Be Prepared - Emergency Planning

My husband was a Boy Scout. The Scouts aim is to help people aged 4-25 develop skills for life. Founded in 1908, their motto is "Be prepared"

https://www.scouts.org.uk/about-us/strategy/

 

It isn't a bad motto for all of us to follow in the current unstable world. In order to be prepared, you have to have some idea what you need to be prepared for. Because our world is so volatile, that isn't at all easy. There are things that are known & things that are unknown, both in the macro & micro. 

I know that I am ageing, so I can be prepared for the known fact that I will die. However, I don't know how, so the possibilities are quite wide. I can't be prepared for all of them - an accident for example. I can be prepared by leaving my life in order. Not hoarding, having a will & LPA's.....

I also know that we are in a climate emergency that threatens the existance of many species, including humanity. I can do as much as I can to mitigate my contribution to carbon emissions & try to live sustainably. I won't join the bunker mentality by living off grid. I don't feel that my individual life is that important.

Regarding big political decisions I have a vote & hopefully use it wisely. But politicians are possibly the least prepared people to make important decisions. They are short termist. They only think as far as the next election & trying to stay in power. Many become ministers with little or no experience, expertise or skills to bring to their position. They have to rely on the advice of civil servants, advisors & lobbyists. It's a deeply flawed system. They may only be in their position for a short time & then are moved on. "Churn" is a problem. 

Many chickens are coming home to roost in the UK, where decisions have been made which have had disastrous consequences. There are numerous commissions looking into the results of poor planning, short termism, protectionism....We do not have a Forward Planning Ministry set up to draw together all the information looking into future consequences, which is needed to make good decisions.

We are not prepared. So we suffer very poor outcomes which harm people, cost vast amounts of money & often take up years of time. We end up simply fire fighting because we weren't prepared. It is possible to give people the skills needed to be prepared. We just don't do it. 

 

Annoying Filler Words

 The UK’s most annoying filler words:

1. Innit, 47 per cent
2. Like, 32 per cent
3. Basically, 22 per cent
4. Err, 21 per cent
5. You know, 20 per cent
6. Uh, 17 per cent
7. Umm, 15 per cent
8. Yeah, 13 per cent
9. Literally, 12 per cent
10. Oooh, 10 per cent

The UK’s most used filler words:

1. OK, 30 per cent
2. Err, 26 per cent
3. Right, 22 per cent
4. Umm, 20 per cent
5. Actually, 18 per cent
6. Anyway, 16 per cent
7. Basically, 16 per cent
8. Yeah, 14 per cent
9. Like, 14 per cent
10. Really, 13 per cent

The highlighted ones are the ones I most dislike. I would also add My Bad, So & Awesome. I also realise that I use the word "Absolutely" far too much. The sad thing is that repeatedly using these filler words makes people appear less intelligent, less educated and lacking in people skills. Apparently 23% of people don't realise they are using them. I'm surprised that statistic isn't higher. I have at times been tempted to count the number of times I hear people use the word "like" pointlessly in sentences or phrases  - But I do realise that would be a bit anal & weird.

Why do we do it? Why don't we realise that we are doing it? Sometimes, apparently it's to give us time to formulate what we want to say. But I don't think that applies to "like". I also don't think hesitation or uncertainty explains the over use of "like". I just think it's possibly nervousness, lack of preparation, or an  unconscious habit. I just find it really irritating.

We have been given a brain & a wonderful language. Why don't we use them?

Free Speech & Thought Control

Trump said - “I’ve stopped all government censorship and brought back free speech in America.” Really? Actions mean more than words. He has cut $400m from Columbia University because he wants to stifle criticism of Israel. But the real target is dissent of any sort. Obviously in Trumps world "free speech" means speech he approves of.

In his dystopian novel "1984," Orwell explores the concept of Thought Control through the Party's manipulation of language (Newspeak) and omnipresent surveillance, aiming to eliminate independent thought and maintain absolute power. In Oceania, the Party views any thought that challenges its authority as "Thoughtcrime," punishable by the "Thought Police", who use telescreens, informers, and psychological techniques to monitor citizens. 

