Top UK head teacher tells pupils to put values above grades ... and ticks off pushy parents
▶ Sir Anthony Seldon says focusing on exam results has negative impact
A dependence on exam results is brutalising education systems and some parents are damaging their own children by putting them under pressure to achieve top grades.
During a visit to the UAE, Sir Anthony Seldon, a British educationalist, historian and author, called for a reassessment of what is valued in the development of young people.
He believes far more importance should be placed on encouraging values that would lead to well-being and happiness in later life, rather than training pupils to pass tests.
He told pupils at Gems Wellington School in Dubai on Sunday that it was “not the end of the world” if they did not earn a place at their first-choice university and said he was concerned about the “colossal pressure” some teenagers and parents felt to secure a spot at a prestigious institution such as the universities of Oxford, Cambridge or Princeton.
Mr Seldon, who leads the University of Buckingham, has joined the Gems Education group, which runs 46 schools in the UAE, as an adviser for its British schools.
He said he was attracted to the role by the forward-thinking approach of the group, which he hopes to help make use of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality in classrooms.
But, he said, other education providers across the world were failing young people, by adopting a “factory schools” approach.
“Around the world, there are misguided schools, that would reduce the whole of humanity just to your ability to pass exams, because that’s what the teachers or head teachers are rated on in many systems,” he told pupils. “It makes them joyless, lifeless, loveless institutions where the arts, sports, leadership and volunteering are relegated because they’re not assessed.
“So many people prioritise job success and money, which they spend all their time boasting about, but actually success in life is about being happy.
“Don’t play the world’s game, make the world dance to your tune. Find out what you love to do in life, what gives you real deep joy, and go for it.”
After fielding questions from pupils, which included queries about university life and his knighthood in 2014, he told The National concern at the effect well-meaning but pushy parents had on their children.
“Parents want the very best for their children,” he said. “But they worry terribly, ‘is my child at the right school? What happens if they don’t get an A grade?’
“Parents can damage children terribly by worrying too much about these things. For some parents, the story is too often about them, rather than their children. As a head it would always worry me where the parents wanted the child to be a mini-me.
“What I like about the Gems schools that I’ve seen, and know about, is that they’re doing much, much more. They’re getting very good exam results but they’re also doing much more to prepare people for the world of work.
“I want to be very clear that exam results do not guarantee success in life and they don’t guarantee happiness.”
His concerns echo the findings of a report published this year by Towards Global Learning Goals, an Abu Dhabi education network, which also hit out at an over-reliance on exams and gave a warning that many schools are failing to equip children with relevant skills.
Mr Seldon is a former head of Brighton College and Wellington College in the UK.
The schools will work on developing artificial intelligence for education purposes in partnership with the University of Buckingham, which is one of a small number of private universities in the UK.
“Sir Anthony Seldon has been a leading voice in the education sector for decades,” said Dino Varkey, chief executive of Gems Education.
“Our collaboration will focus on a number of areas as we look to ensure our students are ready for the 21st century and a rapidly changing world.”
Don’t play the world’s game, make the world dance to your tune. Find out what you love to do in life and go for it SIR ANTHONY SELDON Educationalist, historian and author