The succession of a school’s leader is one of the school’s greatest challenges, according to Prof. Andy Hargreaves.

Prof. Hargreaves was the keynote speaker at a seminar entitled “Educational Conference – Tradition, Growth, Innovation.”

Prof. Hargreaves is the Thomas More Brennan chair of education in the Lynch School of Education at Boston College. The seminar was organised by Chiswick House School as part of the activities to commemorate its 100th anniversary

“The leaving of leadership is a rehearsal for leaving life and therefore is a subject no one wants to talk about,” he added.

However, people do not live forever and often remain past their prime.

The key to success is not to bequeath the leadership to one individual in particular but to create a strong team of experts who will develop ideas while supporting each other.

“Leadership succession is not about one person but about a set of qualities which need to be passed on,” he said.

Raising a successor is not about cloning either.

“Many schools try to create a replica of their leaders. However, you have to share similar values and realise these in ways appropriate for the next generation,” said Prof. Hargreaves.

Through this system, students will be able to cope with living in a knowledge society.

“Ideally, all organisations and people in a knowledge society are able to work and learn together to find solutions to new problems and constantly create new job opportunities,” he said.

At the moment, people in their 30s feel useless because all their experience is lost.

“Flexibility and adaptability are not everything as we will not value things that were learnt before.

In a knowledge society, usefulness is what you can become and not what you have been,” said Prof. Hargreaves.

One of the school’s most difficult challenges is to keep up with changes while maintaining a strong basis in tradition.

He pointed out that schools with the highest success rate are those with the best-kept and organised archives.

“These schools have a clear vision of where they want to go in the future while keeping in mind their past,” he said.

“They wanted to move forward but remember where they came from.”

However, this is not an easy task.

Many schools base their motto on this concept but never actually manage to achieve it, added Prof. Hargreaves.

The past is as asset – it is the basis to move on to a better future for both the school and the individuals, he said.

“Traditional knowledge is the foundation for moving forward. Otherwise teachers will focus on a time which no longer exists, leading to nostalgia,” Prof. Hargreaves concluded.