Over the last few Home Truths, I’ve looked at the student behaviour battle in Australian schools. This is the last in a four-week effort to unpick where we went wrong, who today’s young people are and what kind of design we’ll need for success with them. Along the trip, we’ve landed on the need for…
Over the last couple of Home Truths, I’ve examined the current student behaviour challenge in schools through several lenses. Firstly, we looked at the mistakes we’ve made in our efforts so far and then examined the composition of today’s students. But now, what do we do? Today, let’s make some progress. Let’s discuss how we…
Kids are kids. In fact, never in the history of the human race has this been less true. These days, kids are more different from the previous generation of kids than any generation since time began. And we need to get our heads around that. Last week, I wrote about our mistakes in responding to…
Many schools and school systems are looking to unlock the current challenges we’re having around student behaviour. Before we choose a course of action, I’d suggest examining how we got to this point. We don’t have this problem for no reason, and it’s worth determining where we went wrong so that we don’t make the…
An article about school bullying caught my attention this week. It was written by a vicar (for some reason) in the UK who was talking about how restorative approaches are a gift for bullies. If you’re ok, I won’t link to it as I don’t really want to popularise it. But I think you’ve got…
The composition of your Student Leadership Council might be something you’ve argued with colleagues about. I know I have. On this occasion, I had a rare win. I argued that Anthony should be on our SLC. Janis, an Assistant Principal, didn’t see it that way. She argued that Anthony wasn’t exactly the model student and…
When something goes wrong socially in your classroom, kids mentally skip to the end game. It could be bullying, conflict or a poor behavioural choice. But by the time they’re in your company, a reasonable proportion of their mental energy is spent strategising based on what they know your end game is. So, what’s your…
“We need to build a safe, inclusive and highly productive learning environment where the wellbeing of our students is maximised alongside their academic potential being thoroughly realised.” Sounds good, right? Well, not to me. To me, this sounds like an outcome that’s impossible to achieve. To me, this sounds like a recipe for failure, and…
Typically, the positive ones encourage and teach us to do more useful things for ourselves and others. Joy comes when giving a family member a birthday present; pride comes from achievement or effort. As a result, we can repeat or even habitualise these feel-good actions without the need for ongoing extrinsic motivators. But negative feelings…
Once a semester – and only once a semester – I write an email to you that’s useful in a different kind of way. It’s not an email where I make an attempt to stimulate your thinking or support your work. It’s more of an email I write because I really want you to do…