What are the six secrets of a great school?
If you want to know more then take a look at Fallacies in Education: Why Schools Are Mired in Mediocrity by Randy K. Trani and Robert K. Irvine.
I’m not going to list all six in one blog but look at what I consider to be the number one secret and it’s actually their number five.
You need to decide what your school is going to be best at and focus on that goal like a laser.
This is good advice. Trani and Irvine remind us that too many high schools attempt to be comprehensive and do too much. They say:
this eventually means that in the end they wind up doing all things poorly. The large schools opt for an approach that can be likened to a mile wide and an inch deep rather than an inch wide and a mile deep.
Our attention is drawn to the fact that hardest part in deciding what to focus on is working out what not to focus on!
But this depends where you are in the food chain. If you are a teacher then your focus is going to be different to the SMT.
As Baeder (2012) says,
Teachers should certainly have a laser-like focus on student achievement, and principals should take responsibility for such focus at the school level.
I’m not so sure that many schools do have a laser sharp focus on one thing because they are too busy multi-tasking and trying to justify why they need to multi-task.
What’s wrong with single-tasking? Is it taboo to devote all your energy to being really good at one thing.
As Jim Rohn says, “Don’t major in minor things” and overload yourself with good intentions.
FOCUS
Follow
One
Course
Until
Successful
Image: Tom Bilyeu
As the Russian proverb tells us:
If you chase two rabbits, you will not catch either one.