There\u2019s been a lot written in education theory lately about the power of play and its ability to form students who are creative, inquisitive and thoughtful. In his book Creating Innovators,<\/i> Tony Wagner highlights this when he notes that the common thread between numerous successful innovators he interviewed was play, passion and purpose.<\/i> As we begin to see more schools move away from a curricula that has over emphasized high test scores, towards one that focuses on encouraging students to find their passions, it will be critical to find educators who can model this to the students. After my interview with James Dalziel, Head of East Campus at United World College South East Asia in Singapore, it\u2019s clear that he is one of these people.\u00a0 Passionate and purposeful about his work Mr. Dalziel adds \u201cI really see work as play\u2026there\u2019s rarely a day where I wake up and don\u2019t think I can\u2019t wait to get at it.\u00a0 For the most part it\u2019s really energizing and enjoyable.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Situated on two campuses in Singapore, UWCSEA provides values-based education to nearly 5000 students from kindergarten through Grade 12 (ages 4 to 18). UWCSEA is committed to the mission of the UWC movement to make education a force to unite people, nations and cultures for peace and a sustainable future. <\/i>UWCSEA reflects the diversity of Singapore with an anticipated student population peaking at 5400 by 2015, many of whom come from very different backgrounds. Although managing a large campus poses many challenges it\u2019s obvious that with the leadership of Mr. Dalziel and his colleagues, the UWCSEA East team is focused on taking advantage of the many opportunities it sees for its students.<\/p>\n
(If not specifically quoted, Mr. Dalziel\u2019s responses to these questions have been paraphrased)<\/p>\n
When and why did you decide to step into leadership?<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201c<\/i><\/b>Honestly, I don\u2019t know if it was a conscious decision. I often say I don\u2019t think I chose leadership; it keeps choosing me in different ways. However, I would say I\u2019ve pursued it when the opportunity has comes along, so it has been a conscious decision as well. Leadership is something I enjoy, generating the ideas are a part of it and then taking those ideas…and making it happen.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
What else do you enjoy about being in leadership?<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve especially enjoyed the different roles I\u2019ve worked in, from Deputy Head of the Canadian International School in Singapore, to Middle School Principal at UWCSEA Dover, and now Head of the East Campus. I\u2019ve really enjoyed the opportunity to dive into leadership, and try to bring everything together, and also get to work on the big picture and have those mission and vision conversations, but then take it down to the enacting part as well\u2026I also really enjoy the people part.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
What specific skills have you developed as a leader?<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cBig picture thinking is something I really enjoy doing. I would also suggest that I have an unusual amount of optimism\u2026so it can also be easy for me to get lost in the big picture sometimes. So an area that I\u2019m working on is getting the details done. Bringing people together to communicate a clear vision is another strength, which for me begins with empathy because when I\u2019m able to step into their roles and think about how they see the situation it helps me understand how to communicate the message to the receiver\u2026seeing how it fits with their goals and their belief structures.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cI think another one of my strengths is to stay learning-focused\u2026and [the key is] to be specific about what that learning is and then to be able to shape that message\u2026One of the things I learned from Bill Gerritz [Former Head at IS Bangkok] is that great education is about learning and results. [We\u2019ve all heard the catchphrase in education,] \u2018It\u2019s about learning,\u2019 but Bill took it to the next level by saying \u2018and the learning we need to see are <\/i>these<\/i> results.\u2019 It sounds really simple, but it\u2019s so important because it guides and helps protect you from getting distracted and doing a lot of things that don\u2019t focus on student learning.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
How do you ensure that everything UWCSEA East does is focused on student learning?<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cFirst of all, it\u2019s about understanding what learning is. One of the most powerful things we did a few years ago is define what it is we know about learning. So we did a lot of research\u2026and we came up with our learning principles, which was an important start, because if you don\u2019t know what you know about learning you can get off in a hundred different directions. The second most important thing we did was develop a learning profile [that describes the kind of learners we want our students to be]\u2026The third part of the puzzle was to define what our learning program was, which differentiates UWCSEA from other international schools. So when someone wants to start a new program or activity at our school that doesn\u2019t support our learning goals you have to have a conversation about whether it fits. [Truthfully], it\u2019s not a hard conversation to have because as you begin discussing the school goals the person usually realizes that their idea might be more of a distraction. [The key is] to not stop there. You then ask, how can we use what you\u2019re passionate about to get us where we want to go?\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
With such a high functioning student population how do you help your students find balance?<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cI think balance is [overvalued]. If you think that anyone ever achieved anything great by living a balanced life, I think you\u2019re living a dream. There\u2019s no way that Edison said \u2018oh it\u2019s 5 o\u2019clock, I\u2019ve got to go home and have dinner with my family.\u2019 When you\u2019re passionate about something, your life is not in balance, you achieve greatness when your life is not in balance. I think you should be conscious that your life is not in balance and it\u2019s not sustainable to do that forever\u2026but if you\u2019re passionate about doing something\u2026there are late nights, times where you\u2019re not going to see your family, and you\u2019re going to miss the odd meal\u2026That\u2019s all a part of achieving great things. [But since it\u2019s not sustainable] at a certain point in time you have to\u2026recharge your batteries\u2026and this is why our school holidays are so important. We\u2019ve got students and teachers working at 100% all the time, and I want them to be doing that\u2026with the understanding that when those holidays come around you take them, change gears, spend time with your family, and restore those energy levels. I wouldn\u2019t see it as a day to day balance, but more of a long term balance.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
