Learning & Education

There is a tendency to believe that education takes place in schools & universities. Teachers & lecturers are the people responsible for inculcating information into young peoples minds. There is also a tendency to believe that we all know what education is because we have all been to school. I completely disagree with both premises.

 

The evidence is that the first 5 years of life are the most critical period for rapid brain development and foundational learning. These early years build the core architecture for all future learning, behaviour, and health. It is critical that parents have the skills to teach their children. Out of 8,760 total hours in a year,  school attendance accounts for about 14.1% of total time (roughly 30.8% of a child's waking hours assuming 11 hours awake daily). In simple terms more than two thirds of a child's time, when in full time education, is spent at home. Parents are a crucial part of education & learning.

Children also learn from their peers, from TV, from their mobile phones & computers. Even from books. Nowadays children have access to more information than ever before. There isn't any reason why we shouldn't have the best educated children ever. 

UK children today attain higher formal academic qualifications on paper than previous generations, but persistent systemic inequalities mean many still face profound learning divides. The Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that a child's family income and social background remain deeply tied to their school achievement. 

25% of children in the UK do not meet the expected national standards in reading and 25% do not meet them in mathematics by the end of primary school. We must accept than not everyone falls within or above average intelligence. Scores falling below 85 / 100 are traditionally considered below average, representing roughly 16% of the population. So we must provide extra help for those children. Conversely 14% are above average & between 2 - 5%of children can be classified as gifted. I would argue that we should also provide extra challenges to stretch those children. Education isn't "one size fits all". 

I believe in lifelong learning. I have definitely learnt far more post further education than I learnt in 16 years at school & college. My concern is that our model of education, although it has changed substantially since I was a headteacher, needs a really close examination. As we move through the 21st century we must recognise the huge changes in life & the world of work. I suspect that we are only at the beginning of drastic & serious change to our world. 

I really don't think we are ready for what might come. The model we are following is already outdated. There are simple questions we need to answer. "What exactly to we need to actually know"? "What skills do we need to have"? "What personal attributes are important"? "What should the curriculum include & what can we discard"?

 

We need to get ahead of this, but there are so many competing political issues demanding attention I'm afraid we won't be able to. 

Security

My doors have 3 point locking. My windows all lock. I have a doorbell that tells me when anyone steps on my drive. My property is delineated by fences. I'm not aware of any threat. I am secure. I live in a relatively safe neighbourhood in a relatively safe country. I am very fortunate. 

But all of that could change in an instant. None of us should take security for granted. There are any number of possible threats of different levels of seriousness. I could trip & fall down the stairs. I could forget to lock my doors & be burgled or worse. The house could be struck by lightening. There could be civil unrest & riots. Russia could attack.....

My point is that we all tend to be complacent. "It won't happen to me". We do take our security for granted. 

We see dreadful events unfolding in all parts of the world. From natural disasters, to disease & war. We see people commit crimes against each other. In today's world we see events instantly on TV, our phones & computers. We are informed. Correspondents & journalists rush to events even as they happen. We ourselves record & share live events on social media.

We cannot say we do not know what the threats are.

What is it about us humans that allows us, in the face of almost instant communications, to compartmentalise what is happening to other people? We can seemingly put the information in a box inside our brain. We can sympathise, even empathise, but so many of us can also ignore even deny reality. 

Dealing with trauma is complex. We have to process our shock. Adrenaline prepares us to fight, flee or freeze. We experience emotions - sadness, anger, fear, guilt. I just wonder whether we are becoming less able to feel enough. Whether we are viewing events without really feeling because we feel powerless. Especially feeling enough anger about injustice & unfairness.

I have worked, briefly in Nepal. It is one of the poorest countries in the world. 20% to 25% of Nepal's population live below the national poverty line. It is a beautiful but difficult landscape. Mountainous terrain limits trade, infrastructure development, and access to schools or medical care. A large portion of Nepal's working-age population migrates abroad for work, sending money back home to support families.  A majority of rural citizens still rely on basic farming rather than commercial industries. 

