EDITORIAL, OCTOBER 2025

TO THINE OWN SELF . . .

Vanita Uppal, the redoubtable Head of The British School in New Delhi summed up what it means to be a school leader in the second quarter of the 21^st Century when we interviewed her for our Leading Roles series in 2024: 

“You have to be CEO, pedagogical Leader, counsellor, commander-in-chief, legal expert and health campaigner . . . you have to be all those things in a credible sense”.

To her list could be added marketing expert, HR guru and podcaster. The list goes on, intensifying the kind of pressures on leaders that Naomi Ward and Kyra Kellowan talk about in this month’s edition.

Vanita also remembered the wisdom of her father:

“Who you are as a person is what you want to be remembered for. That should be your legacy”.

Which brings us to another kind of leader – Pete Milne who is featured this month in the Leading Roles series. For Pete, a different road from school leadership beckoned – one less travelled. When he might have been expected to climb the school ladder, he took the decision that climate change and the environmental crisis required his full attention.  He had the courage to leave full-time salaried employment to find ways of addressing the issues to as wide an audience of young people as he could. Not easy – but he had to do it.

And so, to Shakespeare. Ireland has recently debated whether a compulsory Shakespeare text should remain in the secondary ‘Leaving Cert.’ (G12/Y13) English courses. The debate featured quite prominently in the Irish press (it’s that kind of place) and the issue was thoroughly examined.

The decision? The bard stayed – for all sorts of great reasons. Airing the debate – for and against – enabled the country to be true to itself.

And Shakespeare’s words of advice are as relevant now for us as teachers and leaders as they have ever been:

This, above all – to thine own self be true,

And it must follow, as the night the day,

Thou canst not then be false to any man.

Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3