A Journey to and Beyond the Blackboard
Memories of a Boy Who Became a Maverick Headteacher
Kim Johnson
USD 25,99
USD 15,99
Format: 13.5 x 21.5 cm
Number of Pages: 368
ISBN: 978-3-99107-543-1
Release Date: 21.05.2021
An autobiographical novel detailing Mr Johnson’s life from his childhood in Germany and Cyprus to working and experiencing the highs and lows of working in education with young people with complex educational needs.
Introduction
As a child I had many dreams about what I would like to do on reaching adulthood. Just like many children then and now there were times spent watching and listening to grandparents, parents, uncles and family friends. Their adventures in life and working roles being the fuel to my imagination. The very inspiration that would set my own mind thinking of what possibilities life might present.
Although I started school as a five-year-old in the then West Germany, my first real recollection of school was a few years later in Middlesex. It was not a particularly happy time. The adults I met then seemed at odds with the philosophical notion that education was about learning and the enjoyment of discovery. It was a poor starting point for me when retrieving the very memories of childhood … which are supposed to be joyful.
With my father’s job in the RAF causing us to move regularly, it was such an opportunity that caused things to change. In moving 2,500 miles a single teaching figure literally altered everything and had a huge impact on me. This person being my wonderful Primary Class Teacher, the young Miss Kirkpatrick. One of the few people I will actually name. She was an inspiration and lit in me a spark of enjoyment, interest and enthusiasm that was undoubtedly the foundation of my personal and professional future.
Thereafter moving to boarding school and being there for six years meant some of that enthusiasm was sometimes lost. Certainly, a great deal of what many would consider to be formative years were spent away at school. Yet there were also gains and fun to be had. As I grew up, I began to question and at times to rebel. That journey through three schools and university is tracked in Part One where I undoubtedly learned a great deal about myself and what I wanted from life.
The prospect of ever working in education seemed a million miles from being likely. Unknown to me Teachers, Lecturers and other Educational Professionals lay in wait for me … and in time they were to help me focus and determine the very route of my life. Their wise words, professional insight and enduring encouragement kept me going and believing in the power of education to shape lives. It may seem an unlikely addition to a story of becoming a Headteacher and then Principal, but it explains how adults and teachers can unlock our potential and set us off on our life journey. As you read of my interactions you will see how those relationships can impact on a child and young adult to help shape who we are and how we are. I believe this is something often lost when we speak of the importance of education and its meaning in the widest sense. Take from this part of my journey how at times I was close to coming off the rails and how those in education helped to guide me. The position such teachers had sometimes assisted with my journey as a child and young adult and helped take me beyond a sense of being lost in those tricky times of a teenager. It could have broken me … but there were good adults around and they saw something in me. In the end … they certainly helped take me to a place where I felt being a teacher was the right career pathway.
Part Two unpicks the experiences had as a teacher in five quite different settings. All the children I met and taught, along with my many teaching colleagues, opened my eyes to the varying challenges of those in mainstream and specialist provisions. As I ventured into teaching, my stories show how I navigated that journey. They also reveal how I gained an insight into the potential I had and the opportunities that presented to develop life-changing skills. The switch from being the one being influenced to that of being the one who influences was immense for me. In that time, I actually ‘grew up’ with those I taught as I developed my craft in a teaching role.
Parts Three and Four reveal many mixed experiences as a school leader of four vastly different schools in Special and International settings. The hard toil involved in breaking mediocrity in school performance in order to motivate all to want to embrace excitement, challenge, discovery and excellence in their practice. No easy feat and one that had its own personal toll, eventually working through such hurdles and achieving success and outstanding practices. These stories reveal the reality of a relentless pursuit of excellence which many will be able to relate to in their own time in education, both present and historic. They may also enlighten those aspiring to venture forth.
Forty-four years after leaving school as a pupil I retired as the Principal of a Special Academy for children and young adults with complex needs and as the former National President of a School Leader’s Association. The highs and lows of that journey were many and often intertwined. So many people and places each with their own tale of happiness, sadness, harsh lessons learned, and opportunities taken to try and make a difference.
