Having read this interesting piece
http://ilegal.org.uk/thread/7258/serious-flaws-governments-statistics?page=23&scrollTo=22933
I have decided that I have kept silent for too long
I have spent a year working with people who are now likely to be subjected to the 'boot camp' tactic
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/11806231/Matt-Hancock-I-want-to-put-unemployed-youngsters-through-a-jobs-boot-camp.html
Here's a few thoughts.
1. Many of the people I worked with suffered from mental health issues that no employer would touch with a bargepole, not because the people with mental health issues are bad at work or substandard in their application it is because employers will not invest in the help needed for those with specific challenges to support their employment. Also as many employers employ unnecessary and in many case brutish working conditions to drive profit at any cost that there is a great danger of a major backlash in the health of these workers. Believe me I've seen even the strongest buckle under the demands of the market economy and Victorian employment ethics.
2, I worked with a college who spent most of their time cancelling courses on me at 24 hours notice, costing me work, when so called Jobseekers were being sent to me for employability skills training. The local Job Centre involved were supposed to send people along but quite frankly they were just concerned about making sure that they could fill out paperwork to show that the actual number of jobseekers had dropped. Why ? well that's simple lower the numbers on the books or find yourself a new job yourself as we're cutting back on civil servants and those not with the programme are gone. Sounds a bit conspiracy theory ? Not so it's easy to check out how the system works, if you're a PhD in Mathematics, Physics and Philosophy. No sorry remove the philosophy because ethics are involved in that.
3. Care work - two words that have become vilified in our society because of the exposing of cruelty to vulnerable people. This is highly important because vulnerable people need protection but there is another reality and that is that the private care companies and the way they rip off the system to the tune of millions and don't really care about either the service user or the employee. Now obviously this is not all care companies but I can show you carers who are effectively working for nothing and in some cases paying to work for the care companies. They are physically and mentally drained, abused by service users and management alike and left struggling to survive. And how many times are people forced into this work by the job centres because they are unemployed. I can show you care companies who claim money from the state for calls that are neither needed or completed. And what is worse I've actually reported this to the local authorities with evidence and no investigation took place so who really cares?
The real reason why were are truly underemployed in this country is because just like the banking system had a black hole in it our labour market has the same and if enough people begin to realise this then my gosh the whole system may just collapse.
The truth is out there but do we actually want to see it because we live in a world of I'm alright Jack and screw everyone else. Oh and we'll vote for anyone who gets rid of the costs to us and lowers our taxes.
A word to the wise though - no government lowers taxes they just hide them better
Monday, 17 August 2015
Friday, 19 September 2014
The morning after
Well the deed is done the vote has taken place and the people living in Scotland decided that to stay in the Union was the better thing. On a personal note I'm glad of that. I feel more secure in these islands today than I did yesterday. This said the morning after has brought some tough questions and made me feel energised for a fight that needs fighting.
We are a proud set of nations England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and we share so much common heritage and ground. We share also many common causes but as Scotland has so eloquently shown us we are proud of our mother countries'. And so we should be for there is nothing wrong in supporting the country of your birth and wanting the best for it even if you spend most of your time living elsewhere. Which of course immediately brings me to Andy Murray. Yes he has his faults like any other human being but being proud to be British does not mean he cannot be Scottish too. He felt that the negative campaigning of the No campaign made his mind up to support the Yes campaign and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. He has a right to share his opinion and support what he sees as the right thing. Do not decry him for that ever, for that is what democracy is about. If we fail to live up to our support of democracy then what is the point?
This brings me to my second thought, Federalism.
Now that the Scottish have shown us that debate can take place it is time for real debate to take place about the way this set of nations should go forward. What is right for London may not be right for Tavistock. What is right for Glasgow may not be right for Great Yarmouth, what is right for Birmingham may not be right for Belfast and what is right for Newport may not be right for Newcastle. We have many differing regions within this United Kingdom and in a space that is so small we have more diversity than the United States in many ways. Whilst I disagree with Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon on the matter of Independence they genuinely and passionately believe that Scotland should not be controlled by Westminster. For my part so do I on the majority of things. However the biggest mistake made by Margaret Thatcher was stripping out the infrastructure of this great nation and in doing so ultimately this meant that there would be more reliance upon centralisation of Government.
The people of Cornwall know what is best for them just as the people of Manchester know what is best for them. Londonderry and Leicester have challenges that are locally understood but their responses are diminished by centralisation. People have given up on politics because of this and so we become tied into small battlegrounds.
It's time to do away with the idea that decisions cannot be made locally. We need more local control. And that local power should feed directly into the UK Government structure. Now I'm not suggesting that we go back to the old dark days of the 1980s when Militant strode across the landscape as fast as Degsy Hatton could carry it, and remember I lived in Liverpool then so I know how sickening that was. London has progressed well under it's own steam and whilst there are disagreements and arguments generally London now is better than when I moved there to live in the late 1980s. Then I look at Bristol, somewhere where I work a lot, and I despair. Why? you cry. Why? Because the independent Mayor acts like a tyrant there and there is no fundamental way of stopping him. So what we need is a total rethink. Regional assemblies for England strengthening local power, a beefing up of power for Wales and Northern Ireland but everything with the appropriate checks and balances. Whilst the US is no arbiter of the right way the Federal system there allows for all States to be part of a whole yet control power locally and please remember that California is heading towards being as populous as England give or take a few million.
And does Federalism mean we have to do away with a Monarch? Absolutely not all we need to do is reinvent the idea of what Federalism is. Does it mean we have to be closer in political ties to the EU? Absolutely not because there would still be an overriding Government that was responsible for things such as Foreign Policy, Defence, Border control, Power and Water.
If this debate in Scotland has taught us anything it has taught us that people can still be switched on to voting and come out in their droves if the subject is important to them. What we need to do is take on board this morning after what we have learned from the debate and turn it into something positive. Don't allow Westminster to slip back into the old degenerative ways, stand, be strong and start challenging people on a new way of life on these shores.
It is time for Britain to be Great again and it is time for a move into unchartered territories exploring areas of our nation that may be uncomfortable.
We are a proud set of nations England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and we share so much common heritage and ground. We share also many common causes but as Scotland has so eloquently shown us we are proud of our mother countries'. And so we should be for there is nothing wrong in supporting the country of your birth and wanting the best for it even if you spend most of your time living elsewhere. Which of course immediately brings me to Andy Murray. Yes he has his faults like any other human being but being proud to be British does not mean he cannot be Scottish too. He felt that the negative campaigning of the No campaign made his mind up to support the Yes campaign and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. He has a right to share his opinion and support what he sees as the right thing. Do not decry him for that ever, for that is what democracy is about. If we fail to live up to our support of democracy then what is the point?
This brings me to my second thought, Federalism.
Now that the Scottish have shown us that debate can take place it is time for real debate to take place about the way this set of nations should go forward. What is right for London may not be right for Tavistock. What is right for Glasgow may not be right for Great Yarmouth, what is right for Birmingham may not be right for Belfast and what is right for Newport may not be right for Newcastle. We have many differing regions within this United Kingdom and in a space that is so small we have more diversity than the United States in many ways. Whilst I disagree with Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon on the matter of Independence they genuinely and passionately believe that Scotland should not be controlled by Westminster. For my part so do I on the majority of things. However the biggest mistake made by Margaret Thatcher was stripping out the infrastructure of this great nation and in doing so ultimately this meant that there would be more reliance upon centralisation of Government.
The people of Cornwall know what is best for them just as the people of Manchester know what is best for them. Londonderry and Leicester have challenges that are locally understood but their responses are diminished by centralisation. People have given up on politics because of this and so we become tied into small battlegrounds.
It's time to do away with the idea that decisions cannot be made locally. We need more local control. And that local power should feed directly into the UK Government structure. Now I'm not suggesting that we go back to the old dark days of the 1980s when Militant strode across the landscape as fast as Degsy Hatton could carry it, and remember I lived in Liverpool then so I know how sickening that was. London has progressed well under it's own steam and whilst there are disagreements and arguments generally London now is better than when I moved there to live in the late 1980s. Then I look at Bristol, somewhere where I work a lot, and I despair. Why? you cry. Why? Because the independent Mayor acts like a tyrant there and there is no fundamental way of stopping him. So what we need is a total rethink. Regional assemblies for England strengthening local power, a beefing up of power for Wales and Northern Ireland but everything with the appropriate checks and balances. Whilst the US is no arbiter of the right way the Federal system there allows for all States to be part of a whole yet control power locally and please remember that California is heading towards being as populous as England give or take a few million.
And does Federalism mean we have to do away with a Monarch? Absolutely not all we need to do is reinvent the idea of what Federalism is. Does it mean we have to be closer in political ties to the EU? Absolutely not because there would still be an overriding Government that was responsible for things such as Foreign Policy, Defence, Border control, Power and Water.
If this debate in Scotland has taught us anything it has taught us that people can still be switched on to voting and come out in their droves if the subject is important to them. What we need to do is take on board this morning after what we have learned from the debate and turn it into something positive. Don't allow Westminster to slip back into the old degenerative ways, stand, be strong and start challenging people on a new way of life on these shores.
It is time for Britain to be Great again and it is time for a move into unchartered territories exploring areas of our nation that may be uncomfortable.
Monday, 15 September 2014
United we stand, Divided we fall
Right then what on Earth would an Englishman know about Scotland? And why should my Scottish friends take any notice of me?
Well firstly half of my family is Scottish and half of my family is Irish and just because I was born in Yorkshire does not mean that I do not care. I care passionately about the Union but I also care passionately about regional power.
The Scottish have a right to control what matters to them in terms of money, pensions, tax, education, health etc. and already have many of the powers that control these things. In fact they have more powers than most of the rest of the UK who are dictated to by Westminster but there are UK powers that should remain in tact and independence for Scotland threatens those.
What do I mean exactly?
Well let's take a look at that most beautiful of islands Cyprus.
Cyprus is strategically important in the Mediterranean which is why the UK has sovereign territory there. I don't think that I'm letting out too many state secrets about this. However Russian money has been flooding into Cyprus for many years now, first covertly and now fairly overtly (you can't swing a cat in Limassol without hitting a Russian these days) With Syria in turmoil the Russian's only ally in the Med and it's forward Naval Base are under some uncertainty. This is why there were all sorts of rumours flying around as to if Russia baled our Cyprus they would do so in return for a similar base that the British occupy. When that failed because the EU decided to produce the loans needed to stabilise their economy the Cypriot Government basically told the Russians to 'do one' did this become the reason why The Crimea became once more massively important to the Russian fleet?
Now what has this got to do with Scotland? Well let's for one second (and I know the SNP supporters will shoot this down with cries of never in a million years) imagine that Scotland is independent as of Friday. The leaders of the SNP say they can keep the pound. Well this is true they can but they will be doing it most likely without the backing of the remaining members of the UK and as such will not have a central bank to fall back on. That means Scotland would have to purchase funds and borrow on the open market and quite frankly they will not have the credit rating of AAA so it's going to cost them a lot of money. Now with all the promises made it will be spending and borrowing (or taxing to the hilt) or cutting so as to balance the books. And I think the majority of independent economists agree with this scenario. So step forward the two powers that have money to burn Russia and China. What if Scotland does go belly up as some predict what would the price of coming to rescue Scotland be? A Russian occupancy of Scapa Flow? Instead of British Nuclear weapons on the Clyde Russian ones? Instead of RAF Joint Strike Fighters at Leuchars think MiG and Tupolev. Far fetched? Maybe but not impossible as an Independent Scotland would not be able to rely on UK armed forces to protect them or UK Nuclear Missiles to deter aggression. Remember the Scottish people want rid of Trident but just have a peek at Ukraine who did have a Nuclear deterrent and gave it up. And any deal for the Scottish to keep the UK armed forces and membership of NATO would really have to include UK nuclear weapons at Faslane whatever the SNP state. Oh and please don't get me wrong here my first degree was in Nuclear Physics and my Grandfather worked on Dounraey whilst working for the Atomic Energy Authority so I hate nuclear weapons with a level of hate I only reserve for my ex-wife.