Is that ringing any bells? Isn't that what Trump & Musk are actively setting out to do in today's America? 

Voltaire supposedly said "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it" Actually it was paraphrased by Evelyn Beatrice Hall in her Voltaire biography.

In todays world we really need to understand what is at stake in the actions of people like Trump, Musk, Putin, Netanyahu.......They are deliberately undermining truth & freedom. They want us to be subserviant & compliant in order to gain as much power & wealth as they can. Their actions are entirely self serving. It is very dangerous. Over & over history shows us this type of pattern of behaviour by leaders, notably in the rise of the Third Reich. For milennia civilisations have come & gone. Toynbee said that cilvilisations  have a life cycle of four stages: genesis, growth, breakdown, and disintegration. (Read Jared Diamond "Collapse"). It seems to me that we are very close to the final stage if we do nothing.

There are many ways for countries to be governed. Each country has it's own distinct character & culture & within that people vary hugely. Despite all of that difference, every country & it's population must have freedom if they are to survive well for the benefit of everyone. 

We must all be able to think, speak & argue our point of view freely. We must all be open to the idea that we can be wrong & be able to change our opinion. We must all listen to varying points of view & challenge or support where necessary.

If we lose that ability we are lost. 

Too many Books - Not Enough Time

 

I've always been a reader. When I was 11 my family moved to a house on the Wolverhampton Rd in Birmingham. A 5 minute walk away there was a public library on Bleakhouse Rd, so I had access to a lot of books. My parents did not have disposable income for luxuries like books. I thought a book for Christmas was a wonderful present. Books informed & transported me. According to Google maps the library is still there thank goodness. As is my family home, number 187, although it has been modernised & improved. 

I can't resist books. I never go to sleep without reading first. I like fiction & non fiction & often have both on the go at the same time. I've been a member of 2 book clubs which have broadened my interests & choices. I have shelves of books & also cupboards full in several rooms. I regularly go to charity shops to see what they have for sale. I would be bereft if I didn't have a book to move onto after I finished my current book.

My main problem is I probably won't be able to read all of the books I own, because I keep finding more to interest or entertain me.

Public libraries are in crisis.The BBC did an analysis in 2024 & found that more than 180 council-run libraries have either closed or been handed over to volunteer groups in the UK since 2016. That is one in 20 libraries since 2016, which has had more impact on deprived communities, who were four times more likely to have lost a publicly-funded library, not to mention the jobs associated with them. A third of those remaining, have had their hours reduced and at least three councils have at least halved their provision since 2016.

Council-run libraries offer more than just book-lending facilities - stay-and-play sessions for children, literacy clubs, access to computers & crucially, warm spaces for people who can't afford heating costs. Upper-tier local councils such as county councils and unitary authorities have a statutory duty to provide a “comprehensive library service". But funding is under attack.

We still need books in this tech age. In 2024, the number of independent bookstores in the UK fell from 1,063 to 1,052. However, this is still higher than the 2016 low of 867. Good book shops are thriving despite Amazon. There is nothing like having a book in your hand. Now my short term memory is declining I can write pencil notes or underline when a new character enters the story. 

Unlike mobile phones, the TV, or film, books don't rely on pictures to stimulate our intellect or imagination. Like radio, books enable us to actually use the brain we were given. 

One of the most joyous things you can do is read a story to a child, thus leading them towards being readers.

 

Indoctrination & Cults

I'm reading "The Running Grave" by Robert Galbraith (J K Rowling). It's a huge book, 1200 pages, all about a Cult.

Indoctrination is the process of teaching a person or group to accept a set of unshakable beliefs uncritically & often irrationally. We can see evidence of indoctrination in educational institutions, the state, the arts, culture, and the media. People are indoctrinated in many ways;-

• Selective presentation: Presenting only certain facts and ideas to support specific beliefs
• One-sided arguments: Using incomplete or biased arguments
• Suppression of evidence: Deliberately withholding or falsifying evidence
• Emotional slogans: Using impassioned slogans to promote a belief
• Preaching: Using a preaching style instead of teaching

 This is achieved in a variety of ways in cults;-

• Separating new members from their families, friends, and jobs
• Forcing new members to give up their money, belongings, and bodies to the cult
• Compelling new members to marry people they just met
• Using punishment, deprivation, and other tactics to wear down new members

The more I observe what is happening in our country & the world in general, the more concerned I get that people are being manipulated & even indoctrinated by our very sophisticated technological methods of communication. The very fact that the BBC now has to have a department devoted to fact checking & the secret services have the 77th Brigade shows how unreliable the information we are presented with can be. 

