From the Director – Pymble Institute
Talking about Pymble research with the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools
Pymble voices contributed to the inaugural meeting of the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools (ICGS) at its annual conference in Boston, USA, held in late June. The conference was attended by four Pymble staff members, with research presentations from our College Chaplain, Rev Punam Bent, and Head of Junior School, Mrs Kate Brown. Membership of the ICGS connects Pymble to 17 countries and 330 girls’ schools, including schools in Afghanistan, Bermuda, Canada, Colombia, Ireland, Israel, Japan, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
Punam and Kate’s research emerged from areas of interest they explored with the Global Mentoring program, organised by Bright Field Consulting. The conference brought together the mentoring partners from different countries and an audience keen to understand how students from different global background approach the same issues. Summaries of Punam’s and Kate’s research are included below and all parents, students and friends of the College are invited to hear them present at the Pymble Research Conference next Tuesday 26 July, from 5.00pm to 7.00pm in the Conde Library. To see the full program and for free registration, please click here.
Rev Punam Bent, Deities of our time: Social media influencing and impact on senior high school girls
This presentation is the result of a global project undertaken by Punam and Kate Hawtin (St Catherine’s, Bramley, UK) involving small groups of senior girls from St Catherine’s, Pymble Ladies’ College, and Joy Senior Secondary School, Jabalpur India. The project has evolved over a year and aims to shift the paradigm of social media influencers by encouraging young women to look at their own reach in their communities and ways they are and can be being catalysts of change. Issues for young girls, largely around mental health/wellbeing, revolves around a deification of social media influencers, which has become almost cultic in resonance, for example, the TikTok/Instagram revolution. This joint project foregrounds the voices of young women within three educational contexts and hopes to challenge the paradigm of influence which can sometimes be detrimental to mental health, body image and self-growth in a young girl/woman. The presentation will share results from surveys, as well as background reading and research, and showcase findings in relation to conversations the two researchers-educators had with their students.
Kate Brown, The kindness revolution: Enabling children to flourish as learners and leaders
Becoming the Head of Junior School at the start of the pandemic inspired me to reflect on how I could empower children to hold onto the sense of self, joy and hope that is critical to their academic and social/ emotional development. At a time of so much isolation and uncertainty, children needed a strength to hold onto and a belief that their voices could still be heard. I believe a focus on kindness has the power to enable children to flourish as learners and leaders. Kindness is a concept young children readily understand. Over the last two years, I have explored the concept of kindness with the children through three tenets, kindness to others, the environment and self. I have looked at how kindness can impact a child’s sense of self, agency, hope and connection to their learning and their world. Unpacking the meaning of each kindness tenet into four facts has deepened the study into the impact on a child as a learner and leader. Our study into kindness led to the creation of the inaugural Children’s Kindness Convention which Pymble hosted on 15 June 2022, connecting children from 20 schools across Greater Sydney and giving them the opportunity to ideate solutions to global issues, identified by them, through the lens of kindness. Through kindness, children not only believe, but know they can change the world and this gifts them the sense of hope they need to flourish in their world.
Other Pymble staff presenting at the research conference include:
Ms Lexi Ibbotson and Mrs Karen Ahearn, (action research), Exploring the benefits of play in a transition to school context
Mrs Victoria Adamovich, (Master’s degree research), Wellbeing of EALD students: A look at family dynamics
Mrs Natasha Stanfield, (Master’s degree research), Ethics Committees: Training students to take an active role in the Pymble Ethics Committee
Mrs Deb Owens and Mr Liam Hume, (action research), The impact of research on teacher practice in Elective Geography
Mr Ryan Stewart, (PhD research), First Nations representation in twentieth century local histories: From Gilgandra to Pymble
Ms Mariel Lombard, (PhD research), The PhD Journey
Being inspired by brave and determined women
The conference showcased three inspiring keynote speakers working in complex areas relating to conflict, policy, politics, health and negotiation. Readers may be interested in exploring their stories further:
Shabana Basij-Rasikh is the co-founder of the School of Leadership (Afghanistan) (SOLA); Afghanistan’s first and only girls’ boarding school for 100 students. Education for girls was made illegal (again) in 2021 with the Taliban resurgence and Shabana led her students in an evacuation to Rwanda in August 2021. SOLA now runs in exile from Rwanda where a number of Afghanis live in refuge. SOLA hopes to return to Afghanistan one day. Whilst a world away in terms of distance and daily life, SOLA’s mission rings true with the goals we have for our Pymble students – to provide students with education promoting critical thinking, purpose and respect for self and others, and to build a compassionate, curious and confident generation of women.
Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian peace activist and Nobel Peace prize-winner. She holds the amazing claim of ending her country’s 14-year civil war by focusing on the voices and influence of women in Liberia. Leymah brought Christian and Muslim women together to make vital change in their country and then advocated persistently at the highest levels of global policy for Liberian girls’ safety and access to education. Leymah role models her action through her strong participation in United Nations and African Security councils.
Dr Paula A. Johnson, President of Wellesley College, is a cardiologist of African-American heritage who discussed inequities in medical research. Paula said she is not interested in empowerment of women but in taking action. From her background in medicine and science, Paula commented on the absence of diversity of race and gender in medical research participant groups and the global impact of such paucity of representation. It became clear to the audience that knowledge of diseases, development of medication and vaccines, funding and access to health care pivot around the research that underpins each issue and if this does not include a diverse group of people, the outcomes may never meet the needs of that group.
Further exploration:
https://www.sola-afghanistan.org/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EN4UH27IOs A conversation with Nobel Laureate, Leymah Gbowee, April 2022
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhVWzkbAW4I Paula Johnson, His and Hers Healthcare
Dr Sarah Loch