BEHAVIOUR UNLOCKED: 2026
Overview
A weekly source of human connection, with practical strategies you can use straight away.
Some classes just click. The energy's right, the students are with you, and you can get on with the job of being a teacher.
With other classes, or on other days – same school, same students, same you – the strategies don't seem to work, and the reasons may not be obvious.
Human behaviour is complex, and it can be influenced by countless factors. But one factor underpins them all.
When students don't feel like they belong – when they don't feel seen, safe, or like any of it matters – they may disengage, act out - or, more often, quietly 'check out'.
Similarly, staff mattering is a critical factor in creating a positive culture for learning.
If belonging or mattering are live issues in your school – either for students or for staff – simple changes to your practice can help you tackle the problem at its roots, rather than dealing with the consequences.
BEHAVIOUR UNLOCKED 2026 is a low-cost, six-session online programme for educators who want to create a culture of care, consistency and belonging. It draws together two powerful strands:
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The psychology of mattering: Understanding what helps students and staff feel seen, safe and significant, and how this transforms behaviour and relationships from the inside out.
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Implementation and improvement science: Using tried-and-tested tools to diagnose the real causes of behaviour challenges and embed consistent, effective, sustainable changes to your practice.
There's no cover needed. No travel. No time out of school.
What you'll get is a weekly dose of practical, research-informed strategies, access to a friendly community of practice, and a sense of wellbeing, connection and care.
We will cover:
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Why some students switch off - and what it's actually telling you
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How to build relationships that change behaviour for good
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Simple routines that reduce friction and help regulate students and staff
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How to respond to difficult moments with calm and consistency
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What 'flexible consistency' actually looks like in real-world classrooms
You'll leave each session with concrete strategies for improving behaviour and relationships - and implementation tools designed to help you adapt the ideas to your context.
You will come away with:
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A clear, practical understanding of the psychology of mattering – and how to apply it in your context
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A toolkit of transferable strategies for creating a culture of care, consistency and belonging
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Concrete strategies for building positive relationships with all students
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A detailed implementation plan for embedding these ideas in your practice
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Renewed energy and optimism for the work
Who it's for:
This programme is suitable for all teachers, leaders, classroom assistants – regardless of experience – primary, secondary, post-16, special schools and alternative provisions. The principles of mattering and implementation science apply across all settings, although naturally they may need to be adapted for different contexts.
Details:
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Format: Six live online sessions, 4.30-5.30pm
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Dates:
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Thursday Nov 5th
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Thursday Nov 12th
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Thursday Nov 19th
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Thursday Nov 26th
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Thursday Dec 3rd
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Thursday Dec 10th
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Price: £97 per person for all six sessions, including recordings and summaries.
We'll also send you a PDF of Making Change Stick: A Practical Guide to Implementing School Improvement.
MEET YOUR FACILITATORS
Tara Elie is an educator, psychologist, coach and senior lecturer in secondary education at the University of East London. Her research focuses on teacher wellbeing and the relational conditions that enable staff and students to thrive.
Over the last 12 years, Tara has trained many thousands of teachers in over 500 schools across the UK and internationally on behaviour, culture change and wellbeing. She has coached hundreds of senior leaders in schools and colleges to build relational cultures with significant, measurable impact.
Drawing on her research into black teachers’ mattering, Tara works closely with schools across London boroughs and throughout Sussex, supporting headteachers and senior leaders to develop the psychological capacities required to drive meaningful, sustainable change.
Her work helps leadership teams embed cultures of mattering, belonging and relational trust – strengthening staff experience, improving retention, and creating the conditions for whole-school transformation.
Dr James Mannion is a teacher trainer, author and government advisor who specialises in learner effectiveness, oracy, and implementation and improvement science.
James is the author of Making Change Stick: A Practical Guide to Implementing School Improvement (2025) and Fear is the Mind Killer (2020, co-authored with Kate McAllister). He is the co-founder of Rethinking Education, a teacher training organisation dedicated to improving outcomes for children and young people through implementation and improvement science, self-regulated learning and practitioner inquiry. He has worked with thousands of schools, multi-academy trusts and government agencies in the UK and internationally, supporting leaders to design, implement and sustain meaningful, lasting improvements.
Formerly a teacher and school leader for 15 years, James holds an MA in person-centred education from the University of Sussex and a PhD in self-regulated learning from the University of Cambridge. He's an Associate at Oracy Cambridge, the Chair of the Education Policy Alliance, and the co-host (with "The Real" David Cameron) of the Rethinking Education podcast, which has had almost a million downloads to date.