No Excuses: Michaela Community School…

Background. At a 2010 conference, educator Katharine Birbalsingh stated that educational policies had become a bureaucratic culture of excuses, low standards, low quality, no discipline, and classroom chaos creating a situation that “keeps poor children poor.”  Quickly, she became a target of abuse on social media.  She and the school that employed her parted ways.  While this story could have taken place in the United States, it actually unfolded in London, England.  It was not the end, but a beginning for a new and controversial school.

In 2014, educator Katharine Birbalsingh founded and serves as principal for Michaela Community School. It is a free, secondary learning institution in the Brent borough of London.  More than half of the 700+ students are from very poor families, and a majority are children of color.

  Michaela has three primary precepts: First. There is a ‘no-excuses’ policy for bad behavior – socially and academically.  Discipline is very strict (including no mobile phones), and infractions are handled immediately with demerits or detentions.  Conversely, children are praised and rewarded for good behavior and good work.  Students are taught to be kind and respectful, to show appreciation for others, and to be active participants in their community in and out of school. They are accountable to have high expectations of themselves.  School values are reinforced throughout the day, including during lunch.

Second. Learning is aligned with Core Knowledge – the cultural literacy theory of E.D. Hirsch that emphasizes the importance of both shared background knowledge and the need for mastery in reading and writing.  Third.  Rote learning is the teaching methodology with no group work allowed.    

Based on reports from some who visit the school and videos of classes in action, students are eager, polite, responsive to teacher directions.  It appears that they benefit from structure, routine, discipline, and rules of civility that apply to all.  They seem confident and proud to be able to successfully take part in their classrooms by correctly answering teacher questions.

At this point, teachers in the U.S. are nodding their heads. They know you need order and discipline to teach successfully and to have students learn successfully.  They have been saying so for years.  

At Michaela, good behavior in an environment that is calm, safe, and predictable has produced test results that have earned scores of Outstanding in every category from Ofsted (Office of Standards in Education in England). Indeed, Michaela has been rated the best school in the country for showing the largest rate of student growth between primary and secondary testing.

Birbalsingh urges others to follow Michaela’s lead.  She exhorts parents, citizens, education officials and colleagues, everyone to have courage to stand up for good behavior, discipline that is strictly enforced, teaching that is knowledge-based, rote learning, and then applaud the student test results that follow.

 Certainly, Birbalsingh, her teachers, and students should take a bow.  They have all worked hard. Their accomplishments are real and substantial.  They are consistent year after year.  They have every reason to be proud.   

BUT.  Yes, there is a but.   

As an educator and mom, I admire Birbalsingh’s dedication and commitment to help poor children believe in themselves and their innate abilities to learn, achieve, and succeed.  I admire her courage in standing up to bureaucrats, politicians, and fellow educators who refused to admit what they all know: That chaos and out-of-control behavior are antithetical to learning and disproportionately keep poor children down.  

I agree that learning to be self-disciplined and socially empathic are foundational for success in the world.  As are the abilities to read and write.  I also agree that whether they are native born, refugees, or immigrants, children should have shared knowledge of the place they now call home.  This does not infer blind acceptance, but background knowledge that is common to the citizenry.

BUT: I would urge Birbalsingh, her teachers, and the parents of her students to show the courage they demand of others.  To be less rigid and more holistic. To want more for their student than only rote knowledge and rote responses.  She should want students to ask questions, explore different views.  She should want them to think critically, independently.  Not just play back what they hear from a teacher.  Some who have visited the school have expressed the same opinion. One noted that when he asked students about school life, they had no response, as if they had never before been asked to voice their opinions, to think for themselves.

Memorization is important for some things, but thinking for yourself is necessary for all things.  Birbalsingh know this.  It is what gave her the fortitude and wherewithal to found Michaela.  She owes her students no less.    

Michaela students – especially in 6th Form (equivalent to grades 11 and 12) should know that it is okay  to disagree and debate an issue robustly if they do so with the self-discipline and respectful manners they have acquired.  They should be allowed to work in groups, do projects, exchange ideas, and learn from and with each other.

 Birbalsingh should have the courage to trust her students and what Michaela has already taught them.   She and her team should show students how to be thoughtful, independent people who are prepared to navigate successfully beyond school walls. 

We in the United States can learn from Michaela.  We can better serve our own students (K-12 and beyond) by holding firm to “No excuses” and standing up for strong learning foundations.  Then we must go further: Expanding student horizons, nurturing their interests and talents, listening.  For the goal is to develop civilized and confident problem-solvers who have the power to take control of their lives, be productive, and find joy – for themselves and their society. 

Answer to Unpacking Education No. 29, Question of the Day:

“No excuses” for bad behavior is a pillar of Michaela Community School, which Head of School Katharine Birbalsingh founded in the London suburb of Wembley in 2014.  So, the correct answer is c) England.