One Hundred Percent Success. One Hundred Percent of the time.

What if I told you that the strap line was possible? You would think I'd been at the Baileys or that watched Elf one to many times....

But it is possible. I've spent some time as a teacher now and I use the word "teacher" differently to how I did when I qualified. I also use it differently to when I had my first Head of Department role.

What's in a name?

If your still with me, superd. What's in a name? Teacher? "one whose role is to instruct" All of which is a derivative of pedagog, Who would guide a child.

Now this may seem semantics, but with a raging battle ground of education, where the only real casualties are children and their future lives it seems that conveying meaning is very much an important point in case.

If instead a being the sole arbiter of learning information. If I or the "teacher" were to guide the understanding would this change the perception of success was? One that was modeled by the child's input, their inference. Would this then reposition the necessity for an "Instructor", who when newly qualified is giving a series of instructions, pased down by government that this is the "bent" of the child and their needs.

Now this meanders somewhat from the premise of 100% success 100% of the time.

If we are to reposition ourselves does a different picture present?

As a Physical Education teacher who teaches in and out of a classroom, I am able to create the world in which my pupils learn in. I can with the resources at my disposal create an environment that is open enough to:

Celebrate Agency:

Whatever we do the student can access this in a fashion they see fit. This also comes with an enshrined right to disengage. "Oh but Dan this is nonsense we would have a riot of disengaged students".

This is the "guide" element, it is not a free for all, we cant be naked in the world an expect to survive. But if we trust homogenization we will need to have compliance, and this I fear does not present the child at the center of learning.

"And that's why decision paralysis can be deadly for change — because the most familiar path is always the status quo"

Chip and Dan Heath

Collaborate for success:

With agency comes voice, with voice we can enact change. That may be subtly different in environments, in a moment environment a traditional gymnastics approach, a child can co create with the staff, they can select what success looks like to them in that given moment.

Success can begat success:

Building on the celebration of agency, supporting students to scaffold, to co create in sessions will allow relatedness between student and "teacher" (guide), We can draw students towards relatedness in meaningful way to them and then so importantly and almost to the learning process foster a desire for competence.

But that's the point of education?

Again we look at nuance. The subtle difference is that as a creator of environments, my students can then engage with it on different levels while I support their journey. Rather than dictate:

A-What success looks like

B- How to obtain success

C- The importance of outcomes over involvement.

There will be some who believe this is idealistic. But if we believe that a system that has become a political tool. That is bought and sold on TES and exam boards we will see a void between children and their needs and the needs of grades and "knowledge" to define them. Because I believe a system that does not see the ability of an education system of 100% success 100% of the time and places league tables and the pursuit of A* as the only one worth validating we will see more damage to our young people.

These steps to celebrating children in situ in the moment in the environments I create and strive to allow flexibility and individuality to flourish.

When unnecessary and excessive damage is inflicted ....a question arises as to the legitimacy of the victory that side may claim.....

James p. Carse