I spotted a photo doing the rounds online of two roast chickens that presents a pretty uncomfortable metaphor for what we’re doing in schools.
Too routinely, we’re turning up the heat on kids in the name of improvement, with faster curriculum delivery, earlier benchmarks and an almost frantic urgency about readiness. The belief seems to be that if we push hard enough, early enough, we’ll get better results.
But what if we’re not accelerating learning at all? What if we’re just burning kids – and by proxy their teachers – out?
When students are pushed into academic performance before they are ready, their curiosity shrinks, their confidence becomes brittle and learning becomes performative. Over time, we don’t produce stronger learners – we produce kids who either play the game or opt out.
And then we blame them for it.
We call it getting an attitude, not trying, or bad behaviour, and we respond by tightening expectations and increasing consequences, as though the problem is will rather than readiness. Thereby we convince the student that they are the problem to be solved.
The HighScope Perry Preschool Study showed that children exposed to slower, developmentally appropriate early learning didn’t fall behind. They went on to outperform their peers across employment, relationships and wellbeing, delivering an estimated return of around $12 for every $1 invested – not because they were pushed harder, but because they were allowed to roast a little slower, as learners.
They developed the dispositions that make learning possible. Self-regulation, persistence and the ability to work with others are not soft extras; they are the conditions that make academic learning valuable.
The schools getting this right are not chasing shortcuts. They are deliberate about the conditions they create. These schools invest in their cultures, relationships and readiness with the same intensity that others apply to testing and data.
They understand that decent learning is undermined by pressure and acceleration, because it requires stronger foundations. When those foundations are in place, progress is authentically strengthened.
Be honest about what’s driving your school’s approach, because if it’s urgency and pressure, we shouldn’t be surprised when the outcomes start to resemble that first chicken.
If your school is risking burning your most delicious chickens, turn down the temperature a bit.
Keep fighting that good fight,
P.S. If the idea of “turning down the heat” and building the right conditions for learning is something your community needs to hear, feel free to reach out. I’m always up for working with other educators to help schools do this work in a more human, sustainable way. Find out more about my keynote speaking here.
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