I no longer take any information from news media for granted. I certainly distrust social media & the internet in general. I always try to check out my sources of information & look at several. The most important facility I have is my gut reaction to information. If it doesn't walk like a duck & quack like a duck, then it isn't a duck.

But I have the time to do all that. I am well educated & most importantly I tend towards critical disbelief of information that seems "off". The really worrying fact is that quite a lot of people will accept information, however bizarre, at face value. You only have to look at the many 2024 "conspiracy theories" to be seriously concerned;-

• Vaccine efficiency
• October 7th Denial
• Severe weather generated by bad actors
• Trumps assassination attempts a PR stunt
• False narratives about the Israel Hamas war

Worryingly indoctrination does work on some people. If that indoctrination begins in childhood via parents or schools, it can be lethal. It can be really difficult to separate truth from fiction especially for young impressionable minds. False news is everywhere. People with power, money & influence are realising just what they can achieve in our instant news era.

We all should be very aware & very afraid. We all need to value truth.  

 

 

We don't need no education....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iITFrcNLcA  Pink Floyd "The Wall" 1979. The year I became the head of a primary school at 34.

I had been trained in the 60's. I espoused, Montessori, Piaget, Steiner. I believer in child centred education & learning by doing, not by rote. Since then the world has changed immensely. So have I.

I still believe the child should be the centre of what is taught. They should have a really broad based education & learn by experiencing. No one learns to drive a car from a book or how to play football from a video. But we have AI. We have sophisticated technology. We have interactive whiteboards & computers. The rate of change is exponential.

Even more importantly than that the world is simply not the same place it was in the 70's. We have mass consumerism, but many of the old industies & jobs have gone. We have limited natural resources & need to find different ways of doing things. Family structure & parenting has changed out of all recognition. Populations are more mobile. In many ways we are more fortunate, but we have also lost reliability & structure. The needs of individuals & society are worlds away from the 70's.

But although education has changed I really don't think it has been given the time to really think about the needs of modern children, the state, the world & the system. What's more, I think we desperately need to do that or our children won't be prepared for an uncertain & changing world.

Education is both individual & societal. Both need to benefit. If we don't equip our children with the skills to be happy, balanced & productive individuals at whatever level, our society will not flourish. Most educational change is imposed from the top. From politicians. The world & it's wife thinks that they know what education should be because they went to school. But by definition their education is out of date. 

We need people with real experience & expertise to look at educational trends around the world & select the really good tested methods. We also need an open public discussion about what we as a society want education to be. We are in the 21st century, but education isn't. It's all about testing, examinations, administration & box ticking, putting huge pressure on the teaching force who are leaving in droves. No one wants to be a head now. 

A good education depends on good teachers who are well trained, creative & dedicated. It's a caring profession. It runs on goodwill. That has been eroded away by bureaucracy & overwork. 

But the most important thing is that our children need to enjoy school & feel that it is relevant to their lives now & in the future. I seriously doubt that it is.

Normal?

We all think we are "normal", but what is normal? How do we define it? Is it behavior that conforms to the most common behavior in the society we live in? In which case how do we reconcile the very different, cultural, accepted behaviours worldwide? Is it the most common behavior for  an individual, whether or not it conforms to society norms? Statistically 'normal' means not significantly deviating from the average. I can only compare myself to my friends, family & aquaintances. My social group, like most people's, is relatively homogenious. So how do I know that represents normality? It is only normal for my group & even within that group there is a wide range of behaviours & beliefs.

We learn what normality is initially from our parents. Like it or not, our parents teach us by conditioning, habituation & imprinting. Our version of what is "normal" depends on who parented us & their social strata. It is "learned behaviour". Teachers follow on from parents & there is an argument that education is also indoctrination.

