Being comfortable isn’t always what we need.

Comfort has immense gravitational pull.

Yet, the benefits of remaining where we feel comfortable are variable. It can both stabilise and lead to stagnation. It can help us develop processes and hinder us when those very processes need adapting.

It takes a fair amount of energy to break gravity (approximately 45 million horsepower of thrust, consuming 5,000kg of fuel per second). Yet, that energy has helped us explore celestial bodies within and beyond our solar system, and revolutionised life on Earth in the process.

It is important therefore to recognise when we feel comfortable, and reflect on “whether change could be beneficial”.

If a student realises they are waiting for homework, a change to proactively setting themselves work to do at home, could be beneficial. If a student realises they are setting themselves easy work on topics they already know well, a change to assigning topics confidence scores and only setting themselves work with low confidence values, could be beneficial.

It does not mean changing for change’s sake. A good teacher could remain teaching in the school they love to teach in, for decades. However, it’s clearly important that they continually reflect on their teaching practice, to ensure they keep striving for excellence and stay on top of the latest thinking in and around their subject specialism.

There is immense reward when we step out of our comfort shelters; we are exposed to the elements, but driven on towards an exciting new horizon.