Sharing Good Practice some wasteland , like a depiction of the Somme .” Watching footage and photos of schools reopening this year behind masks , sneeze screens and bubbles , I can ’ t help but sense the gloom too .
However , as teachers we are optimists and opportunists , and , for every bleak news headline , I have seen examples of heart-warming ingenuity , as our profession has sought to rescue the emotional world of a generation , and shine a warming light on them once more , even under the constraints of remote schooling . Increasingly , I am seeing schools realise the importance of daily check-ins to make sure that no child is left out or left behind , and by far the most popular training request I have received this academic year is about the assessment and measurement of students ’ attitudes to self and school .
PASS ( Pupil Attitudes to Self and School ) is a quick and easy mechanism for identifying the needs and challenges which can be a critical obstacle to positive wellbeing and , as a result , achievement and progress too . The data from this survey enables schools to look , through multiple lenses and at different levels , at the
attitudes their students bring with them to school every day . I have helped schools from every corner of the world to understand these attitudes , and we always begin by looking at what I call the three attitudinal “ domains ”: self , study and school . I have seen a fascinating picture develop in numerous countries in which , typically , students had previously exhibited much lower Domain 1 scores than in Domain 3 , sacrificing their own wellbeing at the altar of high parental and societal expectations , natural deference to adult authority , and a shared language of learning to which their own stage of English acquisition gave them insufficient access . These students are , for the first time , showing a noticeable dip in Domain 3 , the effect of a socially distant , or physically remote , education taking its toll on what was once the area of greatest attitudinal strength .
As a result , schools are , finally , putting attitudinal interventions before everything else - reviewing and rebooting their wellbeing curriculum and coaching and mentoring students ’ attitudes to self and school , in a paradigm shift in priorities , and one which is long overdue . Many of us will have read of Hattie ’ s work on the effect of school closures due to the 2011 Christchurch earthquake , in which he concluded that “ students ' performance actually went up in the final exams ”. Therefore , evidence shows that students can easily weather the storm of lost learning , but the damage to student wellbeing , and the attitudes which will determine their learning outcomes for years to come , could , indeed , be catastrophic , if we don ’ t do something about it now . However , with the right interventions , we can rescue and reinforce those attitudes and , in so doing , enable this vulnerable generation to “ decide where it goes from here ”.
Matthew is an internationally acclaimed education consultant , and founder of # themonalisaeffect ®, a pioneering approach to personalising learning through student-level data . Matthew works with schools , and school groups , worldwide , helping them to make effective use of a ‘ triangle ’ of data to enhance wellbeing and maximise achievement and progress . To find out more , visit monalisaeffect . me , or contact Matthew at matthew @ savageeducation . com .
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