One definition of normal human behavior is any behavior, including speech, that does not bring harm to  individuals or people. "First do no harm" is probably a good mantra for anyone, not just medics. 

When I compare the world today to the world of my childhood, teens & early adulthood there is some similarity, but not much. My world today is much better in many ways, certainly more financially secure & technologically sophisticated. The world I remember was simpler & more relaxed. I have had to adjust to a new "normal".

The thing is, has that adjustment meant that I accept things that would have been anathema to the younger me? In some ways yes, I'm less judgmental & emotionally volatile. But my moral compass is the same. I'm just far better informed & understand the complexities better. I have the web at my fingertips & can research & verify information.

The most worrying thing is that "normal" seems to mean something so different today that I just can't come to terms with it. Wars, mindless violence, corruption, failed states, poverty, famine, waste, polution, unsustainable lifestyles ..., all of this & more has become normal.

We are in danger of accepting all of this. If we don't resist this new "normal" our society will collapse, because it isn't normal. It's all very abnormal. 

 

Changing your Mind

Is it better to be a "my mind's made up" person or an "I've changed my mind" one? 

"A wise man changes his mind, a fool never will." — Spanish proverb. "You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are heavy." — C. JoyBell.

I'm not saying that vacillating,"wavering between different opinions or actions; being irresolute", is a good thing. I'm also not saying that being indecisive works well. I have known people who were unable to make their mind up what they wanted for breakfast, never mind who to vote for in an election. I find that level of indecisiveness very irritating & time wasting.

On the other hand I find people who are completely unable to see a different point of view almost impossible to cope with. It's like having a conversation with a brick wall. It's deeply arrogant to believe that you know everything there is to know & therefore your opinion must be right.

I am unashamedly liberal socialist in my views. I think that the many extreme disparities between peoples & individuals are at a crisis point. I believe that we are at a critical point in the climate emergency & the very future of our world as we know it is at risk of oblivion. I believe that if we are to survive we need to make serious changes in how we live together in our ecosystem. 

But if reliable evidence to the contrary were to emerge, I hope that I would be capable of changing my view. The crucial ingredient is reliable evidence. 

We humans are too impressionable, too willing to follow the herd. Why on earth do we follow unelected "influencers" in our millions. Why do the Taliban believe that their "vice & virtue" laws relating to women are acceptable? They include a ban on women’s voices and bare faces in public. Why do people tolerate & even believe in authoritarian dictators like Assad, Putin, Kim Jong Il? Presumably it's both indoctrination & fear.

 

If you live in a democracy & are free to think & speak out you are very lucky. That is one of the reasons I think that "no platforming" is so deeply worrying. We are able to challenge what someone says & believes. We can bring evidence to support that challenge. There are many countries in this world where that is not possible. Where people who have tried to do that are either dead or in prison. Dissidents & journalists are brave in the face of repression.

We simply cannot know everything there is to know about something at a given point in time. We need to be open & flexible. The ability to change your mind is a valuable freedom. We need to protect it. 

 

 

Independent v State Education

Around 5.9% of all children at school in the UK attend private schools. There are just over 554,000 pupils at UK independent schools. There are 16.9% more pupils in independent schools today than there were in 1990 - 05.09.2023

 

Non British Pupils in Independent Schools - 

(https://www.isc.co.uk/media/uukn4r3i/isc_census_2024_15may24.pdf)

                 Non British Parents Overseas Parents in UK % Parents Overseas % Parents in UK

Hong Kong   7,677          5,075                   2,602                66.1%                      33.9%

China           10,375         5,824                   4,551                56.1%                      43.9%

Japan            1,303              659                      644                50.6%                     49.4%

 

Russia           1,812              940                     872                 51.9%                      48.1%

Ukraine         2,055              750                   1305                 36.5%                      63.5%

Middle East   1,555              776                     779                 49.9%                     50.1%

Nigeria         1,553            758                  795                48.8%                   51.2%

Rest of Africa 1,953          687               1266                35.2%                    64.8%

India              2,028           244               1,784               12.0%                     88.0%

