Consensus is desirable. Can we at least agree on that? I’m not so sure. One of the interesting features of the education system is the role played by concord and discord. We place high value on the former but live mainly with the latter. Think for a moment: what do we actually agree on? There … Continue reading The value of dissent

complex processes produce order and beauty when you zoom out and look at them from enough distance.Nate Silver (2012) In the 1960s, the US Navy coined the acronym KISS. It stands for Keep It Simple, Stupid. As a design principle, it takes some beating. The thing is, we are not up to the job of … Continue reading KISS

“Indiana Jones plays no role in the outcome of the story. If he weren’t in the film, it would turn out exactly the same… If he weren’t in the movie, the Nazis would still have found the Ark, taken it to the island, opened it up, and all died, just like they did.”Amy's analysis of … Continue reading The School Improvement Story

Me used to be angry young manMe hiding me head in the sandYou gave me the word, I finally heardI'm doing the best that I canLennon and McCartney, Getting Better Now, I am as prone to making simplistic statements on which to hang policy as the next school leader. I recently wrote a discussion paper … Continue reading Getting better all the time

Being certain is emotionally satisfying. Whether it is knowing an answer in a pub quiz, retrieving the name of someone you haven't seen for ages, or working out why the dishwasher has stopped working, there is a tiny release of positivity when we 'know' something. The neurologist Robert Burton calls this feeling 'the sensation of … Continue reading Causes work in teams

Problems are gritty, grounded, local. We only understand them close up, case by case. We're tempted by high level solutions when we should be getting down and dirty. The solution may lay in the idiosyncratic and pragmatic, not the intellectual.Michael Blastland, The Hidden Half (2019) I'm going to go out on a limb here and … Continue reading The School Leader as Plumber

As the anniversary of the UK's first 'lockdown' passes, many are trying to make sense of the events of the past year. For those working in schools, this period has been somewhat of a rollercoaster ride. The blogs which have emerged describe the numerous 'stages' of school functioning and how it has felt to progress … Continue reading Sense and Sense Ability

“Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?”J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows A paracosm is a detailed imaginary world, often formed in childhood, which blends the real world with imaginary places, characters, and events. Children may develop a … Continue reading The Imagined School

If we look at the history of educational reform - whether it be the introduction of a universal right to education, the dismantling of the tripartite system, or the attempt to sideline local authority control - we may view it as being driven by radical ideas and powerful interest groups, or as a consequence of … Continue reading Is the education system about to reform?

From where does a school's persona arise? And what role does the headteacher play in creating this persona? There has been much written and said about school culture - what we mean by the term, how it comes about. In this post I would like to highlight a systems perspective on this matter. Discussions around … Continue reading Culture and Context