Jonathan Mace is Head of Senior School at Strathallan School in Scotland, a leading independent co-educational boarding and day school. Prior to this promotion, he held the Senior Deputy Head post at the school having moved north of the border in 2022 from his Housemaster position at Cheltenham College. Jonathan, following his Economics undergraduate degree at the University of Durham, started his teacher career at St Edward’s Oxford before moving to teaching and management roles in several independent schools including Warwick, Malvern and Warminster.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with K12 Digest, Jonathan shared valuable insights into his journey and perspectives on education. Jonathan emphasized the importance of human-centered teaching and learning, believing AI should support rather than replace human relationships in education. He also shared his favorite quote, future plans, words of wisdom, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi Jonathan. How did you transition from teaching to senior leadership?
I transitioned into senior leadership in 2022 when I moved from my Housemaster role at Cheltenham College to the Senior Deputy Head & Head of Boarding position at Strathallan School in Scotland. In September 2025 I was promoted to the Head of Senior School at Strathallan.
I started my career in education rather by accident than by design when I saw an advert on the student union board at Durham University for a Graduate Assistant post at St Edwards’ Oxford. When I turned up for interview (unsure as to what the job really entailed!) they also needed someone to teach some Economics and be a resident tutor in one of the boarding houses. The rest is history as they say but since my superb and fondly remembered introduction to the world of independent education at St Edwards’ I haven’t looked back moving through a range of academic and pastoral management roles before the move into senior leadership in Scotland.
What do you love the most about your current role?
There is a real variety to my role straddling both the day-to-day running of the school and wider involvement in longer term strategic decision making as part of the school’s Executive. I have always enjoyed the unpredictability and energy of working with young people and most days present situations which need collective nuance and thought to navigate and resolve. I also really enjoy the development of the teams that I work with, particularly in terms of fostering a culture and ethos that empowers others to develop professionally and to drive forward initiatives in their respective areas of school life.
How do you see AI changing teaching/learning in schools (UK/global)?
Teaching and learning is, and will always remain at its core, human centered. To access pupils, and to allow them to flourish and discover who they really are, they need to be known and seen as individuals. AI can, and does, act as exciting adaptive and supportive facilitator to teaching and learning but it is addition to, rather than ultimately a replacement of, the human relationships that underpin truly effective teaching and learning. I often refer to the ‘double helix’ of school culture for the pupils- how the academic and intellectual journey of an individual pupil is intertwined with their sense of belonging and care that results from high quality pastoral systems. For this ‘double helix’ to be strong and prominent in a school it must be built around the human traits and nuances that AI as a wholly discrete entity cannot provide.
Do schools need more focus on mental health? How to balance?
This is not necessarily about ‘more’. Schools can invest, and put into place, all the systems and procedures that budgets allow but if a truly embedded culture of wellbeing does not pervade the school then the effectiveness of such initiatives and structures becomes limited. A ‘lived’ values-based culture, and one where each individual pupil feels that they truly belong in the environment and have an awareness and understanding of the support around them allows them to discover more readily who they are. The values-based culture at Strathallan, which pervades all areas of school life, but particularly the proactive approach to wellbeing, was one that immediately struck a chord when I first visited the school and one that I am proud to be part of.
If you could travel anywhere, where’d you go & why?
I think it would have to be somewhere that combines two of my passions- golf and wine! So, Australia/NZ, South Africa or South America- all parts of the world I would love to go to but to date haven’t had the opportunity to do so. I love adventure and exploring and if I could tie this in with a few rounds of golf and discovering some off the beaten track vineyards that would be a dream ticket!
What book/resource shaped how you lead people?
I wouldn’t say there was one specific book that has informed my leadership thinking significantly more than another. I love reading and would say that continued engagement across a range of subject areas (both fiction and non-fiction) acts both as a vehicle to relax outside of a work setting whilst also providing me with the opportunity to reflect and learn from a professional perspective. With regards to the latter, it can sometimes be the unlocking of a thought process from what would appear to be (on the surface) a completely unrelated book, genre or topic.
What is your favorite quote?
“For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” George Eliot, Middlemarch
If you could have dinner with any educator (past/present), who’d it be?
I have always been interested in the development of character and was fortunate a few years ago to complete my Masters in Character Education with the Jubilee Centre for Character and Virtue at the University of Birmingham. At the heart of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of Aristotelian Virtue Ethics and how, as educators, we can develop frameworks and approaches to foster intellectual, moral, civic and performance virtues within our school settings and the young people in our care- “we are what we repeatedly do”. To have dinner with Aristotle, particularly given the current global climate and political dynamics, would no doubt be a timely and engaging occasion, particularly in terms of the exploration of moral and character informed leadership.
Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?
I am always open-minded to opportunities, but I very much expect I will still be in school leadership and education.
Looking back on your career, what advice would you give to someone just starting out in school leadership?
Don’t rush to assume you are ready for the next step up on the leadership ladder. Learn to distil the noise to get the heart of the true reasoning or motivation behind a given situation or decision-making point. The ability to ask the right questions and actively listen to the answers given is a nuanced skill but always anchor pupils, and schools ultimately being places of education and learning, at the centre of decision making.