Teachers can exist in a place somewhat protected from outside influences. Although it may be a generalisation, a traditional path for a teacher goes something like; success as a student in the primary years translates to success at secondary school, entry to university where a teaching teaching degree is completed. Then a return to the classroom.
It is a disrespectful and general comparison but teaching has been labelled the second most private human activity. It done behind closed doors, away from the scrutiny of others and traditionally without evaluation. The closed door nature of the classroom can be a false sanctuary where little needs to change.
One of the concerning discoveries made when I worked in the Initial Teacher Education (teacher training) field was research that suggested when the pressure was on teachers often reverted to the practices learned in their twelve year apprenticeship undertaken as school students, rather than the professional training done at university! This closed loop contributes to the maintenance of the status quo in schooling.
Even within the profession practices live on way past their 'use by date'. An example is the frustrating longevity of the folklore about 'learning styles'. This is the idea we have preferred ways of learning and outcomes would improve if teaching methods match an individual's preferred style. The idea prevails despite there being no compelling evidence that learning styles exist, let alone should be considered by teachers.
At a more fundamental level the use of the term ‘grades’ to describe the cohorts we organize students in is a small but powerful example of the power of the status quo. It conjures up the idea of ‘making the grade’, or 'not making the grade', and of somehow being 'sorted' by the education factory. It is in the DNA of schooling even though we have the rhetoric about catering for the 'whole child', valuing individual differences and equitable outcomes for all students.
This is not surprising, but it is evidence of the power of our existing mindsets when thinking about reimagining schooling. How children are grouped when they enter school for the first time may be just as validly undertaken if we did it by shoe size as there age.