As you read, I trust that you will consider that all of us can be a leader … but not everyone is quite ready. The key point I look to make being the importance of learning at every stage of my journey towards becoming a school leader. This often meant asking the question of myself ‘What did I learn? Did I make sure I stopped from time to time to listen and think?’
If my story and the actions I took throughout inspire others to … dream more … learn more … do more … and become more … then it may help them to be a future leader. The attitude of one’s mind being crucial in this … as portrayed in this simple tale:
‘When out at sea … the pessimist complains about the wind … the optimist expects it to change … the leader adjusts the sails.’
Often feeling as if I was one of Education’s ‘Respectable Revolutionaries’ I tried to make my mark. Throughout, my motivation being to overcome the negative half full world of many and replace their thoughts of adversity and difficulty with a sense of challenge and opportunity. It was no easy task. I was paid by my employers in brass … and rewarded by all the children and young adults I taught … with memories made of gold. All this warranted a story being told … and once retired I collected my stories together … to share with you.
If you are after some sort of academic expose on leadership or an A-Z manual on being successful as a school leader then this is not my intention. I am trying to take you away with me for fifty-five years of travel through a variety of educational settings to give you an insight into the many roles held in this most unlikely of expeditions.
I was once told that as a school leader ‘everyone sees what you appear to be … few experience what you really are’.
Do read on … make your mind up about my journey and take from it what you wish to help you with yours.
Part One
Learning My Future Craft
In 2015 a Minister addressed an Education Summit in London and when speaking about the purpose of education he said:
“Education is the engine of our economy, it is the foundation of our culture, and it’s an essential preparation for adult life.”
He went on to say,
“We all have a responsibility to educate the next generation of informed citizens, introducing them to the best that has been thought and said, and instilling in them a love of knowledge and culture for their own sake. But education is also about the practical business of ensuring that young people receive the preparation they need to secure a good job and a fulfilling career, and have the resilience and moral character to overcome challenges and succeed.”
My earliest memories of the journey you are about to travel with me should have mirrored his words. Surely that would have been the very basis of why I was turning up at school each morning from 1960. Yet you will see that from 1963 such great words could not have been further from the reality I experienced.
Thank goodness for one young Primary Teacher in 1965 who typified the words of Albert Einstein:
“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”
She loved teaching and as a result I began to love learning. This was a significant discovery for me. At that time I had a positive grasp of what my educational experience could be … and how the school I was in should be. My life was touched by this teacher.
Secondary school had its moments where such experiences grew, faded and grew again. It was here that the characters I related to were the difference.
As Andy Rooney is reputed to have said:
“Great teachers are usually a little crazy.”
I met such inspiring characters and they cast a spell on me. Are such individuals not the very ones we remember?
In his speech in 2015, the Minister also referenced the disdainful words of Mark Twain:
“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
As a teenager, with all that means psychologically, socially and physically we have our heads turned by the distractions and our minds energised by the challenging of boundaries. You may connect to my time away from home at boarding school or indeed spot a similar child or pupil in your life experience to date. I learned so much outside of the classroom and more importantly got the chance to test its efficacy.
Mark Twain would relate to the view that it provided me with an insight into the meaning of the saying:
‘The only difference between a good day and a bad day is your attitude.’
This all lead to going to University in 1974 … with a desire to learn the craft of being a teacher … not just any teacher … for as you will find out I wanted to be one who could make a real difference … to some incredibly special children.
As you read through the five chapters in Part One you may sometimes question my arrival at such a conclusion in my ‘Learning’. I trust you will also reflect on the impact that the adults had on me and how I arrived at the point where wanting to become a teacher was a reality. Can you remember such a moment and is it something you are still true to now?
It is important to stop and think as an adult and particularly as a teacher to question in your life journey what your personal trail has left behind. Probably best captured in the discussion between two old friends about their driving. One says to the other “I’ve had a safe life driving a car and never been involved in an accident.” His friend replies “I take it you looked in your rear-view mirror from time to time just to be sure?”
As such, to stop from time to time and think what it is like to be a child or teenager in their home, classroom and school is time well spent. Too often we focus on ‘what’ they have done rather than ‘why’ they did it. For sure, if in the case of where there has been a wrong it should be addressed. But in order to understand, so it isn’t done again, the ‘why’ is important. And actually, the ‘why’ should always be important in all cases. As adults, teachers and school leaders we must take on the responsibility of playing a key role in assisting with this fundamental in education for life. The question is there to be asked … ‘Can you think of times when it worked … and those when it could have?’
