_Giles Pruett_ An Educational Leader

1. Giles Pruett: An Educational Leader

2. Arcadia School, Dubai was founded by its inspirational Chairman Mohan Valrani. After chairing the Board of Governors at the Indian High School in Dubai, the only Indian curriculum school to gain an ‘outstanding’ government rating, and after 40 years of business management in Dubai, Mohan came up with the Arcadia vision to ‘nurture lifelong learning’ within a school context and they haven’t looked back from that point. Arcadia is more than just a school, it is an educational experience that brings learning to life, challenges the thinking, and shapes creative and confident students into lifelong learners.

3. Evolving as an Educational Leader Giles’ journey into education was through sport and from a relatively young age. After delivering his first short-tennis lesson at the age of 14 in his local club, Giles was drawn to coaching as a device which gave him as much pleasure as competing. Through his formative years as a tennis professional and coach, whilst juggling GCSEs and A levels, the qualifications gained through the National Coaching Foundation programme in the UK were invaluable and helped him prepare for his Bachelor of Education in Sports Science and Humanities which was completed in the 1990s.

4. Facing the Pandemic Challenge While Covid sure stood out as the biggest challenge for any headteacher across the globe, Giles had an additional set of challenges in the form of a new school, a brand-new campus, declining enrolments, supplementary academic planning, staff not being able to join and the looming impact of a global pandemic that was not understood. The single biggest learning, in this case, was ‘you can’t control what you can’t control’. This was unchartered territory for everybody and they, like everyone else, had not had a chance to prep or look at scenarios, so they simply felt their way through the journey step by step as if blindfolded.

5. Preparing Students for the VUCA World There is no contention that the world is becoming a more complex place and levels of uncertainty are at their highest because there is so much information and disinformation at our disposal. Being agile and adaptable are not traits that are clearly represented in curriculum and assessment and therefore it is the responsibility of the school to support parents in ensuring that their children are upskilled and supported to grow with these vital tools at their disposal. Giles believes that schools can teach important skills within core lessons, but it is through the broader programme that they are really inculcated and transformed. “Real-life learning experiences,

6. Technology as an Educational Tool From a learning perspective, the speed of collecting feedback, the process of collaboration, checking for understanding and accessing resources has been vastly improved by the development of technology, feels Giles. Arcadia has also started the journey into the utilisation of AI through integrated systems that allow students to solve problems and be assessed remotely as a second pair of eyes, which has also been a real support for teachers. Arcadia achieved Apple Distinguished status for the second time in 2022 and the training of teachers to a high standard is implicit in this process and means they have confidence in their team to deliver high-quality technological guidance to every child. Learning platforms such as SeeSaw and Nearpod also add real value to live and remote lessons and communication to families becomes much easier when sharing information.

7. Probable Impact of Current Technology Trends AI is currently at the forefront of educational thinking for many educators. What impact will this have on our learning? How will children use it for assessments? How will we protect learning integrity? These are just some of the questions that will need consideration over the coming years. Giles hopes it will have a transformative impact on assessment capture as his concern is we are still capturing summative information of high-stakes tests almost fully through written exams. As technology has progressed and collective cognition is changing, full-written papers surely can’t be the future. On the converse side of uncertainty, he gets the sense that the well-being agenda of young people can only have a positive impact on personal development.

8. Becoming the School of Choice Being a relative newcomer to the Dubai premium school market, Arcadia wants to be the school of choice shortly for every family. The competition is strong with some established players who have history on their side, but they are constantly looking to genuinely focus on each child by creating a learning programme that is fit for the now and the future, whilst maintaining strong traditions such as a house system, pastoral wrap-around care and enrichment facility of sports, performing arts and many others. Giles believes they have created a team of innovative and agile school leaders who are at the top of their game and hope to see them leading practice across the Middle East and in Dubai alongside the role they play in Arcadia.

9. Quote: “My Clifton Strengths tells me that I am a disciplined, competitive, achiever, who thinks strategically and activates others, however, over the years of leading schools I feel that persona has mellowed a little to a collaborative planner who inspires others to do the best they can. “ Read More: https://theciotimes.com/giles-pruett-an-educational-leader-advocating-enriching-inclusi ve-and-integrated-experiential-learning/