The idea
Most days, most lessons, we want students to do something different: try harder, use a different technique, do their homework, stop shouting out. We try to make this happen by motivating students and helping them to self-regulate – but when we run out of energy and enthusiasm, we tend to turn to reward and punishment.
I think we can learn better ways to get students learning by applying behavioural science in the classroom. Motivation, encouragement and self-regulation matter. But we are more likely to succeed if we apply the evidence around the effect of nudges and making change easier, and if we help students form habits of success.
The strategies
We face five challenges in getting students learning:
- It’s hard to know what to prioritise
- Prioritise the fundamental challenge
- Help students form powerful habits
- Set goals which break big actions into small steps
- It’s hard to convince students to act
- Highlight the problem & make learning personal
- Show it’s worth the effort and make it seem like a good idea at the time
- Highlight role models and social norms
- Students may intend to act – but not
- Help students commit: pick your moment to ask
- Help students commit to action
- Students may commit to a plan – but not begin
- Make it easy to start
- Set defaults
- Practise together before asking students to act independently
- Students may start – and then stop
- Build habits
- Make it worth continuing
- Help students feel they belong
- Pre-empt failure and be ready to relaunch the change
I’ve written some case studies of how teachers could apply these ideas to solve specific challenges:
- How to get students trying hard in lessons
- How to convince students to learn
- How to start a lesson well
- How to get students to do their homework
It’s also hard to get students to stop too. We need to think about when detentions work – and about how to help students break habits.
And it’s hard to get teachers to change – or to change our own classroom practice.
The book
The book which grew from these ideas is Habits of success: getting every student learning.
It takes the evidence from behavioural science to provide a guide to getting students learning. Alongside the practical ideas, there are plenty of examples, checklists, and case studies.
You can buy it here.