The average cost per child at a UK private school is now £20,480 per annum (£6,827 per term) for day pupils, and £34,790 per annum (£11,597 per term) for boarders. This represents an average fee increase of around 5.1% from last year’s fees, and an acceleration compared to the previous year (2020 to 2021) where fees rose on average at just over 4%.  

https://www.schoolfeeschecker.co.uk/blog/school-fees-2023.php

 

I have to come clean - I was a teacher & head teacher in the State system & would not have sent my daughter to a private school. I believe in the provision of an excellent education for every child & equal opportunity for all, regardless of income & background. The most important reason for my antipathy to fee paying education is that the world is not just made up of the wealthy who can afford it. It is important that children understand that & mix with & relate to a mixed & representative group of their own peers.

 

I would really like to know what parents who do value independent education expect it to provide that makes the investment worthwhile. Obviously high quality academic education, also probably better Arts & Sports facilities & teaching. Better buildings too from what I have seen in several major fee paying schools. But I also think that part of the hidden agenda is the Networking possibilities. Making lifelong friends with other wealthy, powerful & influential people, who will hopefully ease their childrens way through adult life.

 

There are 4 parenting styles - Authoritarian, Authoritative, Permissive & Uninvolved. There are also Tiger Parents - a form of strict parenting, whereby parents are highly invested in ensuring their children's success. Specifically, tiger parents push their children to attain high levels of academic achievement or success in high-status extracurricular activities such as music or sports. I hope to goodness I was somewhere in the middle of that, not at the extremes.

 

My point is that if parents have invested a lot of money in their childs education, I wonder how much of a return they expect. I wonder if those children feel pressurised to achieve what the parents want. Or whether they are free to live their lives as they want to & make mistakes. 

Not everyone can be academically brilliant or a money generating entrperneur. Not everyone can be a star in the artistic sense. I think we should think very carefully about what we think education is for. Is it's purpose societal or is it individual? Or should it be a balanced mixture of both?

 

Our society is very polarised between the small percentage of very wealthy & the vast majority of people who struggle financially. Unfortunately I think that independent education perpetuates that.

 

Job Descriptions - Parents & Teachers

I was a full time teaching head in a small primary school. I taught the juniors in the main building where the childrens loos were. The infants were out in a terrapin. One day at the beginning of the academic year I heard screaming from the girls loos. I rushed out & left my class. There was a new, first year, infant sitting on the lavatory screaming. She had never been to the toilet alone & didn't know how to wipe her bottom. Her mother had always done it. That was how she got her mothers attention.

It was my first headship & I learned a valuable lesson. From then onward I always did a talk for prospective parents, before their little angels came to school, about the sort of skills we needed children to have to be able to participate in learning. Basic things like being able to dress & undress themselves, operate a tap & wash their hands, go to the toilet, feed themselves.....Tooth brushing didn't come into it. The assumption was that parents did this in the morning & evening before & after school. Apparently children aren't able to brush their own teeth properly until they are between 6/8 - 9/10. Before 6 they don't have the dexterity. It should be done either before a meal or about 30 minutes after a meal.

So I am wondering why there is a move for schools to undertake supervised tooth brushing in school. I know there are breakfast clubs in schools with  50% or more children in IDACI (Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index) bands A-F. A being the most deprived. Children can't concentrate & learn if they are hungry, so I'm in favour. There are lots of benefits when so many families struggle to pay their bills & feed their children.

What I don't understand is how we have reached a stage where Education is expected to take on more and more of a parental or social work responsibility. The curriculum is already very wide & it's difficult to put everything educationally necessary in the hours available. The Arts & Sport timetabling has already been reduced because of the pressures of "core subjects" & the shortage of teachers confident & skilled to teach them. 

I would argue that basic personal skills should have been taught by parents before their children ever get to school. Children should also have been taught to be able to sit still & listen, to take their turn, to share with others. If you don't have these skills you cannot learn. If teachers have to teach these skills to some of their children, what are the children who are already ready for the demands of school going to do? In the case of teaching tooth brushing, do the majority of primary schools even have toilet areas where large numbers of children can brush & spit? Especially when each primary class may well have in excess of 30 children. The logistics don't stack up.

