This moment has been *12 years* in the making, which I guess makes me old. Attending an implementation science conference in 2014 which blew the top of my head clean off. Trawling the change management literature from a wide range of fields. Finding *loads* of amazing ideas. Implementing them in hundreds of schools around the world and finding out what works. Assembling them into a framework: Make a start, Make a plan, Make it happen. Publishing a book with Hachette Learning. And now - finally! - making a podcast to drop these brilliant ideas and strategies - and interviews with inspiring educators walking the walk - into the ears (and eyes) of time-pressed educators. To mark the launch, I'm running a competition. To enter: 1. Post about the pod on LinkedIn 2. Include the link: bit.ly/mcs-pod 3. Tag James Mannion And that's it!

Tickets now on sale - and they're flying out like hot cakes! Implementing Botheredness 2026 with me and @HYWEL_ROBERTS 6 online sessions after school over 6 weeks Low-cost, low-friction, high impact £97pp - bulk deals available for groups To sign up, or to find out more, visit: makingchangestick.co/impleme…

Why is education so... disembodied??? Guy Claxton hammers the point home here in a brilliant new episode of #repod “We feel, therefore we learn!” Why education needs to get embodied - with Guy Claxton and Emily Poel Full episode: rethinking-ed.org/we-feel-th…

Strict schools get results. But at what cost? According to a recent DfE National Behaviour Survey, teachers report that 7 out of every 30 minutes of class time are lost to low-level disruption. I spoke with some teachers recently who said they would settle for that. This works out at around 45 days a year. Across five years of secondary school, it's more than an entire school year. It is a vast amount of lost learning time, which obviously has a big impact on student outcomes. Student behaviour is also one of the main reasons why we have so many ex-teachers in this country. In response to this problem, some schools in recent years – especially in England, but elsewhere also – have gone down what we might call the “super-strict” route: SLANT (Sit up, Listen carefully, Ask and answer questions, Nod your head, Track the teacher), silent corridors, high-volume daily detentions for quite minor things, isolation booths, euphemistically named “reflection” or “seclusion” rooms where students often spend hours or even multiple days, suspensions, exclusions – all that stuff. On paper, the super-strict approach appears to have some merit. Some of the highest achieving schools in England have adopted what is sometimes described as a “zero tolerance” approach to student behaviour. But while this approach has many vocal supporters, it isn’t for everyone. Indeed, many students, educators and parents are deeply troubled by it – and there have been some clear examples of overreach, as we’ve seen in the press in recent months. There is another way The strict application of "consequences" is one way to get results, but it's not the only way. It is also possible to achieve calm, purposeful classrooms through creating a learning culture rooted in the psychology of mattering. Classrooms where students behave in prosocial ways because they are invested in the learning and feel respected and cared for. There are two aspects to mattering, and they apply both to students and staff. When people feel a) that they are valued, and b) that they add value, you have the foundations for a culture of prosocial behaviour and positive relationships. This is not a replacement for the use of consequences in schools. But it is a workable alternative to the super-strict approach. So that’s the ‘what’. The next question is ‘how’. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from years of studying and practising implementation science and behaviour change – and this too applies both to teachers and students – it is this: Almost nothing changes without a regular check-in – a regular, scheduled time to notice how things are going and to decide what to do about it, in relation to goals you’ve agreed to. Check in. Take action. Repeat. It’s so simple – and so effective! Behaviour Unlocked With all of this in mind, I’ve been working with Tara Elie – one of the most gifted teacher educators I've ever met – to create a low-cost, low-friction, high-impact professional learning programme. Behaviour Unlocked is designed to translate insights from the psychology of mattering into classroom routines that improve behaviour and promote learning – day in, day out. It works like this. Six weeks, one hour after school, online. We try something. We come back. We talk about how it went with people who are on the same path. We each provide – and benefit from – a warm, supportive form of accountability. Over six weeks, you’ll learn how to achieve a culture of calm, consistency and belonging through an approach that isn’t at odds with your values. And we'll give you the tools and the connections you need to keep the conversation going long after the programme ends. Behaviour Unlocked is suitable for anyone who works with children and young people – teachers, support staff, school and trust leaders – even parents and carers. It will will run across six Thursdays in November and December, 4.30-5.30pm: Nov 5, 12, 19, 26, Dec 3, 10. It's £97 per person for all six sessions. We also offer bulk deals for groups. Because these sessions are interactive, it's important that you attend every week if possible. However, if you can't make a session for some reason, we will send a recording afterwards. We'll open up ticket sales soon. Places are limited, so if you're interested, you can join the wait-list here to make sure you're at the front of the queue: makingchangestick.co/behavio…

We're doing something a bit different for Season 6 of the Rethinking Ed podcast 10 provocations - one for each month - to guide us: 1. it’s time to end the academic obsession. 2. We are measuring the wrong things. 3. The status quo won’t close the disadvantage gap. 4. Place-based politics means radical educational change. 5. There is more to human development than subject learning. 6. The timetable is the battleground. 7. Exams should be like music grades. 8. Ofsted has to go. 9. Free education shouldn’t end at 18. 10. We should have slice teams at the DfE. Here's a 30-min trailer - we record episode 1 this week. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this takes us...