So the counter argument goes that Scotland will automatically become a member of the EU, well in that case you have to join the Euro immediately and even so there is no guarantee that Scotland would be admitted. Remember even though you're Scottish you're still viewed as British by our friends across the water and that doesn't automatically lead to good will to all Scots. And if you do then take up the Euro and oh God forbid I'll have to admit this Farage would be right you will be controlled by Brussels not Edinburgh because the UK has a power of Veto but an Independent Scotland certainly wouldn't. That means that you would have financial policy basically set by Germany. Something that another hated figure of mine brought up to much derision in the youth debate. George Galloway was absolutely right when he said if it had not been for this island standing tall together during WWII you'd be having the debate in German. What he failed to add was the unspeakable so I will that is unless you had any mental illness or were from a gypsy background or Jewish in anyway when of course you wouldn't be alive to have the debate. Now if you do have the Euro what was the point of all those Scottish people dying in World War I and II ? What your Grandparents or in some cases parents fought to preserve will be handed over at the ballot box.
Ultimately things will not stay the same financially if Scotland goes it alone and although you may initially get some windfalls like Eire did look at Eire now where the poverty there in places is more extreme than even you guy's and girls in Scotland have seen in the worst of times North of Hadrian's Wall.
Now that's the first bit of the argument.
The second bit is far more from the heart. We are an intermingled race on these islands there are very few absolutely pure lines left in the UK so we are all intermingled with English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish ancestors and that should be for nations without borders. But an Independent Scotland that is not a member of the EU would mean who is legally entitled to live in the UK and who must return to Scotland because if Scotland becomes Independent Scottish people will no longer hold a UK Passport because they will be Scottish Citizen's not UK citizen's. Sounds pathetic I know but it is a reality. You could I suppose hold dual nationality but just think about the amount of money that's going to cost. And then there's the sporting fraternity, most Scottish Sportspeople rely on entire UK funding. Why should that continue after a Yes vote? Would another Andy Murray come out of Scotland if the money from the very English LTA is not forthcoming? Or another Sir Chris Hoy? And I am so proud of what these sporting superstars have done for every child in these islands with their inspiration.
My friends from North of the Border tell me nothing would really change and that I'd still be welcome for a cuppa but the sad reality, and I'm looking at this from a socio-psychological point of view, is that things are bound to change. Put a border in place and you bring up a psychological barrier that ultimately divides people. Go and ask them in the Ukraine, in the Balkans, in the Middle East if you don't believe me. Borders mean barriers not maybe in the physical sense but certainly in the psychological one.
I love my friends from all around the world and I celebrate their differences it's what makes the human race so wonderful. Scotland already has a completely wonderful culture within a family of nations. But it is stronger with out the border not with.
I urge my friends in Scotland stay with us in the United Kingdom, fight to bring prosperity to all, fight to end poverty for all and bring care to all. Because put simply.
United we stand Divided we fall.
I urge you to Vote No on Thursday
Well firstly half of my family is Scottish and half of my family is Irish and just because I was born in Yorkshire does not mean that I do not care. I care passionately about the Union but I also care passionately about regional power.
The Scottish have a right to control what matters to them in terms of money, pensions, tax, education, health etc. and already have many of the powers that control these things. In fact they have more powers than most of the rest of the UK who are dictated to by Westminster but there are UK powers that should remain in tact and independence for Scotland threatens those.
What do I mean exactly?
Well let's take a look at that most beautiful of islands Cyprus.
Cyprus is strategically important in the Mediterranean which is why the UK has sovereign territory there. I don't think that I'm letting out too many state secrets about this. However Russian money has been flooding into Cyprus for many years now, first covertly and now fairly overtly (you can't swing a cat in Limassol without hitting a Russian these days) With Syria in turmoil the Russian's only ally in the Med and it's forward Naval Base are under some uncertainty. This is why there were all sorts of rumours flying around as to if Russia baled our Cyprus they would do so in return for a similar base that the British occupy. When that failed because the EU decided to produce the loans needed to stabilise their economy the Cypriot Government basically told the Russians to 'do one' did this become the reason why The Crimea became once more massively important to the Russian fleet?
Now what has this got to do with Scotland? Well let's for one second (and I know the SNP supporters will shoot this down with cries of never in a million years) imagine that Scotland is independent as of Friday. The leaders of the SNP say they can keep the pound. Well this is true they can but they will be doing it most likely without the backing of the remaining members of the UK and as such will not have a central bank to fall back on. That means Scotland would have to purchase funds and borrow on the open market and quite frankly they will not have the credit rating of AAA so it's going to cost them a lot of money. Now with all the promises made it will be spending and borrowing (or taxing to the hilt) or cutting so as to balance the books. And I think the majority of independent economists agree with this scenario. So step forward the two powers that have money to burn Russia and China. What if Scotland does go belly up as some predict what would the price of coming to rescue Scotland be? A Russian occupancy of Scapa Flow? Instead of British Nuclear weapons on the Clyde Russian ones? Instead of RAF Joint Strike Fighters at Leuchars think MiG and Tupolev. Far fetched? Maybe but not impossible as an Independent Scotland would not be able to rely on UK armed forces to protect them or UK Nuclear Missiles to deter aggression. Remember the Scottish people want rid of Trident but just have a peek at Ukraine who did have a Nuclear deterrent and gave it up. And any deal for the Scottish to keep the UK armed forces and membership of NATO would really have to include UK nuclear weapons at Faslane whatever the SNP state. Oh and please don't get me wrong here my first degree was in Nuclear Physics and my Grandfather worked on Dounraey whilst working for the Atomic Energy Authority so I hate nuclear weapons with a level of hate I only reserve for my ex-wife.
So the counter argument goes that Scotland will automatically become a member of the EU, well in that case you have to join the Euro immediately and even so there is no guarantee that Scotland would be admitted. Remember even though you're Scottish you're still viewed as British by our friends across the water and that doesn't automatically lead to good will to all Scots. And if you do then take up the Euro and oh God forbid I'll have to admit this Farage would be right you will be controlled by Brussels not Edinburgh because the UK has a power of Veto but an Independent Scotland certainly wouldn't. That means that you would have financial policy basically set by Germany. Something that another hated figure of mine brought up to much derision in the youth debate. George Galloway was absolutely right when he said if it had not been for this island standing tall together during WWII you'd be having the debate in German. What he failed to add was the unspeakable so I will that is unless you had any mental illness or were from a gypsy background or Jewish in anyway when of course you wouldn't be alive to have the debate. Now if you do have the Euro what was the point of all those Scottish people dying in World War I and II ? What your Grandparents or in some cases parents fought to preserve will be handed over at the ballot box.
Ultimately things will not stay the same financially if Scotland goes it alone and although you may initially get some windfalls like Eire did look at Eire now where the poverty there in places is more extreme than even you guy's and girls in Scotland have seen in the worst of times North of Hadrian's Wall.
Now that's the first bit of the argument.
The second bit is far more from the heart. We are an intermingled race on these islands there are very few absolutely pure lines left in the UK so we are all intermingled with English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish ancestors and that should be for nations without borders. But an Independent Scotland that is not a member of the EU would mean who is legally entitled to live in the UK and who must return to Scotland because if Scotland becomes Independent Scottish people will no longer hold a UK Passport because they will be Scottish Citizen's not UK citizen's. Sounds pathetic I know but it is a reality. You could I suppose hold dual nationality but just think about the amount of money that's going to cost. And then there's the sporting fraternity, most Scottish Sportspeople rely on entire UK funding. Why should that continue after a Yes vote? Would another Andy Murray come out of Scotland if the money from the very English LTA is not forthcoming? Or another Sir Chris Hoy? And I am so proud of what these sporting superstars have done for every child in these islands with their inspiration.
My friends from North of the Border tell me nothing would really change and that I'd still be welcome for a cuppa but the sad reality, and I'm looking at this from a socio-psychological point of view, is that things are bound to change. Put a border in place and you bring up a psychological barrier that ultimately divides people. Go and ask them in the Ukraine, in the Balkans, in the Middle East if you don't believe me. Borders mean barriers not maybe in the physical sense but certainly in the psychological one.
I love my friends from all around the world and I celebrate their differences it's what makes the human race so wonderful. Scotland already has a completely wonderful culture within a family of nations. But it is stronger with out the border not with.
I urge my friends in Scotland stay with us in the United Kingdom, fight to bring prosperity to all, fight to end poverty for all and bring care to all. Because put simply.
United we stand Divided we fall.
I urge you to Vote No on Thursday
Friday, 27 June 2014
A little something I wrote
Deliverance
In the depths of my despair, to the darkness of my soul
In symphony, brass band and good old rock and roll
I look up to the heavens reach for the stars
Yet truth be in reality I’m merely chasing cars
Would my charger strong and white send a guiding light
Or would it run away forever, into everlasting night?
My mind so strange, a tangled web of thoughts
I look for havens of safety in any friendly ports.
My ship sails on across the silent sea.
I beg, I scramble, I shout, I plea,
For those souls who are destined to sail on alone
Until they find peace in the place they call home
Copyright, Trace Senior June 2014
Thursday, 26 June 2014
Text books are one dimensional
Elizabeth Truss argues in today's Telegraph that teachers spend "too much time preparing lessons and not enough time teaching them"
For every lesson I teach, for every hour lecture I spend an equal amount of time preparing for that lesson or lecture. Let me quote Churchill on this
If you fail to prepare to you prepare to fail.
The Education Minister of course sings from the same hymn sheet as her boss, the master of propaganda, and in doing so will probably cause more damage to children, and co-incidentally adult learners, for generations to come. What she has failed to grasp is that it is not that teachers spend little time reading from standard texts but that they are forced by continued changes in policy to reinvent the wheel as she likes to argue.
Standard texts can be excellent teaching aids but they do not encourage 21st Century thinking and can drive us back to Victorian control of the masses? If you look at this from a Marxist point of view, and for your information I am not a Marxist, or indeed a feminist one, and I am most certainly male, then this ideal of standard text begs of control and corruption of the mind. We need a reality check here about the modern world.
I remember the first lesson I had in every subject at secondary school. Highest common factor and lowest common multiple in mathematics, the hydrological cycle in geography, the stone age in history, the rules of a laboratory in science, the ancient city of Ur in religious study, Beowulf in English, I am Jean-Paul and this is Marie-Claude in French and finally in art, what is red?
Now pretty much all of those subjects barring one used a standard text however the one that has the most profound effect upon my life has been, without understanding it at the time, the last. What is red?
What is red?
For one hour thirty four pupils sat in an art class with Mr Hickey our art teacher and not a pot of paint in sight. Not one student understood what the hell he was going on about but now I do because what he was doing was very clever indeed. In fact worthy of a true psychologist I would say.
He was doing something that no other teacher would do on that first day, in fact that first year, he was teaching us to expand our mind!
You see the Victorians had ideals. Some of these were good, especially those about striving and keeping going and inventing. However Victorian politicians were no different than modern ones. They were not interested in the betterment of society they were interested in their own self promotion and keeping people in their places. And when threat of revolution started to show in the underbelly of the working classes then the best way to stop that was to 're-educate' people. Have we heard that a few times over the years?
Education was just as much a weapon then as it is today when in the hands of politicians. It converges our thinking and gives us a factory mentality. Which in the days of the industrial revolution drove Great Britain's massive manufacturing base. Sons would follow fathers into the mines, the steel mills, the shipyards, daughters would follow mothers into the factories until it was time to produce offspring. It was control, a neatly ordered Empire run on a semi-feudal system.
Yet all that changed in the 1980s when we stopped building and started worshiping the market. With lives changing forever during those heady and desperate days the fundamental shift that took place in this country has led to a deep resentment of those who were once powerful but have seen their house pulled down from inside. It is the final destruction of the class system and yet through education policy there is this want to return to the 'good old days'.
Does it matter that the OECD are saying we're down in the league tables? Not if you look at some of the countries who are high in them. Countries where it is still about control.
Napoleon once called us a nation of shop keepers. And he was right except I would say we are a nation of entrepreneurs not shop keepers. This country has over the generations given the world some of the finest minds and greatest thinkers in all areas of learning from commerce to computers, from shipbuilding to science, from arms to arts and why?
Because somewhere an art teacher asked the question: "what is red?"
If we are to truly compete in this world in the 21st century and beyond then we do need to reinvent the wheel. We need as Sir Ken Robinson argues to become divergent in our thinking. We need to open our minds to endless possibilities. That can not be done by learning what is on page fifty three of science for the 70's alone. There has to be thought, there has to be discussion and there has to be enlightenment.
