Peter Kent: Update from the Convention of the International Confederation of Principals
I wrote a few weeks ago about my visit to Shanghai for the Convention of the International Confederation of Principals (ICP), the group representing school leaders worldwide. Since then several colleagues have asked me how the visit went.
The answer to the question has several strands to it. My workshop on ethical leadership, which touched on some of the work that we are doing in Warwickshire, seemed to have greater resonance than I expected. A number of Shanghai Principals spoke to me afterwards about the challenges of leadership and ‘doing the right thing’.
Some aspects of the English system were very alien to my Chinese colleagues, such as our system of academisation, our approach to accountability and the increasingly litigious culture that we all have to operate within. However, their view was that the core ethical dilemmas such as putting the wellbeing of students first, promoting inclusion and making transparent decisions that promote the greater good rather personal interest, are the same everywhere in the world. Shanghai University hosted the Convention and they now plan to carry out their own research into the ethical leadership issues facing Chinese principals.
More broadly, the Convention provided a wonderful opportunity to share ideas and powerful practice from across the world. Whilst the keynotes came from speakers worldwide, the one I found most memorable was that delivered by Dr Steve Munby, the former CEO of the National College for School Leadership. Steve used the title of his recent book ‘Imperfect Leadership’ to talk about his own experience of working with school principals in different continents. In particular, he spoke about the effectiveness of ‘invitational leadership’- admitting your own areas of strength and asking for help from others with your areas of weakness.
I was also very struck by the keynote provided by one of our Chinese colleagues Jack Ma. Jack is the founder of Alibabi, a huge online market place. He has established an education foundation and now devotes most of his time to promoting effective school leadership across China. When asked about his greatest achievement he replied ‘not giving up, even though I made so many mistakes’.
The conference finished on a high note for me personally, when I was elected the next President of ICP, taking over in January 2021. Recent ICP Presidents have come from South Africa, Australia and Finland. I feel honoured to be an English principal given this very special opportunity to promote understanding and mutual learning across the worldwide community of school leaders.
Peter Kent
Headteacher Lawrence Sheriff School and Education Challenge Board Chair