The very best time to change!
When asked, "When is the best time to begin a new programme of school improvement?" most people would say Term 1, beginning with a Teacher Only day to energise everybody. That answer does sound logical, and it makes sense because everyone's got lots of energy and enthusiasm, and change is often embraced well when we are feeling our best (and the sun is shining). There is a bit of a gap in the thinking, though, because if you think about a Teacher Only day, most people are understandably quite preoccupied with:
Getting their classroom sorted
Getting their programmes up and running
Getting to know their new students
Doing the very best they can with what they have already got and what they know
Launching a fresh initiative during Term 1 often results in poor implementation or limited success due to these competing pressures; in addition, there are also the multiple interruptions associated with swimming sports, camps, and other annual events that occur during Term 1. It is common to see the actual implementation of a new initiative pushed back until Term 2, for instance. The issue here is that by then, both staff and students may have already fallen back into their familiar routines throughout Term 1, leaving us with the added burden of trying to reverse these established habits.
“People don’t resist change - they resist loss”
Although the summer holidays are a great time to recharge and refresh, they also provide a 6-week period in which many teachers forget. We may forget about the pain of many of the systems, strategies, or practices that may not have served our students or us well in the previous year. Perhaps more concerning is the tendency for us to lose sight of our own lapses in memory, inadvertently starting the upcoming academic year by falling back into some of the suboptimal routines, behaviours, and strategies that may previously have been problematic, regarding both student outcomes and teacher well-being.
Some of the most impactful work that I do with schools occurs following a review of current practice during Terms 3 and 4. Here are just a few of the advantages of taking a long, hard look at how our schools are functioning in the second half of the school year.
In Terms 3 and 4, we are all still experiencing the pain that we may well have become used to over the year, which can serve as a great motivator to do things differently in future.
Term 4 provides time in which teachers can experiment with some new strategies. In some schools I work with, we may well run a pilot with a small number of teachers to try out some of the strategies that I share with schools; then they can confidently commit to them before the new year starts.
It allows time and space to collect some baseline data. This could include the collection of student voice, particularly from students before they leave/transition, when the value of their feedback can be at its height.
It allows us to grow a mandate of enthusiasm amongst our staff before we embark on anything significant.
It leaves time to plan effectively for Terms 1 and 2 of the following year. In particular, it also creates time for us to plan for the induction of many new students into new classrooms and new relationships with new teachers.
Here are just a few of the Term 1 strategies that work well with many of the schools that I engage with. They all have one thing in common - they must be committed to, resourced, and planned for during Terms 3 and 4 so that Term 1 begins with sustainable momentum. In this way, we can harness the energy and motivation that is so visible during Term 1, amongst teachers and students.
Remove all student devices during Term 1 (typically years 9-10 in High School).
Embark on a process of teaching our students about how to learn, how to question, how to think, how to accept and give feedback, how to use rubrics effectively and how to follow instructions.
Support our teachers to focus on new routines, rotations, and relationships during Term 1 to set the scene and to set things up for effective teaching and learning throughout the year. Typically, this would involve some PLD so that our teachers are fully ready for all of the new ways of teaching and learning when it comes to the start of Term 2 (and student devices are re-introduced).
Support our teachers with PLD around the effective and creative use of AI.
Teach our students (and communities) about how our brains work and the importance of sleep hygiene and how a reduction in the amount of screen time, particularly at home, can benefit everybody.
Continue with the termly collection of student voice around how the learning to learn programme has become embedded, usually in Years 3 or 4 and above.
When these strategies are carried out concurrently,
There is a reduction in classroom screen time and an associated increase in human connection.
There is an increase in ambition and willingness to learn.
It allows much more time for our teachers to get to know their students in much more depth, in terms of data, personality, and history.
By the time Term 2 begins, our students will have had an 18-week hard break from any poor habits (learning and device usage) that they may well have become accustomed to in the previous year.
Students are much more inclined to embed the new habits of learning that we have covered in our “Learning to Learn” programme during Term 1.
Teachers are much more likely to embed the new pedagogical skills they have developed during Term 1.
Do feel free to contact us if you'd like to learn more or if you would like an audit of how teaching and learning is currently happening at your school.
Do feel free to contact us if you'd like to learn more or if you would like an audit of how teaching and learning is currently happening at your school.