This, minister, is why I spend hours preparing my lessons and why standard texts are placed in the position they should be, a mere point of view. Critical analysis of any subject relies on the triumvirate of practice, theory and reflection. If you only have a one sided theory from a one sided text book you will only get a one sided answer.
So go write that in a textbook!
For every lesson I teach, for every hour lecture I spend an equal amount of time preparing for that lesson or lecture. Let me quote Churchill on this
If you fail to prepare to you prepare to fail.
The Education Minister of course sings from the same hymn sheet as her boss, the master of propaganda, and in doing so will probably cause more damage to children, and co-incidentally adult learners, for generations to come. What she has failed to grasp is that it is not that teachers spend little time reading from standard texts but that they are forced by continued changes in policy to reinvent the wheel as she likes to argue.
Standard texts can be excellent teaching aids but they do not encourage 21st Century thinking and can drive us back to Victorian control of the masses? If you look at this from a Marxist point of view, and for your information I am not a Marxist, or indeed a feminist one, and I am most certainly male, then this ideal of standard text begs of control and corruption of the mind. We need a reality check here about the modern world.
I remember the first lesson I had in every subject at secondary school. Highest common factor and lowest common multiple in mathematics, the hydrological cycle in geography, the stone age in history, the rules of a laboratory in science, the ancient city of Ur in religious study, Beowulf in English, I am Jean-Paul and this is Marie-Claude in French and finally in art, what is red?
Now pretty much all of those subjects barring one used a standard text however the one that has the most profound effect upon my life has been, without understanding it at the time, the last. What is red?
What is red?
For one hour thirty four pupils sat in an art class with Mr Hickey our art teacher and not a pot of paint in sight. Not one student understood what the hell he was going on about but now I do because what he was doing was very clever indeed. In fact worthy of a true psychologist I would say.
He was doing something that no other teacher would do on that first day, in fact that first year, he was teaching us to expand our mind!
You see the Victorians had ideals. Some of these were good, especially those about striving and keeping going and inventing. However Victorian politicians were no different than modern ones. They were not interested in the betterment of society they were interested in their own self promotion and keeping people in their places. And when threat of revolution started to show in the underbelly of the working classes then the best way to stop that was to 're-educate' people. Have we heard that a few times over the years?
Education was just as much a weapon then as it is today when in the hands of politicians. It converges our thinking and gives us a factory mentality. Which in the days of the industrial revolution drove Great Britain's massive manufacturing base. Sons would follow fathers into the mines, the steel mills, the shipyards, daughters would follow mothers into the factories until it was time to produce offspring. It was control, a neatly ordered Empire run on a semi-feudal system.
Yet all that changed in the 1980s when we stopped building and started worshiping the market. With lives changing forever during those heady and desperate days the fundamental shift that took place in this country has led to a deep resentment of those who were once powerful but have seen their house pulled down from inside. It is the final destruction of the class system and yet through education policy there is this want to return to the 'good old days'.
Does it matter that the OECD are saying we're down in the league tables? Not if you look at some of the countries who are high in them. Countries where it is still about control.
Napoleon once called us a nation of shop keepers. And he was right except I would say we are a nation of entrepreneurs not shop keepers. This country has over the generations given the world some of the finest minds and greatest thinkers in all areas of learning from commerce to computers, from shipbuilding to science, from arms to arts and why?
Because somewhere an art teacher asked the question: "what is red?"
If we are to truly compete in this world in the 21st century and beyond then we do need to reinvent the wheel. We need as Sir Ken Robinson argues to become divergent in our thinking. We need to open our minds to endless possibilities. That can not be done by learning what is on page fifty three of science for the 70's alone. There has to be thought, there has to be discussion and there has to be enlightenment.
This, minister, is why I spend hours preparing my lessons and why standard texts are placed in the position they should be, a mere point of view. Critical analysis of any subject relies on the triumvirate of practice, theory and reflection. If you only have a one sided theory from a one sided text book you will only get a one sided answer.
So go write that in a textbook!
Monday, 23 June 2014
Can you ever care too much?
For years I've been wondering why things are work in cycles. I think over the past few months I've worked some things out. In doing so I have come to the conclusion that I care too much.
I was once fortunate enough to spend 10 minutes alone with the great Tony Robbins, he of Shallow Hal fame for those of you who don't know who he is. In that time we chatted about life and I had just been through the most traumatic of events. At the end he said something to me that summed up my life. Live with passion!
Now I had always been a passionate person, wore my heart on my sleeve a lot, but this gave me the permission to be really passionate. So I threw myself into the most massive change programme that I had ever undergone and I reaped the benefits for many years. However in recent months I've come to discover that the passion I have for things can ultimately be your downfall for if that passion turns inwards it can be so destructive.
What do I mean?
Well if the energy that you exert outwardly towards everything that you do is forced inwardly because there are no outlets it acts like a psychological self destruct button ---- BOOM!
And that has happened to me. And like the captain of the Titanic I sailed a course that I would not change because I was passionate about reaching the prize. And like the captain of the Titanic I hit an iceberg that would ultimately lead to me sinking.
However in those cold dark waters beneath the Atlantic I had time to think and reflect. I am not a bad person who seeks destruction as some would have you believe but a good one who seeks positive change. It is how I have gone about that positive change that has led to massive assumptions about who I am and what I want by third parties. Some believe that I seek power and attention and that to get that I will destroy them. Some believe that I seek control. Some believe that I seek absolute control. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is their internal struggles and lack of self belief that drives them to think that way. However I can see how my actions in the past may have led to the paranoia. Simply put I got so passionate that I had to let everyone know I was that passionate rather than letting people find out.
I seek peace, tranquillity, higher understanding, betterment of the human psyche, love, friendship, communication, caring, travel and yet a home by the sea, activity yet quietness. I seek the best for other people and care not a jot what happens to me.
I know it all sounds corny doesn't it. It all sounds like some Utopian ideal. The truth is though that's all I want, a simple life where I can break bread and cheese on a summer afternoon and drink a glass of wine till the sun goes down and the stars come out. Where I can laugh with those I love, cry with those who are in pain and wipe away the tears of those who feel that they are broken whilst I mend them. I want to watch my grandchildren run around my feet and hear the laughter that seems so distant.
And at the end of it all can you care too much? No I don't think you can, because if you do not care then you have no soul and if you close the door on passion then you close the door on life. Just remember to keep the door open, even if only just ajar because one day, maybe not tomorrow or the next, you may find that if you don't it will all implode upon you.
Peace and Happiness everyone.
I was once fortunate enough to spend 10 minutes alone with the great Tony Robbins, he of Shallow Hal fame for those of you who don't know who he is. In that time we chatted about life and I had just been through the most traumatic of events. At the end he said something to me that summed up my life. Live with passion!
Now I had always been a passionate person, wore my heart on my sleeve a lot, but this gave me the permission to be really passionate. So I threw myself into the most massive change programme that I had ever undergone and I reaped the benefits for many years. However in recent months I've come to discover that the passion I have for things can ultimately be your downfall for if that passion turns inwards it can be so destructive.
What do I mean?
Well if the energy that you exert outwardly towards everything that you do is forced inwardly because there are no outlets it acts like a psychological self destruct button ---- BOOM!
And that has happened to me. And like the captain of the Titanic I sailed a course that I would not change because I was passionate about reaching the prize. And like the captain of the Titanic I hit an iceberg that would ultimately lead to me sinking.
However in those cold dark waters beneath the Atlantic I had time to think and reflect. I am not a bad person who seeks destruction as some would have you believe but a good one who seeks positive change. It is how I have gone about that positive change that has led to massive assumptions about who I am and what I want by third parties. Some believe that I seek power and attention and that to get that I will destroy them. Some believe that I seek control. Some believe that I seek absolute control. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is their internal struggles and lack of self belief that drives them to think that way. However I can see how my actions in the past may have led to the paranoia. Simply put I got so passionate that I had to let everyone know I was that passionate rather than letting people find out.
I seek peace, tranquillity, higher understanding, betterment of the human psyche, love, friendship, communication, caring, travel and yet a home by the sea, activity yet quietness. I seek the best for other people and care not a jot what happens to me.
I know it all sounds corny doesn't it. It all sounds like some Utopian ideal. The truth is though that's all I want, a simple life where I can break bread and cheese on a summer afternoon and drink a glass of wine till the sun goes down and the stars come out. Where I can laugh with those I love, cry with those who are in pain and wipe away the tears of those who feel that they are broken whilst I mend them. I want to watch my grandchildren run around my feet and hear the laughter that seems so distant.
And at the end of it all can you care too much? No I don't think you can, because if you do not care then you have no soul and if you close the door on passion then you close the door on life. Just remember to keep the door open, even if only just ajar because one day, maybe not tomorrow or the next, you may find that if you don't it will all implode upon you.
Peace and Happiness everyone.
Monday, 3 March 2014
Dear President Putin
Dear President Putin,
I write to you today as a father of a twelve year old son and grandfather to a one year old granddaughter. I write with a heavy heart and many concerns and worries for their future. However I write now with an even heavier heart after listening with care to all the challenges that face our world because of the situation in the Ukraine and Crimea.
I know that you are a politician, I know that you have worked hard to get where you are. You have probably done some things in your life that you are very proud of, the Sochi Games for example. Equally you have probably done some things that will never come to light that you are not so proud of. I am not here to judge you or your past for it is not my right. I am writing today to ask you as the good man I believe you to be, and I believe that fundamentally all are born good it is their acts that change that, to look at what is happening and think about the consequences.
In the 1980's I remember being at college, where I was studying science A levels, watching a really disturbing film called The War Game. You may not have seen it but you can always watch it on YouTube not that I think you will because I think you probably know all about it or have seen something similar in Russia. Many young people today will not understand what it meant to live under the shadow of Mutually Assured Destruction and even though I went on to study Nuclear Physics as a first degree at university I still wonder why we ever allowed weapons of mass destruction to ever be made.
Today I see that prospect looming again, a new cold war, a new struggle for global domination. And sir, I am frightened. I am frightened not for me, I am 49 and have had my chances in life, no I am frightened for my children and their children.
I have spent my whole life trying to preserve life, save life and better life for those around us who have less. I am probably the world's craziest socialist capitalist that has ever existed but as I have grown older I reason that we do not improve our world by the bullet but by the word and the thought.
I saw the faces of the soldiers on the television both Ukrainian and Russian and I saw real fear in their eyes. As a psychologist I worry that the pressure they are under may lead to mistakes being made that could cycle out of control. I worry that the pressure all world leaders are under at the moment may lead to mistakes being made.
I am not so silly as to listen to propaganda from either side. I am someone who will study and reflect. I have never believed Russians are the enemy nor believe that the average Russian believes that Western peoples are their enemy. All peoples of this world are equal, we all breathe air and we all bleed the same colour and fundamentally we all share the same planet. There are rich and poor in both our countries and many people from both share common loves such as sport or theatre or science. We have our disagreements but that is the nature of human beings. That doesn't mean we should resort to war.
I understand that there are native Russians in the Crimea, I understand that there is a need to ensure their safety but I do not want to see a war come about because of this. And I don't really think that you do either. I am not a diplomat, in fact my mouth often gets me into trouble, but I am someone who deeply loves his children and believes passionately about the world we live in.
I have a dream, just like Dr King did, that one day all men and women will be equal and that their children will play together in friendship and cooperation where differences are talked through and violence is a thing of the past. Call me a fool but are we not supposed to be civilised and isn't this the way in which we mark a civilisation, debate and democracy.
I ask you in this open letter, which I sadly doubt that you will read or even gain knowledge of, let alone reply to, to talk to your friends in the Ukraine. Talk to your friends in the West and the East, talk to those who you would seek to undermine the interests of your people, talk to those who are on the streets those who are poor and those who are scared for their children. Seek peace I beg of you, seek diplomacy for it is the right thing to do. Be the bigger man and say 'you know I can wipe you out if I chose to but I'd rather be your partner and make everyone a better life'
Yesterday I watched as my older son left to undergo his officer selection for the Royal Navy as an engineer and it made me very proud. He his the most gorgeous gentle soul and I know that joining the armed forces would seem like the opposite of that but the technology that the war machine brought can go a long way to helping humanitarian causes too. By all means protect your families but do so in a humanitarian way. Work for peace I ask of you not for war. For in war everyone loses and if this escalates to the point of superpower versus superpower all that will happen is that there will come a point that even the Generals in their bunkers will have nothing left to come out to.
