Why are we doing this?
In preparing an explanation of the rationale behind "The Fothergill Society" for staff, the answer to the question "Why are we doing this?" is arguably the most theoretically interesting. There are two major drives, for me, that formulated the programme as it is at the moment, and for those interested, here are different sources for further reading, watching and listening that hopefully provides you with context and something interesting for you think about in relation to what "The Fothergill Society" is and what it aspires to do.
The first is the work on Mindset by Carol S. Dweck. Please click on the images for further information.
The first is the work on Mindset by Carol S. Dweck. Please click on the images for further information.
“Intelligence, like a muscle, grows stronger through exercise." "Human qualities like intelligence and creativity, and even relational capacities like love and friendship, can be cultivated through effort and deliberate practice. Not only are people with this mindset not discouraged by failure, but they don’t actually see themselves as failing in those situations — they see themselves as learning." |
The second influence came much more recently: from the BBC Radio 4 programme, The Educators. In it, Tony Little, the headmaster of Eton College, came to summarise a great number of the thoughts and feelings I had when trying to formulate the purpose and rationale of The Fothergill Society.
“We’re obsessed these days about grades. A great education is about rather more than that. One of the things that I learned early on, I think, is that there are two axioms which drive really good education: one is understanding the young people learn more from each other than they do from adults; and the other is that the learn more outside a classroom than inside a classroom... |
"I think [our examinations system] is fundamentally a Victorian model. We ask young people to sit on their own at desks, to work assiduously and silently and hand in a piece of paper at the end of it, and as soon as you get into your world of work, you’re asked to go and work as part of a team and come up with some joint project. The two things just don’t connect. We over-examine... We over-educate? Rather, we over-school and perhaps we under-educate as a consequence... [We have to be] consciously aware at all times, that [examinations and grades are] just one part of an education.”
Perhaps these are easy beliefs to have, given the highly rigorous academic selection that goes into being accepted into such a public school as Eton. However, despite this, there are so many facets to what Tony Little says that I not only agree with, but also see "The Fothergill Society" as playing an an integral role in integrating into an Ackworth student's education - from the realisation of the insight and potential of one's peers, to the outward-looking drive, that awareness of the richness of the world around us; from the interconnected, interpersonal, socialised, communication-rich mode of working, to the urgency of the call to think broadly, to think immensely and to fight against a narrowness of thinking and focus that can be seen to characterise our educational system. Click on the image below to listen to Tony Little's interview in full.
Perhaps these are easy beliefs to have, given the highly rigorous academic selection that goes into being accepted into such a public school as Eton. However, despite this, there are so many facets to what Tony Little says that I not only agree with, but also see "The Fothergill Society" as playing an an integral role in integrating into an Ackworth student's education - from the realisation of the insight and potential of one's peers, to the outward-looking drive, that awareness of the richness of the world around us; from the interconnected, interpersonal, socialised, communication-rich mode of working, to the urgency of the call to think broadly, to think immensely and to fight against a narrowness of thinking and focus that can be seen to characterise our educational system. Click on the image below to listen to Tony Little's interview in full.