New Harrow Shanghai headmaster settles into role
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Alex Reed, the new headmaster of Harrow Shanghai International School, is settling into his new job and new life after three months.
鈥淚鈥檝e joined a community that鈥檚 very positive and forward-looking,鈥 he said. 鈥淵ou can see that everyone is very committed to Shanghai and to being part of the Shanghai community in general, not just international.鈥
A Londoner by birth, Reed spent 15 years as head teacher at an international school in Auckland, New Zealand.
He found it difficult to leave for a new job in a new city, but said it was the right time and the right move for him.
鈥淔irst of all, because the job is a wonderful job. It鈥檚 a fantastic school with a brilliant reputation and a long heritage, a long history, but also because I know China quite well,鈥 said Reed. 鈥淚鈥檝e visited China many times in the past. And Shanghai is one of my favorite cities. So when I come here, I know that I鈥檓 going to enjoy myself, find the city a fascinating blend of the modern and the traditional, enjoy the culture here and enjoy the people here too.鈥
In Shanghai, he said he found people were very committed to education.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e also committed to the very best results for their children,鈥 he said. 鈥淲orking in a school like this keeps you sharp, because you have ambitious children, ambitious parents, and you want to deliver the best you possibly can for them.
He is also ambitious to make the school 鈥渂igger.鈥
鈥淲e like the fact that we were a small community and everyone knows each other,鈥 he explained. 鈥淏ut we want to be a bit bigger, which will give us more opportunities to do different things for our children. We鈥檙e looking at providing a different range of opportunities for children outside the classroom. I鈥檓 hoping to be here for the next three or four years, at least, and to watch the school grow, it鈥檚 become even more popular because of what we do,鈥 he said.
As a senior educator and a father of two daughters who are in their early 20s now, Reed is obviously a person that parents feel comfortable to ask for advice on parenting and children鈥檚 growth.
鈥淥ne thing that I will say to parents is the most important thing you can do is to support your children and listen to them, really listen to them,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey need guidance, they need direction, and they definitely need boundaries. All children need to know where the limits are. And I know that our parents provide our children with those boundaries. But they also need to support children to develop their own ideas. And whilst we all want our children to be doctors or lawyers or engineers or architects, not all of our children want to follow our guidance.鈥
Reed said one of his daughters is doing international studies at university now, but her first degree was in nursing.
鈥淚 was able to support her with that change, because that鈥檚 the right thing for her to do. And she鈥檚 much happier now with the choice that she鈥檚 made,鈥 said Reed.
鈥淲e all know how to provide support and resources and opportunities for our children, but sometimes parents are not as good at listening to our children as we should be, and listening carefully and together finding the right way is probably the biggest bit of advice.鈥
He suggests parents can be pushy to make sure children do the things they need to do, but also need to give them enough space to do things that they want to do.
He also stressed the importance of reading for children.
鈥淔irst of all, it takes them to places they can鈥檛 go to and stretches their imagination,鈥 he said. 鈥淥ne of the reasons why reading fiction is so important is it teaches them empathy. It teaches them about other people. It takes them into the heads of other people. And it teaches them that there are things that they can learn, that other people are not all the same, and that we don鈥檛 all think the same way. If we can learn to understand how other people think, then we can learn how to get on with them better, too. That鈥檚 an incredibly valuable thing.鈥
It鈥檚 Reed鈥檚 first time working in China, but he said he had read a book about China when he was a child and had always been interested in coming to China.
His first visit to China was in 1991 when he traveled to Hong Kong and Guangzhou. He first visited Shanghai in 2013 when he was in charge of international students at a previous school. He has observed many changes in Shanghai.
鈥淲hen I first arrived here, the Shanghai Tower was only recently being built at that time. Every time I come here, the city looks smarter. The Suzhou Creek walkway wasn鈥檛 there in the same way. It always seems like there鈥檚 construction taking place everywhere. There are about 10 more Metro lines now than there were when I first arrived,鈥 he said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 just changing all of the time, but I think the fundamentals remain the same. It鈥檚 always been a city that has a history at its core, and at the same time is always developing changes.鈥
He said he was impressed by the vibe of life in Shanghai also.
鈥淭here are people everywhere doing things everywhere. I can eat every type of food on the planet in Shanghai. It鈥檚 great that I can enjoy going to the museums and art galleries,鈥 he said.
Reed found life in the city is incredibly comfortable.
鈥淚 use the Metro to get around because it鈥檚 fantastically efficient. I get around the Metro very easily. Everything鈥檚 on my phone. I do everything automatically and electronically. You can get anything you want,鈥 he said.
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