What about pressure from parents on students to overload with lots of activities and classes because they think it betters their child\u2019s chances at getting into a university?<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think you fight it because you can\u2019t deny peoples\u2019 cultural belief systems and the way they were raised. However, I do believe you can educate people around what the new reality is\u2026One of the groups we leverage the most when discussing this topic with our community is our alumni. We\u2019ve had incredibly successful alumni, and what our current parents want to hear is how their journey through school shaped their lives\u2026I can tell parents [how their beliefs about academics might not be accurate]\u2026but [what\u2019s much more effective is] to have an alumnus say \u2018it wasn\u2019t my math scores that got me into Harvard, it was my service\u2026and the leadership work I did\u2019\u2026When [our alumni] start sharing their stories\u2026our parents start to get a different view about what\u2019s important. The message is always that they found something they were passionate about. Then we have a conversation with parents about their child\u2019s passions.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Obviously finding great educators to facilitate the learning is key, so what are your greatest priorities when hiring new administrators?<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a firm believer [that everyone in the] building [needs to be able to] work with kids.\u00a0 That goes from people coming in at lunch time to help with violin lessons, to the Vice Principal, to a chemistry teacher, to a school secretary\u2026every adult in the building matters. They have to have that energy, passion and belief aligned with our beliefs\u2026and [what\u2019s critical] is finding those great people who are passionate about what they do and their work with kids.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cThe leadership piece is about people for me, it\u2019s carrying that passion through, having incredible optimism, a belief that aligns with what we\u2019re trying to do at UWCSEA and also, for me, a belief in people. There\u2019s not a leader at our school who doesn\u2019t like working with people\u2026you\u2019ve got to actually care enough about the other people on your team that you\u2019re going to have the conversations to bring them along. Success in what we\u2019re doing isn\u2019t just about achieving a goal; it\u2019s about building the capacity of the team along the way towards that goal too. We don\u2019t just judge success based on whether you accomplished a task on time and under budget. What matters to us is how you build the team along the way, because in the process if the team is destroyed or team doesn\u2019t trust you\u2026[regardless, of the end product] it will be a failure in our eyes.\u00a0 The power of trust is absolutely critical.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
Is UWCSEA a good place to develop as a leader?<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re becoming one\u2026we\u2019re moving away from a model where a leader has the same job [every year]\u2026[because] what we don\u2019t want is the same person to be here for 15 years and do the same job for 15 years, because instead of 15 years of experience, you end up with 1 year of experience 15 times. That doesn\u2019t get anyone closer to taking the next step up in the organization. So we\u2019ve shifted to a model where every year [leaders] have the opportunity to take on a different role. Maybe it\u2019s a finance role one year, the next year it\u2019s hiring, and then the next year you oversee professional development for staff. So that at the end of five years you\u2019ve actually had your hands in many different [areas], which helps you enhance your skill set and your understanding of the school.\u201d \u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n
What advice do you have for aspiring international administrators?<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cFind out what you\u2019re passionate about and find out what you\u2019re skill sets are\u2026what are you good at?<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cLearn, learn, learn. We have to learn from others around us, because as a leader you\u2019re going to make mistakes and learning from those experiences and the advice of others is absolutely critical.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to stay focused on learning \u2026 and you have to be conscious of what those results are. You can\u2019t have a real target that is \u2018I want to improve learning for kids\u2019 but not know what the learning is that you want to improve.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s been a lot written in education theory lately about the power of play and its ability to form students who are creative, inquisitive and thoughtful. In his book Creating Innovators, Tony Wagner highlights this when he notes that the common thread between numerous successful innovators he interviewed was play, passion and purpose. As we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16],"tags":[37,159,216,254],"class_list":["post-1196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-leadership-project","tag-balance","tag-learning-results","tag-singapore","tag-uwc"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/learnedleadership.org\/divi\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/dalziel-uwc.jpg?fit=900%2C220","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5BJbv-ji","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/learnedleadership.org\/divi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/learnedleadership.org\/divi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/learnedleadership.org\/divi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/learnedleadership.org\/divi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/learnedleadership.org\/divi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/learnedleadership.org\/divi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/learnedleadership.org\/divi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/learnedleadership.org\/divi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/learnedleadership.org\/divi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/learnedleadership.org\/divi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}