Out and About
This week, I have been on an accreditation visit to a school in the south of France. Although, of course, I have remained in Aberdeen. This has met hours on Zoom, hunched over a computer screen. It was a reminder of the best and worst of the new ways of working.
We take it for granted that we can continue to connect amid all these restrictions, easily complaining it is not better. But it could be a lot worse. Despite not being able to travel, this last week I have interacted with a team of educators from London, Copenhagen, Cairo and Khartoum in considering the progress of a school in Nice. I have been able to discuss best practice for international schools, learn from colleagues around the world, while contributing my own experiences to aid the improvement of others.
It is important for ISA that its educators maintain connections with the outside world, that we look beyond and see alternative ways of doing things; that we are open to being challenged in our assumptions. All the things we demand of our students. We don’t want to follow a checklist to maintain a certain standard, we want to be challenged to constantly improve. We need time for heads up and look out.
While technology is a boon that allows interactions that would have been shut down if this had happened twenty years ago, it is not the same. We meet and learn from each other, but lose some of what is spontaneous and accidental. It is more difficult to stumble across the unlooked for connection.
In the last few weeks of school we are lucky enough to be allowed more trips. Education can’t just be about the planned. It is also about unexpected connections and accidental discoveries as well. It is great to see ISA students out and about, exploring their world.
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