We are mere striplings, being established only 88 years ago in 1936, compared to ASCL’s 150 years, but across the ASCL family, we build on a great past, we review how we are doing now and we look forward, keen to improve as an organisation in ensuring we speak on behalf of members in supporting our young people as best we can.
Graham Hutton
General Secretary of School Leaders Scotland
@LeadersScotland