Starting on a journey

January 2019, Dubai

 Time to file my first blog of 2019, and it’s also the first of my sabbatical term, a good moment to thank those who have made this possible. It will, of course, reveal the inconvenient truth that the one person in a school who can disappear with very little immediate consequence, for a short while, is the Head, and that’s not to belittle the work that Ryde’s Deputy (Academic), Philip Moore, will be doing as Acting Head in my absence. I write, ‘immediate consequence’ advisedly, for one of my prime responsibilities is to ensure Ryde School has a meaningful ethos and set of values, and that this is informed by current research and experience as well the enduring principles of our founders. I hope, therefore, that my temporary absence will make for doing my job better on my return.

We have encapsulated our ‘mission’ in recent years in the phrase, ‘An island school with a global outlook’ and I have done all I can to encourage Ryde pupils and staff to look beyond the Island for inspiration and opportunity. Opportunities have been grasped by many and these have taken them as far as Ghana, Chile, South Africa, China, Canada and Costa Rica, as well as closer to home in Malta, Germany, Spain, France and the Netherlands. In encouraging others to think global and to leave comfort zones, however, I have to ask if I am doing this enough myself; the next four months are partly an answer to this. I will be visiting schools and universities in other countries which will, surely, bring new ideas, but I also want to take this time to refresh and rethink things more generally, to consider more deeply how we can ensure Ryde School provides the education that will allow our students and graduates to live a meaningful life in a world where globalism and internationalism cannot be dismissed as concerns of those living ‘beyond the Solent.’ 

I saw Dubai as really just a jumping off point, a chance to catch up with old friends and prepare for the longer journey out east, but actually it has given real focus to what this trip is about. Many know this part of the world better than me, but two things struck me very quickly. 

Firstly, the very real cosmopolitan nature of the place. On a minibus tour of Abu Dhabi a Pakistani driver guided in English our small party of two Brits, a Korean family, an Italian couple, a student from Nigeria and a couple from India. The Nigerian later revealed he was headed to London the next day to start studying fashion whilst the Italian woman turned out to be Deputy Rector of Milan University, taking a break from setting up a permanent research alliance of five European universities and explaining to me the opportunities available (in English) to Ryde students in Italy. You don’t have to be one of Theresa May’s citizens of nowhere to appreciate that being comfortable with other peoples and cultures is a pretty essential C21st skill.

Secondly, behind the obvious glitz and glamour (and a hint of hubris too), Dubai has plenty of the traditional – these are citizens of ‘somewhere.’ Not just the obvious Arab and Islamic life that determines most locals’ day, but also the continued business of the taxis along and across the Creek, the scents and flavours of the Souk and the family businesses, peeping from behind the glossy skyscrapers.

That ‘island school with a global outlook’ motif is more than a shorthand for what we want to be. It also encapsulates, I believe, the challenge of our time – how do we embrace the threats, opportunities and excitement of the world without losing our distinct, local identity that can give us an anchor when the storms hit. That anchor can be family, nation, school, locale, but I believe we need it as much as we need a world view. It is partly to find how others achieve that balance that I have set out on this journey, in the literal rather than X Factor sense of the word.

I realise, looking back on this, it all sounds a bit worthy. I am planning on having fun of course – I’d be a poor teacher who thought enjoyment and education were mutually exclusive after all. I am looking forward to catching up with old friends – former colleagues, pupils and parents in Australia, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Peru and the US – and to opening all senses to some of the most beautiful places in the world. I’ll be having some selective detoxes too – meat free New Zealand, booze free Peru and, ultimate challenge, social media free South Pacific. I hope I will have a few useful things to say en route, and I hope you might be interested in sharing in some of it.