“For authentic, South Italian pizza you have to go to Donna Margherita, near Clapham Junction,” declares Mr Renshaw, as what began as discussing school environments and gender stereotypes rapidly turned into trading restaurant recommendations and chatting about Indian food. This is to be expected with Mr Renshaw, the Latin teacher who will not only help you master your declensions, but also tell you about that time he met Gorbachev whilst in your history cover lesson, or debate the benefits of a really good navy blue jumper. He’s also the kind of teacher who will agree to be interviewed by four nosey Godolphin girls, and give candid answers to (almost) all our questions.
Having taught previously at St Paul’s School, our first questions were inevitably about the experience teaching a class of boys compared to a class of girls. However, Mr Renshaw was keen to start by emphasising the similarities, insisting that “learning brings excitement, anxiety, and frustration for all young people”, no matter their gender. Having said this, he explained that in some ways “girls might become more like boys [in their learning habits] and vice versa”. He shares that a headmistress once told him that “a girl who is 90% sure she knows the answer might still be a bit nervous to put her hand up” whereas a lot of boys “speak before they engage their brains”. Although he stressed that this was a generalisation, there is enough truth in it to beg the question, how can we improve our learning environment across the country to make sure that young girls feel they can speak freely and get questions wrong without judgement? Mr Renshaw thinks that a key way is to encourage mistakes and promote “risk taking”, and that we are lucky to be in an environment at Godolphin where the staff aim for this.
Conversation eventually turned to our interviewee’s own education, and he admits to having “been in a school which I really loved, and in a school which I found much more difficult. So, as a teacher, I’ve had both ends of that spectrum”. Perhaps this experience of both the highs and lows of school life is what has led to him to being so passionate about his teaching. He also remarks that his school had “no female teachers” and “the only female interactions were with matrons” which perpetuated the idea of a woman’s role as primarily domestic. This is a particularly unhealthy thing in an all boys boarding school, and Mr Renshaw says he regrets that female friendships were “missing in [his] teenage years”. So what advice would he give to his teenage self? Is there a secret to life we’re all in need of hearing? Apparently, the answer is very simple. “Yoga”. But if the idea of splaying yourself over a mat or putting your feet behind your ears is unappealing then he offers some alternative advice to “trust your instincts”. Although this is something that we aren't “taught about as a skill” Mr Renshaw insists it is crucial to listen to your “inner voice” and pay attention to what your instincts tell you.
As the bell rang to signal the end of lunch we walked out of the MG building to head back to our lessons. We may not all be Latin scholars, but that doesn't mean Mr Renshaw didn't have anything to teach us; we returned to our classrooms full of the wisdom imparted to us, and desperately craving a good pizza.
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