The surplus model of school improvement
As teachers we are sometimes guilty of assuming that all would be well if only children behaved better and worked harder. This is basically sound; everything would be better if kids did what was in their best interests. So why don't they? Well, in some schools they do. In some schools there are strong social norms which ensure that misbehaviour and laziness are the exception. This isn't because only children from more affluent postcodes are capable of doing the right thing, it's because schools and teachers have worked hard to make it easier to do the right thing than the wrong thing. [...]