How many of you know exactly what your daily habits are? Are you able to distinguish your ‘bad’ habits from your ‘good’ habits? What is it that you do daily that is having an impact? How quickly can you name the habits of a pupil that you have taught?
Journey v Progress
As it is with pupils, it is with us: progress takes time. The time that this takes is called a journey. As we proceed along the journey, the small milestones, good habits that we practise enable us to make progress which in turn – if we are consistent – leads to success.
As simple as it sounds, it is not easy. We all know what we need to do (just like pupils in class) but the work is within the consistency. The practise of good habits, small conscious choices, in the right direction. These steps each and every single one of them are what I believe is the success. Therefore not every journey enables progress.
Where do habits fit in?
James Clear explained in his international bestseller Atomic Habits, “Habits are the compound interest of self improvement…the effects of your habits multiply as you repeat them.” But we must not see this as a one-way belief system; equally a recurring ‘bad’ decision can form into a habit which subsequently leads to a decline in results for expected desired outcome. Choice then is power. And who holds the power? You!
“Success is the product of daily habits – not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.”
James Clear
How does this impact pupil progress?
Let’s return to the pupil: teacher/leader comparison. I am sure you can relate to this diagram.
Minimal Effort + Good Attendance* = Limited Progress
Conscious Effort + Good Attendance = Expected Progress
Consistent Conscious Effort + Excellent Attendance = Accelerated Progress
*Good Attendance (above 90% attendance)
We could add in many variables which would result in a positive impact in pupil progress.
- Parental support
- Consistent engagement with reading
- A Growth Mindset
- All of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs e.g. Self-esteem
- No ‘recent’ childhood trauma
We know that there are various factors that impact pupil progress. Have you considered the daily practices in your classroom/ school? The little things that lead to making a difference. Not the pointless habits like underlining the date and learning objective; I am talking about habits that overtime will lead to progress. For example, encouraging a child to ask questions when reading, gradually the child will learn to not only be good at inferring, they will have also developed the habit of questioning things in other contexts. They will have developed the skill of not taking things at face value, which let’s face it is an invaluable skill for life.
What about the habits of leaders?
Now let’s look at this from the perspective of a leader. (I use the term ‘leader’ here to encompass any educator: NQT, experienced teacher, middle leader, senior leader, head, executive etc.)
Minimal plan/vision (not shared) + Work at school = No Progress
Unclear vision + Work at school = Limited Progress
Conscious effort to voice vision + Work at school and at home = Progress towards goals
Consistent conscious effort to voice vision + Strategic Work at school at home = Outstanding progress
The vision you share as a teacher may be with your pupils: the vision of your lesson. For a middle leader this may be the vision of your area of leadership: how you want to develop it.
Again, we can add/remove relevant variables to accelerate the rate of progress to achieve the desired results.
- Staff on board with the vision
- Growth Mindset
- Support from coach/mentor
- Staff CPD
- Supportive team etc.
What if we now substituted Ofsted judgements as the result?
Minimal plan/vision (not shared) + Work at school = Inadequate
Unclear vision + Work at school = Requires Improvement
Conscious effort to voice vision + Work at school + Work at home = Good
Consistent conscious effort to voice vision + Strategic Work at school + Strategic Work at home = Outstanding
Reflect
Where does your school fall now? What variable or which variables would need examining, changing, developing? Where do you fit in this equation? How can YOU make the formula a success?
Some thought provoking questions for you.
What small habit will you practice this week on your journey?
How will this work in your daily routine?
Share it with us in the comments below.
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