It seems to me that the fundamental problem is that some parents don't have adequate parenting skills. So they have expectations of what education can do for them that are unrealistic & in my view inappropriate. I would have thought that equipping parents with good parenting skills should be relatively easy & not hugely expensive. That could be school based, perhaps in the holidays, before a child starts school. It would benefit all the children in a family not just one.

I don't blame parents. Many have not been brought up by parents with good skills themselves. That doesn't mean they don't love their children. I do think that most parents would welcome help. Not just in this area, but also with setting goals & rules & enforcing them to encourage good behaviiour. 

It's hard enough being a parent of 1 or 2 children. Teaching a class of 30 plus is very rewarding, but can be an uphill struggle. 

Bonfire of the Vanities

In Florence in 1497, when the city was under the rule of the Dominican priest Savonarola, he ordered the burning of objects that some church authorities considered sinful, such as cosmetics, mirrors, books, and art.He was responsible for the destruction of secular art and culture. He was condemned as a heretic and schismatic by the Pope & the church, and sentenced to die. He was hanged while a fire was ignited below to consume his body. To prevent devotees from searching for relics, his ashes were scattered in the Arno.

The idea of such destruction seems over the top today, but perhaps we should consider what we would consign to the Bonfire now. I immediately thought of the all pervasive mobile phone. Just how beneficial is it to be instantly available almost anywhere in the world? What is the downside of that availability? Is it good to be constantly stimulated at any time of the day or night by video games like Fortnite or Pokemon Go? Do we need to have constant access to news streamed from around the world? Are we incapable of just observing what is going on around us & interacting with real people?

I've just seen "Hansard" streamed live from the National Theatre. It was a "tour de force" of acting. The cinema was packed & everyone was riveted for one hour & forty minutes of a two hander with no interval. The audience veered between laughter & tears. Our Culture is precious, we should never forget what the Arts give us. But we are in danger of losing them, of consigning them to the Bonfire. Government interference & underfunding of education means that the Arts probably only really flourish in independent schools. State schools are too strapped for cash & teachers.

As for books, I would be lost without books by my bedside & in my sitting room. But the statistics are very worrying - Nine million adults in the UK are functionally illiterate, and one in four British five-year-olds struggles with basic vocabulary. Three-quarters of white working class boys fail to achieve the government’s benchmark at the age of 16. They don't throw books on the Bonfire. They simply don't have access to read them.

Alongside all of this how much do we spend on cosmetics? On average, in 2018 we each spent £482.51 a year on beauty products – that works out at £2.39 per person per day. Personally I would definitely consign a lot of these to the Bonfire. I prefer women to look like real women not some artificial Barbie doll.

We need to think what we truly value & protect it. If we don't we will lose it & it will be too late. We do need to consign some things to the Bonfire, but we need to be careful.

It's a dilemma that is happening today.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/apr/04/polish-priest-apologises-for-harry-potter-book-burning

Fear Based Living - Trust

I know my childhood was a very long time ago in a different age. I understand that good parents have a very strong instinct to want to protect their children. But I do think that society doesn't have a balanced & realistic attitude to risk.

Childhood & adolescence is the time when we should encourage our children to find out for themselves what they are capable of. They need to be able to assess risk, make mistakes, learn by experience what the parameters of their capabilities are. They need to be able to deal with misfortune - things do go wrong occasionally.

If we are over protective of children they will become timid adults. They will be habituated to "fear based living". They won't have learned how to deal with adversity. They will have an unrealistic expectation that someone else will make choices for them & ensure that they are always OK.

Life itself is a risk, every moment of every day something bad could happen. But it mostly doesn't. Life is mostly fairly boring & predictable. Yes, dreadful things do happen, but you shouldn't live your life as though they are about to. If you do you are denying yourself & those you love real opportunities.

What we need to develop is a happy mind.

 

All the great spiritual teachers & philosophers of the world share the same message, that happiness cannot be found outside of us, in the external world. There is no person, place, material possession, or amount of money that will bring you true, lasting happiness. Happiness is only found within. You have to spend time taking care of yourself and discovering what makes you feel happy. It will vary from person to person.