It is not a country that can cope alone with the devastation of the floods of last Wednesday. Most Nepalese live with insecurity of one sort or another. The event is a graphic example of the climate emergency we are all living in. A glacier melted & collapsed. Permafrost is being weakened by warming. No one will be secure from climate events. But the people who have done least to create this problem are the ones whose lives are most affected. 

Politicians make capital out of population movements & want to control our borders. What does that mean about our humanity? If we live in relatively secure areas of the world are we going to "repel all borders" in order to protect our security? Or are we going to help. Are we going to share? Are we going to be generous?

 

I don't know the answer, but I fear the possibilities. 

 

Reflections

I look at my face in the mirror every morning when I wash & brush my teeth. The face I see reflected is reality, but my mind still believes otherwise. I know that I am wrinkled, my skin is paper thin & dry, my hair has lost it's auburn colour & I have eyebrows which have a mind of their own. I understand that I am an old lady, but my mind is still working, still interested & curious. Fundamentally I am myself as I have always been, but better - I hope. I know more, through experience & living. Also from reading, watching documentaries & research generally.

Because I am more sedentary due to the limitations of my body, I do think more. This blog has changed over 15 years, starting in February 2011, with a current total of  1,219 posts. Obviously I am very opinionated! It started because I missed discussing life, philosophy & politics with my husband & needed to find a way forward on my own after a lifetime of marriage. Now I'm amazed to see that my blog has reached as many as 15.5 thousand people in one week.

I have changed & the blog has changed. I could not have foreseen how my life, the UK & the world would change. I was interested in climate change & politics at the start, but both of those issues have become even more worrying today. Plus we now have wars, death & destruction to contend with. 

I have just been recommended to read "The Beginning Comes After the End" by Rebecca Solnit, who also wrote "Hope in the Dark". I will read both, but I am losing faith. I have always been a glass half full person, thinking that if I believed I could do something, I could. Belief is really important. Now I am deeply concerned. I feel we have made society too complex, we have damaged too much, we endlessly fight over territory & resources, we make decisions without considering consequences...

I reflect & I despair of the human race. I cannot imagine what my 21 year old twin grandsons will inherit. Or rather I don't want to, because it is too dire. I never thought I would think like this & I'm glad I'm 81 with limited time left. 

When I look at some of the comments on Greenpeace or ClientEarth posts on Facebook I am speechless at the complacency & ignorance. We do have the capacity to turn this around, to make meaningful change, but it is an uphill struggle. In order to do that everyone everywhere has to buy into a different way of living & sharing this planet. 

 

Unfortunately I just think we are now over the tipping point & the forces against us are too wealthy & too powerful. Self interest is prevalent both in multinational companies & individuals. We have lost our sense of real community. We are insular & self serving. Many people feel they have no agency, no power or control. I even question if we can call ourselves democratic. 

 

We all need to reflect before it is too late. We all need to change fundamentally or we will destroy the wonderful world that we have. I am not Cassandra - She accurately predicted future disasters or negative events but was ignored or disbelieved, but I can see the direction we are going in.

 

 

 

I hope it isn't too late.  

  

 

Consideration & Politeness

When an oncoming car gives way for me I raise my hand in acknowledgement. It's a second of politeness. I don't even need to take my hand off the wheel. I expect oncoming cars to do the same when I give way. Not sure what the % of people who do is, but a lot of people don't. Given our congested roads today I think both giving way & saying thank you are such small gestures I can't understand why so many people don't do it. Are they just rude or arrogant, not concentrating, or are their minds on other things? Who knows. But it is irritating.

Both data and public perception suggest that people have become more impolite in the 21st century. A Pew research paper found that nearly half of adults believe public behaviour is ruder now than it was before the pandemic. They found that social isolation during COVID-19 caused interpersonal skills to atrophy. Also on line disinhibition has changed manners & etiquette. Traditional rules are disappearing. Heightened political and social divisions have spilled over into everyday interactions, reducing baseline empathy toward strangers. 

