Over the past couple of weeks, I have explored the thinking behind two of our termly awards, Growth Mindset and Courage in the Learning Zone. In this post, I will touch briefly on the third, Support of Peers.

Historian Yuval Noah Harari begins his recent book, Unstoppable Us, a follow-up to his best seller Sapiens aimed at secondary school students, by sketching the first and rather unpromising steps in the evolutionary career of what would eventually become Homo sapiens.

"Our story starts millions of years ago. Back then, humans were just ordinary animals ... Other animals – giraffes, zebras, and baboons, for instance – weren't afraid of humans and didn't pay them much attention. Nobody imagined that one day humans would fly to the moon, make atom bombs, and write books, like the one you're reading now."

All that was to change 50,000 years ago, writes Harari, when humankind made a momentous discovery. It discovered its "superpower".

"What superpower did Sapiens get that allows us to rule the planet today? The answer isn’t obvious. Superman, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, and all the other comic superheroes are powerful because they’re strong, fast, and brave. But Sapiens weren’t stronger, faster, or braver than plenty of other animals. In a fight with a wolf, a crocodile, or a chimpanzee, a Sapiens would have very little chance of winning. Even an old grandma chimpanzee could beat the world boxing champion."

So, if it's not strength, speed, or courage, what is it that sets us apart? It's the ability to work together amicably towards a shared purpose.

"One human can’t defeat one chimpanzee, but a thousand humans can achieve incredible things that chimpanzees can’t even dream of. And it’s thanks to our secret superpower that we can cooperate better than any other animal. We can even cooperate with complete strangers … All the big achievements of humankind, such as flying to the moon, were the result of cooperation between hundreds of thousands of people. Eagles fly because they have wings. Humans fly because they know how to cooperate in large numbers."

There it is. Humankind's superpower is that, unique among big-brained animals, we cooperate with one another, we encourage each other in the pursuit of mutual aims, we band together to achieve in concert what defies us as individuals.

Human achievement is dependent wholly on this superpower. Individual, independent brilliance is never enough. It's teamwork that pulls us through, it's teamwork that is the hallmark of our power and success.

Supporting one's peers to bring their efforts, energy and enthusiasm to the endeavour of a collective enterprise - whether it be understanding an equation in a Maths lesson, competing in a team sport, overcoming a challenge in Deep Learning, or mastering a part in a drama performance - is a human's foremost attribute. To be a person for whom this comes naturally, is to master one of life's greatest accomplishments.