Yours with a heavy heart and a picture of those whom I spoke of and love.
Trace Senior
I write to you today as a father of a twelve year old son and grandfather to a one year old granddaughter. I write with a heavy heart and many concerns and worries for their future. However I write now with an even heavier heart after listening with care to all the challenges that face our world because of the situation in the Ukraine and Crimea.
I know that you are a politician, I know that you have worked hard to get where you are. You have probably done some things in your life that you are very proud of, the Sochi Games for example. Equally you have probably done some things that will never come to light that you are not so proud of. I am not here to judge you or your past for it is not my right. I am writing today to ask you as the good man I believe you to be, and I believe that fundamentally all are born good it is their acts that change that, to look at what is happening and think about the consequences.
In the 1980's I remember being at college, where I was studying science A levels, watching a really disturbing film called The War Game. You may not have seen it but you can always watch it on YouTube not that I think you will because I think you probably know all about it or have seen something similar in Russia. Many young people today will not understand what it meant to live under the shadow of Mutually Assured Destruction and even though I went on to study Nuclear Physics as a first degree at university I still wonder why we ever allowed weapons of mass destruction to ever be made.
Today I see that prospect looming again, a new cold war, a new struggle for global domination. And sir, I am frightened. I am frightened not for me, I am 49 and have had my chances in life, no I am frightened for my children and their children.
I have spent my whole life trying to preserve life, save life and better life for those around us who have less. I am probably the world's craziest socialist capitalist that has ever existed but as I have grown older I reason that we do not improve our world by the bullet but by the word and the thought.
I saw the faces of the soldiers on the television both Ukrainian and Russian and I saw real fear in their eyes. As a psychologist I worry that the pressure they are under may lead to mistakes being made that could cycle out of control. I worry that the pressure all world leaders are under at the moment may lead to mistakes being made.
I am not so silly as to listen to propaganda from either side. I am someone who will study and reflect. I have never believed Russians are the enemy nor believe that the average Russian believes that Western peoples are their enemy. All peoples of this world are equal, we all breathe air and we all bleed the same colour and fundamentally we all share the same planet. There are rich and poor in both our countries and many people from both share common loves such as sport or theatre or science. We have our disagreements but that is the nature of human beings. That doesn't mean we should resort to war.
I understand that there are native Russians in the Crimea, I understand that there is a need to ensure their safety but I do not want to see a war come about because of this. And I don't really think that you do either. I am not a diplomat, in fact my mouth often gets me into trouble, but I am someone who deeply loves his children and believes passionately about the world we live in.
I have a dream, just like Dr King did, that one day all men and women will be equal and that their children will play together in friendship and cooperation where differences are talked through and violence is a thing of the past. Call me a fool but are we not supposed to be civilised and isn't this the way in which we mark a civilisation, debate and democracy.
I ask you in this open letter, which I sadly doubt that you will read or even gain knowledge of, let alone reply to, to talk to your friends in the Ukraine. Talk to your friends in the West and the East, talk to those who you would seek to undermine the interests of your people, talk to those who are on the streets those who are poor and those who are scared for their children. Seek peace I beg of you, seek diplomacy for it is the right thing to do. Be the bigger man and say 'you know I can wipe you out if I chose to but I'd rather be your partner and make everyone a better life'
Yesterday I watched as my older son left to undergo his officer selection for the Royal Navy as an engineer and it made me very proud. He his the most gorgeous gentle soul and I know that joining the armed forces would seem like the opposite of that but the technology that the war machine brought can go a long way to helping humanitarian causes too. By all means protect your families but do so in a humanitarian way. Work for peace I ask of you not for war. For in war everyone loses and if this escalates to the point of superpower versus superpower all that will happen is that there will come a point that even the Generals in their bunkers will have nothing left to come out to.
Yours with a heavy heart and a picture of those whom I spoke of and love.
Trace Senior
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
Not now not ever in my name!
The death of Lee Rigby is the most horrific disturbing thing to have happened on the streets of Britain since the Yorkshire Ripper walked them when I was a young man.
It is right that his killers go to jail for effectively life. It is right that they are kept away from our society. I do not believe that they should have the opportunity to commit such heinous crimes again.
However I also do not believe that they should, as the far right demand, be put to death.
Even more worrying was the call of the mother of Andrew Young for the killer of her son to be put to death for a single punch that caused the 40 year old Aspergers sufferer to fall to the ground and crack his skull.
Now this may not make me popular but I would like people to take some time to reflect. Here is a piece I wrote on the Death Penalty a while ago.
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4428684397426764882#editor/target=post;postID=6995367744814505316;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=88;src=postname
I stand by these thoughts today as I did then even though I am deeply saddened by both of these deaths and sympathise with the families of those who have been lost.
Yet the argument still remains. You do not stop murder by threat of execution. It would not have prevented Lee Rigby's death nor would it have prevented Dunblane or Lockerbie or 9/11 or 7/7. We have to seek the root of these issues that would make one person wish to commit such crimes. That root is in the way our society works and that society is becoming more dichotomous and disintegrated as every day passes.
We have to prevent the radicalisation of young men and women at source. We all have a responsibility in the death of anyone who is killed unlawfully as we spend much of our time just accepting I'm alright Jack. Our world is more insular and self serving now than it has ever been. This relates to those at the highest level of our society and the lowest too.
Power, money, religion are all opiates of the people. We are hooked on looking after number one and have forgotten basic humanity. We are no better than Piggy in Lord of the Flies.
I beg of you, in the name of that is good in our world, look to the future with positive eyes, look to the future with a view to making our world better. Do not seek revenge for revenge's sake but take what we have learned and use that as a powerful tool to change the future for the better. Do not become radicalised and look to your neighbour as being your brother or sister. Seek peace in your heart and peace for humankind. Look after your neighbour do not persecute them for they are different. Help them to be better, to be kinder, to have more love.
It is right that his killers go to jail for effectively life. It is right that they are kept away from our society. I do not believe that they should have the opportunity to commit such heinous crimes again.
However I also do not believe that they should, as the far right demand, be put to death.
Even more worrying was the call of the mother of Andrew Young for the killer of her son to be put to death for a single punch that caused the 40 year old Aspergers sufferer to fall to the ground and crack his skull.
Now this may not make me popular but I would like people to take some time to reflect. Here is a piece I wrote on the Death Penalty a while ago.
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=4428684397426764882#editor/target=post;postID=6995367744814505316;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=88;src=postname
I stand by these thoughts today as I did then even though I am deeply saddened by both of these deaths and sympathise with the families of those who have been lost.
Yet the argument still remains. You do not stop murder by threat of execution. It would not have prevented Lee Rigby's death nor would it have prevented Dunblane or Lockerbie or 9/11 or 7/7. We have to seek the root of these issues that would make one person wish to commit such crimes. That root is in the way our society works and that society is becoming more dichotomous and disintegrated as every day passes.
We have to prevent the radicalisation of young men and women at source. We all have a responsibility in the death of anyone who is killed unlawfully as we spend much of our time just accepting I'm alright Jack. Our world is more insular and self serving now than it has ever been. This relates to those at the highest level of our society and the lowest too.
Power, money, religion are all opiates of the people. We are hooked on looking after number one and have forgotten basic humanity. We are no better than Piggy in Lord of the Flies.
I beg of you, in the name of that is good in our world, look to the future with positive eyes, look to the future with a view to making our world better. Do not seek revenge for revenge's sake but take what we have learned and use that as a powerful tool to change the future for the better. Do not become radicalised and look to your neighbour as being your brother or sister. Seek peace in your heart and peace for humankind. Look after your neighbour do not persecute them for they are different. Help them to be better, to be kinder, to have more love.
Thursday, 6 February 2014
Herr Govebbels strikes again
Now some of my readers may feel uncomfortable about my constant attacks on Michael Gove especially as I liken him to the Nazi Party's minister for propaganda Josef Goebbels however I am deeply serious about my concerns.
Propaganda is of course controlled information and Mr Gove has by no means the monopoly on that yet this commentator believes that the ideas being forced through in education today are closely aligned with the ideology of dictatorship.
Plato believed that you should educate people to their level and not beyond for only the elite should be in control of our future. Marx believed the opposite but as Orwell reminds us on a regular basis absolute power corrupts absolutely, so Chairman Mao and his little red book used education for the same ends. Ultimately though both systems relied on the absolute power of those at the top controlling those at the bottom and that power was consolidated in education. Not true education which relies on freedom of thought and expression but indoctrination. There should be absolute discipline with menial or quite major punishment being used to force obedience to the learning.
My critics will say that Gove is about freedom of choice but is he? He wants to create an elite system where only those who have the right background will get the right education. Education is a right not a privilege, not something that can be bought.
Now what makes this worse is that there are plans underway to increase the school day to 10 hours. Now I regularly work those sort of lengths of day but you can not keep it up for long and a child of 4? Please who does he think he is. And doesn't the working time directive mean that this would put a child at school for 50 hours a week? Is this the indoctrination of slavery? Not only that but these poor 4 year olds will be forced to be tested on their functional skills. I have worked all my life in education in one form another and quite frankly testing like this is not only going to psychologically scar the child it is going to prove absolutely nothing.
So your smiling face looks down upon us happy in the knowledge that you are about to destroy generations of young people by sending them down a route that was basically found to be flawed in so many ways. Yet like Herr Goebbels before you Mr Gove you are not interested in the children which you claim to be you are merely interested in furthering your own political aims.
Well I am Winston Smith and I will not listen to your nonsense as Big Brother is a fantasy and will stay one because I am not a number nor are my students. We are not to be ranked by rote but we will be judged by our achievements in the world around us. How we help people, how we teach people and most of all how we give people the strength to think for themselves. This is 2014 not 1984 and I will continue to fight for the power of education.
Thursday, 3 October 2013
Another day, another death another excuse
Today Amanda Hutton was found guilty of the manslaughter of her son Hamza Khan.
Today the soul searching and finger pointing starts.
Today the City of Birmingham were told they are in the last chance saloon as far as protecting the vulnerable children in their city is concerned.
Well here's the truth.
With a system that promotes poor education of officialdom and a system that gets people with little academic and less practical knowledge in to educate those officials are we really surprised?
Take for instance the way that social workers are educated. They are now expected to gain a degree in Social Work before they start practice. However they are often being taught by people with diplomas and no real academic prowess or understanding of people. They may teach them about how forms are filled out or how to cover their own backs but they do not teach true critical reflection or how to look at the reality of what is a really difficult job. And only the enlightened realise that it is about people skills and understanding how people interact that really pass on worthwhile knowledge.
At the same time as that they are sent out on practice placements where they will hardly ever see the blood and guts of a real situation.
This is similar to the way doctors are taught in their first three years. All book work no people work.
We need to be creative with our thinking we need to have a different idea on how we deal with difficult issues
http://alcoholdebate.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/when-blind-drunk-lead-those-who-would.html
If one single person had had the courage to do something rather than mess around in teams sharing information and having a few pretty discussions then maybe Hamza, Baby P, Daniel and Victoria may all still be alive today.
Voltaire said it best:
"With great power comes great responsibility"
We often put masses of power in the hands of individuals that have no idea how to handle it. This needs to be completely rethought. That way we may find a more creative solution to the ills of the world. This way we might learn and this way we may stop such awful situations from arising in the future.
Today the soul searching and finger pointing starts.
Today the City of Birmingham were told they are in the last chance saloon as far as protecting the vulnerable children in their city is concerned.
Well here's the truth.
With a system that promotes poor education of officialdom and a system that gets people with little academic and less practical knowledge in to educate those officials are we really surprised?
Take for instance the way that social workers are educated. They are now expected to gain a degree in Social Work before they start practice. However they are often being taught by people with diplomas and no real academic prowess or understanding of people. They may teach them about how forms are filled out or how to cover their own backs but they do not teach true critical reflection or how to look at the reality of what is a really difficult job. And only the enlightened realise that it is about people skills and understanding how people interact that really pass on worthwhile knowledge.
At the same time as that they are sent out on practice placements where they will hardly ever see the blood and guts of a real situation.
This is similar to the way doctors are taught in their first three years. All book work no people work.
We need to be creative with our thinking we need to have a different idea on how we deal with difficult issues
http://alcoholdebate.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/when-blind-drunk-lead-those-who-would.html
If one single person had had the courage to do something rather than mess around in teams sharing information and having a few pretty discussions then maybe Hamza, Baby P, Daniel and Victoria may all still be alive today.
