How routines grow on their own

Last week, after sharing my story about taking my class outside, a reader sent me a thoughtful question. I will summarise it here: 

“How do you build routines together? Routines we all agree on seem stronger than routines imposed from above. But how do you create them without fear, pressure or threats?”

It is a beautiful question, and for me it points to something even deeper: How do you create a culture in which routines form naturally, out of involvement, meaning and mutual responsibility, instead of being enforced?

For me routines are never the starting point. In fact, the routines we talked about in the previous update are introduced as solutions to something that is not working. They are compensations, not causes.
So let us flip the question. Not, “How do I teach routines?”, but: “How do I help learners care enough that they want to develop routines on their own?”

To answer that, I return to three elements that consistently support personal development, engagement, and with that, when necessary, the natural emergence of routines from within.

The first is curiosity. The more curious you are, the more you want to achieve. And the more you want to achieve, the more naturally you become open to small routines, shortcuts and habits that help you get there faster. Curiosity does something remarkable: it makes learners organise themselves, not because they are told to, but because they do not want to lose momentum.

The second is purpose. The more personally meaningful the next hour is, the easier it becomes to prepare, to focus and to accept guidance that helps the work move forward. When a learner feels the purpose of what they are about to do, they are often open to routines that accelerate their own progress.
And let us be honest: it is difficult to create a deeply meaningful purpose in every single lesson. I remember my own mathematics hours. Sometimes the material simply did not lend itself to a perfect reason to care.
But you can build purpose across time. In a series of lessons that connect. In a challenge that builds week by week. In a learning journey with a beginning, middle and end.
Purpose can be designed.

The third is belonging. A community with strong relationships creates its own routines. Not because someone tells them to, but because they want to help each other move forward. Belonging is the soil in which routines grow socially. You do not want to slow the group down. You feel safe enough to contribute. You understand that your actions affect others.
And yes, you can build belonging inside a single classroom, but it becomes far more powerful when a whole school invests in it.

These three elements are powerful in your own lessons, but transformative at school level. Let us be honest: no teacher can create deep curiosity, clear purpose and strong belonging in every lesson. I certainly could not during many of my old mathematics hours.
But you can build them into a lesson sequence, into a project or into the weekly rhythm of learning. And they become exponentially more powerful when the whole school applies them together.

Imagine this. On Monday morning, every learner encounters something that sparks curiosity, a shared opening that makes them wonder what the week will bring. From that curiosity, each learner identifies a personal purpose, a reason why the coming days matter to them, something they want to explore, improve, investigate or create.
And throughout the week, the school makes space for belonging, structured moments where learners reconnect, share progress, ask questions, collaborate, help each other and celebrate growth.

When a school invests in this rhythm, curiosity becomes the natural beginning, purpose becomes the organising principle and belonging becomes the culture. And in that soil, routines do not need to be imposed. They grow.

If you notice a routine in your class or school that requires constant reminding to stay alive, try asking yourself: What is missing in the soil that makes this routine so hard to maintain? Curiosity? Purpose? Belonging?
And what is one small thing you can try tomorrow that helps learners want the routine, instead of needing to be told?