Learning & Growing: Peter Derby-Crook MBE's Vision for Educational Revolution
Peter Derby-Crook MBE is the Director of Education at China’s Dipont Education Group. Peter’s expansive career in international teaching and headship positions has seen him lead schools in Dubai, Jakarta, Tokyo, Oman, and Singapore as well as two headships in the United Kingdom. In October 2018 he received an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire), one of the UK’s highest honors, for his services to British communities abroad through education. He is also a passionate advocate for change in existing school systems using kindness, and he shows a deep understanding of the nature of childhood.
Peter’s caring, nurturing approach comes from an understanding of being a not-traditionally academic student himself. His refreshing honesty about his trajectory towards being such a successful educator starts with a story of his own trials at school and with exam-taking. I started out by asking him about his journey towards teaching, given his trials and tribulations with formal exams at school.
It's clear that Peter appreciates each of his students deeply, and comes across as an inclusive educator who places equal value on the subjects they are learning. Perhaps that mindset emerged from his primary school training to begin with, where subjects are often more blended and intertwined into projects. It’s also from this holistic viewpoint that Peter views each of the children in his care. Speaking of his new paradigm for schools: that of centres for "learning and growing", his goal is to create and develop children who show gratitude, non-judgement, presence, confidence, risk-taking and who feel free to stay true to the non academic passions and interests they have. Similarly to Corey Johnson of Imagine Scholar in Ep6, Peter is concerned most with developing healthy, happy individuals who flourish and continue to flourish beyond their success measured at school, or at university. He mentions Simon Sinek’s "Find Your Why" as an inspiration; another overlap for recommended reading that some listeners may already be familiar with.
He’s not content with producing “really nice children who are largely unmotivated to help others” but speaks of lifelong learning and growing, celebrating the stories of success of non-traditional achievers and those who made a difference in the world despite having a non-linear trajectory. Peter is one of a rare breed of senior leaders in education who can admit that he failed something at school, and yet, here he is, helping others to appreciate the breadth and diversity of skills and achievements that we manage in life. The gauntlet he has thrown down for any of us working in education is an important one: to start with “why” - this simple question has been instrumental for change since time immemorial.
Read more about Peter's work at: https://www.dipont.com/
You can watch a 2018 TEDX talk from Peter at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYRCEZsPtHU
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