'Homo Economicus'

The Dean’s Blog: ‘Homo Economicus’

It was a joke. Well, they were all laughing. And even Inspector Clouseau could have worked out that they had eaten food and drunk drinks because they had left wrappers, plastic bags, little plastic forks, silver foil, cans, pet bottles, paper towels, leftovers and crumbs all over the table and on the nearby floor. As they do. Some of them. Sometimes. Too often. Ouch - that was my first deanish word of criticism, well two actually. And it was here, in the DSC, that I became deanish with members of a pretty senior grade. I had approached the noisy and good humoured group and reminded them to clear it all away before they left because no one was paid to clear up after them. I could have omitted the mildly provocative subordinate clause starting ‘because’. Maybe I would have if it had not been 3.30 pm after a particularly busy day. I should have, I thought, when they started to play that game of ‘Provoke the Teacher’ by listing, on a scale of wildly increasing irritation-potential, the adults currently employed at ICS who could now match the job description of litter-clearer-upper post that, according to me, needed filling. Hence the laughing. I won - of course - as after the laughter they cleared it up. A little reluctantly. After a seemly, dilatory pause to restore their sense of honour and their dignity. It was, after all, a kind of public climb down before a peer group audience.

Ritual and badinage
Underneath all of this ritual and badinage is, however, a serious thread and it is to do with civic duty. Or a lack of it amongst some of our students. In the past I have been told it is the cleaners’ job, or the janitors’ or the teachers’ who are on duty, in similar situations; and on the occasion when this is meant sincerely then I am shocked. It is this sense of entitlement, misguided because it is not remotely earned at such a young age, that I have in mind when I refer to civic duty or civic responsibility. It is imagined that a position is currently occupied that exempts the young holder from needing a wider view of transactions and their implications for all the personnel involved. It is another example of homo economicus (‘I have more important things to do than you do.’)

Harmony and happiness.
In a recent blog I wrote in a pastiche about the sad, frustrating situation of a child being rejected by its peers at lunchtime, another instance of a lack of civic responsibility. And one of you kindly wrote to me expressing interest and support, modestly, somewhat hesitantly suggesting a scheme designed to obviate such behaviours by involving everyone in a system to eliminate it. It was a good idea that I shared with relevant colleagues. I want to go further now with a scheme next year to help develop this sense of civic responsibility. It will involve, initially, the senior grade in the Main Building at lunchtime. After some training and some modelling they will help patrol and will intervene in unsatisfactory situations within their capability, supported by the teachers on duty, in order to bring increased student harmony and happiness.

‘Wzzup, dude?’
It’s not world peace but it will be a measure to increase empathy, a step that will enable our kids actively to improve the atmosphere for all its inhabitants.
‘Wzzup, dude? Want to talk?’
‘Yeah, you can sit down here.’
‘Let the grade 6 kids have the goal now – it’s their turn!’
‘We’ll find a teacher.’
‘Let’s go see if you left it in a classroom you were in.’
‘Don’t chase about in the library, you’re disturbing other people here.’
And so on. It is not a system of monitors as the whole grade will get involved. It’s not a system of peer counselling. It won’t be done because it gets Community Service credits or count towards Graduation. It’ll get done because it will be blindingly obvious it’s the right thing to do. And I know our/your kids will rise to the challenge magnificently, once again. And it will start with the courage, backed by adults’ support, to say, ‘Please don’t leave your lunch mess here as other IB students will want to study at this table.’ The explanation softens the ‘command’ register to one of ‘reasonable request’ to which no one who is a member of our unique ICS society can fail to respond positively.