Celebrate the Difference

I’m free, to be whatever I

Whatever I choose

And I’ll sing the blues if I want

Whatever, Oasis, 1994

I’ve occasionally wondered what the collective noun for a group of Headmasters and Headmistresses should be. A stern of Heads or perhaps a stalwart? My wife Merewyn came up with perhaps the best idea having met a few of my Headmaster friends; a pomposity of Headmasters.   

I’ve just got back from Belfast where I spent four days at the HMC Conference. If you didn’t know, HMC stands for the Headmasters and Headmistresses’ Conference, a group of the 288 ‘leading independent schools’ across the country. If such a gathering doesn’t sound like your idea of fun, you could well be right, though if you’re in the game it’s a great opportunity to refresh the mind, find out about new ideas (both educational and otherwise) and catch up with your fellow dementors.     

The theme of this year’s conference was Celebrate the Difference, an apt one because amongst HMC schools there are many different kinds of institution run by many different types of Head. Whilst HMC membership requires quantitative minimums relating to A level results and pupil numbers, in most other respects they are differently flavoured, resulting in a Baskin Robbins-like choice of excellent independent schools in many parts of the country. 

I’ve always felt that such diversity is a great strength of HMC, as it is in other alliances and confederations. I’ve always loved Europe, for instance, for the fact it’s such a rich tapestry of cultures in a relatively small area and my wonderful team of senior staff at King’s also consists of a real mixture of individuals, all contributing effectively to the whole.

As a geologist and physical geographer with a penchant for the odd glass of decent wine, perhaps the greatest manifestation of difference is the French concept of terroir; a word that describes the unique combination of physical conditions (soil, aspect, drainage, rock, microclimate etc.) that can contribute to a remarkable diversity of wines within a small region.  

Celebrating the difference amongst pupils is an essential aim of any great school. Long gone are the days when sending young whippersnappers off to school involved an assumed process of automation and normalization (although I gather this model persists still in some parts of the world). For me, bringing out the individual in each and every child is essential not just so they can make the very most of themselves, but more importantly so they can be content and confident in their own skins, both at school and in their adult lives thereafter.   

And let’s face it, it isn’t easy ploughing your own furrow as a young person today. Modern media constantly surrounds us with stereotypical images of flawless but predictable types wearing the same sorts of clothes, saying the same things and doing similar things; bad voodoo on the individuality front. And don’t even get me started on the pernicious effects of ill-used social media amongst the young.     

So one of the most important things a school can do is to cherish individuality and celebrate the difference in every pupil. Managing such diversity may have its challenges (reminding me of Charles de Gaulle’s famous quote about governing a country of 246 cheeses), but in an increasingly globalized, automated and monochrome world, it’s a must if we want to let young people make the most of themselves, be happy and make a real and positive difference as human beings in modern society.