From One Failed Leader to Another — Boris’ Christmas Story
By: Chris D'Agorne
Tags: Teaching, Coronavirus Update, Coronavirus, UK Politics, Policy

Learning from the best

As Boris now infamously said; “’Tis the season to be jolly, but it’s also the season to be jolly careful.” Perhaps he should have heeded his own advice.

I lasted less than a year as a trainee primary school teacher. In fact, slightly less than six months. But in that time I had in the classroom, trying and failing to exercise control over a group of four- and five-year olds, I picked up a few tips on projecting authority which have stood me in good stead for parenthood and have arguably helped keep my kid on the straight and narrow. After all, it’s much easier to stick to the rulebook with one child, than 30.

Boris, regrettably, has never worked as a teacher. But he could learn a thing or two from them. It’s no mean feat to keep a classroom of kids in your thrall, especially as they begin to age up (and certainly not a feat I was ever able to master). You don’t need to be loud or large. Some of the most assertive teachers are quite small and quiet. What you do need to do, though, is stick to a few key principles. In his latest gaffe, Boris has singularly failed to adhere to the most important one:

Set clear expectations for behaviour at the start.

Don’t change them.

The clear rules must be two things:

enforceable — setting unenforceable rules undermines your authority

— setting unenforceable rules undermines your authority logical — to avoid the need for later changes — flip-flopping undermines your credibility

I’ve seen what happens when you’re trying to maintain authority over a large group without following these rules properly. Spoiler alert — it’s not pretty. Imagine if you will, a classroom full of lovable imps, getting progressively rowdier until a point is reached at which the actual teacher has to wade in to your rescue. Setting clear expectations is very important for a pretty obvious reason — if you want to enforce rules, people need to understand what they are. But changing the rules midway through is a recipe for disaster — when people can’t keep up with the rules of the game, they start questioning the legitimacy of their leader (even 4 year olds — yes, really!).

The ‘set expectations at the start of a new activity’ rule is one of the first things you learn as a trainee teacher, and something I had drilled into me particularly hard (especially as I began to flounder). For the purposes of this hot take, I will classify ‘Christmas’ as a new activity — it’s certainly a new one in the context of COVID-19. We’re a nation that takes this quasi-Christian holiday to heart, even if we don’t all take its dogma very seriously.

Set clear expectations at the start…

Well, Boris set the rules of engagement for Christmas back in early November, by telling us that; “I have no doubt people will be able to have as normal a Christmas as possible and we will be able to get things open before Christmas.”

This was his first mistake. It was reported by several major news organisations, including The Sun, as a ‘promise’ that Christmas would be on as normal. His message was clear; people may have questioned the logic, but they respected his authority to make the pronouncement. But crucially, at this stage in the lead up to Christmas, there was no clear evidence on which to base his statement (in fact, the opposite was true). It was an expectation not grounded in facts, but in hope.

Now the rules were set; people began to make plans. The nation had its guidance in place for Christmas, and much as the politicians argued the point, our leader had already set the expectations. Christmas was on.

Don’t change them…

What has begun to happen this week, with high-ranking Conservatives trying to change the guidance at the last minute is a clear example of why expectations must be based on logic, not hope.

As Home Secretary Priti Patel made clear on Radio 4’s Today programme this morning, the early guidance was premature:

“We would urge everyone to be conscientious and to make the appropriate plans and the appropriate changes to their plans as well, hence the point about having a smaller and shorter Christmas…We’re urging people not to travel. Why would you travel? If you’re in a low-tier area, why would you travel into a high-tier area?”

Unfortunately, the horse has bolted. Once clear expectations have been set, changing them will mean that your audience begins to question your authority. You see it in classrooms all the time, particularly in ‘troubled’ and ‘failing’ schools. You might even have experienced it yourself as a child. And now Boris is about to see it on a much larger and more dangerous scale. He could certainly learn a thing or two from teachers.

Chris D’Agorne is a failed teacher and moderately-successful parent (though it’s probably too early to tell), living in Somerset. His debut novel is not out yet, but it will be one day (see below). In the meantime, he’s written a thought-provoking profile of a more successful author that might be of interest: Virag Wheeler-Mezei.

If you’d like to know when my first novel gets published…