NZPF hosted a cracker conference in September. If you didn’t get to Christchurch for the conference, there is a full report in this issue of NZ Principal (p.22–30). It was a future looking conference, designed to help us imagine how our education system might look beyond Covid. Keynote speakers embraced the theme enthusiastically. What was particularly telling was the way each, in turn, involved learning from the past when looking to the future.
Dr Cheryl Doig took the view that we should look, not so much at the negative impacts of Covid, but at what Covid has enabled for education. She saw the past, present, and future as one thing and illustrated this well with a whakatauki: Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on my past.
Dr Farah Palmer similarly was respectful of the women who had toiled so hard to give women’s rugby the status it deserved, so it could become the sporting force it is today. She also acknowledged the trail-blazers and past mentors who have inspired women in their rugby and ultimately shaped their future.
Te Kahu Rolleston said he didn’t have an avenue to express himself back in his school days, but drew on knowledge of his ancestry saying, ‘My ancestors used metaphor to remember things and Bob Marley put important information into a song.’ He realised that by looking back to those who had gone before him, he could find a way forward for himself. This knowledge, he said, allowed him to benefit from his schooling, and helped inspire his oral poetry and rap career.
Scott Robinson also emphasised the importance of the past for future (rugby) performance. He said, stories matter. They help us remember the past and learn, so we don’t repeat mistakes. The past also inspires and motivates us. We listen to past role models who have shown integrity, grit, determination, and commitment. In the Crusaders team, he said, there has been a succession of great players and every one of them belongs to us. To play for the Crusaders means you are part of a long line of great players. If we ignore the past, we have nothing to draw on to build the future.
In October, a public debate arose on the failure of Creative NZ (CNZ) to continue funding the Shakespeare Globe Centre NZ (SGCNZ). Tens of thousands of secondary school students in New Zealand have participated in Shakespearean productions through the SGCNZ for over twenty years.Arguments emerging from CNZ to support their decision, included that Shakespeare is ‘located within a canon of imperialism.’ Further questions were raised by others including that Shakespeare can’t possibly still be relevant to young people after 400 years and young people cannot understand Shakespearean language so therefore won’t engage.
Many would not accept these arguments and a robust public debate ensued, which had everything to do with the importance of learning from the past. Arguments included that Shakespeare’s themes and stories are timeless and have continued to be relevant, four centuries after his death; it is important to study Shakespeare in order to understand the modern world, indeed to understand people; it shows what has come before and helps us understand how our society has been built, and yes, it also helps us better understand colonialism/imperialism/take-overs and just how dangerous and threatening powerful despots can be.
You don’t have to search far to find a line from Shakespeare that describes life today. Take this one from Henry IV Part 2:
Upon my tongues continual slanders ride, the which in every language I pronounce, stuffing the ears of men with false reports.
This could well be a description of the former US President Donald Trump, or the current Russian President Putin. It is exactly relevant to debates about ‘fake news’ and the dangers of the ‘dark web’ which propagates falsehoods on many issues. Microbiologist Siouxsie Wiles has recently warned of ‘The Disinformation Dozen’ and why internet platforms must act on twelve leading online anti-vaxxers.
A contemporary of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, once wrote ‘Shakespeare’s work was not of an age but for all time.’ We still use phrases like ‘That’s seen better days’, a direct Shakespearean quote from As you like it, or ‘You have to be cruel to be kind’ from Hamlet or ‘What’s done is done’, Macbeth, and ‘All that glitters is not gold’ from The Merchant of Venice.
We now wait to see how schools will tackle their future challenges. A quick sprint back to Shakespeare’s plays might just be useful. Afterall, it is said characters in A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin are loosely based on Lady Macbeth (Cersei Lannister), Falstaff (King Robert Baratheon) and Iago (Littlefinger). If schools can draw on the great bard and stimulate student imagination like George R.R. Martin did, then we will certainly have an exciting future for education.