by Amulya Malaki
Dear Aspiring Leader,
If you are preparing to lead an international school today, you are not simply assuming the mantle of academic stewardship. You are stepping into a profoundly moral role – one that will quietly influence how young people decide what kinds of lives are worth living.
While recently reading Dutch historian Rutger Bregman’s Moral Ambition, I was struck by his disarming but radical question: What if the smartest, most talented people aimed not only at personal success, but at solving the world’s greatest problems? His challenge is not abstract philosophy; it is a direct provocation to systems – education included – that reward prestige, compliance, and risk avoidance more than courage, integrity, and contribution.
International schools, perhaps more than any other educational context, are uniquely positioned to respond to this call. You serve globally mobile, culturally hybrid students who will inherit a world defined by inequality, climate instability, technological disruption, and moral ambiguity. The question is not whether they will become changemakers – but what kind.
As a leader, your task is to design a school culture that nurtures moral ambition: the desire to use one’s abilities in the service of something larger than oneself.
Inspired by the book, I created notes to myself:
1. Redefine “success” before students do it for you
Students in international schools are surrounded by powerful narratives of success: elite universities, global careers, lucrative salaries, impressive titles. These goals are not inherently wrong – but they are dangerously incomplete.
Bregman argues that societies drift when their most capable people are channelled into socially prestigious but morally neutral, or even harmful, pathways. Schools unintentionally reinforce this when university placement statistics become the loudest measure of achievement.
As a leader, you must broaden the definition of excellence:
·Celebrate alumni impact, not only alumni income.
·Publicly honour students who take ethical stands, serve unglamorous causes, or commit to long-term social engagement with the same enthusiasm as those admitted to top universities.
·Ask different questions at prize-givings and graduation: Who helped others flourish? Who chose integrity when it was costly? Who worked to improve a system, however small?
What you choose to reward becomes what students learn to aspire to.
2. Move beyond “service” to responsibility
Many international schools already have service-learning programmes. Too often, however, these remain transactional: hours logged, boxes ticked, photographs taken.
Moral ambition asks for something deeper. It is not about occasional charity; it is about assuming responsibility.
This means:
·Designing service experiences in which students own a problem over time rather than parachuting in briefly.
·Encouraging students to investigate root causes—systems, incentives, power structures—not merely the symptoms.
·Allowing students to encounter discomfort, frustration, and even failure, instead of rescuing them with tidy, feel-good outcomes.
A morally ambitious education does not shield students from the world’s complexity; it equips them to engage with it honestly and persistently.
3. Teach moral courage, not just critical thinking
International schools rightly pride themselves on developing critical thinkers. Yet critical thinking without moral courage often produces clever bystanders.
Bregman reminds us that progress is driven not only by “geniuses” but by people prepared to be slightly unreasonable—to speak up, to persist, and to challenge entrenched norms.
Ask yourself:
·Do students feel psychologically safe to question or disagree with authority?
·Are they explicitly taught how to dissent respectfully yet firmly?
·Do they see adults modelling ethical courage—admitting mistakes, resisting inappropriate pressure, choosing values over convenience?
Classrooms should not only ask, “What do you think?” but also, “What will you do when acting on this conviction costs you something?”
4. Replace cynicism with constructive idealism
Many adolescents oscillate between anxiety and cynicism. They see global crises, political hypocrisy, and performative activism, and they conclude that nothing really changes.
One of the most powerful messages in Moral Ambition is that meaningful change is often driven by ordinary people who refuse to accept the status quo, not by superheroes.
International school leaders can cultivate constructive idealism by:
·Teaching historical and contemporary examples of systemic change initiated by small, persistent groups.
·Demonstrating that institutions—including schools—can evolve, and that students can contribute to that evolution.
·Avoiding the trap of performative “awareness” campaigns with no substantive action attached.
Hope, in this sense, is not naïve optimism. It is a disciplined belief allied to sustained effort.
5. Design leadership opportunities that are real, not symbolic
Student leadership programmes frequently look impressive on paper but confer little genuine authority. Titles without agency teach students that leadership is about appearance, not impact.
If you want to develop authentic changemakers:
·Give students real influence over aspects of school life—policies, schedules, sustainability practices, community partnerships.
·Allow them to experience the consequences of their decisions, including unpopular ones.
·Coach them through ethical dilemmas rather than resolving those dilemmas on their behalf.
Moral ambition grows when young people discover that leadership is not about control, but about stewardship and accountability.
6. Prepare students for long-term impact, not instant gratification
Bregman warns against the cult of short-term heroism. Real change is slow, often invisible, and rarely glamorous.
International schools can counter the “instant impact” mindset by:
·Valuing persistence and depth over novelty and speed.
·Teaching students how to work within institutions, not only how to protest against them.
·Normalising career paths that involve decades of quiet contribution rather than viral recognition.
Help students understand that moral ambition is not a phase or a project – it is a lifelong orientation.
7. Lead as though your values are always on display – because they are
Finally, remember: students are observing you far more closely than they are listening to assemblies or mission statements.
They notice:
·Whose voices are taken seriously in meetings?
·How conflict is handled.
·Whether convenience or principle prevails when pressure intensifies.
·How the least powerful members of the community are treated.
Your leadership is the curriculum.
If you lead with moral clarity, humility, and courage, you give students permission to do the same.
A final thought
International schools often describe their mission as developing “global citizens.” That phrase can become hollow unless it is anchored in moral ambition.
Global citizens are not simply mobile, multilingual, or culturally fluent. They are people who ask: Given my privileges, skills, and opportunities—what is my responsibility?
As an aspiring leader, your greatest contribution may not be a strategic plan or a new initiative, but a culture that quietly but insistently communicates: Your life can matter beyond yourself.
That is how schools change students.
And that is how students, in time, change the world.
With respect and hope,
A fellow educator
(With thanks to Rutger Bregman’s Moral Ambition for its central provocation and vocabulary.)
Amulya Malaki, Academic Coordinator, Yew Wah International Education School of Shanghai Lingang (YWIES)
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