Ancestral wisdom for the new school year…

The word ‘sankofa’ is from the Ghanaian Twi language, meaning to ‘go back’ or ‘retrieve’. It’s also connected to the African proverb ‘it’s not wrong to go back for that which you have forgotten’.?

‘Sankofa’ is visualised by a bird with its body looking forward and its head looking backward: this represents the wisdom of learning from the past before moving forwards. Sometimes the bird is depicted with a precious egg in its mouth, symbolising the wisdom of history, retrieving from the past what is valuable in order to move forwards.

As we turn our heads forward to the new school year, there is the usual emotional cocktail of excitement, nerves and anticipation about the year ahead. An annual chance to make a fresh start. There can be a habitual tendency to close last year’s door before opening this year’s; as a result, we often forget many of the experiences and lessons learnt in the wake of moving forward.

However, we undermine change and growth if we fail to learn from what we’ve lost or from the mistakes we have made in the recent and distant past.

Perhaps, instead, we can turn our disappointments and failures into a story; something that inspires and motivates us, rather than brings us down.

On the cusp of the new academic year, ask yourself - what have you learnt from last year that you can take forward? What wisdom have you gained? By following the lessons of the past, our future and the future of the young people we teach, will become even brighter.

Good luck to all beginning the new school year. You’ve got this!