My phrase is 'on auto-pilot'. This seems to me to be a major problem with overly routinising things. Both teachers & students switch onto auto-pilot. Refreshing & ringing the changes keeps students on their toes & requires thought.

I’ve seen levels of repetitiveness & lack of variety recently that were perhaps not so common in my past experiences as a teacher. As a student myself I was sometimes bored at school - weren’t we all? - but that was always tempered by teaching that was involving & sought to include me & my voice.

English teaching in particular has lost its way in the knowledge era. Learning labels and "facts" and being taught what to say instead of learning to love reading, thinking and expressing yourself.

'The evidence for the application of cognitive
science principles in everyday classroom
conditions (applied cognitive science) is
limited, with uncertainties and gaps about
the applicability of specific principles across
subjects and age ranges.'