Figure 1.--.
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Figure 1.--. |
The heart and soul of any prep school are of course the people involved. The operation of any prep school centers around the headmaster. This is much more
so than the primcipal of a state school in that he is less encumbered by beaureacratic regulations that principals at state school. Of course this can work for better or first worse depending on the character and abilities of the headmaster. Over the long run, because unsuccessful private schools disappear (unlike unsuccessful state schools), it generally works for the best. The heamaster has to be a multi-talented individual. One normally thinks about his academic role, but the headmaster also essentially runs a small business. But the job does not extend there but can entail mamaging disease outbreaks to as well as addressing pluming problems. The smaller the school the more multiple tasks the headmaster has to address.
Headmasters are one of those high-profile jobs which have decided stereotypes. Most view headmaster as conservative, usually behind the times, stodgy, and invariably. correct. The popular image of headmasters varies from the idealistic heads portrayed in Good Bye Mr. Chips and To Serve Them All My Days to sadistic ones often portrayed in books like Dahl’s Boy! and ??? Saved by Joy.
We met headmasters as varied as one could imagine. We met a few sanctimonious individuals. One head didn't like Americans. In talking to him I found he didn't know any Americans and have never been to America. Seems he thought that he knew a lot about Ameica by watching Americam TV and movies. We met high enegy and low-key individuals. Mild mannered academics and D-Day veterans. Many were unpretentious, charsming individuals, anxious to tell us about their school. Many of the younger headmasters have academic degrees and career experiences that have from the offset been oriented toward education and teaching. Many taught after university and after serving as housemasters and senior masters at other schools have finally been appointed as headmasters. Some of the older headmasters have a more varied career experience. As a group, however, they are a very impressive group of people with a wealth of varied experiences, including the military (from the intelligence corps to combat units). Some headmasters owned the school. Most were appointed by the governing board. Some have been a recruited from senior teachers at other schools.
Academic quaifications vary. Some have masters degrees in liberal arts. Others have divinity degrees. An important element in selection are the individuals academic qualifications, but academic qualifications are probably one of the least critical elements in a headmasters success. Normally a married man with children is selected, providing an indication that they are within the mainstream in values and mores.
The headmaster is a modern preparatory school, especially a boarding school, has to wear many hats. Most parents see him as largely concerned with academics and custodial care. Many other maters, however, require a headmaster’s attention. The schools are businesses and can not continue to function unless they generate adequate income. As a result the headmasters, mostly with academic or clerical backgrounds have had to become astute businessmen. Few schools now have annual budgets under a million dollars. A great deal of the headmasters time at the larger schools may be adsorbed with the business operations of the school, including the vital need to recruit new students. Many other diverse non-academic matters must be dealt with such as the need to wax the front hall, new insurance required on the gym equipment, or the planting of new Rhododendrons. Many headmasters give special attention to the sports program.
Most parents will base their choice of a school largely on the basis of an interview with the headmaster and a brief tour of the school facilities. As a result, the impression they form of the school will be largely determined by the headmaster and a tour of the facilities.We met of a wide range of individuals as we visited the different schools.
Some of the headmasters were crusty masters from the old school resisting tooth and nail any change at their traditionally run schools. Many of these were especially devoted to the games program. Other were younger individuals more imbued with modern culture. One headmaster announced on Prize Day that the Board had decided to create a joint Headmastership to promote an individual who had worked doggedly for the school for many years assisting the current Head. In explaining the promotion the Head explained, “How, after all, would Starsky manage without Hutch’ I couldn’t help, but wonder at the degree to which American popular culture had penetrated the British psyche for such a statement to be made at a prep school. More and more as we visited different schools. We found an increasing number of headmasters who were deliberately directing their schools into the 21st Century, open to new innovations in education and helping to develop the comfortable family-like atmosphere that is now found at successful modern schools. We should stress that this is not just a matter of age. Some of the most impressive headmasters were individuals, often nearing retirement with impressive records behind them. These individuals had succeeded in keeping all that was best with the prep-school tradition and melding it with the many beneficial changes increasingly prevalent at modern schools.
The headmaster to a very large extent sets the tone for the school. Numerous successful schools have either declined or disappeared after only a few years under a weak headmaster. Likewise many declining schools have been turned in only a few years into thriving institutions. In our experience, there is a wide variety of individuals serving as headmasters, spanning age, ability, and personality ranges. In general we have been most impressed by the individuals we have met. More are energetic, interesting individuals, excited about education and the challenges that they face. We have greatly appreciated their insightful comments on our project over a glass of sherry or leisurely dinner after the boys have been put to bed. Few callings demand more in commitment and time than the headship of a modern preparatory school.