There are so many things to be anxious about in our complex lives today. You can be crippled by fear. Anxiety disorders are the plague of modern living. The charity Mind is a great source of help and information -

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/anxiety-and-panic-attacks/anxiety-disorders/#.XYjn_WZ7n7A

We have to teach children to trust their insticts & not be limited by fear. We have to send them out into the world as happy & confident people. We can only do that if we are not bound by fear ourselves. 

Worry gets you nowhere.

"Amazing"

"You're amazing" - Well actually no, most people aren't, most of the time. Amazing is a very overworked word, which has become so commonplace it's actually more or less meaningless.

People, places, things are all "amazing" - all the time. So when something really is amazing, like the Wimbledon mens singles final between Federer & Djokovic yesterday, calling it amazing devalues it.

We use language too casually. We do need to think about what we say & how we describe things. If we use superlatives all the time, we are left with nothing in our vocabulary to truly describe something out of the ordinary.

The language we use can influence the way we think. The way we think can influence the way we behave. Are you unable to think about things you don't have words for, or do you lack words for them because you don't think about them? Your culture, the traditions, lifestyle, habits, and so on that you pick up from the people you live and interact with, shapes the way you think, and also shapes the way you talk.

Our sloppy use of language can be really annoying. I truly loathe the universal use of the word "like" spattered thoughtlessly throughout speech today. Everytime I hear it used inappropriately to the actual meaning of the word I want to do physical harm to the speaker! It's become a universal cultural language "tic" or "tell".

We do not have words for everything. We only have words for concepts that are important or salient in our culture. The gift of language should be valued - Language opens the doors of thought, communication & description to us. Just try to imagine having Aphasia or being struck dumb.

Language is truly "amazing". We have words for concepts, which work as shorthands for those concepts. For example Rain or Snow,(that cold and white thing that falls from the sky in the cold days of winter)”. Each language lets us see what's important to the people speaking that language.

So, let's try to use language well. Let's teach our children the value of language. Let's think about what we are saying & engage our brain before we speak.

 

Education - Learning & Teaching

I had a fairly conventional education for a woman of my generation. Primary school, Grammar school (fortunately), Teacher Training College (luckily degree equivalent). Then a professional career in Primary Education. I think I was lucky because I was only moderately bright. I was driven & hard working though. Nothing came easily.

But I really don't think that pathway "educated" me. I had a few inspirational teachers, but I also had some truly dreadful ones. I can't really say that I enjoyed my education - it was a means to an end - a good, professional job & a way out of working class "getting by".

Looking back I think the majority of my learning has been through people other than teachers & because of my own motivation to know about something I was interested in. Learning doesn't & shouldn't stop once you have reached a certian age or get a piece of paper. If you don't continue with "lifelong learning" you don't adapt to a changing world & doors are closed to you.

I imagine I must have taught my pupils some skills & bits of information. But I don't think we think enough about what the role of a teacher is & what any teacher can be expected to achieve given the huge spectrum of intelligence, application, interest, creativity & home background each child brings to school. If you really think about it it seems an almost impossible task to meet the needs of every child. One size does not fit all - but in the main, that's what we give them.

We need to refine what it is important that we do try to teach - at what point in a childs development. We need to decide what social, creative & physical skills we want to encourage. Finally we need a plan for how we do that to meet the needs of all children from the "special needs" to the "gifted" child.

Children really need to learn how to learn for themselves. In this technological age virtually all knowledge is available to them. They just have to know how to access it. Self motivated learning has a  lifelong influence. Force feeding "education" is quickly forgotten. Good teachers are facilitators not indoctrinators.

http://collectivelyconscious.net/articles/teaching-children-how-to-think-instead-of-what-to-think/

Creativity & Artistic Vision

I've had a bit of an arty farty couple of weeks. I've been to the Kate Malone pottery exhibition at Waddesdon, seen "Peter Pan in Scarlet" at the Playhouse theatre, been to the Georgia O'Keeffe exhibition at the Tate & finally to Craft in the Bay in Cardiff.  Driving to Wales & back I listened to Bizet's "Pearl Fishers". My life is enriched by art, music & drama & always has been since I was a child.

