Hugh Reilly: School skippers have a tough role – but most kids are a joy

Published on Tuesday 10 November 2009 20:58

THE crew aboard HMS Bounty had it easy. For the matelots, life on the ocean wave had its origin in leaving the pub after a heavy drinking session and being headhunted by the Royal Navy's human resources department, ie: the press gang.

Contemporary bleedin'-heart liberals highlighted the alleged harshness of a sailor's life: back-to-back meetings with the cat o' nine tails, witnessing the occasional keelhauling of a cheeky colleague and appalling lack of grief counsellors for those handed the emotional task of tipping a scurvy-ridden corpse into the sea. Other than that, it was a care-free existence, so spare a thought for poor old Captain Bligh. He was the one charged with the awesome responsibility of bringing the breadfruit home to Blighty. Little wonder, then, that when relieved of his command, he happily cast away his worries and set out on a 3,500-mile dinghy trip.

Headteachers who endeavour to run a tight ship also have it tough, according to research commissioned by the Scottish Government. If one believes the findings of Recruitment and Retention of Headteachers in Scotland, the next career move for our rectors is a padded room in the Priory Clinic. Apparently, heads are stressed out over possible litigation, public grading of their school and their limited power on the appointing and dismissing of staff.

High anxiety is given as reason for a lack of high quality candidates applying to be a headteacher. It would be a tad unhelpful of me to float the notion that a dearth of suitable applicants indicates poor selection procedures for the appointing of deputy heads, the pool from which aspiring headmasters are plucked.

In my experience, school heads fall into two categories. Firstly, there is the African dictator, the "Big Daddy" who makes it abundantly clear he is running the show. Strictly adhering to the principles of his favourite man-management manual – Dissent and How To Deal With It by Pol Pot – he struggles to go through the motions of seeking and ostensibly valuing the advice of his minions. Sham committees are established and filled with stooges who obsequiously do their master's bidding. In my role as a union rep, a Mussolini-style headteacher icily remarked to me: "Never confuse consultation with control."

Secondly, there is the collegiate type who sincerely wishes to involve staff in key decisions. Delegating responsibility empowers classroom teachers and raises morale. An openness to constructive criticism helps foster an ethos of mutual respect and a feeling everyone is pulling in the same direction. It is only anecdotal, but I've found female heads are more at ease with this model.

Unfortunately, collegiality often collapses in the face of outside pressures from the likes of directorates or disgruntled parents. The headteacher retreats to his/her bunker, the downfall complete when he/she distrusts the abilities of those around them. Paranoia sets in and, before long, the headmaster is counting the strawberries and blaming everyone else for the poor discipline, low levels of attainment and a high truancy rate. Having "lost the dressing room", the school manager is swept away with an early retirement package and replaced by a new broom.

As a classroom teacher, it's hard to feel pity for someone whose pension is greater than your annual salary, but I admit to having a modicum of sympathy for our stressed-out heads. The majority of their time is spent doling out a variety of pointless punishments to the miscreants and yobs who strive to disrupt teaching and learning.

I, on the other hand, interface daily with youngsters who, for the most part, are a credit to their parents. Classroom banter is my drug of choice and a daily fix perks up my day. Even in the worst of schools – and I've served my time in some of them – most kids are a joy to teach. If school skippers don't like their posts, they should jump ship.