Why leaders must embrace the 3 Hs: head, heart, hands

A new world awaits everyone in education and leaders must guide the way. The three Hs can help, says Liz Roberston
12th June 2020, 2:02pm

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Why leaders must embrace the 3 Hs: head, heart, hands

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/why-leaders-must-embrace-3-hs-head-heart-hands
Coronavirus: Now Is The Time For Schools To Focus On A Wider Education - Not Just Narrow Education Outcomes, Argues Liz Robinson

The outcomes against which schools are held to account tells us what the government of the day wants and values.

In 2006, when I started as headteacher of Surrey Square Primary School in Southwark, South London, inspection was based on the “Every Child Matters” framework.

This meant that we were kept busy working out how to show how we were supporting our pupils to achieve economic wellbeing - and be both happy and healthy - alongside academic success.

We are a long way away from this now.

Even so, the stark reality is that the vast majority of schools continue to be concerned about these, and other, issues.

In spite of increased pressure and the narrowing of focus on to one, albeit very important, aspect - namely academic performance in the core subjects as measured by test scores - schools have quietly and skilfully developed their provision across all the other things that matter.

The closure of “physical” schools due to the coronavirus outbreak has revealed the current set of obsessions to be something of an Emperor’s New Clothes situation - it has laid bare the illusory fantasy that schools could, or should, be focused upon only “one thing”.

A purely academic response and provision for pupils is simply inadequate, and never before have parents, and wider society, appreciated and missed the wider role that schools play in our children’s lives.

The 3 Hs approach to education

This is why we believe passionately in a “Big Education” for our pupils.

All children and young people deserve an education of the head (academic learning), the heart (social, emotional learning) and the hand (practical skills, creativity and problem solving).

This means designing a “big curriculum”, taking curriculum here to mean the summation of the experiences that pupils get as a part of the school, rather than the narrow definition currently in vogue, namely the explicit taught/planned learning.

Children learn a lot more at school than what is taught in lessons.

This must include a view of what the role of a school really is: a big vision and scope.

It means our provision must really take seriously how we meet all of those needs of our pupils, and how we design and deliver a serious “heart” curriculum, ensuring that children are in a good state to be able to learn, whatever their needs might be.

It means trading-off priorities: taking bold decisions about how best to meet different needs, and about the right subjects, curricula and pedagogies required to create the summation of experiences and support that children need.

Big changes in schools

So what does this mean for our leaders at this time?

Just as academic - or “head” - learning has had unfettered dominance in the profession in recent years, so it has become the default currency in leadership.

Strategy and classical managerial approaches have been seen as the hallmarks of effective leadership, dominated by the intellectual, rather than the emotional or creative.

And now? Well, the use of the word “unprecedented” is genuinely valid, and the idea of “disruption”, hitherto the lingo of the tech- and start-up community, has thrust its way into our public-sector lexicon.

This all adds up to change - big changes, at speed. We are having to create and build new things, and are doing things we have never done before. 

We believe these demands need big leadership; leadership of the head, heart and hand.

There are well-established approaches, such as design thinking methodologies, that equip leaders with tools to rapidly design and test new practices.

Disciplines of self-awareness and wellbeing can help school leaders to ensure that they are at their best, as well as being able to support their teams.

These are sustainable approaches that ensure balance and inspire others to aspire to the top jobs.

Time to thrive

As leaders within the sector, never has it been more evident that our role is not simply to deliver a vision held by central government.

Politicians come and go. We, as a profession, need to equip ourselves to thrive, so that our collective skill and expertise leads the process for designing the practices that our pupils need.

The essential function of schools is visible in the most extraordinary way.

The challenges of doing our job have been felt by every homeschooling parent.

The pretence that academic outcomes are the only thing that matter (and are therefore the necessary drivers of accountability) has been blown.

It’s time for us to step up, be bold and be the big leaders that society needs us to be.

Liz Robinson is the co-director of Big Education, working towards a more expansive education, including running The Big Leadership Adventure. She was previously the head of Surrey Square Primary School, in South London, for 13 years.

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