I can remember art lessons in primary school, but not a lot else about my primary school. I enjoyed playing the piano & developed a love of classical music. We weren't a family who had the money or inclination to go to the theatre, but I do remember loving the pictures & actually bunked off school to do it.

In my Primary teaching career I loved giving children opportunities to be creative & displaying their work. Doing music with young children is really fun from singing games to percussion. All children can be creative if given opportunities & encouraged. All children enjoy the Arts in one form or another.

It is wonderful to see the world through the eyes of an artist or hear a musical interpretation by a musician. You realise that there are no limits to what humans can achieve with creativity & vision.

So isn't it a shame that so little curricular time is given to the Arts. We are so driven by SAT's, Maths & Reading that we end up with an imbalance in what we call education. The Warwick Commission Report, which I had never heard of, puts it very well.
s://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/feb/17/arts-and-culture-systematically-removed-from-uk-education-system

We need creative people with vision in all aspects of society. We need a varied diet in education, just as we do in the food we eat. The Arts are the food of the soul, they are also a billion pound UK industry. The Arts are not just for the rich & middle class white population. Think of Vivienne Westwood in fashion, Oasis in Pop, Albert Finney in Film, David Hockney in painting.....The list is endless.

We are diminished individually & as a society if we do not value the Arts. Creativity & vision are not respectors of colour, creed, class, wealth or any other label you might put on sections of society. Everyone benefits from a rich culture. Everyone can & should participate.

Reading / Libraries / Home Environment

We are surrounded by the written word. Being able to read is a necessity. Yet 1 in 10 people have dyslexia & 1 in 6 adults only have the reading skills of an 11 year old.
http://www.dyslexiaaction.org.uk/page/facts-and-figures-about-dyslexia-0

According to the National Literacy Trust 2012 survey - www.literacytrust.org.uk/assets/.../Literacy_State_of_the_Nation_-_2_Aug_2011.pdf  - One in five parents easily find the opportunity to read to their children, with the rest struggling due to fatigue and busy lifestyles. Of the parents that read to the children, 67% are mothers compared to just 17% of fathers. 1 in 5 mums and dads may not be able to read confidently with their children.

Illiteracy levels in Prisons are very high & widespread throughout our jails.
https://ioelondonblog.wordpress.com/2015/07/16/prisoner-literacy-levels-a-worrying-lack-of-statistics/ 
http://www.prisonerseducation.org.uk/media-press/new-government-data-on-english-and-maths-skills-of-prisoners
"In the first set of comparable figures for over a decade, the government has published data revealing that 46% of people entering the prison system have literacy skills no higher than those broadly expected of an 11 year old child. This is three times more than the 15% of people with similar skills levels in the adult population generally. 52% of those assessed have the equivalent capability in numeracy which compares with 49% of the general public. The statistics also show that 46% of newly assessed prisoners have Level 1 and Level 2 literacy skills, (GCSE equivalent) which compares to 85% of the general population"

Reading opens the window on both fiction & non fiction - On history, the world we live in, other cultures......etc etc. Whether we read books, comics, newspapers, maps, Kindles, computer screens - whatever, a world of knowledge & understanding is lost to anyone who cannot read well.

Books are now cheaper than they have ever been & bookshops are well laid out & inviting with very knowledgable staff. But even if you don't have the money to buy books our wonderful libraries will order any book for you for a very small fee & provide a stimulating & quiet environment to read if you don't have that at home. The fact that many libraries are now run by volunteers shows how undervalued they are by the government & conversely how much the public do value them. http://www.publiclibrariesnews.com/about-public-libraries-news/list-of-uk-volunteer-run-libraries
I owe a lifelong debt to libraries.

Our challenge as a nation is to recognise the problem with poor readers & to effectively utilise the skills and knowledge, which are available, to help both adults and children who have reading difficulties. It is in our interest as a nation & in the interest of poor readers themselves to open the doors of opportunity to them through reading.

We need to create a home & wider environment where there is no stigma attached to reading difficulties & where everyone supports & encourages poor readers to get full enjoyment from the written word. It's a simple aim, & should be a right, but we are a long way off from fulfilling it.