Head of School's Blogs

Same Same But Different

by William H. GERRITZ 12 October, 2010

I have to two divergent but related stories to tell. I leave it to you to make the connection after reading them.

The first involves the third major idea in ISB’s Mission --  caring, global citizenship.  We have many structures and processes to achieve this goal but still have much to accomplish.  Many, many of our students are involved in service projects as part of learning to be global citizens. Two weeks ago, a 12^th grader stopped by my office. He explained to me that every day last summer from June 10^th until  mid July, he practiced piano up to seven hours a day. He wanted to be as good as he could be because for 7 consecutive days in July, he played piano in the lobby of the Samitivej  Hospital.  Why, I asked him.  He said because I wanted to collect donations for Project Smile.  So here is a young man, who on his own gave up more than half his summer to help others.  Nobody asked him to do this. He just thought it was the right thing to do. By the way, he raised 233,000 baht for Project Smile.

The second story involves the 95% rule.  After the capabilities and motivation of students, it is teachers’  hearts, minds and commitment that determine how much learning takes place. It is teacher quality, not class size, IT,  facilities, or instructional materials that determines how good a school is. Each year we hire 20 to 25 new teachers at ISB. Since the admin team believes in the 95% rule, we work hard to select the best of the best to bring to ISB.

Somewhat over 2,000 teachers apply each year to work at ISB.  We think so many apply because ISB has a pretty good reputation among the international school community and because Thailand is such a wonderful country to live in. Andy Davies, Deputy Head for Learning, guides the recruiting process but all the principals spend countless hours in reading applications, winnowing down to the few who merit further contact.  If candidates pass the paper screening, we next telephone at least two references, usually supervisors who are currently working with the candidates. If this feedback is positive, we then interview the candidates either on Skype, at ISB or at one of the 6 job fairs we attend around the world.  Before we make hiring decision, we have to have unanimous agreement among at least two and often three administrators. 

The process consumes a great deal of time and effort but I think the results speak for themselves. Now, can you see the connection between the two stories?  

Comment on this post

Comment 1: Stephanie Winnard

I think both stories embody the concept of altruism in that just as the 12th grader was motivated to act selflessly by his desire to help those in need, the educators in the second story are motivated to make the world a better place through education.

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