The most successful school in London with 40% of Muslims: «Many think that being strict is to be cruel. They are wrong »

At twelve and ten, in a school dining room of Wembleyto northern London, ABC sits on one of the tables with six students of Year 8, four boys and two girls, all twelve. After the diners have recited a poem, they sit and eat while they talk, guided by a question assigned in advance, designed to foster critical thinking and oral expression, and so that no one stays without participating.

“Miss Salazar, would you prefer to give you a hundred pounds to spend them on what you wanted, or a thousand pounds that would have to donate to someone?” Asks one of the students. And so the debate begins in the Michaela Community School, One of the most successful in the country academically even though its students come from very disadvantaged environments. Students are the ones who They serve, collect and clean the table. Its manners are impeccable. And before leaving, they express thanks. Some are chosen to do so in front of everyone. One of them, in an excited but firm voice, thanks his brother for having bought him a couple of shoes with his own money. Another thanks the journalist for visiting her school.

“Being strict means putting children ahead of you”

This ritual, which moves between the liturgical and the military, is repeated every day in the center founded in 2014 by the charismatic and controversial Katharine Birbalsingh, known as “the strictest director of the United Kingdom.” There is no space for improvisation or condescension. Every second, each gesture, counts, and everything responds to an articulated philosophy about three pillars: discipline, teaching and valuesthat the director explains in detail in an hour of conversation with ABC in her office, where she receives the journalist with a big smile, a firm handshake, and a presence she imposes without intimidating. Do not dodge the look and do not avoid any subject. «Being strict is educating with love», Says bluntly. «Many do not understand it. They think that being strict is being cruel. But no, it is loving children enough to maintain high standards and high expectations about them ». And that, he says, applies both in school and in the family: «When you love yourself more than your children, it is when you lower the standards, because it makes you feel better with yourself. It is difficult to be strict, because andSo means putting children ahead of you. And that is difficult.

The discipline here has nothing to do with the one decades ago when the teachers hit with a rule, much less with shouts, because respect is in two ways. «Teachers are the authority, but children are not afraid of them, they respect them. Here does not tolerate respect in anyone. And respect, in the end, is what allows them to feel safe. And when a child feels safe, careful and loved, then it can be creative, think for himself, develop. He will not think for himself if he lives in chaos ».

Straight -back

The visit to the classes, in an absolute silence, is an experience. Students do not get distracted, do not turn, do not look at the visitor. They pay attention to teachers with their backs and arms on the table. When a teacher asks them to open a book, they do it to the rhythm of her voice in a countdown: “Ten, nine, eight …”. Upon arriving at one, everyone is on the right page. And when exercises are corrected, they lower their heads, they close their eyes and answer the questions of themselves or not raising their hand in this position. “Who have not understood the exercise?” Asks the mathematics. Some hands get up, but their companions do not see them. “We avoid that whoever was wrong or has not understood something feels exposed.”

Measures such as this, or short and supervised recess to avoid conflicts, or the absolute prohibition of mobile phones, translate into one of the great proud of the director. «We are a school free of school», He says. «People do not believe it, but there is no bullying. If it appears, it is usually online and we detect it fast ». Students are safe, also because they “take care of each other.”

The second pillar is teaching, with a clear and structured transmission. «Today, the word ‘teaching’ is misunderstood. ‘They have to learn to think for themselves,’ they tell you, but if you have nothing in your head about what to think, you can’t generate your own ideas. First you need a good basic knowledge ».

The third pillar are the values, and here its message is as clear as provocative. «No one understands what values ​​are. We speak of personal responsibility, of duty to others, to sacrifice for the common good, of hard work, of being friendly ». In short, they know that “they can choose between good and evil,” and that there will be consequences.

«Unfortunately, today these values ​​are perceived as conservatives, when they are universal. The left has embraced victimism. He wants to find excuses for children, for whole groups of people. Unfortunately, he has moved away from the values ​​that make a better life for children, particularly for those of disadvantaged environments.

Birbalsingh focuses on the emotional component in education from a different perspective to other more “hippies” currents that, he says, the children of “Medium and high classes”. «If the child has order and structure at home, and parents who teach them reading books, going to museums and talking about politics at dinner, he is already learning a lot and does not need to depend on his school to learn everything, and you can afford to be more hippie. The problem is that many children have no families like that ».

«In other schools, if a girl tells you that she is stressed for her final exams, they give her a cup of tea and a cookie, and they tell her not to worry, not to do her homework that day. We would never do that. We say: ‘Ok, I understand how you feel, but Find the force inside you. You can do it. ‘ It’s like having a personal coach. If the coach told you: ‘I know you are tired, do not make flexion, take a tea’, you would say goodbye, because you have hired it to demand more. And children also need someone to push them.

Michaela works in an old building next to the train tracks, without green areas and with rats in the patio. Inside, yes, it is immaculate. «None of this has been easy, but we have achieved real success with A building that is not pretty, thanks to the authentic belief of what is possible in disadvantaged areas ».

Multicultural

Another controversial point of their system, in a center where more than 40% of the students are Muslims, is that “we do not have a prayer room, because I am not going to divide children by race and religion. We are supposed to be a multicultural success. We want them to mix. Here you will see interracial friendships, between sexes, interreligious. If we start segmenting them, we lose everything ». There are also punishments and awards. “But we are not violating the human rights of someone who stays working on an essay or writing a apology letter for 20 minutes after the exit.”

Criticisms, of course, have been many. From education unions to alternative learning defenders, they accuse Michaela of being “too military” or imposing an incompatible stiffness. Birbalsingh, however, responds to your detractors to “come to visit us, talk to children, compare what we do here with What happens in other marginal areas».

“We are helping them to build the skills, knowledge and values ​​they need to be resilient, workers, to move forward when everything gets difficult, and the structure and attention that many do not have at home in school.” And when the students are asked, in private, if they are happy, the answer is clear and resounding: “Yes”, a smile included. And who are we not to believe? Even body language matters. «LAs we move our bodies, it is part of education. In these areas, children move with this step (it makes a mimicry that reflects disinterest and chulería), this walk with gang members, but ours go with a high look, quickly and proudly wearing their uniform, their achievements, their badges ”, because despite their context, they know that getting ahead depends on them.

The message, says Birbalsingh, is: «It rejects what the outside world is telling you, that you are in a marginal area, that you are black, or brown skin, that you do not know your father, that you are poor, and that for all that you cannot succeed in life. That you are only a victim. No. Here you can say that ‘Actually, I have a deck of cards to play in life, and I will play that deck, and I will win,’ ». But there has to be a meeting between authority, responsibility and upbringing: «You can be a friend of your children when they are children or when they are adults, but You can’t be both. You have to choose. It is not appropriate for teachers or parents to be friends with their children. You need to be a good authority figure. And then, When they are adults, you can be your friend».