002 What is Excellence?
What is excellence?
Hi,
I hope you are all enjoying the penultimate Sunday of the summer break. I spent some time this week thinking about what makes people really good at what they do.
Most of us will have heard the quote
“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
— Usually ascribed to Aristotle but was actually coined in 1926 by Will Durant.
But how does it apply to teaching?
In 1989, a paper called ‘The Mundanity of Excellence - An ethnographic report on stratification and Olympic swimmers.’ looked to break down daily habits, practices and mindsets between swimmers ranging from club level to Olympic level. (A 30 min read – but approachable)
The paper came to two surprising and comforting conclusions, it explained just how ordinary excellence was. Firstly, excellence was a qualitative phenomenon. High performers focused on qualitative not quantitative improvements. Secondly, excellent performers displayed the compound effect of actions completed consistently and carefully. It is an inspiring message that ‘excellence’ isn’t an unobtainable status - anybody can be with the correct set of habits,
When I think about the best teachers I have worked with, this conclusion feels correct. Excellent teachers consistently choose to do the right things and they complete those actions thoughtfully. Like many teachers, I can get caught up in a cycle of wow lessons, following display trends and always looking for more. This year, I will focus on simplicity, making sure I am thoughtful and consistent.
Three things
One thing that I have found out – When using your kindle, you can send a quote from the book or every highlight you made to yourself.
I’ve added my favourite from this week to the bottom of the email.
One thing that may help you. – https://www.canva.com is a great website/tool that will help you to create displays, Instagram posts or anything else you choose. There is a pro version for £9.99 a month but you can probably get by with just the free part of the website.
One person I think is worth listening to. Thomas Frank. If you are interested in being more productive, there will be something useful for you here.
https://www.youtube.com/user/electrickeye91
I hope there is something of value for you here. If you have anything to add, please contact me, I’d love to hear from you.
Mr T
