Improving attendance by making meaning
Absenteeism is a difficult issue to get a grasp of. Its causes are often complex and inscrutable.With ever increasing pressure to achieve more with less, it is tempting to think the problem can be solved by imposing tougher discipline or similar hardhitting strategies. However, where a problem is actually a symptom of systemic malaise, such over-simple solutions are most likely doomed, because they do not address the total situation, and instead reinforce an underlying degenerative cycle.
In this exemplar from Making Meaning, a new book from the award winning Chris Kington Publishing, David Hoyle demonstrates how a gentler and more subtle approach using LogoVisual Thinking (LVT) unearthed the underlying causes and enabled the problem owner to discover his own solution. Holding up a mirror made the real causes visible so that they could be addressed. In this way the whole system – including pupil, parents and school, was brought into a more wholesome state and dysfunctional behaviour was eliminated.
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Improving attendance by making meaning pdf article, published in Teaching Expertise magazine |
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“LVT will help those facing difficult challenges to think clearly so that the solutions they come up with take their organisations forward rather than standing still.” Ali Turnham, Project Director, QA Research |