Former Graeme College head Reed, shares on time of transition
Makhanda school celebrates 150th anniversary
Former Graeme College headmaster Peter Reed says it is important that current generations are kept informed and take an interest in the history of their schools.
Graeme College, an English medium school for boys in Makhanda, is celebrating the 150th anniversary of its founding in 1873.
The now retired Reed, who addressed Graeme Old Boys and members of the Lower Albany Historical Society at Settlers Park’s Don Powis Hall, is a great believer in the adage, “You don’t know where you’re headed if you don’t know where you are coming from.”
“Very true and you’ll find a lot of Old Boys talk about their school days and that is a common thread. And that keeps the passion and the spirit going for what they experienced,” said Reed.
Reed took over the headmaster reins at a crucial period in the country’s history a time of transition in 1993, before retiring in 2014.
He said given that transition, his wasn’t an easy introduction to the Graemian family “but you had no other option but to develop the coping mechanisms.
“First one had to be positive we had a fantastic staff, we had a fantastic governing body everyone was on the same page at that time.
“We all managed the challenges of the time the biggest problem was one of perception and we just tried to eliminate that.”
Reed makes special mention of four young former Graemians who were
recruited to the staff in the mid-‘90s and were successfully used to mediate sensitive issues.
They were brought in after they had volunteered to intervene in an incident between two pupils from different backgrounds a potentially volatile situation they speedily diffused.
“These boys played a crucial role going forward because they had a deeper and better understanding of cultural norms which some of us may not have been aware of.
“It was absolutely crucial to have them part of the team and part of understanding what the school stood for and they were a huge success.”
Reed said being a headmaster was similar to being a CEO of a company where managing the day-to-day running of a business and managing
people were crucial. It was important to be forward-thinking and progressive in the headmaster role.
“For example, we felt at the time [early ‘90s] there was a need to have black young males on the staff as they would play a big role in the lives of [Graeme] boys. They were like fathers to the boys. And as the pupil numbers grew at the school, so the importance of having this representation was fundamental to progress.”
He said it was important for communities to be patient with the evolution of change.
“That is the challenge I’m not necessarily saying the slower the better, but when you start making rushed decisions that’s when you sometimes make the incorrect decisions.
“If you have support from the staff it
helps. They must want to be part of the change and part of the successes. They feel valued when they have input and that’s what we tried to establish.
“As headmasters, we have to manage individuals and make sure they are not left on their own or ignored.”
In the early ‘90s, as corporal punishment started to be phased out, the teaching fraternity was skeptical due to being unsure of the alternatives.
“I think it’s the best thing that could have happened because the abuse of it far outweighed the merits.
“It was right to give pupils a chance to talk to you as an educator or teacher
pupils then had an opportunity to tell their side of the story.”
He said the Outcomes-Based Education initiative that had since been scrapped, was not a good idea. “The way it was presented to us at Graeme College was that boys would have to find their own solutions.
“Many of them were still too young they needed more direction.” There are still yawning gaps between township schools and fullyequipped independent schools and Reed believes that building relationships is one way of addressing the problem.
“Building relationships is key ... but to do that you need the staff’s assistance. We had experiences where this works and where it doesn’t work when you don’t get buy-in from both sides so you can’t bring the kids together if you don’t have the staff making a contribution.“
The ongoing training of teachers in the current dispensation remains a worry for Reed.
“The teacher training colleges that were there were crucial until their demise. Teachers who have training college experience are now in their retirement years. And teachers coming in after that haven’t had that training.
“University gives you the qualification, but doesn’t give you that teaching experience as you are learning. Some university education departments do have management training programmes, however.”
Reed said extra-mural activities fulfilled a crucial role in the development of pupils.
“There has to be activity outside the classroom. It can be a cultural activity, it can be music it must be something else that the school handles and that the kids feel a part of that,” he said.
“Sport is more socially accepted but there are also [Rotary] Interact clubs wonderful environments where kids can get involved in other things.
“We must remember: teaching happens in a classroom education happens outside a classroom.”