Founder researchED https://teapawt.net/t.co/oQXPjqTJ9b Behaviour advisor- UK DfE. Professor of School Behaviour, Academica Uni. Substack: https://teapawt.net/t.co/EvxAwiV4GD
UK
Joined October 2010
- Tweets242K
- Following5.6K
- Followers116K
- Likes167K
Tom Bennett OBE retweeted
‘Because they will never have to live with the consequences of their piety.’
Hard to put it much better than that.
This kind of sloppy non-argument is common. But it demonstrates an obvious naivety and unfamiliarity with actual classrooms.
Nobody is ‘aiming’ to suspend or exclude. It’s a last resort. But famously last resorts are used when nothing else is working.
And the bottom line is that schools don’t want to suspend- they want every student there, learning together. But if a student deliberately ruins the safety, dignity, or education of others, then we have a duty to the 25 other kids who aren’t calling the teacher an idiot, or disturbing the peace.
On average, students lose an hour per day because of disruption. That’s ONE YEAR per cohort. An entire year of your school life, taken from you because of the chaotic actions of others. Not responding to that is an abdication of our duty of care, and the right to an education.
People who post stuff like this are terrific at not explaining what they would do instead, when other options have been tried. Because they will never have to live with the consequences of their piety.
Tom Bennett OBE retweeted
Every year, on Remembrance Sunday, I remember my dad. Here are his medals and this extraordinary letter on the eve of DDay, he was on the crew of a tank landing craft.
This kind of sloppy non-argument is common. But it demonstrates an obvious naivety and unfamiliarity with actual classrooms.
Nobody is ‘aiming’ to suspend or exclude. It’s a last resort. But famously last resorts are used when nothing else is working.
And the bottom line is that schools don’t want to suspend- they want every student there, learning together. But if a student deliberately ruins the safety, dignity, or education of others, then we have a duty to the 25 other kids who aren’t calling the teacher an idiot, or disturbing the peace.
On average, students lose an hour per day because of disruption. That’s ONE YEAR per cohort. An entire year of your school life, taken from you because of the chaotic actions of others. Not responding to that is an abdication of our duty of care, and the right to an education.
People who post stuff like this are terrific at not explaining what they would do instead, when other options have been tried. Because they will never have to live with the consequences of their piety.
Tom Bennett OBE retweeted
As I drive more and more in the dark, and am blinded more and more by other drivers’ headlights, I think about this piece by @EdConwaySky so often
The dazzling ingenuity — and paradox — in your car’s lights
thetimes.com/article/bdb453f…
Tom Bennett OBE retweeted
.@researchED1: Building the Case for Learning Science, One Saturday a Time — my latest for @The74: the74million.org/article/res…
Tom Bennett OBE retweeted
People confident about their status don’t feel the need to advertise that status as much as people with something to prove.
I once saw Paul McCartney in a West End club where everyone was wrapped in New Bond Street finery. He wore a pair of jeans and an old t-shirt. Because he wrote Yesterday.
The Ultimate Status Flex: Countersignaling
Very successful people can often engage in counter-signaling, or doing things that look low status but don’t hurt their status the way they would for most others.
Here’s an example from the advertising executive Rory Sutherland. If you work at Pizza Hut and ride a bike to work, it’s probably because you can’t afford a car. It’s a necessity.
But if you’re a top executive and ride a bike to work, it’s a high-status activity because it’s a choice.
In the simplified model, low status is riding a bike to work. Medium status is driving an expensive car to work. High status is riding a bike to work.
You can see this with restaurant menus too.
Cheap fast food restaurant menu: “Hamburger”
Mid-tier chain restaurant: “Wood-fired sizzled USDA grade beef on our house made sesame bun”
Upscale chic restaurant: “Hamburger”
Counter-signaling, whether it’s the CEO on a bicycle or the upscale restaurant with a minimalist menu, is an expression of confidence. Of feeling secure in one’s position.
A study found that PhD students at lower-ranked universities used more complex language in their dissertation titles. Students at higher-ranked universities used simpler language. It’s as if they’re saying they have little need to impress you with a sophisticated title. They already study at an elite program and have nothing to prove.
At some universities, they reserve parking spots for Nobel Prize winners. You’re more likely to see a basic sedan or a 15-year-old beater parked there than a luxury car. “I won a Nobel prize, I don’t need to impress anyone with how expensive my car is. I’m too busy advancing the limits of our knowledge.”
Tom Bennett OBE retweeted
Concepts like 'belonging' have always been important in high quality school experiences. But it's also important to remember that belonging is a goal we obtain by multiple methods that are often overlooked: safe, predictable, public spaces; well-known routines; clear boundaries for all; professional admin and data systems; clear expectations tied to high standards; the awareness that both you, and everyone else, matters. Without these foundations, no one feels like they belong anywhere.
In this light, perceived belonging- or identifying with the school community- is a marker of school success, not a strategy itself. It is not a weary procession of boxes ticked: 'we had an assembly on belonging'; 'we have posters saying how much we care'; 'we have belonging champions in every year group.' Feeling like you belong is a hard journey for some kids who never have, anywhere. Getting them there takes a lot of time, systems, and revisiting.
