Over the last few weeks, I have dealt with five serious incidents in school: four thefts and one act of vandalism. The thefts involved World Cup football cards, the kind children collect, swap, compare, and talk about excitedly during break…
Many years ago, when I was still relatively new to leadership, I entered a colleague’s classroom one morning with what I thought was a simple message. I had made a minor mistake and needed to change part of the afternoon…
Actions, Reflection, Identity Among the twenty or so behaviour issues that were brought to my office last week, there was one moment that stood out. A Year 5 student sat across from me, having been removed from his music lesson.…
Last week, I dealt with 18 separate behaviour issues involving conflict between two or more students. A few of the conflicts were serious. Most, I would say, were small. From my experience at school, conflicts generally follow a familiar pattern:…
Earlier this year, I delivered a masterclass related to character education at our educational conference at the British School Rio de Janeiro. I began that masterclass by posing a question that has increasingly shaped both my work in school and…
In my last post, Understanding Character Education, I explored what character education is and why it matters in schools. This post is more practical. I am sharing my notes from Character Toolkit for Teachers by Frederika Roberts and Elizabeth Wright…
Character education has been a central thread running through my professional life for many years. In my day-to-day work at school, this has taken practical form through establishing the Good Citizens Club, developing a Peer Mediation initiative, leading residential trips…
I come to this topic both personally and professionally. I was brought up primarily by my single mum. She was committed and deeply invested in giving me opportunity. I am profoundly grateful to her. Like many children raised in a…
Recently I completed The Philosophy of Ethics course with Professor Stephen Hicks at the Peterson Academy, which has pushed me to think more deeply about what it means to live a good life and to lead well. But before I…
It can feel awful when someone you love is grumpy with you. Maybe a parent snaps, a teacher sounds sharp, or a friend slams a door. It is easy to think, “I’ve done something wrong. This is my fault.”But what…