{"id":344,"date":"2015-11-28T10:46:55","date_gmt":"2015-11-28T10:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hilarymoriarty.com\/blog\/?p=344"},"modified":"2015-11-28T10:46:55","modified_gmt":"2015-11-28T10:46:55","slug":"what-a-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/j-moriarty.co.uk\/hilarymoriarty\/?p=344","title":{"rendered":"What a performance!"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a sea change happening in the world of sport and I wonder how long it will be before it arrives in schools?
\nThe new buzz word is \u2018performance\u2019. Or perhaps \u2018performance!\u2019 Schools have been in the business of improving performance since the league tables came in and have even become quite team-aware in the process. I have come across a school where the English department was forbidden to teach a tough long text for GCSE because the kids could score just as highly on a shorter, easier book and, with less reading to do, would have more time to spend on tougher subjects. That\u2019s whole-school thinking, though I would lament the loss of \u2018Pride and Prejudice\u2019 for \u2018Of Mice and Men\u2019 any day.
\n
\nSport has always \u2013 obviously \u2013 been about performance, so what has changed that it\u2019s now in the news? Well, performance seems to have come into focus, as if the sporting world \u2013 \u00a0in which medals matter for national pride and individual lives are transformed by the considerable wealth and media careers which can follow sporting success \u2013 has come to the realisation that \u2018performance\u2019 seems to have some separate existence worth nurturing. Indeed, fix \u2018performance\u2019 and you are home and dry, possibly dangling medals, lucrative sponsorship deals and a job for life TV commentating.
\nI am intrigued by the sudden burgeoning of something that I caught a glimpse of some years ago and which now seems to have \u2018arrived\u2019. If I find it trumpeted in The Times as the driving force behind \u201cmajor changes at FA\u201d, then it has definitely arrived. And it will be fascinating to see how far schools may decide to tread the same path \u2013 or run on the same track, as the case may be.
\nMy glimpse of the future was at a schools\u2019 association conference addressed by Dave Brailsford \u2013 he of the \u2018tiny change, big effect\u2019 training of the UK cycling team to unexpected success in the London Olympics. He offered a candid insight into the making of champions and champion teams. In particular, he spoke of making small changes \u2013 marginal gains \u2013 to produce much improved performance. The Olympics proved his point.
\nIt was a seductive theory, but I had my doubts. While the theory of making small, do-able adjustments to anything that could affect an athlete\u2019s performance was wonderfully logical, undeniably successful and appeared portable \u2013 \u201cWhat change can I make to 4G\u2019s Latin lessons so they all get a C in GCSE this year?\u201d \u2013 I recall the speech as also referring to the performance manager having to be ruthless. If an athlete really would not make the grade, he was out. Eviction of the weakest might well improve the Latin performance of 4G, but that\u2019s not quite what schools do, is it?
\nThe cold-blooded chasing of success for the team at whatever cost contrasts with what I believe of schools: we care about each child, about realising their potential whatever their equipment, intellectual or sporting.
\nOr do we? Actually, many a school has enshrined an elitism in sport of which they would be ashamed in academic subjects. Malcolm Gladwell pointed out the dramatic preponderance of autumn-born individuals in top teams, ascribing this to the fact that they had been the oldest, tallest, strongest in their year right from the start, so they got selected for teams, which played more often than mere classes, and got extra coaching as well. Thereafter it\u2019s a charmed path to elite team playing in school itself and whole sporting careers can follow \u2013 yes, with medals and money and all the rest. This is surely unfairness built into the system, though it\u2019s hard to see it changing soon. Watch this space, perhaps.
\nMaybe one day there will be separate \u2018leagues\u2019 in schools for summer-born teams, and fewer \u2018Kes\u2019 moments of humiliation for children who are simply younger than their peers and pay a price for it the whole of their school lives.