I mention this because I often see, in the rush to meet a new abstract like inclusion, or high standards, or equity, schools tripping over themselves trying to meet the target and forgetting that the target isn't the strategy.
Interesting case studies from this DfE research on belonging.
What struck me:
- Good lesson routines help absent pupils belong again
- Staff belonging comes first
- Belonging is mostly a byproduct, not itself a target.
assets.publishing.service.go…
Similarly, the wisest people I know in education- like @DTWillingham @New_Old_Paul @dylanwiliam @Rokewood- both wear their learning lightly, and can convey complex ideas in clear, accessible language.
People confident about their status don’t feel the need to advertise that status as much as people with something to prove.
I once saw Paul McCartney in a West End club where everyone was wrapped in New Bond Street finery. He wore a pair of jeans and an old t-shirt. Because he wrote Yesterday.
The Ultimate Status Flex: Countersignaling
Very successful people can often engage in counter-signaling, or doing things that look low status but don’t hurt their status the way they would for most others.
Here’s an example from the advertising executive Rory Sutherland. If you work at Pizza Hut and ride a bike to work, it’s probably because you can’t afford a car. It’s a necessity.
But if you’re a top executive and ride a bike to work, it’s a high-status activity because it’s a choice.
In the simplified model, low status is riding a bike to work. Medium status is driving an expensive car to work. High status is riding a bike to work.
You can see this with restaurant menus too.
Cheap fast food restaurant menu: “Hamburger”
Mid-tier chain restaurant: “Wood-fired sizzled USDA grade beef on our house made sesame bun”
Upscale chic restaurant: “Hamburger”
Counter-signaling, whether it’s the CEO on a bicycle or the upscale restaurant with a minimalist menu, is an expression of confidence. Of feeling secure in one’s position.
A study found that PhD students at lower-ranked universities used more complex language in their dissertation titles. Students at higher-ranked universities used simpler language. It’s as if they’re saying they have little need to impress you with a sophisticated title. They already study at an elite program and have nothing to prove.
At some universities, they reserve parking spots for Nobel Prize winners. You’re more likely to see a basic sedan or a 15-year-old beater parked there than a luxury car. “I won a Nobel prize, I don’t need to impress anyone with how expensive my car is. I’m too busy advancing the limits of our knowledge.”
Crossing the Navajo Nation- an area the size of Ireland with the population of Dundee. America is very, very big.
Tom Bennett OBE retweeted
A curriculum that *doesn’t* include a non-confessional exploration of Christian thought, history and belief, is an inadequate one, especially in countries where those traditions dominate the national narrative. It should be as mandatory as teaching literacy, physics, or art.
One major purpose of education is to teach future generations to understand the world surrounding them, geographically, chronologically, and ideologically. Navigating life requires a map. That map has landmarks.
Just about to take off, and we’ve been asked to pay attention to the safety instructions. When there’s a flight attendant standing there, I find it hard/ rude not do so. When it’s just a video, I feel close to zero motivation to do so, even though I know it helps prompt recall in an emergency.
Which is why you cannot entirely remove the adult presence in the classroom. Because you don’t care what a window thinks of you. Because it doesn’t think anything.
Warning: do not flick through this carelessly when you are feeling in any way fragile due to being away from your kids. It should have a sticker.
A curriculum that *doesn’t* include a non-confessional exploration of Christian thought, history and belief, is an inadequate one, especially in countries where those traditions dominate the national narrative. It should be as mandatory as teaching literacy, physics, or art.
One major purpose of education is to teach future generations to understand the world surrounding them, geographically, chronologically, and ideologically. Navigating life requires a map. That map has landmarks.
Tom Bennett OBE retweeted
The people who are being given an autism diagnosis have changed. This is a massive study, looking at people in Sweden and the UK diagnosed with autism in adulthood. What they find, apart from a huge increase in the number of people being diagnosed (and many more women being diagnosed), is that the people themselves are different.
Previously, adults who received an autism diagnosis were more likely to have a prior history of epilepsy, intellectual disability or psychotic disorders. Now, they are more likely to have a history of anxiety, depression, ADHD or other symptoms of emotional distress.
This is in line with what clinicians have been saying for a while. Mental health problems, which were previously seen as psychological or emotional in origin, are increasingly being seen as neurodevelopmental, and therefore due to brain differences. Autism is the lens through which our culture is seeing distress.
This has serious implications, because autism is seen as untreatable and lifelong. Mental health problems such as anxiety or depression are seen as treatable. Recovery is possible. By bringing so many more people under the autistic umbrella, we tell them thatthey are wired this way. That’s a powerful explanation because it can bring relief and self-acceptance - but it can also bring hopelessness about change.
We aren’t discovering more of the original type of autism which was there all along, we have changed what autism means. The important question is, what is the impact of diagnosing so many more people, and it is helping them to better live the lives they want?
mentalhealth.bmj.com/co…
Tom Bennett OBE retweeted
Project Follow-Through: A lesson in cultivating orchids, not dandelions.
New Snow Report blog post.
share.google/Sj4j7UlsUXrp3sg…
With a nod to @ehanford