Prevention is better than cure

Prevention is better than cure was one of the key messages that we heard from globally recognised cyber-safety expert, Susan McLean, this week. Ms McLean presented customised sessions to the staff, the parents and the students covering all aspects of cyber-safety, personal responsibility, and cyberbullying. Whilst sobering, these conversations are necessary and will be ongoing.

The pros and cons of the digital age have been hotly contested in recent decades and the debates continue to intensify. We need to maximise the benefits of selectively using digital technologies in our personal and professional lives, while simultaneously managing and minimising the associated risks for ourselves and our students.

Where do schools fit into the complexities and context of our modern society?

Ms McLean reported that the number one non-academic (outside of the teaching and learning context) issue that schools manage daily, is the misuse of and/or illegal behaviours on digital and online communication technologies.

Perhaps it is the age of our ‘clients’ (students aged 6 -18), however at times I feel that schools are timeless. The nap on the mat, the picture books, Prep’s first chapel, formals and graduations, and lunchtime tiggy games - these are the moments we all remember. When we hear stories from our graduating classes or our Alumni, they always describe keystone moments, events, rituals, and rites of passage. Their recollections are emotive and descriptions of how they felt are a significant part of their presentations. It is, by contrast, quite jarring to listen to ‘big tech’ who espouse the value of scaling up, moving fast, digital solutions, first movers and early uptake. Adapt or perish! The endless use of the word exponential and the insistence that all the world’s problems can be solved using technology and AI.

Image: Susan McLean speaking at staff presentation

On Monday, our staff gathered for our annual Professional Learning Day.

The staff began by considering the quote below:

It is no surprise that education is viewed as the most important key to recovery from current global crises. Whether it is about economy, environment, health, or peace of the world, we won’t be successful in the end without education.

                             - Professor Pasi Sahlberg, Southern Cross University

In addition to providing an education for our students to resolve the big issues of the world, we are simultaneously providing a purpose and values-driven education. Grammar is situated in the Sunshine Coast UNESCO Biosphere, and as such, we have developed a whole school purpose framework that aligns with the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals - Faith, People, Planet and Progress.

We also sought guidance from the Ethical Leadership Congress, held at Stanford University last month. The event covered a range of topics including climate change and cultural customs to AI and power dynamics. The speakers highlighted the complexity of these issues, as well as the concept of strategic abandonment. NYU’s Kwame Anthony Appiah reminded the audience that ethical questions are “messy, tangled in relationships, soaked in history, and sprinkled with uncertainty.”

And lastly, our staff reading materials:

1) How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen, David Brooks tells us:

• Human connection leads to relationships and relationships build community.
• Knowledge combined with human connection leads to cognitive transformation (learning is a social endeavour).
• Where do our shared humanity and human connections fit into this saturated digital world? We are a world in social and relational crisis.

2) Nexus - A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, Yuval Noah Hariri examines:

• Information is not simply raw material nor fact; neither is it a weapon. Nexus explores the hopeful middle ground (or nexus) between the binary extremes of right or wrong, by reintroducing the context of our shared humanity and human history.

In closing, we recognise that in addition to educating young people, we are grappling with some big topics in schools: social media; AI and the increasingly digital world; the youth mental health crisis; increasing social isolation and loneliness; and child safeguarding within and across the industry.  

We take heart from the quote below:

Everybody needs beauty as well as bread

Places to play and pray in

Where nature may heal and cheer

And give strength to body and soul alike.

-John Muir

Schools are foundational, front-line institutions and navigating this complex world presents a significant challenge. The true measure of Grammar is to continue providing a safe space for children to grow, socialise, and feel connected. Additionally, it is essential to foster a strong commitment to learning together through parent partnerships.

Anna Owen
Principal