Executive headmaster at St John’s College since 2015 and educator of 40 years, Paul Edey will retire at the close of this year.
With an array of experience in the boys’ school environment and a passion for seeing learners think and question for themselves, Edey said he will miss the buzz, creativity and humour of the boys at St John’s.
Edey was schooled at The Ridge School in Westcliff and St Andrew’s College in Grahamstown under the inspiring teaching of well-educated teachers who loved what they did.
“I loved school. I found my classes inspiring and wanted to teach since I was 15,” said Edey.
After studying a Bachelor of Arts in history, English and politics at Wits, he began teaching history at King Edward VII School in Houghton.
“In those days, history was often taught by learning a textbook, which is not education. I taught learners to think, question and challenge the status quo.”
He began as headmaster at St David’s Marist Inanda in 1995 for close on 12 years before working as director of executive education at Gibs Business School for two and a half years and in 2009 he returned to St Andrew’s College to become headmaster.
He arrived at the helm of St John’s College in 2015 at a time when the #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall movements were top of the news.
“It was the beginning of a process at St John’s where we had to look at our black parents, teachers and learners and ask whether they were feeling forced to assimilate. Were they invisible?”
“We had to do deep introspection… We saw ourselves as an aspirational space with a strong Anglican ethos, but to what extent are we an African school?”
Edey said that this in-depth process led to some changes in the curriculum to become more inclusive and discuss the issues of the day including hyper-masculinity, culture and sexuality.
He said that St John’s is an inclusive space for boys with interests in sport, academia, music and culture and not just the hyper-masculine.
“St John’s cannot be seen as a ghetto of privilege. Boys have to be aware of their privilege and the need to give back.”
“The school needs to remain relevant and remain a beacon of excellence with no room for arrogance or complacency.”
Edey said that during his retirement he would like to mentor the heads of disadvantaged schools, work in teacher-training and help develop the future leadership pipeline.
Stuart West, who is currently headmaster at Herschel Girls’ in Cape Town, will replace Edey from next year.
* Rosebank Killarney Gazette erroneously quoted Paul Edey in Head of St John’s retires [Week ending 22 November] that “St John’s is a ghetto of privilege. Boys have to be aware of their privilege and the need to give back.”
The correct quotation is as follows: “St John’s cannot be seen as a ghetto of privilege. Boys have to be aware of their privilege and the need to give back.”
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