Behind the headmaster’s desk
MELVILLE - Teenage tantrums, defensive parents, mischievous pranksters and teacher secrets are all part of school headmaster's average day. Marc Falconer has now written a book about his experiences behind the headmaster's desk.
“I used to associate headmasters with bushy eyebrows, glasses perched on the edge of their noses, and long, painful silences. So far, I’ve only got the glasses.”
He may only wear reading glasses, but Marc Falconer has been the headmaster of King David school in Linksfield since 2005. And now he’s written a book about his experiences in that role.
The book launch of Notes from a headmaster’s desk was held at Lovebooks in Melville on Tuesday.
“This book is truly inspiring,” Dorianne Well, better known as ‘’Dr. D” said, introducing Falconer. “It contains that little bit of sanity that keeps you going if you’re dealing with children and teenagers, along with a lot of inspiration and deep wisdom.”
Falconer himself wasn’t too sure about this. “It’s so hard being called wise, really, I’m such a fraud,” he joked.
“The book title wasn’t my choice. I wanted it to be called something, you know exultant. However, so much of the stuff in the book does come from behind the headmaster’s desk.” The book started off as a compilation of newsletters sent at his school.
“I love this job,” Falconer said.
“Being a headmaster is a task you have to walk with real humility. You can never always get it completely right. There’s no script, it makes it the most wonderful job in the world.”
The book isn’t only about humour and happiness, though. Falconer addresses the mysteries of the teenage mind and expresses his concerns about South Africa’s education system.
“We’ve got the lowest educational output in the world,” he said. “The disparity between the poor and the rich has never been greater. There doesn’t seem to be any political will to support education properly, particularly state education. And there is nothing more important than education.”
Technology, he said, is the way forward. “We’ve got to change the teaching model.With technology we have the ability to transform teaching. And kids must believe that they can. They have to believe in themselves.”
*Falconer’s book is available from at PanMacMillan publishers and costs R230.
