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Academic excellence is not an end in itself. As Mark Tannock, Principal of St Aloysius’ College in Sydney explains, it is just one component of an overall mission to seek excellence in all dimensions of our humanity.
He writes: “It is by doing this that we are seeking the Magis and seeking those greater things we are born for. At St Aloysius’ College, the pursuit of academic excellence within its overall strategy of Human Excellence has involved a range of different reforms over recent years. While the ranking achieved by the Class of 2023 was the subject of most comments both inside and outside our community, this was only possible because of the improved engagement and deeper learning that these young men engaged in throughout their time at the College.
“We have pursued reforms over time that have targeted the suite of variables that impact a student’s engagement, learning and achievement.
“These have included our classrooms and other learning environments; our use of time as a tool for learning in the Senior School; the use of information and communication technology both in the classroom and the use of Canvas, our Learning Management System; changes to the Academic Reports we give to parents to ensure that each boy’s primary educator has relevant information to support his learning; and changes to our curriculum as we adjust to the changing world with different offerings to students. The most impactful of these has been in the area of STEM.
“However, above all else, the lifting of academic standards at the College in recent years has been a result of three different variables: firstly, the centrality of leadership; secondly, our students and finally, our teachers. I have written many times that “boys learn the teacher”. We hold that it is the quality of the teacher next to each student who has the greatest impact upon his engagement, learning and achievement. We are blessed with many fine teachers across our three campuses and the best teachers are those who love their subject; are able to develop authentic, respectful relationships with their students; and who possess the capacity of being a reflective practitioner in that they continually reflect upon their practice in order to improve it.”
Read the whole story here: Learning to inspire.
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