A lifetime commitment...

Jean-Marc Laurain

I was born in 1946. When I was a kid, I was very influenced by my grandmother who was a teacher and who helped me a lot during the holidays with my school work. She was a very cultured person and was an example to me. I think that she influenced my choice of profession…

I became a secondary school Headmaster. After a few years’ teaching I became a Headmaster at the age of 34. I changed schools three times before ending up in a city center school where I worked for 14 years. The school, which was founded in 1899, had nearly 2,000 pupils in the 1990s, including 200 boarders and 1,200 day pupils. There were 200 members of staff, including 140 teachers.

What I liked in this job were the many and diverse responsibilities. Of course, I had teaching duties, plus I had to think about employing everybody to the best of their abilities to achieve the best results for the school, particularly at the baccalaureate, and I had to make sure that every teacher was doing his job according to the requirements of the Ministry of Education's national curriculum.

A Headmaster also has administrative responsibilities. He is responsible for the careers of all the people who work in the school: teachers, cooks, nurses and so on. He has to enforce the law within the school. He is the first representative of the school outside. He has a budget to run the school and, as a lot of money is involved, he must spend it to the benefit of the whole educational community.

A Headmaster also has legal responsibilities. He is in charge of health and safety, and the good order inside the school. In case of an accident he must make sure that all safety regulations are enforced, like valid protections on sports equipment or lifts. In other words, he must keep his eye on every detail inside the school and check that there is no danger anywhere to anyone.

He has moral responsibilities, for example the prevention of drug dealing, bullying and so on. I remember the 9/11 commemorative events at school : everybody was deeply shocked and couldn't believe what had happened, and the day after the event, I had to read out loud to all the assembled pupils and staff a message from the Ministry of Education and we had to observe a minute’s silence to show our respect for the victims. You could have heard a pin drop. People were incredibly concerned by the catastrophe, a lot of the pupils got their handkerchiefs out to dry or hide the tears that rolled down their cheeks. It was a moment of compassion shared by a great number of people...

The Headmaster must in all circumstances encourage the students to do their best in all regards: they have to maximize their potential, learn to be good citizens, to be cultured enough to succeed in society and in life. The Headmaster is there to help them. I must say that, however demanding the job is, it is very rewarding.

I really have a feeling of achievement when I think back on all those years. This job allowed me to be useful to people, towards both the adults and the pupils.

During the course of my career I met quite a few important people like industrialists, public figures like Mayors, Presidents of French Départments or Régions, and the people in charge of local education authorities. I was particularly impressed to work under the authority of Valéry Giscard D’Estaing, who had been the French President. We organized conferences when these people visited the school. I also met quite a few writers, journalists, historians, musicians, and other prominent people, like Albert Jacquard, a geneticist and philosopher, and Lucie Aubrac a leader of the French resistance.

I was particularly lucky and proud to celebrate the centenary of my last school and on that occasion I was happy to address the school assembly and remind them how well the school had evolved over the last century. In my view, the values that were passed on from generation to generation contributed greatly to that successful journey. These values - among them equality, fraternity, respect, tolerance, dedication and commitment - are still the order of the day. I’m convinced that in an ever-changing world where scientific and technical changes are ever bigger and faster, we must do our best to provide the future generations with these values to help them to find their way in the 21^st century...

I’m always very pleased that, years later, from time to time, people recognize me and come up to me to say hello, because they were pupils or teachers or members of the staff of the schools I worked in. They always come up with anecdotes or memories of events that I had forgotten and which are still important to them.

 Article by Clarisse COMBRONDE