Voltaire said it best:
"With great power comes great responsibility"
We often put masses of power in the hands of individuals that have no idea how to handle it. This needs to be completely rethought. That way we may find a more creative solution to the ills of the world. This way we might learn and this way we may stop such awful situations from arising in the future.
Friday, 19 July 2013
Its rough up North part 2
This commentator is unfortunately unhappy again. Well where have you seen that before?
http://tseniortfte.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/whats-in-name.html
This was my take on Katie Hopkins and her attitudes towards names. Now she's started on accents.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/katie-hopkins--stephanie-mcgovern-and-northerners-sound-stupid-131026114.html#VpTiGmV
Please excuse me but which rock did you crawl out from under?
When I married my wife my accent changed from the broad Yorkshire to one of more like that great Huddersfield actor Patrick Stewart. Oh did I speak with such eloquence, with such vigour and my Richard III was magnificent (Did I tell you that I was quite a thespian myself? No I didn't think so and that is for a different time perhaps)
Now though, because I'm divorced, I speak au naturelle with a proud Yorkshire accent (although I do a fair West Country one having lived in and around these parts for years now) I could never do Scouse, even though I lived in Liverpool for several years, go'ed you say, but no sadly I could never quite master it. Unlike Jan Molby the great Liverpool and Danish footballer who I met on several occasions at Anfield or clubs or bars around the City. He really did master the Liverpool accent but funnily enough most people who I met thought that was charming or mildly amusing but certainly not horrible.
But does it matter?
For years regional accents were frowned upon particularly at the BBC. Even when I was a child and won a poetry competition that led to my first radio appearance I noticed that Radio Leeds had all proper speakers around me. My Geoffrey Boycott accent wasn't really that wonderful I might add. And so once again I got into a mind set that said I hard to speak proper and there was nowt else to be done.
Yet now I look on things somewhat differently for as someone who has grown up in a diverse world I have come to appreciate that diversity should be celebrated. So Katie Hopkins you can take your thoughts place them in a tin and go away. As one member of the Royle Family might say 'My arse!'
After all whilst I love Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard I'm delighted to say
We shall not be assimilated we have no wish to be Borg!
http://tseniortfte.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/whats-in-name.html
This was my take on Katie Hopkins and her attitudes towards names. Now she's started on accents.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/katie-hopkins--stephanie-mcgovern-and-northerners-sound-stupid-131026114.html#VpTiGmV
Please excuse me but which rock did you crawl out from under?
When I married my wife my accent changed from the broad Yorkshire to one of more like that great Huddersfield actor Patrick Stewart. Oh did I speak with such eloquence, with such vigour and my Richard III was magnificent (Did I tell you that I was quite a thespian myself? No I didn't think so and that is for a different time perhaps)
Now though, because I'm divorced, I speak au naturelle with a proud Yorkshire accent (although I do a fair West Country one having lived in and around these parts for years now) I could never do Scouse, even though I lived in Liverpool for several years, go'ed you say, but no sadly I could never quite master it. Unlike Jan Molby the great Liverpool and Danish footballer who I met on several occasions at Anfield or clubs or bars around the City. He really did master the Liverpool accent but funnily enough most people who I met thought that was charming or mildly amusing but certainly not horrible.
But does it matter?
For years regional accents were frowned upon particularly at the BBC. Even when I was a child and won a poetry competition that led to my first radio appearance I noticed that Radio Leeds had all proper speakers around me. My Geoffrey Boycott accent wasn't really that wonderful I might add. And so once again I got into a mind set that said I hard to speak proper and there was nowt else to be done.
Yet now I look on things somewhat differently for as someone who has grown up in a diverse world I have come to appreciate that diversity should be celebrated. So Katie Hopkins you can take your thoughts place them in a tin and go away. As one member of the Royle Family might say 'My arse!'
After all whilst I love Patrick Stewart's Jean-Luc Picard I'm delighted to say
We shall not be assimilated we have no wish to be Borg!
Wednesday, 17 July 2013
So you're the worst child in the country - Official!
Yes the coalition are at it again and this one is quite possibly the icing on the cake as far as them wanting an elitist society
"Children will be ranked in academic ability from the age of 11 for all to see!"
So who is going to tell the poor little mite at the bottom of the league table that they are the thickest individual in the country and for how long will that stigma continue. Well long enough to roll out the mobile gas vans!
Yes this commentator is seeing more about Nazi Germany circa 1933-38 in this country than Great Britain 2012, the land of the Olympics, the land of aspiration and inspiration. I wonder how Danny Boyle would film this. And why didn't he have his National Health Service piece finish on mass murder and burning of the corpses (Oh sorry that's what the coalition would have you believe about the so called failing NHS trusts)
I am genuinely frightened for my child, already shell shocked by the news that Gove has announced the removal of coursework from final exam marks and my twelve year old son's year are the guinea pigs, and wonder should I take him out of the country completely.
When are we going to wake up or have we already sleepwalked our way into a catastrophe so huge that we can no longer escape the black hole that this Government has created.
Billy Joel's song "We didn't start the fire" could so easily be adapted by some clever lyricist at this time and I'm sure we would see words like bedroom tax, close the Trust, take from the sick because it's only fair and just, creeping into the song.
I am British I am proud and I say no more. We didn't build this nation to trample on the ideals of the great reformers. We built this nation to be Great.
Right now it feels more like Little Britain as ruled by Edmund Blackadder without the laughs or irony!
"Children will be ranked in academic ability from the age of 11 for all to see!"
So who is going to tell the poor little mite at the bottom of the league table that they are the thickest individual in the country and for how long will that stigma continue. Well long enough to roll out the mobile gas vans!
Yes this commentator is seeing more about Nazi Germany circa 1933-38 in this country than Great Britain 2012, the land of the Olympics, the land of aspiration and inspiration. I wonder how Danny Boyle would film this. And why didn't he have his National Health Service piece finish on mass murder and burning of the corpses (Oh sorry that's what the coalition would have you believe about the so called failing NHS trusts)
I am genuinely frightened for my child, already shell shocked by the news that Gove has announced the removal of coursework from final exam marks and my twelve year old son's year are the guinea pigs, and wonder should I take him out of the country completely.
When are we going to wake up or have we already sleepwalked our way into a catastrophe so huge that we can no longer escape the black hole that this Government has created.
Billy Joel's song "We didn't start the fire" could so easily be adapted by some clever lyricist at this time and I'm sure we would see words like bedroom tax, close the Trust, take from the sick because it's only fair and just, creeping into the song.
I am British I am proud and I say no more. We didn't build this nation to trample on the ideals of the great reformers. We built this nation to be Great.
Right now it feels more like Little Britain as ruled by Edmund Blackadder without the laughs or irony!
Tuesday, 9 July 2013
What's in a name?
Well a lot it would seem if you have seen this you tube piece
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edZjdgU0asM
Katie Hopkins is without a doubt one of the saddest individuals on this planet if she thinks that you judge a person by their name. Sadly she may be right as I believe that there are many individuals out there who are exactly like that, even sadder I've bedded a few of them in the past.
Now that might seem like a childish statement however the psychology behind it is rather more fascinating. For it is the psychology of class, power and sex.
We like to believe we live in a classless society where everyone is equal. I'd like to put an academic spin on that if I may for a second:
What a load of bollocks!
Oh I'm sorry if you're offended but after all I'm just showing my class as so to speak.
You see I am most definitely working middle class. My mother and father both worked hard and when I was born they gave me a wonderful name. So wonderful that I ditched it as soon as I could.
For they called me Tracy.
Now growing up in a rough tough Yorkshire school with what was always perceived as a girl's name meant that I was gay! But hang on I couldn't be gay because homosexuality wasn't acknowledged in Huddersfield then. Ask my best friend Paul, he hid his homosexuality for years due to the fact he was not only gay but mixed race. And I thought I had it hard with a girl's name. I also found it hard to get off with the girls I fancied too because of it. Because they thought I must be gay too. So I was ostracised by the boys for being worthless and the girls because I was well ...... worthless.
So how did I overcome this? Well I changed my name to Trace, (everyone thinks I'm American now) and went about bedding as many posh women as I could. I played cricket and wore a blazer with my whites. I played badminton and golf because it was a great way to distance myself from my background. I even learned to sail because I thought it was a good way to better myself socially (This is what watching Howard's Way does for you), oh and I also learned to mix cocktails and speak with a Noel Coward accent. The reason why I was so successful was because these women never saw me as a threat, or a serious companion, just an interesting shag with a bit of rough as so to speak. Either that or they were trying to find out if I was gay and could be turned!
And there lies the problem with Katie Hopkins. She is by no means alone when she says that she judges a child by their name. I see it all the time. Interestingly enough I see it with my youngest son now. The number of times he is judged because of where he lives and what I look like. You see I tend to dress down most of the time, scruffy some would say. And I pick my son up from school so I must be unemployed. No I just happen to earn a living in a different way to others and chose not to act like a fashion model all of the time. I am also highly intelligent with a string of letters and awards after my name.
And this is all about bullying for want of a better name. People are so insecure with their own lives that they have to turn it on the most defenceless in our society, our children. A child doesn't know the significance of a name unless an adult smears it in some way. And then a child will copy that act from the parent.
So is there something in a name, well yes if you listen to your parent's views. Children are not born thinking ooh you're named after a type of wine so you must be getting ready to appear on the Jeremy Kyle Show. They are born wonderfully untainted and it is adults who use them as pawns in the chess game of life.
And for your information Katie when I was younger I believed that the only way to better myself was to Roger some posh bird. That is until I quickly realised that they were so caught up in their own mediocrity and self importance that they could never understand what the act of making love was all about. So I learned to understand people and in particular women. I learned about making love, not shagging. And I learned that actually when we are all naked and with our lovers class doesn't mean a thing nor does a name.
I am so glad that I grew up Katie, isn't it about time you did too?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edZjdgU0asM
Katie Hopkins is without a doubt one of the saddest individuals on this planet if she thinks that you judge a person by their name. Sadly she may be right as I believe that there are many individuals out there who are exactly like that, even sadder I've bedded a few of them in the past.
Now that might seem like a childish statement however the psychology behind it is rather more fascinating. For it is the psychology of class, power and sex.
We like to believe we live in a classless society where everyone is equal. I'd like to put an academic spin on that if I may for a second:
What a load of bollocks!
Oh I'm sorry if you're offended but after all I'm just showing my class as so to speak.
You see I am most definitely working middle class. My mother and father both worked hard and when I was born they gave me a wonderful name. So wonderful that I ditched it as soon as I could.
For they called me Tracy.
Now growing up in a rough tough Yorkshire school with what was always perceived as a girl's name meant that I was gay! But hang on I couldn't be gay because homosexuality wasn't acknowledged in Huddersfield then. Ask my best friend Paul, he hid his homosexuality for years due to the fact he was not only gay but mixed race. And I thought I had it hard with a girl's name. I also found it hard to get off with the girls I fancied too because of it. Because they thought I must be gay too. So I was ostracised by the boys for being worthless and the girls because I was well ...... worthless.
So how did I overcome this? Well I changed my name to Trace, (everyone thinks I'm American now) and went about bedding as many posh women as I could. I played cricket and wore a blazer with my whites. I played badminton and golf because it was a great way to distance myself from my background. I even learned to sail because I thought it was a good way to better myself socially (This is what watching Howard's Way does for you), oh and I also learned to mix cocktails and speak with a Noel Coward accent. The reason why I was so successful was because these women never saw me as a threat, or a serious companion, just an interesting shag with a bit of rough as so to speak. Either that or they were trying to find out if I was gay and could be turned!
And there lies the problem with Katie Hopkins. She is by no means alone when she says that she judges a child by their name. I see it all the time. Interestingly enough I see it with my youngest son now. The number of times he is judged because of where he lives and what I look like. You see I tend to dress down most of the time, scruffy some would say. And I pick my son up from school so I must be unemployed. No I just happen to earn a living in a different way to others and chose not to act like a fashion model all of the time. I am also highly intelligent with a string of letters and awards after my name.
And this is all about bullying for want of a better name. People are so insecure with their own lives that they have to turn it on the most defenceless in our society, our children. A child doesn't know the significance of a name unless an adult smears it in some way. And then a child will copy that act from the parent.
