Mini Summits
Online Discussions on Mini Summits
Teachers and Teaching
Increasingly, South Africa is being faced with a crisis in the quality of teaching in the country and in the provision of teachers. We at Bishops are not immune to the effects of these, but we must engage in and address three main areas. How do we ensure that we recruit and then retain staff of the highest caliber, who capture the
imagination of their learners and help them fulfil their potential? Secondly, how are we developing the skills and attitudes of current teachers to practise the art and craft of teaching in ways appropriate to the world we live in now as well as the world our boys (part of the so-called Millennium generation) will be living in, and also support them in the classroom? Thirdly, how should we use our strength of resources to be a part of the process of teacher training and support which the country needs?
Go to our online discussion on Teachers and Teaching.
Technology in education
Technology continues its relentless advance into ever more facets of contemporary life. How do we keep abreast of the implications for education and society of these developments? What are some of the key developments, and what impact do they have upon our society and economy? How do we help boys to get all the benefits, to be aware of the potential difficulties, and also maintain mastery of their own lives? How do we ensure that we retain what we regard as the best features of a more traditional world without missing opportunities that the new world offers? How do we keep up with the ever-increasing pace of technological advance?
Go to our online discussion on Technology.
Building Sustainability and Resilience
The future is not what it used to be. The effects of globalization become increasingly more pervasive, and we must prepare our boys for a world whose perspective is at the same time both global and local. They need to be familiar with the main arguments and facts of environmental issues, global warming, depletion of resources, the carbon footprint of their lives, the stresses of population figures, the structural inequalities of societies across the globe, and the resultant disparities of wealth and poverty. How do we introduce sustainable practice into the curriculum of the school, and into the operations of the school (solar panel heating, water-efficient taps etc)? What would the school be like if it was run with full sensitivity to both the ecological and social constraints of the world we are moving into? Someone has to pioneer the school of the future – could it be us?
Go to our online discussion on Sustainability and Resilience.
Global Citizenship and Leadership
The school views global citizenship and globally responsible leadership as a lifelong and expanding journey. What are the questions around developing an understanding of the dynamic nature of global citizenship? How can the school engage with these questions? How do we offer opportunities for our boys to develop their own ‘internal compass’ and what skills and knowledge do they need to be globally responsible leaders? How do we create an awareness of self and the world, that will ensure each boy is able to provide their own unique form of leadership that is less about being successful in the world and more about being successful for the world?
Go to our online discussion on Global Citizenship.
Parents and Parenting
The pace and pressure of daily living often results in less than optimal domestic practices in homes, and a wide range of complications result from single-parent families, absentee parents, over-busy lives, and a set of parental attitudes resulting from the social experiences of the baby boomers who grew up during the sixties and seventies. Children today often have to confront much harder situations than their parents had to – with drugs, diseases, security, life styles and breakdowns of communities, and today’s parents have to deal with these without the benefit of extended families, the passing down of parenting skills or even suitable role models. As parents, how do we develop life-long enriching relationships with our children, from which both we and they can learn? How do we strengthen our emotional capacity to engage and connect with our children that nourish them and us? How can the school assist us to parent more strongly and more sensibly, to give our children both the security to grow straight and the freedom to grow tall?
Go to our online discussion on Parents and Parenting.
The Bishops family – roles of and relationships between the members of the family
The Bishops family is a large and complicated organism, acted on from all sides, yet steadily growing and developing in complexity. It encompasses such diverse constituencies as prospective, present and past parents, boys, the OD union, partnering corporates and donors, staff and the church. What are the main drivers for successful relationships and communication within this Bishops family? How do we achieve the sort of inter-dependence which allows us all to grow without becoming over dependent on one another? How do we achieve the right balance between being totally committed to the school’s good, and yet not being totally consumed by such commitment? What is the best practice to ensure that we can all work together for development and funding for the common good and yet each part still preserve its own practices and priorities? And what is our plan such that we make a significant contribution to the local and global communities we serve?
Go to our online discussion on The Bishops Family.