Example is the best teacher

Principal

I asked a few Year 12 girls I came upon late one afternoon this week, ‘What would you have me say at Assembly tomorrow?’

The first suggestion was, what did you do in your holidays? A ‘Life Update’ from Ms Euler, but with some ‘life lessons’ woven through, they said. The second piece of advice was to talk about something that relates to simply getting through the day, perhaps one that had a bad start, and how small actions can have a big impact on those around you, those with whom you share your day.

I asked—how about some grand historical story or profound wisdom, something sweeping?

No, I was counselled—sometimes simple speeches are more impactful, more relatable.

So, I delivered a (brief) Life Update, some life lessons and simple speech.

And to Jasmin’s suggestion that I focus on the small actions …

'Heroic deeds, great achievements and a pioneering drive is so important to the progress of our lives, our society—and is celebrated in the ideals and history of our School.

But just as important is how we live our lives and those small actions that make such a powerful difference to all those whom we meet. Alfred Lord Tennyson said we are a part of all who we meet. Each of you, every day, has a powerful impact on the lives of one another, the shaping of our culture and how we experience our days.

At Girls Grammar, we teach you such a lot about mastering knowledge and skills in the most incredible range of activities, we prepare you so carefully for your studies, your exams and your future, educate you about taking care of yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually.

But perhaps what we might all think about most closely this Term is how we are cultivating, through reading, reflection and our daily actions, what it is to be a good person—kind and strong. Reminding ourselves that ‘example is the best teacher’, as the writer David Brooks has said. We ‘communicate certain standards by holding up exemplars’ and ‘moral improvement’ (essentially, learning to be a better person) he says, ‘occurs most reliably when the heart is warmed, when we come in to contact with people we admire and love, and we consciously and unconsciously bend our lives to mimic theirs.’

I hope this Term each of our students think of themselves as an ‘exemplar’; a person whose behaviour—honest, good and true—inspires someone else who may, consciously or unconsciously, bend their lives, their actions to mimic theirs.