As a child I had many dreams about what I would like to do on reaching adulthood. Just like many children then and now there were times spent watching and listening to grandparents, parents, uncles and family friends. Their adventures in life and working roles being the fuel to my imagination. The very inspiration that would set my own mind thinking of what possibilities life might present.
Although I started school as a five-year-old in the then West Germany, my first real recollection of school was a few years later in Middlesex. It was not a particularly happy time. The adults I met then seemed at odds with the philosophical notion that education was about learning and the enjoyment of discovery. It was a poor starting point for me when retrieving the very memories of childhood … which are supposed to be joyful.
With my father’s job in the RAF causing us to move regularly, it was such an opportunity that caused things to change. In moving 2,500 miles a single teaching figure literally altered everything and had a huge impact on me. This person being my wonderful Primary Class Teacher, the young Miss Kirkpatrick. One of the few people I will actually name. She was an inspiration and lit in me a spark of enjoyment, interest and enthusiasm that was undoubtedly the foundation of my personal and professional future.
Thereafter moving to boarding school and being there for six years meant some of that enthusiasm was sometimes lost. Certainly, a great deal of what many would consider to be formative years were spent away at school. Yet there were also gains and fun to be had. As I grew up, I began to question and at times to rebel. That journey through three schools and university is tracked in Part One where I undoubtedly learned a great deal about myself and what I wanted from life.
The prospect of ever working in education seemed a million miles from being likely. Unknown to me Teachers, Lecturers and other Educational Professionals lay in wait for me … and in time they were to help me focus and determine the very route of my life. Their wise words, professional insight and enduring encouragement kept me going and believing in the power of education to shape lives. It may seem an unlikely addition to a story of becoming a Headteacher and then Principal, but it explains how adults and teachers can unlock our potential and set us off on our life journey. As you read of my interactions you will see how those relationships can impact on a child and young adult to help shape who we are and how we are. I believe this is something often lost when we speak of the importance of education and its meaning in the widest sense. Take from this part of my journey how at times I was close to coming off the rails and how those in education helped to guide me. The position such teachers had sometimes assisted with my journey as a child and young adult and helped take me beyond a sense of being lost in those tricky times of a teenager. It could have broken me … but there were good adults around and they saw something in me. In the end … they certainly helped take me to a place where I felt being a teacher was the right career pathway.
Part Two unpicks the experiences had as a teacher in five quite different settings. All the children I met and taught, along with my many teaching colleagues, opened my eyes to the varying challenges of those in mainstream and specialist provisions. As I ventured into teaching, my stories show how I navigated that journey. They also reveal how I gained an insight into the potential I had and the opportunities that presented to develop life-changing skills. The switch from being the one being influenced to that of being the one who influences was immense for me. In that time, I actually ‘grew up’ with those I taught as I developed my craft in a teaching role.
Parts Three and Four reveal many mixed experiences as a school leader of four vastly different schools in Special and International settings. The hard toil involved in breaking mediocrity in school performance in order to motivate all to want to embrace excitement, challenge, discovery and excellence in their practice. No easy feat and one that had its own personal toll, eventually working through such hurdles and achieving success and outstanding practices. These stories reveal the reality of a relentless pursuit of excellence which many will be able to relate to in their own time in education, both present and historic. They may also enlighten those aspiring to venture forth.
Forty-four years after leaving school as a pupil I retired as the Principal of a Special Academy for children and young adults with complex needs and as the former National President of a School Leader’s Association. The highs and lows of that journey were many and often intertwined. So many people and places each with their own tale of happiness, sadness, harsh lessons learned, and opportunities taken to try and make a difference.
As you read, I trust that you will consider that all of us can be a leader … but not everyone is quite ready. The key point I look to make being the importance of learning at every stage of my journey towards becoming a school leader. This often meant asking the question of myself ‘What did I learn? Did I make sure I stopped from time to time to listen and think?’
