Editorial by Managing Director Alexander De Beir
We may all have experienced this situation at some point in our childhood: entering the playground of your new school on September 1st with mixed feelings of stress and suspicion, but also a certain excitement.
Perhaps you didn’t think about it then, as a child, but two essential aspects would determine whether you would be happy in this new environment. On one hand, your adaptability, including the extent to which you would meet the predetermined objectives in terms of expected skills. On the other hand, your own personality, more specifically the extent to which you could be yourself, accepted and appreciated for who you are.
I’m sure that Interim Managers, when starting a new assignment, have to think about that “new school feeling” from time to time. The first aspect of this, your ability to adapt, seems fundamental to me in order to achieve the second: recognition by others for who you are.
Define yourself, without fear
Watching, listening and thinking about how you can find your way in this new environment: whether it’s about school regulations or company culture, you have to show respect first and foremost. Your adaptability and talents will then determine the extent to which you successfully achieve the intended objectives.
“If you don’t get out there and define yourself, you’ll be quickly and inaccurately defined by others.”
When I recently heard in the news (De Standaard, 26 August 2025) that some Flemish schools remain too “white” in an increasingly diverse Flanders, I immediately thought of the quote from Michelle Obama mentioned above.
Is my children’s school too “white”? Am I not “white” enough for this school? Perhaps many people, when hearing the information from this study by De Standaard, will spontaneously ask how they are defined by others, and how incorrect, inadequate or incomplete this can be. Because, frankly, although these terms are also used internationally and perhaps without ill will, I find them questionable.
White... and the rest?
Yes, I regret the chosen semantics. This study talks about segregation and self-reinforcing effects, but the choice of words seems to me to achieve the same effects here as well. The fact that “white” also refers primarily to the language that children speak at home (white = Dutch) seems somewhat unfortunate to me. And the level of income, another criterion of the “whiteness” of the school, strikes me as even more problematic.
I would like to refer to the words of Dutch professor Monique Volman (who is a full professor of education and program leader of the Educational Sciences research program of the Research Institute of Child Development and Education at the University of Amsterdam): “The use of the terms ‘black and white schools’ has a series of negative consequences: black and white labels can increase the distance between majority and minority groups” (https://didactiefonline.nl/blog/blonz/stop-met-de-termen-zwarte-en-witte-school). Professor Volman also adds that “the terms influence how we think about problems.”
Either way, as a “non-white” child, the challenge of being accepted into a “white school” will not be self-evident. It becomes a matter for the child to define themselves, preferably with terms that do matter and that facilitate acceptance by others because of their universal scope: eagerness to learn, open-mindedness, ambition, creativity, perseverance.
These are the terms that appeal to everyone, or at least should appeal to everyone. The beautiful and real story of Ali that follows further in this newsletter is the best proof of this.
This applies in both directions, by the way. “White” parents of “white” students in a “white school” should not isolate their offspring from another world, which they have to explore sooner or later (and preferably sooner than later) in order to become flourishing adults, agile and adaptable thanks to growing familiarity with the world’s reality. Here too I would like to refer to the former American first lady and her statement: “Don’t ever make decisions based on fear. Make decisions based on hope and possibility. Make decisions based on what should happen, not what shouldn’t.”
No fatalism
In my opinion, what is not sufficiently emphasized when the “white school problem” is addressed is the fundamental role that parents can play in stepping out of a certain form of fatalism or, let me be clear, victim mentality.
There is still such a thing as freedom of education in Belgium. Parents have the right to decide which school they want to send their children to, but must be prepared to show the necessary motivation and provide all the support needed from home to give their child the adaptability required to meet the school’s expectations, allowing their own personality and talent to reach full potential.
Having said that, I am aware that there are also undoubtedly psychological or material barriers that discourage parents from enrolling children in certain schools, as well as subtle diversionary tactics from schools that are afraid of damaging a certain image by attracting a more diverse audience.
But in our country at least, the strong will to let one’s own child grow in an educational, stimulating and high-quality environment, strengthened by the necessary emotional and intellectual support at home, has undoubtedly ensured that “non-white” children have become prominent politicians, news anchors, and business leaders in our country.
I admit to being anything but an expert in educational organization and I do not feel qualified to speak with sufficient knowledge of the facts about where the cause of the lack of representativeness in certain school networks lies.
Positive discrimination remains discrimination
I do read that solutions such as the government imposing the composition of a school (read: quotas) rarely offer the best solution. This can itself have totally different effects, as seen in some countries where, for example, place of residence becomes decisive, so that the “best” school districts are taken over by the highest incomes. The result is an increase in prices that will de facto exclude a large part of the population.
Talent is always brewing from within. It is up to the parents, the school and the child together to awaken and help that talent blossom.
The world of tomorrow is not getting any easier. Disadvantaging children because of their origin should never be accepted in our society, but conversely, the values that really matter should not be allowed to take second place when the quality of education decreases as a result. Striving for excellence is the only path our younger generation should follow.
As an expert in Interim Management, I meet people every day who, regardless of their origin or socio-demographic background, have managed to use their talent in the business world to take a step higher in their career with every assignment.
Successful people in the future will be those who do not wait for optimal conditions to be handed to them by society, but take matters into their own hands. A successful Interim Manager knows this all too well: he is chosen and rewarded for his talents, not for his background.
