Turning heads? Why appearances shouldn’t matter
Working for The Future Leaders Trust, I’m more used to mixing with the education twitterati than the TV-presenting celeberati. So, one of the more unusual things that happened to me in 2014 was being told by BBC sports presenter Gabby Logan (on twitter) to “loosen up”. This after I questioned whether commenting on what the World Cup-winning England women’s rugby team were wearing on BBC Sports Personality of the Year was an appropriate response to their incredible sporting success. For me – and presumably for the judging panel who awarded them team of year – the fact that they were in identical outfits was not the thing that made captain Katy McLean and her team-mates stand out. What made them amazing was winning the rugby World Cup for the first time in 20 years, while also holding down jobs in a range of professions, including teaching. That was what they should have been complimented on; not their wardrobe selection. Yet we know that in education also, too many governors wh