If my story and the actions I took throughout inspire others to … dream more … learn more … do more … and become more … then it may help them to be a future leader. The attitude of one’s mind being crucial in this … as portrayed in this simple tale:
‘When out at sea … the pessimist complains about the wind … the optimist expects it to change … the leader adjusts the sails.’
Often feeling as if I was one of Education’s ‘Respectable Revolutionaries’ I tried to make my mark. Throughout, my motivation being to overcome the negative half full world of many and replace their thoughts of adversity and difficulty with a sense of challenge and opportunity. It was no easy task. I was paid by my employers in brass … and rewarded by all the children and young adults I taught … with memories made of gold. All this warranted a story being told … and once retired I collected my stories together … to share with you.
If you are after some sort of academic expose on leadership or an A-Z manual on being successful as a school leader then this is not my intention. I am trying to take you away with me for fifty-five years of travel through a variety of educational settings to give you an insight into the many roles held in this most unlikely of expeditions.
I was once told that as a school leader ‘everyone sees what you appear to be … few experience what you really are’.
Do read on … make your mind up about my journey and take from it what you wish to help you with yours.
Part One
Learning My Future Craft
In 2015 a Minister addressed an Education Summit in London and when speaking about the purpose of education he said:
“Education is the engine of our economy, it is the foundation of our culture, and it’s an essential preparation for adult life.”
He went on to say,
“We all have a responsibility to educate the next generation of informed citizens, introducing them to the best that has been thought and said, and instilling in them a love of knowledge and culture for their own sake. But education is also about the practical business of ensuring that young people receive the preparation they need to secure a good job and a fulfilling career, and have the resilience and moral character to overcome challenges and succeed.”
My earliest memories of the journey you are about to travel with me should have mirrored his words. Surely that would have been the very basis of why I was turning up at school each morning from 1960. Yet you will see that from 1963 such great words could not have been further from the reality I experienced.
Thank goodness for one young Primary Teacher in 1965 who typified the words of Albert Einstein:
“It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.”
She loved teaching and as a result I began to love learning. This was a significant discovery for me. At that time I had a positive grasp of what my educational experience could be … and how the school I was in should be. My life was touched by this teacher.
Secondary school had its moments where such experiences grew, faded and grew again. It was here that the characters I related to were the difference.
As Andy Rooney is reputed to have said:
“Great teachers are usually a little crazy.”
I met such inspiring characters and they cast a spell on me. Are such individuals not the very ones we remember?
In his speech in 2015, the Minister also referenced the disdainful words of Mark Twain:
“I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.”
As a teenager, with all that means psychologically, socially and physically we have our heads turned by the distractions and our minds energised by the challenging of boundaries. You may connect to my time away from home at boarding school or indeed spot a similar child or pupil in your life experience to date. I learned so much outside of the classroom and more importantly got the chance to test its efficacy.
Mark Twain would relate to the view that it provided me with an insight into the meaning of the saying:
‘The only difference between a good day and a bad day is your attitude.’
This all lead to going to University in 1974 … with a desire to learn the craft of being a teacher … not just any teacher … for as you will find out I wanted to be one who could make a real difference … to some incredibly special children.
As you read through the five chapters in Part One you may sometimes question my arrival at such a conclusion in my ‘Learning’. I trust you will also reflect on the impact that the adults had on me and how I arrived at the point where wanting to become a teacher was a reality. Can you remember such a moment and is it something you are still true to now?
It is important to stop and think as an adult and particularly as a teacher to question in your life journey what your personal trail has left behind. Probably best captured in the discussion between two old friends about their driving. One says to the other “I’ve had a safe life driving a car and never been involved in an accident.” His friend replies “I take it you looked in your rear-view mirror from time to time just to be sure?”
As such, to stop from time to time and think what it is like to be a child or teenager in their home, classroom and school is time well spent. Too often we focus on ‘what’ they have done rather than ‘why’ they did it. For sure, if in the case of where there has been a wrong it should be addressed. But in order to understand, so it isn’t done again, the ‘why’ is important. And actually, the ‘why’ should always be important in all cases. As adults, teachers and school leaders we must take on the responsibility of playing a key role in assisting with this fundamental in education for life. The question is there to be asked … ‘Can you think of times when it worked … and those when it could have?’