From the Middle School High School Principal

 The Mile Run

Once a year the entire middle and high schoool get together to do do the 'Mile Run'.  It is an inpromptu fun event, and there are three self-selected races of 'fast, faster, fastest', and entrants choose what they want to run in.

There are many things you can learn from the mile run, that also reflect how we think about learning.

• It is important that learning is challenge-by-choice
• Competing against yourself is motivating whereas 'comparison is the thief of joy'
• Equality of esteem (everyone was cheered regardless of pace) creates psychological safety for all
• The 'best' do best when they too feel safe to just focus on their own pace, with no ego at stake, just joy in doing what they are good at.  An environment of equality of esteem benefits everyone
• You do better when your peers are doing better - groups of friends running together help everyone run faster, as they model effort and commitment for each other
• Teachers and students all got involved - again modelling our own learning and humility helps learners to feel safe to do the same.

I always find the mile run interesting, as Roger Bannister's training when he first broke the four minute tells you something else profound about learning and humans.  He had repeatedly tried to break the time by focusing on race training and times.  The week before he actually broke the record, he just relaxed and went for a walking holiday in Scotland.  When he returned he raced and broke the record.  The lesson is that sometimes to do well on a proxy for learning like exams we practise the exam and just think of that as the purpose.  But if we step back and see the big picture, we get the success as a byproduct of something more important - our overall holistic wellbeing and health.  The walking holiday worked other muscles, gave time for recovery and mental calm - and as a result the race times rose.  At ISA we get outstanding academic results and offers to top universities - not by focusing on that, but as a byproduct of actually caring deeply about how we feel, cultivating a sense of belonging and calm, and challenge by choice and equality of esteem.  As a result everyone runs their 'best race' and more importantly enjoy running in future.  There is a lot that other schools could learn from that - and they might start by noticing how we do the Mile Run.