Our Headmaster joins SA People for a conversation

Gershom Aitchison, guest · [07:25]And there's a powerful allegiance with the Commonwealth. It certainly created a lot of opportunities for South Africa, I believe, post-apartheid as well. You made a comment in the beginning, unless you've been on a small island somewhere, you wouldn't know about it. The reality is she probably owns the small island, or it's part of the, of the, the Commonwealth, or it is part of the empire that she slowly dismantled. I think it is sad that people take this as an opportunity, as it did when Mandela died, to throw stones and cast judgments and say things about people who are human beings after all.

Melanie Walker, host · [07:58]Yeah.

Gershom Aitchison, guest · [08:00]I think what strikes me the most is regardless of who they were as a human being and what flaws they might have, is the incredible service they gave their countries and the people. And that service comes with sacrifice, self-sacrifice. It comes at a cost. And regardless of my personal opinion of her as a person, the same as Mandela, I have immense respect for the service and the fact that she put her country and people first, sometimes through very difficult times, and I cannot fathom The conversations and the decisions they've had to make in their lifetime to be able to give that service and render it.

Melanie Walker, host · [10:14]One thing I was very impressed with your school was like literally the day after they announced the lockdown, you guys took all of your students online immediately and kept it going. Whereas so many schools in the country obviously couldn't.

Gershom Aitchison, guest · [10:24]Yeah. Well, I, I think that's the advantage of being small, and I cannot take credit for that because Jax, the executive head, and my wife, and the co-founder was instrumental in that. I remember two weeks before we're sitting in a, in a board meeting talking about this and the plan, and we were all rolling our eyes, telling her that she was overreacting. But her plan, you know, worked out, and at least she had the foresight to think that this was going to happen. And it's left us in a position where we are able to offer a hybrid solution. I've got a grade eleven who lives in the UK, I've got a grade nine who's in Durban, and a few other students, you know, who have made use of this because the, the family's moved, into Africa for three months on a contract to work, and they're able to attend school digitally, presently in class, and not miss out on any of that and not have to change and disrupt their lives as it were. So that's one of the good things that have come out of it, and it's also helped us question how we, you know, engage in the learning process.

Gershom Aitchison, guest · [11:29]It's not just that, you know, we found when we did this, and, and I feel like I'm, I'm, I'm repeating myself because I keep saying this since we've been, you know, since COVID, but there's three basic things that we found in our investigation with the kids and the families and the teachers when we were looking at designing a hybrid solution. The first is obviously the technology to do the work, both at school and at, at home, and alongside that in parallel is your technology for communication, because it doesn't matter if you can work, but if you can't communicate effectively, and that is being able to hear, participate, and see what's going on, and it's all of those elements need to be engaged. But the last one is a crucial one, and that is technological behaviors. Some people are not geared towards it. They, they know that they need to be in a space separate from, you know, the place where they relax and socialize and things like that. So there are some people who are, and even in some cases, students who are very good At doing it online, because they have the technological behaviors and disciplines in place that they don't get distracted and watch YouTube, et cetera. But there's some others who are going, no, I can't, I don't want to fight that battle. I'd rather do it at school. They enjoy that interaction with the, with the teachers. They enjoy the interaction with their peers. Just walking between the campus, which is different, and it's relaxing, is a lot better for them than sitting at home. You know, the, the grade eleven, when he went off to the UK, went through six weeks of training and getting used to this, being at home, coming in, and even our grade nine, who's in Durban, whenever he gets an opportunity, he'll pop onto campus and see his friends, and when they're down there, they'll see him. It's not just about the social interaction. It's something about how we kind of feed off each other in a, in a, in an osmotic kind of way when it comes to knowledge and bouncing ideas off that sometimes gets lost online as well.

Gershom Aitchison, guest · [23:43]no, we could not. However, there's a lot more sports out there that are not just team related. So we, we attract a lot of students who, perform very well in sports, but they're not team sports. And what attracts them particularly to Edu Inc is that they don't have the compulsory hockey or netball or rugby that they have to attend. They can actually focus on their sports. And we have very, very good representation, at provincial as well as national level for quite a lot of sports. So...

Melanie Walker, host · [24:10]Like what?

Gershom Aitchison, guest · [24:11]Well, one of our first elite sports kids was Kaylee Telfer, and she was South Africa's number one female golfer. this year she decided, she went, she got a full, scholarship to go overseas and study in, in, in America. she got her university degree and has gone pro this year.

Melanie Walker, host · [24:27]Oh, fantastic.

Gershom Aitchison, guest · [24:28]So Edu Inc, one of Edu Inc's alumni is now a pro golfer. We've had kids diving on, on the, the provincial and national stage, rock climbing on the provincial stage. Currently I've got a grade seven and a grade eight boy who hold the national record, SA national record and two golds for archery in their, their division that they shoot. I've given a child honors for paintball, representing South Africa in Belgium for paintball. No, are you serious?

Melanie Walker, host · [24:52]Paintball?

Gershom Aitchison, guest · [24:53]Our honors board says paintball. Jax cringes every time she sees it, but he did it.

Melanie Walker, host · [24:57]That's amazing. It

Gershom Aitchison, guest · [24:58]is absolutely amazing. performing arts as well, we've got some really good dancers, and singers in the past. I think one of my grade ten girls at the moment Came fourth in the world for tap dancing last year

Gershom Aitchison, guest · [32:24]It happens in fits and starts, yes. So the interesting thing is, is The hidden curriculum here is grit and patience because carrots don't instantly grow. They have various vegetable patches at various times, and it's interesting watching them learn what grows in sun and what grows in shade and things like that. But every now and again, there's a crop of vegetables or tomatoes, you know, carrots or tomatoes or some spindly lettuce that ends up on a plate on my desk. So we've grown this, you're more than welcome to take it home and add it to your salad. it's not just the, the growing and getting the, you know, into the dirt and things like that. It's also learning to use a screwdriver and a hammer and knowing how to use that properly and what hammer is used for what. So, you know, in our technology and things like that, we make a space for the kids to do it, and the kids really love it, boys and girls getting involved and actually learning how to do that. You know, the, the LO teacher for grade four, five, and six is making sure they're all learning how to change a car tire and, you know, where to put the water. Yeah, but, Very much that experiential learning is, is very much part of it, and we're very lucky to have the flexibility as a private school to incorporate that, on women, of the students if they're interested in things like that.

Gershom Aitchison, guest · [38:10]I haven't seen the story, but it's certainly conversations that, that are happening in our space as well. And the conversation that we're having is I feel, and I'm, I'm putting myself on the, you're putting me on the spot here, and at, at the risk of, you know, some bash, backlash, I think that when we choose to call somebody by a pronoun, by a different name, we do it because we do it out of respect to them. Generally, when you don't know somebody, you, what you see is what you get, and you basically call them a him or a her. until you get to know them and establish a connection, and then once you establish that connection, it's a lot easier to say, oh, right, you identify as something else, that's fine, I can, you know, I respect you and I respect the space you're in, and then we do so. The issue that I have is the expectation that as a stranger that I need to conform to your reality is a little bit of a challenge to me, and yeah, I like to live my life based on relationships and connections with people, and I'm quite happy to To honor them and respect them as, you know, how they would like to be.