The Learning Curve

‘Please be upstanding...’ 

The phrase in the title of this piece is often uttered during weddings before a bride and her groom are announced to a room of family and friends. For the past fortnight in the Secondary School, however, we have referred to being upstanding as having all of the hallmark characteristics of being an upstander. In other words, being the person who speaks or acts in support of an individual, cause, or set of values. 

Opportunities for students at Mougins British International School to show their commitment to being an upstander abound. As I am typing this, our Sixth Form Prefect Leadership Team are running through the seven or eighth tour with our youngest pupils of ‘Santa’s Grotto’ in a remarkably reimagined Sixth Form Common Room. The delight of all involved, including our teachers and older students, to see what kinship and community bonds can be forged through collaboration and teamwork is utterly invigorating. 

Elsewhere this week, during our Secondary Assembly, a student award was presented to a Year 9 boy whose indefatigable enthusiasm for a challenging and highly skilled THRIVE programme has caught the attention of all who have worked with him. It struck me that the students who nominated this boy were as excited to give the award as the young man was to receive it. What greater example of a virtuous circle could we wish for? 

The impact of such values resonate for a long time in the memories of our community. And what’s more, the positivity such awareness brings reverberates much further. It helps students to achieve agency, an active and vital understanding of their own ability to shape their own lives and the lives of those around them. A recent study into young adult behaviour in this area makes it clear that, ‘To increase personal responsibility, students must begin to see themselves as responsible citizens who are not afraid to stand out from the crowd’ (Hart Barnett, 2021).

As a school with a wonderfully diverse community, there are inevitably times in which such values are tested. Individuals, particularly adolescents, can make mistakes, but they should not make the same mistakes repeatedly. If they do so, our key value of ‘learning’ has clearly not been taken to heart. Our values matter greatly in this way. Respect, Community, Integrity, and Learning, can not simply be words on a motivational poster or in marketing materials. We must live our lives with one another in a way that embodies dignity for all, awareness of the benefits of inclusivity, and seek to be able to provide a positive answer to the daily question: In what ways did I improve the experience of life for those around me today? 

The students, parents, and staff at school here consistently inspire me in their commitment to improving the life of those around them. We are so deeply fortunate to have each other’s empathy, encouragement, and understanding. These are the very foundations of upstander behaviour, and I look forward to seeing, praising, and amplifying such traits over the coming terms this year.