The Pew survey defined rudeness as public behaviours ranging from cursing or playing loud music to smoking & taking photos of people without permission. There seems to be a "tit for tat" response, insults or rudeness provokes insults or rudeness & negative interaction can escalate. Hopefully not if you are in a car though. Although I do remember extreme examples of road rage. 

There have always been rude people. Another piece of research said that " these individuals are amoral (or immoral) hotheads who refuse to accept criticism or correction from others. They may also—though less reliably—be low in behavioural inhibition, high in behavioural activation, “blirtatious (quickly and openly expressing their thoughts and feelings to others), narcissistic, and/or Machiavellian".

 

I wondered if rudeness is learned behaviour. As I thought it is. Children learn by imitation & modelling. So the parents or guardians have a huge impact on behaviour. Apparently rudeness spreads like a virus. If others in your group are rude you copy because you want to belong. 

The corollary is that manners, consideration & politeness have to be actively taught to children by those nearest & dearest. In my experience if you smile & are polite you stand more chance of receiving similar behaviour. Being rude, abusive, inconsiderate & impolite will just result in that being the behaviour you receive.

It's a vicious circle which is all too common.    

Medicalising Normality

The Channel 4 documentary "The great ADHD Myth", which has proved controversial, was presented by the NHS psychiatrist Dr Max Pemberton, who concluded that ADHD was a “social construct” rather than a medical condition, and schools should better support children rather than doctors medicating them into fitting into a supposed norm. I haven't watched it yet, but I have been wondering whether we have over medicalised human behaviours that are actually within a "normal" spectrum.

If we have learned anything about our species with the development of science, it is that we humans are infinitely variable in how we think & behave. I have lived through the period when not being heterosexual was illegal. How ridiculous that seems now. Now we have LGBTQIA+ definitions of sexuality. I have to admit that I don't fully understand all of that. But it clearly makes my point that there are huge "normal" variations in sexuality.

I have also lived through much of my life when the common response to being anxious or depressed was something akin to "that's life - get over it". Stoicism & resilience were the answer. Now we have several neurodiverse conditions - Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dyspraxia & Dysgraphia. Again, I can't claim to understand what each of those involves, but I do know that one size doesn't fit all. There are different levels in each individual. Just heard of a new one - Rejection Sensitivity Disphoria - an emotional and physical response to real or perceived rejection, criticism, or failure!

My point is that being human is complicated, mentally, physically & emotionally. For every difference in thought & behaviour there is a huge range of "normal". I'm really not at all sure that compartmentalising & diagnosing people has helped us. Which brings me towards accepting that the medicalising of difference may well just be creating problems. 

There was a time when gay people were systematically persecuted - imprisoned, forced into chemical castration & given electro convulsive therapy. Now, hopefully we know better & are more tolerant of something that is also widespread in other animals. 

As to neurodiversity, why can't we just accept the we are very complex animals who are often "wired" very differently. Why do we have to diagnose & medicalise conditions which seem increasingly to just be part of a hugely diverse picture of humanity. Why can't we just accept difference exists. Why do we want to be homogenous, part of the crowd, not outsiders? We give people stimulant drugs like Ritalin & Amphetamines. We also give them non stimulants, anti psychotics & SSRI's. The list is endless. There are always side effects with drugs. Virtually all medical drugs are toxic in some way. Many of these drugs are being given to children & young people. 

I worry that we are just creating huge profits for the very wealthy Pharma industries & doing unknown harm to the people who are prescribed the drugs, because we don't have the time or the money to counsel & support & treat in other ways. 

 

Wealth Distribution & Inheritance

On & off I've been listening to BBC radio 4 "Tony Hawks is Giving Nothing Away" https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002fl03  It is very interesting & fits with what I have thought for years. I simply don't believe in inherited wealth for many reasons which are explored in the programme better than I can. 

In simple terms inherited wealth perpetuates wealth & land ownership in the hands of a select few. If the inheritance is substantial it can change the life of the inheritor, who did nothing to earn the money & land & will never need to work. On the other hand if the money & land is given to charity for example it can do so much good & benefit far more people. 

