Celebrating New Milestones: In Conversation with American School of Bahrain’s Dave McMaster

Excellence in Education Leadership 2024 is a series where we shine a spotlight on the heads of schools and universities in Bahrain. We sit down with these leaders and uncover the insights, aspirations, and strategies driving them to shape the future of education.

In this exclusive interview, we speak with Dave McMaster, Founding Director of the American School of Bahrain (ASB)

What has been the greatest lesson you have learnt as an education leader in the past year? 

The past year has once again taught me that I work in an industry where no day will be the same as the next, where most days are great and that I am very fortunate to work in a place where I can make life-changing decisions for the students in my school, as can every adult in the building. Few professions can say that.

I also continue to learn that I have so much more to discover and so much to learn. Although this is my thirty-fifth year as an educator, I will continue to learn from my mistakes and that the people around me will make me better. I won’t become an expert with each consecutive year, but with humility and vulnerability, I will become closer to being an expert and hopefully, I never quite get there.

What was the big highlight for ASB in the past year?

2023-24 was a huge year at ASB. Aside from opening the school in September 2020, our most significant milestone was achieved in May 2024 with our first graduating class walking across the stage at the Four Seasons Hotel and accepting their IB and high school diplomas from His Excellency Dr. Mohammed bin Mubarak Juma, Minister of Education. For two hours, staff, parents, family and friends celebrated as the culmination of five years of very hard work and dedication, by the entire ASB community, was realized.

Collectively, we sat with pride and joy watching thirty-seven young adults cross the stage with wobbly knees and at times tears of joy in their eyes, ready to take that next step in life. For a K-12 school, there is nothing more special or significant than high school graduation, especially when it is your first one. Years of ‘firsts’, nervousness, trepidation and questioning ourselves, all disappeared during a unique, special evening where we left feeling, we got it right.

Students, parents and staff took a leap of faith registering at a brand new, untested school in the middle of a world pandemic. Successfully graduating grade 12 students four years later is a feather in our collective hats and acts as a catalyst to move forward and do even better.

Since we last spoke, what are some of the educational innovations implemented at ASB that promote quality education?

Like many schools and organizations around the world, AI has impacted what we do in a quick and sometimes overwhelming way, and it has forced us to understand how we effectively use AI in our industry. ASB applied to be one of thirty schools across the globe to participate in the first-ever initiative to look at the ethical use of AI in international schools. The initiative is known as RAIL – Responsible AI In Learning.

After a lengthy and time-consuming application process, we were thrilled to find out we were one of the thirty schools selected to participate in the RAIL initiative organized by the Middle States Association (MSA), a worldwide leader in accreditation and school improvement. After the first phase of the initiative and many meetings and research by our site-based RAIL committee, we submitted our findings to the RAIL Executive Panel.

This process resulted in us being among the first ten schools in the world to receive the RAIL endorsement in AI Literacy, Safety, and Ethics. This innovative initiative will keep us busy for years to come.

Do you think it helps for educational institutions to have a social media presence? How do you leverage it to engage with the community?

Yes, it is vital in 2024 to have a strong social media presence. Parents looking for the right school for their children rely heavily on social media to research and gather feedback about various schools. Social media presence has become necessary for schools to survive.

The world is fast-paced and changing every day. It is not just Generations Y and Z who are tech savvy and view social media daily; Generation X and the Baby Boomers also rely on social media to get their news and information, regardless of how much they need to filter. A social media presence goes beyond just marketing the school; it is an opportunity to be an active member of existing and new communities.

Social media also allows schools to showcase the great things their students are doing. This could be the work they do in classes, the activities they participate in after school hours and the innovative and leadership-related services they are providing those in their direct and indirect communities.  

What kind of opportunities do teachers at ASB have for continuous professional development?

Professional development at ASB comes in many forms. We have a healthy budget to support professional development initiatives, and we ordinarily spend time prioritizing needs in the spring of the year before. We created a Professional Development (PD) strategy that addresses curricular, and program needs over the next two to three years.

This may include bringing in experts from around the world to work directly with several departments; it may include teachers attending sessions and conferences locally or in the region, or it may entail having in-house experts work with staff to improve everything they do. All PD initiatives relate to our mission and vision with the underlying premise that we expect to see a positive impact on teaching and learning because of the specific activity.

What was the best thing that happened to you when you were a student?

In retrospect, the best thing that happened to me as a student was being forced to accept the responsibility for my learning and not to have the adults in my life over-support or do my work for me. My parents made it clear to me at a young age that my education and learning were up to me and not them.

My Mom would often say to my siblings and me; “I have already finished and graduated from high school (and university), and I don’t plan on doing it again through you. Don’t run to me when you are upset with your teacher, a course, or your results. Figure it out yourself, because the day you go off to university, you are on your own and your dad and I will not be there to fight your battles.”

There were times when this upset me and I felt they were not being supportive, but once I got to university and more so, out in the work world, that advice was essential to my success. This is very difficult for parents to do, and both my parents were very supportive throughout my childhood and into adulthood, but they made it clear that ultimately most decisions that need to be made needed to be made by me.

Why should parents choose to enroll their children in ASB?

I am convinced that a very high percentage of students who join our school will learn quickly that the adults in the school care and love them and will do everything they can to support them both in good times and bad. That we model the need to build positive relationships and we will do everything we can to ensure their safety, their happiness and their engagement.

If we can do that, academic success will follow. As a school, we believe that happiness leads to success. That low-performing students can achieve, that an average student can strive for excellence and that very strong students can shoot for the stars. That only happens if students feel safe, and cared for and can learn in an environment where risk-taking and failure are welcome to get better.