People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care

“To be an effective teacher, you have to be prepared to be a social worker as well.”  That's the question I would like to ask potential trainee teachers at interview if I got the chance, for the two roles, certainly in areas of social deprivation, go hand in hand. In a career in education that has spanned thirty two years I have worked in eight schools within my region of the North West of England. All those schools were situated in what is usually called “socially deprived areas” with poor housing, few facilities and high crime rates. For almost half of my time in teaching, I was a Headteacher in an area with the dubious nickname of “Giro City”, the sort of place where you don't go at night and if you see a cat with a tail it must be a tourist. For ten years friends and associates would sympathise with me for having to go into this area five, and sometimes six times during any one week. I tried to correct them because they were wrong. There were some rogues in the locality but ninety eight people out of a hundred would give you everything they had....even though they had nothing. They were great people to know despite the hardships they faced. Despite the deprivation, the place where I worked was a great place to be because it enabled me as a Christian, to contribute in ways that I feel God would approve of. I worked with children and adults who had low Literacy and Numeracy levels and even lower aspirational levels. I regularly met adults who lived on less money each week than many would spend on an evening out. Severe disadvantage in life is not exclusive to the Third World but actually exists just three miles from my house.

I like to think I'm a practical sort of humanist Christian who maybe doesn't spend enough time praying but really gets in where action is needed to try to make lives better. But people in positions of authority don't get involved on a very personal level with the sort of adults I worked with, and when I tried I was viewed with some suspicion. Parents on the playground were particularly cautious with the Mums thinking I fancied them and the Dads thinking I wanted to buy drugs off them! By giving them time to talk to me, and by standing in the playground each morning just as they did, I made myself available and, gradually, yes, honestly, made friends with them. And then one day, on Radio Four's thought for the day, I heard the following....

“People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care”

It blew me away because it summed up my Christian feelings that we should help anybody who needs it. We should love one another....even that beer fumed over weight dad who hasn't shaved for six days. The statement also reinforced my dislike for hierarchy, the pecking order of social standing that keeps some people down and places others at the top of the pile. So first, I formed the relationship, and once the people liked and trusted me I could begin to help them to improve their lives and, indirectly, the lives of their children. The biggest problem was to raise their self esteem and personal aspirations. The majority of my children's parents believed they were not worth bothering with and training, education and ambition was something others had, certainly not them. I press ganged their attendance at training that I often delivered to help them improve their situations. Parenting skills, stress management, sex education and even job seeking was all delivered in school. Parents were presented with attendance certificates and held up to their children as a great example of what can be achieved. Although they pretended they didn't really want certificates, they loved them just the same and had them displayed all over fridge doors in homes within the area. These parents began to wake up to the fact that they could achieve. One parent described me as the first human teacher she had ever met, a sad indictment on my profession if it is true. The certificates were of course a little bit of fun to massage ego, but again Radio four came to my rescue as I tried to make sense of this wave of vibrant motivation as parents knocked on my office door clamouring for what I could offer next. The plum voiced presenter spoke to me from the radio by saying …...

“Helping adult learners is not so much about what they achieve as what they become”

Wow! That summed it all up for me. I spoke to people on their level and they responded. Our results improved as relationships did and in ten years as Headteacher I never once got thumped! I genuinely believe I was doing God's work in that urban outpost and the rewards it gave me will stay with me for the rest of my life. We transformed lives to the extent that today seven of those very parents actually work in the school as staff members. One of our granddads became a trained mentor and volunteer in the local youth club, as well as contributing as a school governor.
Yes, we were doing God's work and it was exhilarating.

I left mainstream education two years ago and now work as a self employed consultant. My concern initially was that I wouldn't have enough to keep me busy as I'm by nature a very active person. As I pondered my next move guess what I heard on Radio four? That's it! Thought for the Day! So here goes.....

“So many people around you are hurting. Some are hard to spot because they wear the mask of success. Others are clearly down and out. How do you change the world? One life at a time! One act of kindness at a time. But you have to care enough to sacrifice your own agenda. Care enough to love, to rekindle the flame that life has snuffed out. Think about that then go out and touch one person, just one, with your care. Do it today!”

I had a friend who was a magistrate who pointed out to me that this voluntary role was not just about punishment, sentences and negatives. It was suggested that my understanding of people from areas of real deprivation, the areas were lots of low level crime originates, could be helpful in rehabilitating offenders and those who's lives are going the wrong way. After much soul searching and praying I decided that this was just one way I could continue to contribute to our community. After my formal application I was invited for the first of two interviews which presumably try to gauge if I an a right wing reactionary of the hang 'em and flog 'em brigade or whether I really do want to make things better. I was given various crime scenarios to rate in order of seriousness and then discuss. In my two short visits I was struck by how very pleasant, interesting and caring the magistrates I met were. My training starts this Autumn and I will be an active magistrate in the new year serving maybe two or three days each month. I want, in my role, to support victims and help offenders to break the cycle that has led them in the route they are taking.

Just as I was seen by some as the “human Headteacher” I would like to become the “human magistrate” and contribute in positive ways. As a Christian, I care deeply about people and want to help in any way I can. As a latent socialist I believe in equality and fairness. But most of all, I believe we cannot solve problems by throwing money at them. We need to change the hearts and minds of those in our society by demonstrating our love and care for them. Jesus was a socialist in the truest sense....... I'll use that if I'm ever asked to do Thought for the Day on Radio Four!



Jim Holian is a free-lance education consultant who has worked in education for thirty two years. For half of that time, Jim was a headteacher working mainly in the Wigan Education Authority, where he developed a highly successful extended school. Jim has also worked as a consultant for the National College of School Leadership, delivering training and assessment on the NPQH programme. He is also a leadership consultant and trained coach, and assesses for EYPS. He has worked for various Universities in the North West and has spoken at conference in eight Local Authorities nationwide on subjects relating to community cohesion, extended schools and engaging parents. Jim still occasionally works as a supply teacher at the school where he is also a governor. He was recently appointed as a local magistrate.