The appraoch a headmaster sets takes can vary greatly. Some headmasters take almost an autocratic approach to running their school. One management analyst, for example, wrote of theheadmaster at Hill House, “In notes to parents in which he refers to school discipline, the headmaster is abrupt almost to the point of rudeness. Those who don’t like his style have his unqualified blessings in finding other schools for their sons.” The Hill House headmaster himself explains, “I run my school my way. I intend to go on doing so until I’m 99, when the lease on this place runs out. The boys know it and even when they change classes quietly pass his office door which is always open when he is in. Individuals are not always easy to categorize. The same headmaster who runs Hill House. with a firm hand, also says “You have to deal with matters concerning the boys personally. It is not beneath my dignity to do anything with my boys. Why should I be a great superior being?” At one school in Dorset the headmaster was an extremely remote, Olympian figure that the children rarely saw or and were not encouraged to have any contact with. He saw his job as basically a CEO or business manager. None of the children would even think of going to him with a personal problem. Some headmasters take a decidedly different approach. The Elms in Worcester tells parents that the headmaster and his wife “live in and are fully involved and accessible at all times.” At Moor Park in Shropshire the headmaster regularly plays classical music every evening and the children that wish to come in and listen. At one informally run school in Kent the headmaster’s office was almost a crossroads of the school which the older children were encouraged to use virtually throughout the day. He had developed an extremely close relationship with the children who did not hesitate to come to him with their difficult-and some not so difficult-problems. The headmaster at most schools pursue their jobs somewhere between these extremes. The headmaster at most schools he has considerable contact with the children. It is not unusual for most headmasters to meet with 20 or so children each day in his study as well as a variety of other contacts around the school. Often the contact is largely focused on the older children. As most schools generally range from 100-200 prep-age children this means that, except at the larger schools, the headmaster will have weekly contact with most children.
Most headmasters have developed roles fitting their personalities and needs of the children lying some where between the various extremes. Most have developed their own methods of ensuring personal contact with the children. One headmaster in Somerset regularly watches selected television documentaries with senior boys in an effort to stimulate discussion of national and international issues. Not only does this afford the opportunity to get to know the children, but to ensure that they develop tolerance and maturity in expressing their opinions before they move on to their public school.
Headmasters bring a variety of different skills and interests to their job. Some allow the demands of the school as a small business to dominate their role at the school. Some are highly competent academicians. A few of the older headmasters are skilled classicists. Many insist on scheduling at least part of the week in the classroom to ensure that they have constant direct contact with the children. Often they may take an honors class with the older children. Many are very competent sportsmen who may have gained some success at their public school and university. Several are churchmen, especially in the schools affiliated with the Anglican or Roman Catcholicchurches. The head at Abberley Hall in Bucks goes over each boys’ monthly report with him before sending it to his parents. Many take a particular interest in their role as a counselor and have taken great care to design a program that will help build character.
Interestingly almost all of the headmasters we met were men. This was understandable of course when the most of the schools were boys’ schools with predominately male staffs. Today, however, an increasing number of schools have shifted toward coeducation. An increasing number of women teachers can be found at the schools, although they generally teach the younger children are specialized classes such as art and foreign language. Not one of the coed schools we visited with full programs, however, had a headmistress. (A few schools with programs that did not take the boys completely to the public school entrance point at 13 1/2 did have headmistresses. One school, Newlands House, had both a headmaster and a headmistress.) It is not immediately clear why all of the schools are headed by men. Many of the headmasters have been in their positions for many years. Often they are drawn from experienced teachers and gamesmen who have taught the older boys. In most cases this would mean men teachers. The “old boys’ network” through which many heads are recruited still favors the selection of men. Apparently the trustees at many schools, mostly men, appear the have doubts about whether women are “tough” enough to make hard business decisions and difficult decisions concerning hiring and firing. Many British parents appear to feel most comfortable with a headmaster, apparently believing that the running of a boys’ school or coed school can best be done by a man. Many may believe that children by the time they reach 12 or 13 require the supervision of a male headmaster and teachers. Despite women’s liberation and coeducation, male authority is still a deeply entrenched principle at many schools. One severe difficulty a woman headmistress would have is that she would probably not receive the same level of support from her husband that most headmasters receive from their wives. (See “Headmasters’ Wives”.)
