Ethical leadership has become a non-negotiable in today’s schools, shaping everything from staff culture to community confidence. Principals know that when expectations and actions fall out of step, trust erodes quickly, and rebuilding it is far harder than safeguarding it in the first place.
As school leaders juggle decisions around AI, equity, student wellbeing and compliance, the ethical lens they apply can determine whether a school stays resilient or drifts into uncertainty. Asking ‘What will future generations judge us on?’ isn’t a philosophical exercise; it’s a practical guide for setting standards that stand up to scrutiny.
And by helping young people develop ethical reasoning early, schools aren’t just teaching values – they’re building long-term capability. After all, character compounds, and strong leadership is what sets that process in motion.
St Catherine’s School Principal Natalie Charles is a Fellow of the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship (VFF) — a year-long leadership program that equips senior executives with ethical decision-making skills, moral courage and reflective practices. This year, the program celebrates its 30th anniversary.
Recently, The Educator interviewed Charles about why ethics must guide school leadership — from embracing transparency and nuance to reconnecting with purpose — and how lessons from the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship now shape her approach as principal.
Curiosity as a tool for ethical leadership
“Encouraging our students to sit in the grey – in the discomfort of disagreement; in the unknown and uncertain in the knowledge that exploring ethical differences can and will feel risky is an important step in schooling them to be both curious and cognizant of the perspectives of others,” Charles told The Educator.
“Social media on the whole doesn’t encourage nor nurture complexity of thought and those ugly public pile-ons are the end result of a society that has been force-fed oversimplified choices. Real nourishment comes from building connections through difference.”
Ethics can also be used as a tool for meaning-making in times when educators can lose sight of why their work matters, Charles noted.
“At their essence teachers are profoundly vocational beings and despite the hurdles [of which there are many] they continue to show up for their students in an ever-evolving socio-political landscape that neither honors nor truly acknowledges their contribution nor their resilience,” she said. “The meaning making that can come from engaging with ethics cannot be underestimated.”
Charles said the program gives students a living, breathing experience of ethics.
“Immersing students in Aristotle’s ethics of character and flourishing, shifting the focus from knowing good to being and doing good; exploring integrity, agency, courage and the good society through dialogue and reflection, whilst examining enablers and disablers of ethical action gives untold moral purpose to the work.”
Inspiring moral courage in tomorrow’s leaders
When asked about her key learnings as a Fellow of the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship, Charles said the message that stayed with her was disarmingly simple
“I was inspired by a quote attributed to Vincent Fairfax in October 1983 when he said: ‘Let us remember that the power and wealth of a democracy is measured not only by the number and quality of its eminent leaders but by thousands of ‘little’ leaders who provide its real strength’,” Charles said.
“The visual concept of little leaders really piqued my imagination, and it was the faces of the girls, that immediately sprung to mind – confident, authentic, passionate, charged and optimistic about their future.”
However, Charles said the optimism she sees in her students sits alongside a tougher reality.
“The truth is, their world view is constantly under attack from forces beyond their control namely the commercialization of cynicism which results in the erosion of trust, the incentivization of outrage and the destruction of genuine public debate and discourse,” she said.
“And if the health of any democracy comes from an inherent sense of optimism that empowers its citizens to make decisions for a better future and with others in mind then we need to empower the young to know that they can still make a difference.”
Charles said that as Martin Luther King reminded us: ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice’ which happens imperceptibly over time with active participation and worthy struggle.”
“I felt deeply optimistic over the course of the Fellowship because I saw leaders in the Defense Force; senior public servants from the Office of Prime Minister and Cabinet; Chief Scientists and Police Commissioners engaged in the struggle,” she said. “And so, when I read the newspapers now, I breathe a metaphorical sigh of relief knowing that these people are in there having a go.”
Likewise, Charles said she feels deeply optimistic when she looks out her window and sees the hundreds of “little leaders who are poised and ready to take their place ethically and intentionally at the democratic table.”
“It’s our collective responsibility to keep their hope and potential alive.”
‘A roadmap to a good society’
Charles said the significance of the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship celebrating 30 years this year is enormous, pointing out that when the Vincent Fairfax Fellowship was first established, it could never have envisioned the world as it is today.
“AI and digital functions are fundamentally reshaping how we think, learn and make decisions; social media is fracturing shared truth and social cohesion; there is growing polarisation threatening community trust; algorithmic decision-masking is challenging human agency and the pace of change is outstripping the human capacity to adapt and to consider what’s in the best interest of a humane society.”
Charles said the only antidote can therefore be our collective humanity.
“This means the moral courage to act on values under pressure; practice in real-world ethical decision-making; building trust across differences; nurturing critical thinking that moves beyond ‘can we’ to ‘should we’; striving for individual and collective flourishing and sustainable values-based systems,” she said.
“The world has never been more in need of this road map to a good society.”