Sometimes, it only takes one team member to sink a good idea. Just one ‘Black Hatter,’ as De Bono might label them, who can see the faults, risks and problems in a big possibility can be influential enough to have us turn our backs on that opportunity. It doesn’t have to be like…
I was stacking the dishwasher when my gaze was drawn out the kitchen window and into the council reserve at the back of our home. The reserve is pretty neglected. Branches fell from trees months ago that are still to be collected by a lazy council, the grass is always too long and there’s…
A terse warning to all teachers who have habitualised a check in with students at the start of the day. Disclaimer: One of our five circle types is a Check-In Circle. I’m not against asking how kids are travelling at any particular moment. The warning is that any student who tells you every…
Just every now and then I send a Home Truths blog that isn’t so much thought-provoking content as a call-to-arms. There’s something I’d really like you to do for your school. With so many schools planning for an improved 2025 and beyond, and so many looking to meet the challenges of student engagement, culture, behaviour,…
One example of where punishments and consequences fit within a sound, contemporary restorative model is when it’s the student’s choice. After all, I’m not keen on dragging anyone through a restorative conversation against their will. A tactic I used regularly when a student had a ‘blow-up’ was to pop two choices on post-it notes…
As I ambled through a staffroom recently, I overheard a teacher tell another that Reddit was one possible site to visit for school and classroom ideas. I made a mental note to check it out. That wasn’t a great idea. I found an entire thread dedicated to me. While it’s true that I…
We usually make better decisions as school leaders and teachers when we get our mindset right. When we approach problems with a well-intentioned, but unhelpful, mindset, we often make repeated decisions that frustrate and disempower each other. Here are some examples of mindsets that betray us: Comprehension: Trying to learn every single…
Recently, I’ve spoken with a number of teachers about boys roughly in the Year 6 to 9 bracket and their behaviour towards their female teachers. There’s clearly an observable national shift amongst these boys toward more disrespectful, misogynistic and aggressive behaviour that we should all be concerned about. No female teacher deserves to be…
One of the reasons I advocate for working restoratively in schools is because it works. Another is the rigour in the research behind it in fields like social psychology and affect theory. Put simply, I find it useful to look for answers about the way young people, and old ones, are built. When I’ve…
I was chatting with an exasperated teacher called Claire recently who has every right to feel fed up. Claire’s home room class is boisterous, diverse and unpredictable. Thankfully, Claire is also very open to reflection and feedback, so she wasn’t alarmed when I challenged her bemoaning of one student, “I mean, bloody hell, all…