Dear Parents

I was reminded by reading another school headmaster’s blog last night about the value of our own core message, that simple phrase that encapsulates what we are trying to do in our workplace or in our life. As a school we have a mission and a vision, but it’s a mouthful and you have to do a fair few admissions talks and interviews before you remember the whole thing (do you remember it?). The core message of Stuart Grainger, the headmaster of Trinity College School in Ontario (there are some older Doscos who went on exchange there in the past, something that I hope will be happening again soon) is work harder, care more. He knows that if every one does that, every teacher, every parent and every student, then the community will thrive, people’s joy and success will grow and they will contribute to making society and the world better for everyone. Simple.

What’s your core message? What do you live by? I think if you asked the boys and the master here what my core message is they would probably say be the best version of yourself and they would be right. I believe that if we are all able to be the best version of ourselves then the outcomes that Stuart is hoping for in his school and community will be the same here too. Of course, it is not always easy to be the best version of ourselves. There are all sorts of things that we can let get in the way, just as we can’t always work as hard as we want to or should, or care enough. It is also the case that sometimes we are not sure what it even means to be the best versions of ourselves; what definition do we use to articulate this?

By taking some time to look at the command terms in The Doon School’s mission statement and then thinking about what each of these would look like exhibited as a behaviour, below, I think that this is what it means to be the best versions of ourselves.

Our mission is: 

“To attract and develop exceptional boys and teachers from all backgrounds to serve a meritocratic India; inspire them to be just and ethical citizens; train them to be wise and principled leaders; and prepare them to enter one of the strongest alumni fraternities – for life.”

What are the behaviours that we expect to see if our institutional values are being lived into? None of us is perfect, but this is what we aim to be; The Doon School's equivalent of the Learner Profile.

Exceptional: We each have our own strengths and stand out without stopping others from shining. We strive to develop mastery in the things we do and share what we know generously and with humility. We don’t make ourselves feel better by putting others down, criticising their efforts or laughing at the outcomes of their work. We learn from people who are better than us rather than feel threatened by them.

Meritorious: Being good at something and allowing others to be good at something while remaining free of entitlement and arrogance. We recognise our privilege and understand how privilege shapes society and the world in ways that are unfair and often invisible; we mind our privilege. We recognise that others will not be good at the same things, just as we might not be good at everything.

Inspirational: Positively influential in a group and in the community, we share our enthusiasm, joy and curiosity with others. We inspire respect by being the role models that the community needs. We don’t undermine ourselves with behaviour that is obviously hypocritical, indisciplined or harmful to ourselves or others. We choose to act, we serve and we find mentors who inspire us so that we keep growing.

Just & Ethical: We are able to articulate the dilemmas of life and act on a visible moral compass, even when no one is looking. We do the right things at the right time in the right place. We understand that our actions have consequences, whether we like them or not, and are able to accept these consequences without justification or blame. We recognise that the position we have in the community, whatever it is, carries responsibility and a moral imperative.

Citizens: We know that we are a part of something larger than ourselves; our family, our form, our house, our school, our city and our nation. We understand that we must contribute to each of these communities in order to derive benefit from them. We have rights as citizens as well as responsibilities to every other member of the community. Their success is our success and when things are not going well it is something that we have a duty to help correct.

Trainable: We are learning oriented, curious and not so certain that we cannot see the perspective of others or have our minds changed by experience or evidence. We are not cynical or closed to new ideas and, as lifelong learners, have developed a growth mindset. We know that we have more to learn and are determined to become better practitioners, better students and better people.

Wise: Having learned from our experiences, mistakes and failures, as well as those of others, we are not judgmental and we recognise that we are not yet complete. We are able to see the wood for the trees, understand that younger people don’t yet know what we, (but they will) and we listen more than we speak, choosing words that add value rather than take energy. 

Principled: We are able to be upstanding, to support others who are in need and to call others out on their poor actions and choices with respect, whoever they are. As well as doing the right thing at the right time in the right place, we make sure that we act, rather than remaining passive; people choosing to do nothing has allowed some of the worst things in history to happen. We live our values and take responsibility for the work we do and part we play in school.

Fraternal: We are able to give care and support to others in a way that is both honest and kind. We never put ourself ahead by stepping on others. We recognise the humanity in everyone and understand that kindness, love and empathy are the best building materials for relationships that support and last. We understand that the work we do and the part we play contributes to the learning and the growth of the community; we have a responsibility to do our work and play our part wholeheartedly. 

If we could all work to help our boys become men who exhibit these behaviours then we will have done our jobs as teachers and parents well. Of course, we have to be doing this ourselves first!

University Admissions Season

We had the University Fair on 3rd September. Almost 70 universities from around the world came to meet our students and staff and we opened the doors to S and SC Form parents as well as to the schools in Dehradun who have an interest in overseas, as well as Indian, universities. We were reminded by the visiting universities that our students should only be doing the programme that the school follows and doing their best in that programme; no APs or A Levels are needed to ‘supplement’ what they are already doing because they take time away from what the students have chosen and are expected to succeed in. 

As parents we can easily fall into the trap of believing that the more our children do to differentiate themselves, the more opportunities we can buy them to furnish their CV and the more documentation they produce then the better their chances of getting into a good college. Unfortunately what this hypercompetitive, shopping list approach tends to lead to is the overselling of a candidate. It also leads to an enormous amount of stress, usually for the student, that doesn’t do them any good at all; then 18 year olds look for solutions to stress they are not always able to make the best decisions. My second son is beginning his college application process now and, as was the case with his brother, I’m delighted that he has chosen to apply for the one course he knows he wants to do at the one college he wants to be part of that he knows he can work to meet the admission requirements for… I can already feel the stress and anxiety falling away.

I could not help feeling that by turning this into a competition that we lost something; no doubt the winners were well deserved, but the performance as a whole ended as  a ranking exercise. We say that the world is competitive, but I have never been asked to rank the players at a music festival before, I have simply enjoyed every one of them and I’m sure that they left on a high. We are discussing amongst ourselves the value of competing in art, music and drama; all things that the IPSC schools compete in… and all because they look to us for the lead on what matters. I would love to know your views; would you give Dali a 6? John Cage an 8?