The (Malaysian) Odyssey - By Max Carter?

The 10 day journey to Malaysia for the FOBISIA Leadership conference was in some ways akin to the voyage undertaken by Odysseus as he sought to return from Troy to his homeland of Ithaca. What follows are my thoughts and reflections on the trip and is inspired by my current (incomplete) reading of Homer’s epic. Please note, no ChatGPT was used in the production of this article and any and all mentioned, I hope you like it.?

Starring?(not in order of importance)

Ulysses - Max Carter

Penelope - Amelia Robinson

Eumaneus - Keely Congleton

Aeolus - 查尔斯木

Argos - Dan Kador-Davies

Philoetius - Jim Knight

Jove / Zeus - John Gwyn Jones MBE

Laertes - Anthony Rowlands

Miverva - Dawn Jones

Artemis- Janine Minchin

Nausicaa - Shana Kongmun

Demodocus - Nicholas Bevington

Telemachus - Harwinder singh

Tantalus - Duncan Ogilvie MA, PGCE, NPQSL

Scylla & Charybdis - Security guards at Marlborough College?

King of Pylos, Nestor - Avis Parker

Helios - Nicholas Hardcastle ( The British School in Colombo )

Assorted School Leaders: Cattle of Helios / Oxen of the Sun

Agamemnon - Colin Bell ( COBIS - Council of British International Schools )

Helen of Troy- Diana Vernon - ( Kellett School, The British International School in Hong Kong )

Eurycleia of Ithaca - Stephanie Jones UWC Dilijan

Calypso - Clare Germain ( Repton International School Malaysia )

Apollo - Stewart Brown FCCT

Ino - Lilian Ainah Mathurin

Mentes (King of the Taphians) - James Thomas ( Metanoia )

Sisyphus - Tim Jarvis AM

Poseidon - Sir Clive Woodward

Fellow passengers on my flights: Giant Cyclops / Laestrygonians

Mr Tay (our taxi driver) - Charon

Food and wine from FOBISIA - Lotus Eaters?

Associate #FOBISIA Members - Crew of Odysseus?

On location in..

#FOBISIA Leadership conference at the Shangri-La Group , KL (Island of Ogygia)

Epsom College in Malaysia - (Island of Pylos)

Marlborough College Malaysia- Sparta

Repton College Malaysia - Cythera?

HELP International School - Thesprotia

Taylor's International School (TIS) - Pharos

Peninsula International School Australia , Sri KDU Schools , Fairview International School - Scheria

Heathrow bus station - Styx River?/ The Shades

Malaysian Airlines flight MH3 from Heathrow & back - Cave of Polyphemus

East Devon District Council - Ithaca?

I can’t quite weave in the fall of Troy / Ilion to the narrative outset of this particular journey, but my adventure did begin with a large-scale low pressure weather event (Storm Debi) that felled several trees and branches that could have halted my taxi and bus to Heathrow. They didn’t. Together with my colleague Keely Congleton we were tasked on behalf of CENTURY and Charles Wood (personified in this re-imagining as the God of the Wind) to fly the 11,000 miles to KL in order to attend the 2023 FOBISIA Leadership conference at the salubrious Shangri La Hotel. What could be better? In addition we planned to visit many of the wonderful #Internationalschools in Malaysia to talk about CENTURY and to launch the #FOBISIA & CENTURY Tech English Competition and our new partnership with the BBC.?https://www.century.tech/news/bbc-bitesize-learning-collection-available-now-in-classrooms-around-the-world-on-award-winning-edtech-platform-century/

Once faithful Eumaneus and I were safely ensconced in MYA and free from the Cave of Polyphemus and assorted slumbering Cyclops, we headed to Island of Ogygia or the Shangri La hotel make ready for the conference. Here we were greeted by the wonderful team at FOBISIA (nearly cast as a collective Sisyphus given the unending work one and all put in) before attending the glamorous evening reception where the Crew of the Odyssey (FOBISIA’s affiliate members) got their first glance of the Cattle of Helios (the Assorted Leadership of Schools from Across Asia). Terrific to see dear Mentes, The King of the Taphians there too and always terrific to hear from both John and Anthony.?