So is there something in a name, well yes if you listen to your parent's views. Children are not born thinking ooh you're named after a type of wine so you must be getting ready to appear on the Jeremy Kyle Show. They are born wonderfully untainted and it is adults who use them as pawns in the chess game of life.
And for your information Katie when I was younger I believed that the only way to better myself was to Roger some posh bird. That is until I quickly realised that they were so caught up in their own mediocrity and self importance that they could never understand what the act of making love was all about. So I learned to understand people and in particular women. I learned about making love, not shagging. And I learned that actually when we are all naked and with our lovers class doesn't mean a thing nor does a name.
I am so glad that I grew up Katie, isn't it about time you did too?
Saturday, 30 March 2013
Why Winston and me are entwined forever
I was born on Winston Churchill's last birthday, he died two months later. I have always been aware of his presence in my life, how could I not be? Born on the same day as a man who effectively saved Britain from capitulating to become a Vichy State as Lord Halifax would have had us do. Although some do not believe in astrology, and I have to say I take it with a large pinch of salt, I would say that I share many of the qualities of Winston. I am a romantic, particularly in the notions of history and it's importance to our future, I am obdurate, a more stubborn person you are not likely to find, I am a Maverick, I will not tow the party line for the sake of a quiet life I chose to do what is right, and overall I care. I care passionately about the people around me and the world in which we live. However I am also bestowed with some of the characteristics of my Grandfather, the man who brought me up. He was a proud union man a man who believed in the equality of the person and the right of the common man to succeed and enjoy the simple pleasures of this word. He was more Orwellian in his thought process and he showed me the true sense of humanity.
The reason for today's blog? Simon Schama's History of Britain, "The Two Winstons" He talks about the way in which two completely opposite camps Churchill and Orwell came together to fight for democracy at our darkest time. His belief in the unlikeliest of allies shows me something of today that needs to be addressed in the time of darkness that we approach.
And why are we in a time of darkness? Is it the Euro? Is it North Korea? No not really it is the travesty of what has been unfolding admidst the corridors of power since the present Government took power. The way in which our democratic state has been returning to the prewar status quietly and behind the scenes is defining of Great Britain's fall from greatness. Has Halifax finally won the day? Have we allowed, sleepwalked even into, an Orwellian world where the future is controlled by the state? Were we so naive as to let this happen and can we do anything about it?
Well I for one am willing to stand up. I believe in civilised society, I believe in democracy, I believe in equality of thought, feeling and person. I believe in the human race's ability to overcome injustice and to improve and grow.
We must keep our National Health Service, we must protect those who are unable to protect themselves, we must seek to educate in an open and honest way teaching our children , and adults alike, to be free thinkers and expansive in thought, and we must seek to help the vulnerable, poor and desperate. This weekend we celebrate in the Christian world the festival of Easter, the day one man supposedly died to cleanse us of our sins.
I am not religious however if Jesus truly was the Son of God and he truly died on the cross to be the Savior of mankind then what would he have thought of Great Britain today?
The reason for today's blog? Simon Schama's History of Britain, "The Two Winstons" He talks about the way in which two completely opposite camps Churchill and Orwell came together to fight for democracy at our darkest time. His belief in the unlikeliest of allies shows me something of today that needs to be addressed in the time of darkness that we approach.
And why are we in a time of darkness? Is it the Euro? Is it North Korea? No not really it is the travesty of what has been unfolding admidst the corridors of power since the present Government took power. The way in which our democratic state has been returning to the prewar status quietly and behind the scenes is defining of Great Britain's fall from greatness. Has Halifax finally won the day? Have we allowed, sleepwalked even into, an Orwellian world where the future is controlled by the state? Were we so naive as to let this happen and can we do anything about it?
Well I for one am willing to stand up. I believe in civilised society, I believe in democracy, I believe in equality of thought, feeling and person. I believe in the human race's ability to overcome injustice and to improve and grow.
We must keep our National Health Service, we must protect those who are unable to protect themselves, we must seek to educate in an open and honest way teaching our children , and adults alike, to be free thinkers and expansive in thought, and we must seek to help the vulnerable, poor and desperate. This weekend we celebrate in the Christian world the festival of Easter, the day one man supposedly died to cleanse us of our sins.
I am not religious however if Jesus truly was the Son of God and he truly died on the cross to be the Savior of mankind then what would he have thought of Great Britain today?
Thursday, 28 March 2013
What happens when someone in power lies
What exactly does happen when someone in power lies?
Well we all know of what happened to Chris Huhne but I'm not talking about political power for a change as we know that some politicians are born liars but professional or academic power?
Lets take the example of a social worker who makes things up or lies to cover up mistakes? What would happen to them surely there are safeguards in place? Well in professional practice that would normally be true. The General Social Care Council has powers to remove a social worker's registration in a similar way that the General Medical Council can strike off a medical practitioner or the General Teaching Council has the power to disbar a teacher.
However what happens if there is a power imbalance, what if we are talking about an academic organisation who employ qualified social workers to teach and supervise students. What if the qualified person in power lies?
This commentator has a great dilemma here for it has come to this commentator's attention that this is happening with one particular organisation, or should I say one part of one academic organisation within the UK that has the ability to award Social Work degrees. Complaints have been made to that organisation with apparently no response. In fact the individuals concerned seem almost untouchable yet these are people who hold the future of social work practice in their hands. Students are suffering and this has to be wrong.
Let's make no bones about it Social Workers are up there with Tax Inspectors, The Police, Politicians and DSS officials as been one of the most hated groups of people in our society. However the reality is that there is some truly excellent work being done under difficult and at times almost impossible situations. Yet it is these little bad apples who go unnoticed for years that lead to the problems.They destroy lives and they demonise people yet always seem to come up smelling of roses. And the dilemma is how to remove the good from the bad without affecting future growth ?
But remember roses grow from manured earth! But you can always take out the manure and roses will still grow!
Well we all know of what happened to Chris Huhne but I'm not talking about political power for a change as we know that some politicians are born liars but professional or academic power?
Lets take the example of a social worker who makes things up or lies to cover up mistakes? What would happen to them surely there are safeguards in place? Well in professional practice that would normally be true. The General Social Care Council has powers to remove a social worker's registration in a similar way that the General Medical Council can strike off a medical practitioner or the General Teaching Council has the power to disbar a teacher.
However what happens if there is a power imbalance, what if we are talking about an academic organisation who employ qualified social workers to teach and supervise students. What if the qualified person in power lies?
This commentator has a great dilemma here for it has come to this commentator's attention that this is happening with one particular organisation, or should I say one part of one academic organisation within the UK that has the ability to award Social Work degrees. Complaints have been made to that organisation with apparently no response. In fact the individuals concerned seem almost untouchable yet these are people who hold the future of social work practice in their hands. Students are suffering and this has to be wrong.
Let's make no bones about it Social Workers are up there with Tax Inspectors, The Police, Politicians and DSS officials as been one of the most hated groups of people in our society. However the reality is that there is some truly excellent work being done under difficult and at times almost impossible situations. Yet it is these little bad apples who go unnoticed for years that lead to the problems.They destroy lives and they demonise people yet always seem to come up smelling of roses. And the dilemma is how to remove the good from the bad without affecting future growth ?
But remember roses grow from manured earth! But you can always take out the manure and roses will still grow!
Wednesday, 27 March 2013
Oh Mr Beeching
So today is 50 years since the publication of the Beeching report that signaled the death of many a station and railway line in this country. It is also a warning to the future.
Beeching was wrong, the Government of the time was wrong, Governments since have been wrong. The railway network was a lifeblood to many small places throughout this Kingdom. Roads do not have the same arterial flow no matter what people may think. Roads are capillaries motorways are arteries and as it stands there are only a couple of dozen major arteries in the UK. The railways gave us hundreds if not thousands. Resorts like Brighton, Blackpool,Bournemouth, Torquay, Great Yarmouth, Margate and Southend would never have grown had it not been for the railways. Small villages became connected to major cities, people became free to move the country had life.
Why a lesson to the future?
Well for Beeching read Lansley, Hunt, Duncan-Smith, Gove, May, Cameron and Osborne and all those in Government today who would cut the lifeblood from our country.
The NHS is the next to go, it will soon be a monument to all that was great about Great Britain. I think Scotland may have the right idea get out while they can. I wouldn't blame Wales if they felt the same way because to be quite frank this bunch that rule our country would sell them off if they could.
I hear food vouchers have been mooted again by Count Ian von Bismarck instead of cash benefits. Why not just make people on benefits shave their heads and walk around with high vis jackets saying scum on the back because that is how people will treat them.
Don't believe it? I had a friend at school who received free school meals because his family couldn't afford to pay and word got round. I remember mothers at the school gates cackling about his family and how poor they were and how they resented that a child was being fed by free meals when they had to pay. It still rankles me today how people could do that to a child yet the same will give ten pounds to Comic Relief to relieve them of their guilt because that's a poor child in Africa.
I am telling you clearly the same will happen all over again.
It is time the good people of Britain stood up and stopped this country sleepwalking to an early grave. The middle class need to get over themselves because once the poor are gone who do you think is next !
Take a lesson from Beeching making cuts in the wrong place at the wrong time does not make the tree grow stronger It kills it!
Beeching was wrong, the Government of the time was wrong, Governments since have been wrong. The railway network was a lifeblood to many small places throughout this Kingdom. Roads do not have the same arterial flow no matter what people may think. Roads are capillaries motorways are arteries and as it stands there are only a couple of dozen major arteries in the UK. The railways gave us hundreds if not thousands. Resorts like Brighton, Blackpool,Bournemouth, Torquay, Great Yarmouth, Margate and Southend would never have grown had it not been for the railways. Small villages became connected to major cities, people became free to move the country had life.
Why a lesson to the future?
Well for Beeching read Lansley, Hunt, Duncan-Smith, Gove, May, Cameron and Osborne and all those in Government today who would cut the lifeblood from our country.
The NHS is the next to go, it will soon be a monument to all that was great about Great Britain. I think Scotland may have the right idea get out while they can. I wouldn't blame Wales if they felt the same way because to be quite frank this bunch that rule our country would sell them off if they could.
I hear food vouchers have been mooted again by Count Ian von Bismarck instead of cash benefits. Why not just make people on benefits shave their heads and walk around with high vis jackets saying scum on the back because that is how people will treat them.
Don't believe it? I had a friend at school who received free school meals because his family couldn't afford to pay and word got round. I remember mothers at the school gates cackling about his family and how poor they were and how they resented that a child was being fed by free meals when they had to pay. It still rankles me today how people could do that to a child yet the same will give ten pounds to Comic Relief to relieve them of their guilt because that's a poor child in Africa.
I am telling you clearly the same will happen all over again.
It is time the good people of Britain stood up and stopped this country sleepwalking to an early grave. The middle class need to get over themselves because once the poor are gone who do you think is next !
Take a lesson from Beeching making cuts in the wrong place at the wrong time does not make the tree grow stronger It kills it!
Wednesday, 20 March 2013
Education matters for more than a lifetime
I am an educator, a psychologist, a human being but most importantly a father.
Yesterday I became extremely concerned at the psychological state of my young son. He is eleven , nearly twelve so his hormones are starting to fly around his body in preparation for puberty and in many respects he is likely to be up and down at the moment. However his state of being yesterday was beyond the norm.
Now he has had several challenges with school and due to being physically attacked by a teaching assistant at the age of four and a half it took until Year 5 before he was integrated back into the schooling system. This is something I have blogged about previously so will not go any further into that here. What I would like to concentrate on is what has happened to cause yet more distress and what is turning a bright articulate child into someone who is again becoming disillusioned with the educational system.
He has already had challenges with his Spanish teacher, an old fashioned beat them around the head type teacher, and those were addressed with his head of house however I have now discovered that his Geograpy teacher, someone known for hating teaching Year 7, threatened in front of the class to break his thumbs.Now although I did not witness this my son is no liar and I have been in turmoil as how to proceed forward.
You see the Neanderthal in me wants to take this guy out and show him that force will be met by greater force but the psycholgist and teacher in me tells me that that is not the right way to handle things. I know the higher brain functions will kick in and override my Neanderthal yet I don't want to be seen as a neurotic parent or a grass of any kind because I am neither of these things. Something clearly has to be done though for not only the sake of my son but because of other children too.
