Standard Operating Procedures versus flexibility

Last week I became an associate member of our school’s senior leadership team. More on that later. During the interview, we got talking about the idea of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). A definition of which is:

The discussion started with the idea that practitioners in ‘high risk’ jobs, where deviating from the SOP may result in death, they are followed. A good example are checklists when flying an aircraft – the checklist approach ensures that vital steps aren’t missed.

SOPs are attractive to schools. For example, taking the register, greeting students, filling out a lesson planning preforma, dealing with positive and poor behaviour, the three part lesson, the mini plenary…...

The problem is, where is the room for serendipity?

My view is that SOPs and a flexible approach coexist.

I’ll give an example from when I flew Bulldog aircraft with Bristol University Air Squadron. The checklist changed and a vital step was missed from the update. A step that would result in engine failure during aerobatics and likely end in the aircraft cashing. The checklist was quickly updated, but what happened in the air? As highly trained professionals, we spotted the error and adapted.

My point? We do need SOPs in school in order to set expectations and encourage greater consistency, however as highly trained professionals, we are able to think outside the box.

Comments

High Impact, Low effort

This month is the start of the #29daysofwriting challenge. I enjoyed this last year and will be using my Staffrm account to post. I'll also be reporting here, both to give a little more detail and to keep a log of what I have written. The challenge developed a great sense of community last year, which is why I'm choosing to write on Staffrm. What I would say to those who are new to writing or don't want to run out of ideas is: Write for yourself. Clarify an idea, write something out loud. The process of distilling thoughts into writing is immensely beneficial to your practice. If other read, comment and respond, that's a bonus. Ignore the muppets who know nothing of your context, style or students. Mix it up - I like to read about real stuff from real classrooms and schools and also about other stuff. If we always write about school, how does that work for workload? If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it. So, the following has been ...

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey. As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others. Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up. I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions. From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment. From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die. How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach? Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment i...

Banned Word Board

Today I want to share some simple ideas that I have found to be very effective in the classroom. I can't say that they are my own original ideas, although I have played around with them. The first is the Banned word Board. This is a simple display in the classroom that lists a number of words that are not allowed to be used by pupils in their written or oral answers. The effect has been an increase in the quality of written work, and I have almost made comments such as 'Sir it's simple, the stuff just affects the thing and causes people problems'. Pupils are now more able to use specific language, something that is vital especially at GCSE. I have had to make a few modifications, such as the introduction of 'Heavenly Words' This is an additional display placed on the ceiling. I found this necessary as pupils needed some stimulus in finding replacement words. After advice received after posting the idea on the SLN forum , I have also introduced semi-banned words...

David Rogers

Search This Blog