With a solutions focus, we have seen that small actions can count towards solutions (see Chapter 6). It is surprising – and even exciting – when we discover that some small steps can generate big change.
It’s similar to when you’re feeling stressed and under pressure and a small, apparently trivial incident can make you flip and lose your temper. And you will no
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doubt have experienced emotional outbursts from some young people just because another looked at them the wrong way. The good news is that the principle also works in reverse: desirable changes can happen with little effort. Generating change is not about piling on more pressure, rather it can be surprisingly easy when you can identify a point of leverage. It’s knowing where and how to intervene so that a small effort can get a huge result (Joseph O’Connor and Ian McDermott 1997: 21).
It is indeed a principle that appears to work with all living ‘systems’ – whether individuals, groups, schools or even whole societies. Malcolm Gladwell (2000) calls it the ‘Tipping Point’, and he explores fascinating examples of social epidemics that appear to start with small incidents – little things that make a big difference. The fall of the Berlin Wall would be one illustration. There had been a history of political and economic reasons behind it, but the actual event was quick and dramatic (O’Connor and McDermott 1997:19).
Can we make the principle work for us in ‘tipping’ young people towards learning readiness? Fundamentally, Gladwell (2000: 257) thinks the theory of Tipping Points requires that we reframe the way we think about the world. Well, there’s been quite a bit about reframing throughout this model, particularly in relation to limiting beliefs. Then there’s also been an articulation of the values that underpin the CARE model (see Chapter 3), and they are beliefs that fit with what Malcolm Gladwell has articulated as an essential element of large-scale change:
What must underlie successful epidemics, in the end, is a bedrock belief that change is possible, that people can radically transform their behaviour or beliefs in the face of the right kind of impetus.
2000:258
I remember Anne D. telling me that the parents of a young man had written to her to thank her for the help she had given their son. Apparently his approach to schoolwork had been completely transformed. When Anne chanced upon him in a corridor sometime later she stopped to chat and to say she had been pleased to receive the letter. And she was interested, what was it that had caused the complete turn around in his attitude? The young man thought for a moment, then said ‘When you told me I had a choice’.
Thinking Space 15
There is a park near my home and the road home takes me along the edge of a large open green space. I was walking this route home one day when I only half consciously registered that someone was jogging around the opposite side of the park. As I walked along, this person jogged nearer to my side and eventually came out of the gate into the road ahead of me. I was deep in thought and it was only when I heard
‘Hello Miss’ that I looked up to see a young woman had crossed the road to speak to me. I really had to do a double take before it registered who it was. ‘Rhiannon!’ my surprise was genuine. ‘I didn’t recognize you.’
It was about a year since Rhiannon had been in my class, and she had been one of the most trying students I had ever encountered. She was overweight, rude, lacked any incentive to work and, despite my best efforts, she couldn’t even turn up to class with the basic requirements of a pen and paper, yet alone having done any study. The main problem was she really didn’t want to be there; she had only stayed on at school at the insistence of her parents.
But this young lady in front of me bore little resemblance to the Rhiannon I remembered. She was slim, tanned and fit looking, slightly panting from the effort of her jogging. I couldn’t help remarking on how well she looked. ‘I’ve been getting fit, Miss’, she explained, ‘I’ve lost 3 stone.’ Still feeling stunned at the transformation I asked what had brought it about. ‘I saw a film about the army Miss, and I thought that looked good, so I’ve applied and I’ve been training ready to join.’
We had a nice chat, I wished her well, off she jogged and I carried on walking home.
But she stayed in my thoughts a long while. I thought about how hard I had tried to motivate her, to try to stir a glimmer of interest in the subject we were studying. I even remembered that the girl sat next to her had commented one day ‘You know Miss, you really do try to help us don’t you?’ But Rhiannon had looked on blankly, oblivious to my efforts to generate a spark of interest.
Yet now she was transformed. It had only taken a film about the army to inspire her to a degree of change that I would never have thought possible. I hadn’t been able to find the leverage myself, but at least she’d found the key that re-awakened the flow for herself, and I was really pleased for her.
So tipping points can be something practical, like Rhiannon seeing a film about the army in Thinking Space 15. Or it can be something more symbolic, like the changed belief of the young man who Anne had been coaching. The most important thing as far as coaching for learning is concerned is finding what works, finding the key that will re-awaken the flow. Plainly, to do that will not always mean persevering in one direction. It may mean stopping doing what isn’t working and trying something different. It means maintaining a belief that if someone is not ready for learning, or if
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change isn’t happening, then it’s for the coach to keep adjusting to the young person until the key can be found.
When Professor Tim Brighouse gave the Wales Education Lecture in 2005, he gave us a quote from a Victorian headteacher who was reflecting on his early career teaching in the streets of Gloucester. It reminds us that however much has changed, much stays the same. The main message is undeniable: locks are different, however valuable we may think our existing approaches are, we have to keep learning and adapting ourselves to find the right ‘key’ to unlock learning readiness for different young people:
There I found the secret of St Augustine’s golden key which, though it be of gold, is useless unless it fits the wards of the lock. And I found the wards I had to fit – the minds of those little street urchins – very queer and tortuous they were too. And I had to set about cutting and chipping myself into the shape of a wooden key which would have the one merit of a key – however common it might look – the merit of unlocking the minds and opening shut chambers of the heart.
Thinking Space 16
‘In the end, Tipping Points are a reaffirmation of the potential for change and the power of intelligent action. Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push – in just the right place – it can be tipped.’
Malcolm Gladwell 2000: 259