I only infer the Leadership conference as having been like the Island of Ogyia, where Ulysses spent 7 years, owing to the Jet Lag I never quite got over, making it seem like a very long weekend. However, it was a brilliant event and as always the FOBISIA team worked very hard to bring everyone together in the spirit of professional collaboration with the stated aim of delivering better outcomes for students. This was particularly evident during the session on student voice and the announcement of a coordinated system of Student Welfare across FOBISIA, #COBIS . I was fortunate enough to run a short roundtable session on AI in EdTech in some very elevated company including Lord Jim Knight (thank you for your council on assessment), Diana Vernon, Nicholas Bevington (Divine in his wisdom) and Paul Hardcastle (who aptly shone a light on proceedings). I hope my scribbled mind map made some sense!

The food and hospitality was wonderful too and like Odysseus's time with the Lotus Eaters, it very nearly led us to forget the purpose of our quest. A quick thank you to Stewart Brown, always wonderful to speak with you and your support as ever is greatly appreciated; Ulysses, like me, is ever thankful for a supporting breeze! Thanks too to Colin Bell for always having a kind word to say to us (and everybody) and I will try to surprise you at a Park Run one day - that is when you are not Globetrotting!?

The conference also had 2 spectacular keynote speakers who shared their thoughts on everything from leadership on and off the sports field to extreme survival. To Tim, apologies for not recognising you and thank you for being willing to muse with on Cherry Gerrard, sastrugi and the Dudley Docker (no one else ever is) and to Sir Clive Woodward; if it means anything, I always appreciated the build up to the drop goal as much as the drop goal itself. Anyway, as you said, they should have been a little closer.?

With the conference over we headed out to visit schools across Malaysia. As a former Geography teacher, my knowledge of the country was poor and it was only after we had agreed to visit Marlborough College and Repton School that I realised that Johor Bahru is nowhere near Kuala Lumpur (nearly 2 full degrees of Southerly Latitude). Enter kind Calypso and her advice to book My Tay (nothing like the Boatman to Hades really) to drive us around for the day! First up was a visit to Ducan Ogilvie (portrayed here as Tantalus as he perpetually strives for EdTech perfection: don’t worry it's just around the corner we promise). Owing to a slight miscommunication and an overly zealous GMail filter we ended up grappling a little with a highly effective Scylla & Charybdis pairing at the gates of MCiM before a thubderbolt Olympus was sent down ( Simon Burbury ?)to let us in.

Thank you for the reviving coffee and pastry or as Homer may term them “libations” and congratulations on your presentation at #edutechasia with Richard Burkhill . We then set sail to Repton Int School to train the team on CENTURY in readiness for the English competition (well done for coming 3rd). Great to meet the wider team and well worth the drive! Wonderful too that you will be piloting with us soon and that our intervention quadrant seems to be singing from the same hymn sheet as you and the team.

The 5th (year) day of our Odyssey took us to 3 more schools, Fairview Int School, Peninsula Int School and Epsom College. By this point we were well into things and using grab like it was nobody’s business. I imagine my Hellenic alter ego would have been home much faster with AI powered ride hailing technology but his journey would have definitely lost its epic edge. The last few days were filled with visits to Taylor’s international School, Help International School and fleetingly one of the Sri Kdu Schools.?

Lilian thank you for the sweet drinks and Birthday treats and? a special thank you to Harwinder, for making us feel so welcome. Well done on your student’s efforts in the competition as well - 12552 questions answered by your charges!?

Full results here: https://www.century.tech/news/centurys-inaugural-fobisia-english-competition-results/

The return home to Ithaca followed all of this and there are lots of other details I haven’t mentioned, running in the Shadow of the Petronas Towers (where this is an M&S) as well as snapping some pictures of monkeys lazing in the sun next to one of KL’s many parks. I felt as though I had to cross the River Styx and descend into the Shades at Heathrow but I made it home to Ithaca and the figurative Penelope (thank you for letting me go and looking after everything).?

Max?

Ps. At the same time as all of this, my colleague Dan Kador Davies was touring the Middle East and attending GESS Dubai and hosting a few events alongside GEMs Education. For those of you familiar with the fate of loyal Argos, you will be relieved to know that once reunited with me, he remains alive and well!?