Consistency - who needs it? Just a little rant.

One of the worst excuses for rationale, in many different contexts, that I have ever heard is "for consistency purposes."  Consistency was for industrial or military models of society.  Those days have gone. We wanted everything to be the same so that employees and products were consistent, and soldiers were compliant and knew what was expected of them. In contrast, creativity and adaptability are important skills for the future.

 In the same way, "treat everybody the same" is just as offensive to me.  We are not all the same - we are each rooted in the culture of our forebears, our genetics and our current environments.  One of the things I learned as a senior manager in a school is that every "behaviour" incident and the circumstances leading to it were different.  Listening and understanding different viewpoints and consequences are the first steps to accepting a need for reparation.

So what can we do in our schools to ensure that consistency is not a cornerstone value or justification for important decisions?  We could ensure that there are a variety of approaches to learning by using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles. This would mean a variety of engagement, representation, action and expression in learning as these are the three principles of UDL.

In the digital world, we could ensure that our learners have a variety of digital tools and devices at their disposal and that they are given choice and control (agency) about how they demonstrate their learning.

In "behaviour management", for want of a better phrase, we need to start communicating more. Expediency is often practised at the expense of rationale.  Be more open to alternatives.  Reserve judgment until we have heard all sides of a story.  This is why our justice system makes use of minimum and maximum sentences rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

Start being mindful of different values, cultures and approaches to life.  The colonial systems that we work within may not always be the best ones.  Ask, include, adapt. Don't "do to" people.  Remember the treaty.  Our nation is founded on equal status of Te Ao Maori and the crown.  We are partners, not enemies.