I recently shared my thoughts about student agency and how it might be enhanced simply by building good habits. In doing so, I quoted James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, who tells us that, ‘Every action we take is a vote for the person we want to become.’ Essentially then, our identity determines our habits, and our habits reinforce our identity so the two either become beautifully or dangerously entangled, depending on the habits we build. Let’s start with a dangerous entanglement. What if we don’t have a clear identity? Like Alice, would we come unstuck answering the Caterpillar’s question? What exactly would our habits be reinforcing? Imagine a 15-year-old called Sasha who attends an expensive private school. Her life is structured around a rigid timetable over which she has precious little control. During the day she shuttles dutifully from lesson to lesson, punctuated by a few short breaks. After school she has basketball practice then...