My first concern is that the school will deflect the issue, my second concern is that the teacher will target my son but my overriding concern is that my son is missing out on his education. And that is ultimately what this is all about. The schools in the Trowbridge area are all pretty poor. They may fool OFSTED but I am a parent who is also an experienced teacher and I know how you can fool the inspectors as I've seen it happen time and time again in many establishments. The tick box culture that we live in is all about perceived accountability not about education and it belittles the learning process at all ages.
Learning is a human right and should not be interfered with by outdated ideas in what is right and wrong about teaching. Teaching is something that evolves as the human species evolves, as the need to learn different skills evolves, or so it should be. Good teachers are often destroyed by a system that allows bad teachers to get away with bad practice. For it is the bad teachers that cause the child, or adult, to resent the need for learning. The good teachers then often have an impossible task of turning around the learner so as to empower the individual into loving the learning process all over again. And I say all over again because inately we are a species that wants to learn from the moment we have a nervous system and higher function.
So what will I do? I'm not entirely sure still. I have been reflecting on the challenge all through the night and deep into this morning which I why I decided to blog in the hope it would clarify my mind set. I know I have to speak to the school and I know I have to support my son. The trick is to make sure that there is a win win scenario for everyone involved.
Including the Neanderthal who still thinks he is a teacher
Yesterday I became extremely concerned at the psychological state of my young son. He is eleven , nearly twelve so his hormones are starting to fly around his body in preparation for puberty and in many respects he is likely to be up and down at the moment. However his state of being yesterday was beyond the norm.
Now he has had several challenges with school and due to being physically attacked by a teaching assistant at the age of four and a half it took until Year 5 before he was integrated back into the schooling system. This is something I have blogged about previously so will not go any further into that here. What I would like to concentrate on is what has happened to cause yet more distress and what is turning a bright articulate child into someone who is again becoming disillusioned with the educational system.
He has already had challenges with his Spanish teacher, an old fashioned beat them around the head type teacher, and those were addressed with his head of house however I have now discovered that his Geograpy teacher, someone known for hating teaching Year 7, threatened in front of the class to break his thumbs.Now although I did not witness this my son is no liar and I have been in turmoil as how to proceed forward.
You see the Neanderthal in me wants to take this guy out and show him that force will be met by greater force but the psycholgist and teacher in me tells me that that is not the right way to handle things. I know the higher brain functions will kick in and override my Neanderthal yet I don't want to be seen as a neurotic parent or a grass of any kind because I am neither of these things. Something clearly has to be done though for not only the sake of my son but because of other children too.
My first concern is that the school will deflect the issue, my second concern is that the teacher will target my son but my overriding concern is that my son is missing out on his education. And that is ultimately what this is all about. The schools in the Trowbridge area are all pretty poor. They may fool OFSTED but I am a parent who is also an experienced teacher and I know how you can fool the inspectors as I've seen it happen time and time again in many establishments. The tick box culture that we live in is all about perceived accountability not about education and it belittles the learning process at all ages.
Learning is a human right and should not be interfered with by outdated ideas in what is right and wrong about teaching. Teaching is something that evolves as the human species evolves, as the need to learn different skills evolves, or so it should be. Good teachers are often destroyed by a system that allows bad teachers to get away with bad practice. For it is the bad teachers that cause the child, or adult, to resent the need for learning. The good teachers then often have an impossible task of turning around the learner so as to empower the individual into loving the learning process all over again. And I say all over again because inately we are a species that wants to learn from the moment we have a nervous system and higher function.
So what will I do? I'm not entirely sure still. I have been reflecting on the challenge all through the night and deep into this morning which I why I decided to blog in the hope it would clarify my mind set. I know I have to speak to the school and I know I have to support my son. The trick is to make sure that there is a win win scenario for everyone involved.
Including the Neanderthal who still thinks he is a teacher
Sunday, 10 March 2013
Of painful recollections
Mother's Day is always difficult for me. That's something I may have said before yet I feel I need to say it again and again until I come to terms with why it is difficult for me.
You see Mother's Day is the day I lost my dad. He died whilst I held him and it still hurts. Obviously today wasn't the exact day he died however it is the day that will always remember him dying. I miss him, really do. Not the nasty drunken dad that made mine and other people's lives hell, but the gentle caring man that was there when my youngest son held his hand on our final New Years Eve together.
For those of you who read my other blog http://alcoholdebate.blogspot.co.uk/ you know how much my father's drinking has influenced my life and how I have challenged many of the preconceptions about alcohol and alcoholism however my father did so much more for me than he will ever know. And of course so did my mother who also is no longer with us. In fact I am the oldest surviving member of my family the Patriarch as so to speak.
As parents they did the best they could for me. I see that now as a father myself. They had many faults, both of them, but they did have good qualities that are often forgotten especially because people remember the bad days. I hope that my children will come to realise over time that I have many faults but I have always done the very best for them that I could at all times. My children you see mean the world to me. I have watched them grow into young adults and my youngest grow into a confident young boy and I m so proud of everything that they do. I will always support them the best that I can and to the best of my ability no matter what they may do in life. I hope though that they understand that above all though that I love them.
Now some may say I'm being a sentimental fool talking like this but know that I never really connected with my parents the way that I think they hoped I would. I was always struggling with my over possessive mother, particularly when I started having girlfriends, heck she actively sought to play one off against the next at times. I remember when I was at Liverpool and my parents came to visit one day my mother said to my the girlfriend Zara, I'm so glad that he's got you, yet behind the scenes just as with Karen before, she was trying to engineer the relationship to fail. I mean what kind of mother doesn't want her son to be happy? When I eventually married (neither of the above I may add) there was constant pressure on me from my mother and constant sniping about my wife (although in the end that was the one that my mother probably called right). It was inevitable that we would fall out in time I guess. But not being with her when she died was a moment that I'm not sure I can ever forgive myself for even though it was 23 years ago this year. I should have been there rather than a hotel room in Dorchester where I was staying for the night because of work.
I will always love my parents for they were my parents and for what they helped me become. I will not make the same mistakes they made with me with my children I hope, just probably different ones. And I hope in years to come that they will forgive me for I am only human
You see Mother's Day is the day I lost my dad. He died whilst I held him and it still hurts. Obviously today wasn't the exact day he died however it is the day that will always remember him dying. I miss him, really do. Not the nasty drunken dad that made mine and other people's lives hell, but the gentle caring man that was there when my youngest son held his hand on our final New Years Eve together.
For those of you who read my other blog http://alcoholdebate.blogspot.co.uk/ you know how much my father's drinking has influenced my life and how I have challenged many of the preconceptions about alcohol and alcoholism however my father did so much more for me than he will ever know. And of course so did my mother who also is no longer with us. In fact I am the oldest surviving member of my family the Patriarch as so to speak.
As parents they did the best they could for me. I see that now as a father myself. They had many faults, both of them, but they did have good qualities that are often forgotten especially because people remember the bad days. I hope that my children will come to realise over time that I have many faults but I have always done the very best for them that I could at all times. My children you see mean the world to me. I have watched them grow into young adults and my youngest grow into a confident young boy and I m so proud of everything that they do. I will always support them the best that I can and to the best of my ability no matter what they may do in life. I hope though that they understand that above all though that I love them.
Now some may say I'm being a sentimental fool talking like this but know that I never really connected with my parents the way that I think they hoped I would. I was always struggling with my over possessive mother, particularly when I started having girlfriends, heck she actively sought to play one off against the next at times. I remember when I was at Liverpool and my parents came to visit one day my mother said to my the girlfriend Zara, I'm so glad that he's got you, yet behind the scenes just as with Karen before, she was trying to engineer the relationship to fail. I mean what kind of mother doesn't want her son to be happy? When I eventually married (neither of the above I may add) there was constant pressure on me from my mother and constant sniping about my wife (although in the end that was the one that my mother probably called right). It was inevitable that we would fall out in time I guess. But not being with her when she died was a moment that I'm not sure I can ever forgive myself for even though it was 23 years ago this year. I should have been there rather than a hotel room in Dorchester where I was staying for the night because of work.
I will always love my parents for they were my parents and for what they helped me become. I will not make the same mistakes they made with me with my children I hope, just probably different ones. And I hope in years to come that they will forgive me for I am only human
Wednesday, 6 March 2013
Musing from a spotless mind
To mark my 15000 tweet I said that I would blog and the title of that blog was suggested by one of my tweefriends (Is there such a word? I don't know but there is now!) The challenge was what would I muse on?
So after some serious thought I've decided to look at several things that are doing the rounds at the moment. After all blogging is about recording moments in time as well as feeling rather self satisfied because you have actually sat down and put pen to paper (or rather finger tip to keyboard).
Magna Carta, is that some kind of ice cream?
In 1215 at a place called Runnymede King John signed a piece of paper that would enshrine some fundamental rights to our people
"No Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseized of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the land."
In 1642 Parliament and the King declared war upon each other because the King had decided that he was above the law of the land. It led to the end of the Monarchy as Britain had known it since pre-Norman times. It was the largest single realignment of power in this country since Harold had his eye put out. It was effectively a changing of the guard and a strike for democracy and the rule of the people and their representatives.
In 1939 this country stood alone against a tyrant that would bring the world to the edge of collapse. Once again we stood for freedom. And throughout my childhood there was constant fear of nuclear attack because we again were at the front of the war for democracy.
And now in 2013 we roll back to 1215 pre-Magna Carta. Why? The use of secret courts.
This government, as the previous one would like that our dirty linen not be washed in public. It would like that we Joe Public were not aware of the nasty little things that go on behind closed doors in the name of national security. Or better put in yours and my name!
The idea of bringing in secret courts is as abhorrent to this commentator as it should be to every free man, woman and child in this country who cherishes democracy. It should be condemned to history like the rack, the Spanish Inquisition and the gallows.
We rally against Syria, Iran and North Korea for their total disregard to their citizens yet are we any better?
We are supposedly a democracy and we are supposedly free. How can that be when the State is seeking to deny us of knowledge or of a fair trial? That is no better than dictatorship and isn't that what we fight so readily against? So are we heading for another Civil War? I hope not and I would not suggest ever taking arms up against a democratically elected body. However if we are fundamentally going to change the whole focus of our Justice system surely we the public have a right to our point of view don't we?
This is serious folks it could easily be you in the dock and these powers make it virtually impossible for you to fight against.
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=20659
The Death of an Icon
The National Health Service is one of the greatest icons that the world has ever seen in a drive for civilisation. It is a proud achievement that a country as small as the United Kingdom could lead the way in how we look after our sick and needy. And today it is headed by a man who will not resign even though he admitted he was complicit in the deaths of hundreds through neglect. It's a bit like welcoming back Josef Mengele and saying run our children's homes for us Herr Doktor.
Why won't the new Nazi's in power do anything about this? Is it because they are in cahoots with Nicholson? ( I no longer use the phrase Sir David because a knight should have honour) Does he know something that we don't?
And you may think that I am being disparaging by referring to Cameron et al. as being the equivalent of that heinous regime the Third Reich however all evidence is to the contrary at the moment. Sick and disabled are being maligned, rights are being eroded and the NHS something they swore to protect has been effectively put up for sale to the highest bidder. And when people die then those responsible get to keep their jobs and smile into their pensions.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nhs-privatisation-plan-stopped-health-1734326
The NHS may not be perfect and it can be improved but do you really want to be wondering if you will be able to afford medical treatment should the need arise? Block this now and prevent the greatest travesty of our generation taking place. Defend the NHS, defend the right to healthcare.
I'm only being human
The Home Secretary has decided along with the other members of the coven that run our country that we will pull out of the Human Rights Act.
Now I can understand why people hate the Human Rights Act when it allows certain individuals to preach hate however there are fundamental rights that we all have that should be respected regardless and this Home Secretary would have us in sack cloth and ashes again
True democracy is defending the right of someone to say something that you would disagree with and vehemently oppose with your last breath.
And if we kill the Human Rights Act what if a new Marx or Engels came forward would we be able to hear their views or would be restricted by the State to what is good for us?
Sorry did I hear you say Goebbels or was that No Balls?
Suffer the little children
As an educationalist I am concerned that the propaganda that is been spouted about raising standards is really all about return to Victorian brainwashing. It is intrinsically a move made by Government, any Government who wants to be seen to appealing to worried parents about children getting on in life.
Watch this short video from Sir Ken Robinson and RSA animations. Maybe it will challenge your thought process about how we learn and why we are controlled in that learning.
