THE TALENT CODE... PASS IT ON!

I am still working on the brilliant Cutlers' 'Made in Sheffield' programme and I was re-reading the 'Talent Code', by Daniel Coyle, which covers similar ground to 'Outliers' by Malcolm Gladwell, 'Bounce' by Matthew Syed and 'Talent is Overrated' by Geoff Colvin. It draws on research to show that skills, behaviours and character traits are things that we can create, grow and nurture.

We know from the work we have been doing with the Cutlers' "Made in Sheffield' programme that 'greatness isn't born, it's grown' and that is great news for educators and a wake up call for parents and carers, schools, colleges, universities and governments.  We can build brilliant everywhere if we have the right toolkits, the right attitudes and the right people. It's not about structural change but cultural change and Daniel Coyle talks about 'deep practice', 'ignition' and 'master coaching' as his three keys to success.

Deep practice is about goal setting; chunking up tasks, repetition and learning to feel and is at the heart of the work I have been doing over the last fifteen years in York, Leeds and Sheffield. It is at the heart of The Pacific Institute's STEPS programme and was deeply ingrained in the best National Strategies programmes, like Every Child a Reader. Ignition is about passionate engagement, ownership and belief; lighting the touchpaper in learners and watching the fireworks. Master coaching lies at the heart of great learning.

The interesting thing is that brilliant learning requires all three and Daniel Coyle draws on example after example to show that we can build world class and not just in some places but consistently across the whole learning landscape. The Cutlers' "Made in Sheffield' programme provides a framework to help very school become a brilliant learning place where every child and young person can achieve to their potential.