Hats, Masks, Cigarettes and Food Deliveries. What's the story?

In the early days of the pandemic, it seemed that men were more reluctant to wear masks than women. Interestingly, this did not seem to resonate with what we saw at school, where gender seemed to play no such role.  But this rather brilliant and hilarious video observation on the topic feels absolutely familiar in school terms - it's about how you get people to do things they might not want to do; that's staple of schools - but also of marketing and prisons (and you can tell a lot about a school by seeing which one of these it is closer to!).  Please watch (and if the video does not show, please follow this link):

This simple reframing solution solves the problem of COVID mask compliance completely - at least for men. Try it. I guarantee it will work. pic.twitter.com/bADzsNkOaQ

— Rory Sutherland (@rorysutherland) January 3, 2021

The issue is around re-framing, or telling a different story.  Sometimes simply reframing issues correctly can help a lot;

A few years ago we wanted students to stop ordering take-out deliveries to school.  One approach was to ban them and enforce the ban (policing).   This is possible, but it would involve taking teachers from their lunch breaks (where they often help struggling or curious students) and disagreements with these students. Not an ideal approach!   A different another approach was to talk with students, and discuss the situation; explain the environmental journey we're on and ask for their help (marketing).  That's a case for reframing from a misbehaviour to a shared journey.

Issues of smoking and vaping are decades old, and we remain committed to prevent them happening on and off campus.  The evidence is that the traditional way to persuade students  - by stressing all the health issues surrounding smoking and threatening punishment  - has little effect.  In fact, these can make it edgy and increase the appeal of smoking to those students whose image is one of bravado and rebellion.  However, looking at how gullible students are targeted by Big Tobacco as vulnerable and easily influenced, as a great source of revenue is a wholly different approach. Reframing from cool rebel to corporate dupe seems to work.

All teachers know this, and learn the reframing skill as they master classroom management.   But the idea of reframing goes much deeper than this, because, as Thai-American artist S. P. Somtow says We all lead made-up lives... In the privacy of our own minds, we are all inveterate storytellers.... At any time of the day or night, we review what has happened to us and adjust our narration of it, perhaps for greater clarity, perhaps for self-justification, perhaps to deflect blame or attract credit, perhaps to better comprehend what other people have done, perhaps simply to understand ourselves better.   And it’s all storytelling.  Somtow is drawing our attention to the fact that we are constantly drawing not only on reality, but also on our own construction and interpretation of reality - which is to say, the stories we tell ourselves.  And because we base our actions on these stories, the framing and reframing is absolutely critical.

In terms of school, I have come to see the art of framing and storytelling as central ones as we think about student and adult wellbeing (avoiding the toxic tsunami, narratives of what happens) and attainment ( placebo in education, perfectionist story) and in student behavioural matters (a most judicious choice, sire).  It all rather feeds into perhaps the most exciting part of being in education, or being a parent - that the words we use, the way we frame ideas and shape narratives, really makes a difference to the ways our children perceive and engage with the world.  This is old, cross-cultural wisdom:

• Stories are a communal currency of humanity --Tahir Shah, in Arabian Nights

• Sometimes reality is too complex. Stories give it form. --Jean Luc Godard

• Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it.--Hannah Arendt

• The stories we tell literally make the world. If you want to change the world, you need to change your story. This truth applies both to individuals and institutions. --Michael Margolis

• Those who tell the stories rule the world. --Hopi American Indian proverb

Reference
Donaldson, S (2015) Epic Fantasy: Necessary Literature NYRSF