About this time of year, I am often asked to undertake a 360 degree performance review. As I look through the questions I am asked to respond to, I am easily underwhelmed by how I am going. This got me thinking (or procrastinating on my review). How would I define success? What would it look like for me? I then began to think of our teachers and students and parents and what it might mean to be successful in each of those roles. Is success measured against NAPLAN results, or Year 12 results for our older students? Is success about how many of our students take forward leaps in Literacy or social interactions or Numeracy, or maturity?  

When you go to bookshops or look on line, there are many books and articles about success. I noticed lots of them seem to concentrate on financial, or professional success. There are some about relationship and personal success, but on the whole, we seem primarily concerned with succeeding in a way that provides physical and financial security. I would like us to ponder a little more broadly about success today, as I think we have got a little hung up, as a society, on success being a particular situation, or place, or list of things that we achieve or tick off. Winston Churchill, the famous British Prime Minister from World War 2, brought this out when he was asked about success. He said, “Success is walking from failure to failure, without losing enthusiasm.” That makes me smile a little as it seems to almost be a negative play on words, but it I think he is wanting us to see that success is not a place we make it to, or a tax bracket or position, but about the experiences on the road though life.

This is something we can pass on to our children. Success in school cannot simply be measured by test results or exam marks. Success is not so much about what students know, as it is about how they develop their skills in thinking and learning. It is less about what we have done or not done, and more how we learn to go about our assigned tasks.

You might think, “He has forgotten about KPIs and meeting deadlines and achieving targets.” Actually, I haven’t. It is my opinion that if we focus meeting those markers as success, we are less likely to experience success, than if we look at our reasons for doing what we do, experience that meaning and then enjoy the motivation that comes from that meaning. Albert Einstein put it this way, “Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.”

I think Jesus was talking about something similar when he said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

Have a great week with your kids,

Mark B