St Leonard’s College Principal Peter Clague shares a remarkable example that showcases how sincere belief in a student’s potential can foster self-assurance and personal development.
At this week’s Middle School Prizegiving, I recounted an anecdote involving a school in California, back in the 1960’s.
It was similar to St Leonard’s College in size and composition, but was struggling at the time to achieve positive academic results. This caused concern for the Head of School, not just because students were failing to reach their potential, but also because the school’s funding was based upon its performance in national testing.
So, one day the Head of School called three teachers into her office and sat them down, saying, “Things need to change”. She went on, “I have been going through the IQ scores of the entire Middle School, and I have identified the 60 most able students we have.” Then she said, “I have also gone back over the past twenty years of teaching data and identified that you are the three best teachers in the school. Your performance is consistently better than anybody else in the staffroom.”
The Head of School then outlined her plan. “I have grouped those top 60 students into three classes, separate from the rest of the year level, and I want only you three to teach them next year. The combination of their innate intelligence and your proven passion should bring us the results that we need to lift the school’s performance.”
The teachers were obviously quite excited at the prospect of a class full of only the brightest and most eager students. Probably also a bit chuffed that they had been recognised as being the best educators in the school. So off they went to plan for the term ahead.
A year passed, and at the end, after all the national tests had been sat and marked, the Head of School called the three top teachers back to her office and congratulated them warmly. The experiment had worked. Their three classes had aced every test. In fact, their results were not only the best in the school’s history, they were the best in the whole State.
But then, looking a bit sheepish, the Head of School said to the three teachers, “I have something to confess. I wasn’t entirely honest about the way I selected your classes for the year. You didn’t actually have the students with the highest IQ scores. The truth is, the students I gave you were chosen completely at random.”
The teachers were obviously quite shocked to hear this, and could only assume that the remarkable success must have been entirely due to their great teaching ability. But then the Head of School burst that bubble as well. She said, “Sorry, but I also have to admit that I didn’t rank all of the staff and pick the best either. You three were also chosen completely at random”.
That story is testimony to the power of self-belief. Both the students and the teachers were told that they were special and talented, so they just unconsciously rose to meet those expectations. It shows what we can achieve if we simply have faith in ourselves. But self-confidence originates when others first show confidence in us, and that invariably starts young. My desire, therefore, is to foster an environment in each of our schools where students are genuinely convinced that their teachers believe that they can achieve great things. Where it is simply impossible to swim against a daily tide of optimism and affirmation.
Therefore, as the 2024 academic year draws to a close and we send our students off to revel in a well-earned summer break, I hope that each one of them is able to look back on the year with pride and a quiet sense of personal satisfaction. Whatever else they gained from the College this year, whatever their achievements or accolades, milestones or memories, I hope that their belief in themselves has grown.
I have always been motivated by the motto of the great educator, Kurt Hahn, who believed ‘Plus Est En Vous” – there is more in us than we know. Accordingly, I hope your child has had a little more of their innate potential revealed to them at St Leonard’s College this year, and has grown in confidence as a result.
I wish them, and all members of our school family, a very Merry Christmas and a joyful New Year.
By Mr Peter Clague, Principal