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms.html
Gove is an education minister that doesn't understand learning and how to make a better future for all of us. We can't predict what will happen in 5 years now yet we are educating children with methods that are hundreds of years old for a future in 60 years. How can we possibly know that that will work? Even Einstein or Hawking could not be classed as that clever!
Change the Paradigms improve the possibilities
It's tough up North
Rebecca Meredith is regarded as on of the top 20 public speakers in the world apparently yet the Cambridge student came in for a right ear bashing up in Glasgow
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2288148/Cambridge-debating-stars-left-tears-sexist-heckles-looks-prestigious-student-competition.html
Now Miss Meredith you really need to develop a tougher skin. Glasgow is a tough audience, even the fleas on the rats have bodyguards up there. I know I've lectured up there they don't take prisoners. The thing is though if you really are as skilled as your write ups suggest then surely you wouldn't run off stage crying at the heckles of a man who had obviously left his guide dog at home. And he must have been blind because let's face it you are pretty and you are good looking. I've debated in Varsity championships and have won may a trophy in years gone by but remembering one debate in Liverpool in the 80's I recall what Austin Mitchell said about following Matthew Parris.
" I feel like a cross between a man with herpes and HIV, an incurable romantic"
Now I didn't like Austin Mitchell but he enthralled me by that speech and he changed my mind about him. The secret to surviving a heckling audience is to either turn them round in your favour or buy a book called
Stand Up Put Downs by Rufus Hound
There's one or two good ways of shutting up idiots in the audience that way. Even shuts up the odd hardened Glasweigian.
And Finally
There's a phrase that has become close to my heart and something of a catchphrase to me particularly on twitter. And the reason for that? Well I just hate it when there is trouble and strife about and want to make sure I leave people with a positive thought.
So to end this blog just remember
Live your life with passion and above all........
peace and happiness to you all
So after some serious thought I've decided to look at several things that are doing the rounds at the moment. After all blogging is about recording moments in time as well as feeling rather self satisfied because you have actually sat down and put pen to paper (or rather finger tip to keyboard).
Magna Carta, is that some kind of ice cream?
In 1215 at a place called Runnymede King John signed a piece of paper that would enshrine some fundamental rights to our people
"No Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseized of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the land."
In 1642 Parliament and the King declared war upon each other because the King had decided that he was above the law of the land. It led to the end of the Monarchy as Britain had known it since pre-Norman times. It was the largest single realignment of power in this country since Harold had his eye put out. It was effectively a changing of the guard and a strike for democracy and the rule of the people and their representatives.
In 1939 this country stood alone against a tyrant that would bring the world to the edge of collapse. Once again we stood for freedom. And throughout my childhood there was constant fear of nuclear attack because we again were at the front of the war for democracy.
And now in 2013 we roll back to 1215 pre-Magna Carta. Why? The use of secret courts.
This government, as the previous one would like that our dirty linen not be washed in public. It would like that we Joe Public were not aware of the nasty little things that go on behind closed doors in the name of national security. Or better put in yours and my name!
The idea of bringing in secret courts is as abhorrent to this commentator as it should be to every free man, woman and child in this country who cherishes democracy. It should be condemned to history like the rack, the Spanish Inquisition and the gallows.
We rally against Syria, Iran and North Korea for their total disregard to their citizens yet are we any better?
We are supposedly a democracy and we are supposedly free. How can that be when the State is seeking to deny us of knowledge or of a fair trial? That is no better than dictatorship and isn't that what we fight so readily against? So are we heading for another Civil War? I hope not and I would not suggest ever taking arms up against a democratically elected body. However if we are fundamentally going to change the whole focus of our Justice system surely we the public have a right to our point of view don't we?
This is serious folks it could easily be you in the dock and these powers make it virtually impossible for you to fight against.
http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=20659
The Death of an Icon
The National Health Service is one of the greatest icons that the world has ever seen in a drive for civilisation. It is a proud achievement that a country as small as the United Kingdom could lead the way in how we look after our sick and needy. And today it is headed by a man who will not resign even though he admitted he was complicit in the deaths of hundreds through neglect. It's a bit like welcoming back Josef Mengele and saying run our children's homes for us Herr Doktor.
Why won't the new Nazi's in power do anything about this? Is it because they are in cahoots with Nicholson? ( I no longer use the phrase Sir David because a knight should have honour) Does he know something that we don't?
And you may think that I am being disparaging by referring to Cameron et al. as being the equivalent of that heinous regime the Third Reich however all evidence is to the contrary at the moment. Sick and disabled are being maligned, rights are being eroded and the NHS something they swore to protect has been effectively put up for sale to the highest bidder. And when people die then those responsible get to keep their jobs and smile into their pensions.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/nhs-privatisation-plan-stopped-health-1734326
The NHS may not be perfect and it can be improved but do you really want to be wondering if you will be able to afford medical treatment should the need arise? Block this now and prevent the greatest travesty of our generation taking place. Defend the NHS, defend the right to healthcare.
I'm only being human
The Home Secretary has decided along with the other members of the coven that run our country that we will pull out of the Human Rights Act.
Now I can understand why people hate the Human Rights Act when it allows certain individuals to preach hate however there are fundamental rights that we all have that should be respected regardless and this Home Secretary would have us in sack cloth and ashes again
True democracy is defending the right of someone to say something that you would disagree with and vehemently oppose with your last breath.
And if we kill the Human Rights Act what if a new Marx or Engels came forward would we be able to hear their views or would be restricted by the State to what is good for us?
Sorry did I hear you say Goebbels or was that No Balls?
Suffer the little children
As an educationalist I am concerned that the propaganda that is been spouted about raising standards is really all about return to Victorian brainwashing. It is intrinsically a move made by Government, any Government who wants to be seen to appealing to worried parents about children getting on in life.
Watch this short video from Sir Ken Robinson and RSA animations. Maybe it will challenge your thought process about how we learn and why we are controlled in that learning.
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_changing_education_paradigms.html
Gove is an education minister that doesn't understand learning and how to make a better future for all of us. We can't predict what will happen in 5 years now yet we are educating children with methods that are hundreds of years old for a future in 60 years. How can we possibly know that that will work? Even Einstein or Hawking could not be classed as that clever!
Change the Paradigms improve the possibilities
It's tough up North
Rebecca Meredith is regarded as on of the top 20 public speakers in the world apparently yet the Cambridge student came in for a right ear bashing up in Glasgow
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2288148/Cambridge-debating-stars-left-tears-sexist-heckles-looks-prestigious-student-competition.html
Now Miss Meredith you really need to develop a tougher skin. Glasgow is a tough audience, even the fleas on the rats have bodyguards up there. I know I've lectured up there they don't take prisoners. The thing is though if you really are as skilled as your write ups suggest then surely you wouldn't run off stage crying at the heckles of a man who had obviously left his guide dog at home. And he must have been blind because let's face it you are pretty and you are good looking. I've debated in Varsity championships and have won may a trophy in years gone by but remembering one debate in Liverpool in the 80's I recall what Austin Mitchell said about following Matthew Parris.
" I feel like a cross between a man with herpes and HIV, an incurable romantic"
Now I didn't like Austin Mitchell but he enthralled me by that speech and he changed my mind about him. The secret to surviving a heckling audience is to either turn them round in your favour or buy a book called
Stand Up Put Downs by Rufus Hound
There's one or two good ways of shutting up idiots in the audience that way. Even shuts up the odd hardened Glasweigian.
And Finally
There's a phrase that has become close to my heart and something of a catchphrase to me particularly on twitter. And the reason for that? Well I just hate it when there is trouble and strife about and want to make sure I leave people with a positive thought.
So to end this blog just remember
Live your life with passion and above all........
peace and happiness to you all
Tuesday, 19 February 2013
Security is the last part of Insecurity
Maslow describes how man is going through a process to reach a psychological state where he self actualises. In other words transcends the need for the human world in it's consumer sense. It is all about the inner relationship and the relationship on an emotional level with those around. The challenge within this is man's own desire to trip himself up.
Now interestingly I use the words man, his and him and that is because traditionally men were seen as everything and women as well, women. That concept today is totally outrageous and it is actually by looking how women are psychologically that we see where man is going wrong.
You could argue that man bases his self actualisation on my penis is bigger than your penis therefor my seed will spread further and last longer. Man has an overriding need for bigger and better toys, more powerful cars, more money in the bank. To him that is security but in reality that is his insecurity. This powerful motivator added to large amounts of testosterone drives the world we live in. The problem was that woman bought into this early on. Women were physically smaller, could be dominated more easily (and no I'm not talking 50 shades here) and whilst man would hunt woman would gather.
This is a different world today and man quite frankly has too many balls for it. You see in this humble commentators mind man is too bothered still about his penis when he should be more bothered about his brain. Woman is now coming to the fore because if we are logical about evolution the next evolutionary process in man will be the ability to connect with thought or feeling. In other words the ability to mind read.
How many men have gone on about I don't understand women? How many women have felt insecure because they can't get the right man? Or spend years with men who they care for but don't really connect with. How many men still hunt the trophy wife rather than look below the skin and the breasts and the legs? (although I have to admit I rather like legs myself )
Physical attraction is still a good thing , we have to procreate after all, and well sex is fun of course. But if you don't connect at a psychological level then what's the point? It's just a couple of hours (or about 30 seconds in my case) of extreme physical feeling and then its's all about "Is that the time? better be going then"
The problem is man has used this insecurity and somehow stuck it on to woman's psyche. Therefore it is the woman, who naturally has a greater emotional connect with herself, who starts to believe that she is at fault. She therefor starts to doubt herself when in reality she is still playing into the oldest power game in the book man v woman.
Experiencing some of the things that have challenged me through life has taught me that if I don't connect with myself how can I possibly connect with anyone else? My penis is large enough thank you for what it needs to do but in reality it feels a million times bigger when I am in real psychological harmony with someone. And for that I have to understand that emotions are the key to everything.
So it is good to feel it is good to feel insecure. Because if you feel insecure you are learning that at the end of insecurity comes security. Security within yourself and that is the only totally secure position you can ever truly have.
So if you are feeling insecure today rejoice as it is a part of a journey on your way to self-actualisation. Seek out the freedom insecurity will ultimately give you
Now interestingly I use the words man, his and him and that is because traditionally men were seen as everything and women as well, women. That concept today is totally outrageous and it is actually by looking how women are psychologically that we see where man is going wrong.
You could argue that man bases his self actualisation on my penis is bigger than your penis therefor my seed will spread further and last longer. Man has an overriding need for bigger and better toys, more powerful cars, more money in the bank. To him that is security but in reality that is his insecurity. This powerful motivator added to large amounts of testosterone drives the world we live in. The problem was that woman bought into this early on. Women were physically smaller, could be dominated more easily (and no I'm not talking 50 shades here) and whilst man would hunt woman would gather.
This is a different world today and man quite frankly has too many balls for it. You see in this humble commentators mind man is too bothered still about his penis when he should be more bothered about his brain. Woman is now coming to the fore because if we are logical about evolution the next evolutionary process in man will be the ability to connect with thought or feeling. In other words the ability to mind read.
How many men have gone on about I don't understand women? How many women have felt insecure because they can't get the right man? Or spend years with men who they care for but don't really connect with. How many men still hunt the trophy wife rather than look below the skin and the breasts and the legs? (although I have to admit I rather like legs myself )
Physical attraction is still a good thing , we have to procreate after all, and well sex is fun of course. But if you don't connect at a psychological level then what's the point? It's just a couple of hours (or about 30 seconds in my case) of extreme physical feeling and then its's all about "Is that the time? better be going then"
The problem is man has used this insecurity and somehow stuck it on to woman's psyche. Therefore it is the woman, who naturally has a greater emotional connect with herself, who starts to believe that she is at fault. She therefor starts to doubt herself when in reality she is still playing into the oldest power game in the book man v woman.
Experiencing some of the things that have challenged me through life has taught me that if I don't connect with myself how can I possibly connect with anyone else? My penis is large enough thank you for what it needs to do but in reality it feels a million times bigger when I am in real psychological harmony with someone. And for that I have to understand that emotions are the key to everything.
So it is good to feel it is good to feel insecure. Because if you feel insecure you are learning that at the end of insecurity comes security. Security within yourself and that is the only totally secure position you can ever truly have.
So if you are feeling insecure today rejoice as it is a part of a journey on your way to self-actualisation. Seek out the freedom insecurity will ultimately give you
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