Robert Gratton

“The teacher is of course an artist, but being an artist does not mean that he or she can make the profile, can shape the students. What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves.” - Paulo Freire I am so happy to finally be here at HeadStart as a teacher of History and Head of the Humanities Faculty. The move to Phuket, along with my wife and two children (also at HeadStart), is a realisation of a long standing desire to work internationally and to work in a school with a strong family orientation. I am an experienced educationalist with over two decades working as a teacher, school leader, teacher trainer and researcher with the UCL Institute of Education. A History graduate, with PGCE in Secondary Education, a Masters in Guiding Effective Learning, and with a decade spent investigating the nature of Collaboration, I have been fortunate to work across numerous innovative and forward thinking projects within education internationally. This has included leading Curriculum development within Sweden, establishing new schools such as the UCL Academy and co-founding a centre for education in the outdoors focusing on wellbeing, creativity and sustainability in Wales. I am an advocate for the human centred approach to individual, societal and global sustainable practice. My passion for the Humanities is derived from a belief that we can utilise an education through the Humanities subjects to empower learners to become critical, compassionate and collaborative global citizens. To become life-long, life-wide learners and to become better prepared for an unknown future. To HeadStart I bring this commitment, this drive and this ambition to use the Humanities to transform the lives of each and every learner.

“Sometimes, you have to step outside of the person you've been and remember the person you were meant to be. The person you want to be. The person you are.” - H.G. Wells