\n\u2018Performance\u2019 is in the news at the FA with reports of Dave Reddin<\/a>, \u201cafter his success with England rugby, playing key roles in the 2003 World Cup and with Team GB at the 2012 Olympic Games … becoming an increasingly influential figure at the Football Association, shaping the future of the national game and the national team.\u201d He has been head of performance services since 2014, before which he had never worked in football. The lesson? You don\u2019t need to be sport specific, performance is a stand-alone concept and it is portable. And if it can go from sport to sport, then maybe from sector to sector. Today sport, tomorrow schools?
\nThe Times tells us the FA\u2019s new way of working is now \u201cdominated by that word: \u2018performance\u2019\u201d. Reddin\u2019s own title will be head of team strategy and performance services, under whom the head of performance analysis and insight and head of physical performance and nutrition will \u2013 presumably \u2013 perform. Apparently, Reddin believes in so-called \u2018marginal gains\u2019. It\u2019s apparently about attention to detail, even \u2013 you will love this \u2013 \u201cmaking sure players sleep on the right type of mattresses and pillows, use the right sunscreen and even have the correct colour of contact lenses\u201d. Wow.
\nI am reminded of hearing from boarders in the school of which I was head that they had to get to school early on return day, just to find the best mattress on their corridor and swap it for the probably lumpy one on their bed. I had no idea there would be discernible differences. Did I take mattresses for granted? Absolutely. And I remember the battle over funds to renew them. I do not recall anyone in the senior management team (as it was then \u2013 \u2018leadership\u2019 came later) discussing the impact on the students\u2019 academic performance of sleepless nights on lumpy beds.
\nIn my own school days, would I have done better in maths if we hadn\u2019t been taught in a dark subterranean room known as \u2018the coffin\u2019? Or if the teacher had not bounced chalk off our heads? Indeed, I can look back on some easy targets for marginal gains.
\nAs a timetabler, did I serve all subjects well? A colleague once worked out that every subject wanted its top classes on third lesson Wednesday, please. She was a mathematician, and swore results were affected by last two lessons Friday (everyone too tired) or first thing Monday (ditto) or before lunch (too hungry to concentrate) or after lunch (too full\/tired again). She had a point, so if you want marginal gains in some subjects, consider the room and the timetable as things you could fix if you choose.
\nDon\u2019t you also love the language? It\u2019s almost a marginal gain all on its own. I would rather have a head of pastoral performance than a head of pastoral care. Indeed, adopting the terminology of \u2018performance\u2019 across the school looks rather attractive to me: head of financial performance, head of student performance, head of staff performance \u2013 yes, really. Somehow the idea of making things better lives in the very term. It\u2019s active \u2013 let\u2019s do something! Change something! Measure the impact. Change something else! Far more jazzy than being an old-school head of department.
\nTiny changes, dramatic improvement. Who could resist?
\nThis article originally appeared on the Independent Today website at http:\/\/ie-today.co.uk\/Article\/what-a-performance<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a sea change happening in the world of sport and I wonder how long it will be before it arrives in schools? The new buzz word is \u2018performance\u2019. Or perhaps \u2018performance!\u2019 Schools have been in the business of improving performance since the league tables came in and have even become quite team-aware in the\u2026 Read More »<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9,12,13],"tags":[31,38,156,199,207],"class_list":["post-344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-attain","category-education","category-ie-today","category-independent-education-today","tag-achievement","tag-attainment","tag-performance","tag-sports","tag-success"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/j-moriarty.co.uk\/hilarymoriarty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/j-moriarty.co.uk\/hilarymoriarty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/j-moriarty.co.uk\/hilarymoriarty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/j-moriarty.co.uk\/hilarymoriarty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/j-moriarty.co.uk\/hilarymoriarty\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=344"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/j-moriarty.co.uk\/hilarymoriarty\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/j-moriarty.co.uk\/hilarymoriarty\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/j-moriarty.co.uk\/hilarymoriarty\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/j-moriarty.co.uk\/hilarymoriarty\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/j-moriarty.co.uk\/hilarymoriarty\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}