Superheroes are an important part of life at Elmhurst – they remind us of six important skills that we need to develop to optimise our learning. Even our Reception boys can identify when their work has earned superhero status – there is a display wall to prove it when you enter No. 48, if you doubt me! That’s probably why the release of the new Marvel superhero Shang-Chi caught my attention this week.
The Asian-American actor turned superhero, Simu Liu, has been interviewed widely, as part of the publicity for the new movie, and he drew me in with his confident perspective on dreams. Right back in 2014, not long after the release of Captain America, Simu tweeted a challenge to the studio: “Hey Marvel, great job with Captain America and Thor. Now how about an Asian-American hero?” Interviewed by Chris Moyes last month, Simu was keen to point out that this tweet was read by very few followers at the time and it certainly was in no way responsible for his success in securing the role. However, he did go on to say how important it is to speak your dream aloud and encouraged others to do the same. Whilst I am not suggesting we all start tweeting outrageous ambitions, I encourage our boys to believe in their ability to make their dreams come true. The temptation as adults, and devoted parents, is to try to protect our children from failure and encourage them to dream more moderately. At Elmhurst, we teach the boys to embrace failure as part of our focus on developing a growth mindset and FAIL is just a First Attempt In Learning.
We may not all become superheroes but perhaps in trying to become one, we will find out what we are truly capable of.
