Scotch College

A major contribution from Rollo Browne

The issue of 'boys and education' is a current one, and attracts many voices and opinions.

At Scotch we have the privilege of being part of one of the finest boys' schools in the country, with many positive achievements and developments to be thoroughly proud of. Most interactions within the school are friendly, positive and affirming.

However, one cannot be involved in a large 'all boys' school without coming face to face with herd behaviour, 'put-downs', pushing and shoving and occasional more unpleasant incidents from time to time.

Because of the importance of these concerns, it was felt that the time was ripe for Scotch to have a good look at its current structures and practices, to see if we could do better in reducing these negative behaviours, and developing stronger patterns of positive attitudes and behaviours.

So this year we invited Rollo Browne to be our first Australian Foundation Fellow.

Rollo has a strong background as an independent consultant on 'boys' education', and is in constant demand throughout Australasia as a speaker, writer and consultant. He is the co-editor, with Richard Fletcher, of the 'Boys in Schools' bulletin, and the book of the same title.

Rollo has been with us for five rather packed visits over the course of the year, during which he has addressed staff, parents and public meetings, spoken with staff, council and boys, and just been around the school as we have gone about our daily activities.

He quickly established himself as a good listener and as a perceptive questioner and observer, and by the time of his second and subsequent visits it was difficult to fit in all the requests from people who wanted to talk with him, or wanted him to talk with their class, tutor group or team.

What have we gained from his insights and his interaction with us, and how can we do our job of helping raise 'fine young men' better? His observations have been detailed and thoughtful, and any attempt to summarise them in a few words will not be fully accurate. However, here are some initial impressions of how we may need to develop our policies and practices.

Firstly, we know we have to do a better job of being pro-active, and finding ways to prevent the occurrence of the negative behaviours referred to earlier. To do this we will need to focus on developing in our boys a better range of effective 'pro-social' skills - such as the ability to be properly assertive rather than aggressive and the ability to communicate their feelings and attitudes in words rather than just actions. Many of our boys have developed these through their experiences inside and outside the school, but we need to ensure that all boys do, and that such things become a recognised part of the school culture.

Secondly, we need to pay more attention to the needs of the disengaged and less visible boys. Thirdly, we need to provide greater opportunities for more boys to develop leadership and mentoring skills, of guiding and caring for younger boys.

And finally, we need to be continuously monitoring our progress in each of these areas, so that we know the progress which we are, or are not making.

We are thankful to Rollo for his time with us, and we feel confident that his contribution will enable us to build a stronger and better school.

Dr Syd Boydell