Transferring “successful models” within and/outside a system

More than a few years ago, at the height of the development of the so-called “Asian Tigers” (Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan), their models of development were the envy of the developing world and evidence held up by the World Bank and others of like ilk of the success of neoliberal policies. A number of commentators in some developing countries wondered aloud why their countries could not or would not imitate these countries’ strategies for success. The economic success of these “Asian Tigers” is still a source of wonder among many developing countries.

Today, the education systems of Finland and South Korea, among a few others, have been given kudos for their high performance. Countries in the developed and developing worlds are queuing to get the “formula” so as to replicate the success of these countries’ educational systems.

Locally, Ardenne High school has topped the region in the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE) in 2013. The Minister of Education is already thinking about applying the “Ardenne model” to other schools. No doubt, the idea is that the other schools which have not performed up to Ardenne’s standard, if they are made privy to “Ardenne’s model” will reap similar success.

Countries, institutions and individuals keen on trying to replicate the success of others need to delve deeply into history. They need to closely examine the history of the country, institution or individual that they want to pattern. But, they also, need to closely examine the history of their country, their institutions and their personal history as a basis for their understanding of the nuances of the success they want to emulate.

There is a saying that our past provides a guide to our future. This statement has become clichéd. But even as it has been used and used again and again, its meaning does not resonate with us. To understand our educational present or any other present, for that matter, we need to be able to know about the past. And to know our educational past, we either will have to rely on oral tradition or we are going to read about it. After all, another cliché is that reading maketh a man [or woman]. The trouble I find with us is that we do not read carefully. Before we read, we must have an idea of what we want to find. Here reading is equated with research. Our policy makers keep on tripping over themselves because either they do not understand what they read or they do not read at all.

The success of the “Asian Tigers” may be attributed to a myriad of factors – economic and social policy being chief, but also to cultural values which diverge sharply, in many respects, from the cultural values of many countries within and outside of Asia.

The success of Finland, for example, in achieving large pockets of excellence from its education system is the well-thought out cohesive education policy which provides education from the cradle to the grave to its citizens. The country also provides all the necessary economic, social and technical support which the system needs to achieve the goals set for it. This success did not come over night. It took decades of careful planning, implementation and monitoring of its education policies to achieve its enviable success.

Locally, to what does Ardenne owe its success? Is it to its strong leadership? Is it to its excellent teachers? Is it to its excellent students? Is it to the culture of the school? Or, does it have to do with the action of the Ministry of Education? A combination of all these factors may be credited with its success.

A number of years ago, Ardenne was like any other average performing high school. Its students were average performers. But, with the help of the strong leadership provided by its principals and vice principals from the foundation of the school, as well as its committed teachers, the school consistently produced students who, on average, performed well. But, it was not the school of choice that it is today.

Just over ten years ago, the Ministry of Education decided to do some social engineering by steadily increasing the numbers of high performing students it sent to the school. Today, Ardenne is one of the premier high schools of choice in the country. So, what is the formula for Ardenne’s academic success? It can be seen as social engineering by the Ministry of Education, highly intelligent students, committed teachers, cultural values based on its religious ethos and leadership that is committed to the values of the organisation.

For this “model” to successfully be transferred, all the secondary schools must possess the same elements starting with highly intelligent students and committed teachers. These two elements, I think, are critical to a school achieving excellence as Ardenne has done. Other schools with less able students but with the other elements can achieve good success. We need to, however, recognise that academic success will vary across schools according to the variation in these elements.

Applying a random formula which has worked for one country, one organisation or one individual to one’s endeavours will not necessarily achieve the same results. It depends on the foundation that has been put in place over time by the country, the organisation or the individual. Having laid the foundation for success, we must continue to build on it.

So, before we start applying “models of success” to any of our endeavours, let us do some reading, some research in order to truly understand the making of that country, that institution, that individual. If we see points of convergence between their histories and ours, we may cautiously proceed with our attempts at replication of those points. If we see more points of divergence than convergence, we probably need to devise our own models which are more suited to our situations than the ones we are trying to replicate.