Collective Alignment

Hey

Bring on the weekend. But first, more on highly effective schooling…

Big idea 🍉

Coordination cost is a killer in schools. The more things we try to achieve, and the more ways we try to achieve them, the more effort gets consumed just keeping all the moving parts in sync.

This complexity has risen dramatically over recent decades. Which is why so many schools feel like they're either burning out to stand still, or slowly falling apart. The exceptions are those schools that pursue ruthless simplicity: continually pushing to do less, so they can do it better.

One way to practise this is by reducing the number of things we try to achieve. But there's another, often less appreciated lever: doing those chosen things in the same way.

Consider surgical checklists. Operating theatres standardised their protocols not because surgeons lack skill, but because when everyone follows the same sequence, errors drop and the team works faster. Each person knows exactly what comes next without having to ask. The consistency doesn't limit expertise... it frees it up.

Schools work the same way. When every teacher runs their own behaviour system, their own lesson structure, their own feedback approach, each may be perfectly reasonable in isolation. But collectively, the variety multiplies coordination cost. When staff align around shared approaches:

• Students adopt routines faster, because they meet the same expectations in every classroom.

• Social norms compound, because each class reinforces what the others are building.

• Leaders can support more effectively, because common problems are genuinely common.

The result isn't just lower coordination cost. Teachers become more effective and workload drops. It also makes onboarding far smoother... new staff have fewer ropes to learn.

We don't need to align around everything. The test is whether inconsistency between staff creates friction for students or colleagues. Behaviour expectations, lesson routines, feedback approaches... these spill across classrooms and benefit hugely from consistency.

Important: alignment only works through genuine collective agreement. When we discuss it, see its value, and shape it together, it builds commitment. Imposed through mandate and compliance, it will backfire.

🎓 For more, check out this paper on consistent routines & school-readiness.

Summary

• Ruthless simplicity isn't just about doing fewer things... it's about doing those things in the same way.

• Collective alignment reduces coordination cost, increases effectiveness, and lowers workload.

• Align on things where inconsistency creates friction for others, and only through genuine collective agreement.

Little updates 🥕

• Meta-analysis of teacher characteristics → finds that different parts of teaching require different strengths with good teaching coming from a mix of knowledge, beliefs & motivation.

• Research thinking about emotions & memory → finds that hiding emotions can make memory worse whilst reframing situations can at times help memory.

• Review of research on school readiness → highlights parental involvement as playing a key role in preparing children for school.

• Study on AI & cheating → indicates that overall cheating rates remain stable despite the widespread use of AI tools.

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