Understanding the Road to Success

This chapter explains what we know from research about how people get to be successful. It turns out that it is a very deliberate process, not, as had previously been assumed by many, a question of talent which will always come to the fore. This chapter looks at the four key factors in success and how each can be systematically developed in classrooms in schools. What is really encouraging in this debate is that high performance for the vast majority is attainable. Schools can make their students much more intelligent. This chapter explores the substantial evidence base for this bold statement and explains why following this evidence and rejecting old ideas about ‘potential’ and ‘ability’ is a fundamental requirement for a world-class school. This, coupled with understanding and developing in students the characteristics that really make the difference in terms of cognition, is how schools can change from schools of the past to schools of the future.