Page 7 - Mini-Module 1

There are many examples in the literature of major private sector
corporations that have failed because they did not see the impor-
tance of being seagulls but persisted in viewing leaders as pyramid
builders.

How can Beginning Principals avoid becoming ‘pyramid builders’?

Prof. Headley Beare (2002) has suggested that on Monday (yes the
day after the weekend) that principals:

1. Make explicit to themselves the life journey of each student
cohort in the school.
At the very least, do it for the youngest and the oldest cohorts – and be
prepared for surprises. For example, the P1s of 2001 will enter
secondary school in 2007 or 2008; they will all be expected to
complete S6, every one of them, which they should do in about 2012.
This group will then begin their post-secondary education in 2013, at
the age of about 17. On present expectations, and given the knowledge
society they will work in, they could take up their careers in 2017, at
about the age of 21 or 22. They will be 30 when the critical Year 2025
arrives. This will be the year when the world’s population will top seven
billion; it is expected that by then Indians will outnumber Chinese
globally, and only about a tenth of the world’s population will be white.
Predictions have been made that Mandarin will be the world’s
dominant language. Approximately when are these students are likely
to marry, to experience ‘promotion’, to hit a mid-life crisis, and when
will their own children be teenagers? You can assume most of them will
live to be over 90. Acquire the habit of acting and thinking like a
practical futurist, at least while you are at school, and from 9 a.m. on
Monday.

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