I have seen situations where offspring feel that their parents money is their right & due. I have also seen situations where one child is substantially better off than another & isn't prepared for the parent to give more to the less wealthy child. Inheritance does not breed altruism.

So I made the decision years ago that my only child would not inherit everything I leave behind. I am fortunate financially, but my husband & I earned everything we have through a combination of having good jobs, working hard to get senior positions & living fairly frugally. 

I think the really important thing about inheritance is that parents are open about what they intend to do & discuss it with their children. The reasons behind the decision are really important. After my mother died I discovered that she had cut me out of her will. Although there wasn't much to inherit I was devastated. It had a hugely emotional impact even though we had a difficult relationship all my life. I was an only child. It was a slap in the face.

My daughter has known what my will would be since before I wrote it. We discussed it & I have written a letter to her expressing my love & pride in the person she is with the will. She will inherit what I consider a reasonable amount, but the rest will be distributed to several charities. I think she understands & is happy with the decision. While I am alive I try to be generous both to my small family & to charities. I'm alive to see the benefit of doing that.

So I do not have any understanding whatsoever of the very wealthy who seemingly are only interested in amassing even more money & possessions for themselves. The net worth of individual multi billionaires eclipses the GDP or national income of small to mid sized nations - e.g. Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos hold personal net worth figures surpassing the nominal GDP of countries such as Hungary, New Zealand, or multiple smaller developing economies.

https://fortune.com/2025/04/02/world-record-number-of-billionaires-wealth-higher-than-most-gdp-despite-stock-market-bloodbath/  

Money can do so much good. It should not be concentrated in the hands of a few. Our relationship to wealth has become completely unbalanced. How have we reached the point where so few have so much wealth & therefore power? I would love the very wealthy to discover the joys of philanthropy. It's good for the soul. 

 

 

Work & Unemployment

According to the song from Cabaret "money makes the world go around". We need it for basic survival - food, water, a place to live etc. Society needs it for financial exchange, jobs, trade, and public services etc. Financial gain often motivates people's choices and actions more than other values do. 

The world of work & paid employment has changed beyond all recognition in my lifetime. The UK labour market has shifted from traditional 9 to 5 office & manufacturing models to widespread remote & hybrid work & an increase in digital & gig economy roles. There are new structural challenges with post pandemic inactivity & rising youth unemployment. My husband & I both had professional jobs for our lifetimes, both with excellent pensions. The jobs themselves were interesting & challenging although the hours were long. 

There are new roles which simply didn't exist 10 years ago - Artificial Intelligence & Data roles, Cyber Security & Cloud Computing, Digital Health & Remote Logistics, Green Economy & Sustainability.....I literally don't have any idea what most of these involve. I certainly don't know what qualifications skills & attributes tomorrows workers need in order to be successful in tomorrows world of work. 

How do our young people choose which subjects they should continue with & which they should drop? What sort of careers guidance do they get at school to enable them to choose whether to opt for an academic or technical further education course? The pace of change seems too fast for our traditional education system or parents & teachers to cope with. 

Are we producing a generation of children fit only for unemployment? What a waste of talent that would be.

There are some interpersonal skills that are applicable in any situation - active listening, communication, empathy, conflict resolution, teamwork, dependability, adaptability, leadership.... These are vitally important in today's changing world. How many schools teach them? How many parents & teachers value them? 

The current unemployment rate in the UK is 4.9% or 1.76 million. Youth unemployment is 16.4% - 1 in 6 young people are seeking work.

 

Human capital, (a persons skills, knowledge & health), is one of the most important sorts of capital. Financial Capital (the liquid funds, cash & investments available to trade & grow an organisation) is also necessary. Together they make personal & economic wealth.

We need workers, workers need jobs appropriate to their capabilities. We need a framework for stability & growth in order to keep our society on an even keel. At the moment there is no balance, no equilibrium. We are failing as a society & we are failing individuals. The Industrial Revolution started in 1760 & irrevocably changed our society from agrarian to industrial. We are now in an AI & robotic revolution that is changing society in a similar way.

Our school report would say "Could do better if they tried."