Category: Rituals

Education in the new millennium
eight year old and homework
iPad
television cartoons
family cat
younger sister
all more interesting … and much better fun.

“Now!” Grumbling plus presented threat
ameliorated by bribery –
“ if…”
War avoided – for today
mission accomplished and some minutes of quiet.

“ Um sweetheart …..
this doesn’t seem to have been done properly.”
Pause for intake of breath and
possible outbreak of war after all.
“ It doesn’t matter Mum
they’ll say it’s very good,
everyone’s is – all the time.

Self managed,
self-directed,
self driven,
the contemporary model(s).
Our mathematics teacher would’ve had a fit
as would educationalists with him
from the ark they’d have said
almost, but not quite
the army actually –
an engineer
ended up teaching by accident –
coaching cadets struggling with trigonometry, calculus, algebra.

An easy switch –
army to Catholic boy’s school in the 1950s
stayed on
and on.
Relentlessly good exam grades
ruthlessly tough classroom management
spit and polish, even the small things
“ aaah….I think its just ….. just a point of inflection .. so find the 2nd derivative
well done –
the second derivative WHAT ?
the second derivative SIR.”

Even the other teachers joined in,
if a chancer claimed forgetfulness
the rejoinder was invariably –
“oh yeah … did you forget to do your maths homework?”
Hell no.

 

 

 

No one remembers now,
how expensive and temperamental infant PCs were,
especially printers
not unusual to take the laptop or floppy to
uni, school, work and print there
even then the perversity continued
hit print
and out came 50 pages
not just the warranty on page 1
no stopping
only one way, pull the plug, literally.

He was standing alone, a small kid amongst little kids
waiting for chance, or sympathy, or generosity to offer a turn –
nope.
They left the ball lying on the grass
I motioned to the bat and picked up the ball
he is delighted
something moved, wind, bird, and animal?
“Careful he’s fragile ” –
his mother
suddenly there, not quite in my face, but almost
saying she has to watch, constantly
right from the start
from the moment he was born she just knew ….
50 pages ….
……..no stopping.