It's Saturday - She's been at the Grauniad again.......

OK. There's this in the Education section:

Hard-pressed parents struggle to help with schoolwork.

Then there's Ann Karpf in the Family section:
"I read David Cameron's pronouncement that all children should be reading by the age of six - and tested to prove that they can - with dismay. Why so late? What's wrong with five, four, or even three? Get the little slackers moving, I say: early reading, early potty training, early dying. It's time to wave goodbye to the preposterous prejudice that people shouldn't be streamlined or time tabled. We're an infinitely malleable species, and tiny minds are sponges: drip phonics into them young enough and they'll swell into expert readers. Nothing controversial about this, surely? The government certainly doesn't think so because its response to Cameron was something along the lines of "we've already thought of that"."

You go, Anne! OK - I believe that a proper education is essential, and enriches us in ways that we may not appreciate until many years after we've left school. We sent our son to a nursery at 3, and we ourselves are both university educated and glad of it. I teach. Education heap big good thing in my opinion.

However, I have severe reservations about the emergence of education as a cult, through which Our Children may be Saved.

Saved from - and for - what, exactly?

Excuse me while I adjust my










I question the humanity and wisdom of putting children into 'school' at 2 (I call it school when parents send their children to nursery, and expect them to start the 'R's and be given homework).

I have serious doubts as to the educational benefits of constant testing in primary/junior schools, apart from the obvious one, of providing each child with early practice in meeting targets and handling academic pressure - useful training for secondary school courses leading to exams at 16 and 18.

I question the philosophy and psychology behind the idea that 14-16 year-olds can and should take 10 exam courses, and that 16-18 year-olds can and should do 4-6 exam courses, plus three hours homework a night.

I am also extremely sceptical about the increasingly popular notion that 'the brightest and best' (Hmm...) should pursue their university education to Masters (An MBA, that is.) or Ph.D level, in order to achieve their goals and fulfil their potential.

There is a strong whiff of a major holding operation: let's get the little ones out of the way while their parents are at work; and keep our teenagers fully occupied and 'out of trouble' for as long as possible. GNP & GCSE .v. ASBO & HMP*. Whose idea was that, then?

(*British stuff: GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education, taken at 16. ASBO = Anti-Social Behaviour Order. HMP = Her Majesty's.... Porridge ..... Pleasure ...... Prison)

There's a stronger whiff of acute parental anxiety that the stakes have been raised, and that if children aspire to be more than shelf stackers in the Global Village Shop, they need to be entirely goal-oriented, with a work ethic that makes God look like a slacker for resting on the Seventh Day.

Parents have parenting books, and schools have mission statements: everyone is doing their damnedest to guarantee that children develop into well-rounded adults, ready to take their place in society. It's laudable, and as a parent and a teacher I have given it my best shot. But it's getting out of hand, or so it seems to me.

Micro-management doesn't encourage independence and maturity. Relentless commitment to personal goals does not encourage social awareness, skills or confidence. Relentless academic pressure throughout the formative years may warp or annihilate spirit.

And what price family life - family feeling - when home becomes study hall and parents are cast as monitors and tutors?

So I'm with Anne Karpf on this one: Papa don't teach Forget phonics - that's for teachers. Parents, have fun with your kids.

Babel revisited

I have a 'beginner' student. In fact, my 'beginner' has a handful of English words, has previously worked with self-study materials, and, as a Spanish speaker, effectively knows the English alphabet, and finds many English words familiar. (This is a mixed blessing, as the Spanish actual doesn't mean actual, and you can't call a spade an espada... etc!)

There are plenty of other English learners whose languages have completely different roots, and whose systems of writing don't function, or look, like alphabets. In any country, you might expect most classes to be monolingual, whether the students are adults or children. For the teacher, this has advantages and disadvantages when it comes to speaking and listening, but has to be a plus when it comes to teaching reading and writing skills. At least it gives you a common starting point, even if it's how to hold a pen, rather than a brush!

Where do you start in a school where 30 different races speak 28 different languages?

Where you have 'so many different languages being spoken, some children may be the sole speakers of their language'? Good grief!

I am full of admiration for the staff of Drove primary school, who have developed a programme to work with the realities of a transitory immigrant population. We hear plenty about what happens where integration fails. Someone has taken a good look at the needs of a neighborhood where 'Pupils come and go as their families move to Britain, then in and out of the area as they get established in the country', and done some serious work on meeting the essential educational and social needs of a generation. Bravo.

3 Rs and a Screwdriver

I've been a bit busy lately, with

Reading: an interesting mix of fact and fiction as research for

Riting: The Nobble. It exists as research notes, a family thicket, a timeline, and a few - um - scenes. This may take some time.....

and Rithmetic:

One million aches: 1 megahurtz

Basic unit of laryngitis: 1 hoarsepower

Time between slipping on a peel and smacking the pavement:
1 bananosecond

1 million microphones: 1 megaphone

2000 mockingbirds: two kilomockingbirds

1 millionth of a fish: 1 microfish

1 trillion pins: 1 terrapin

1 million billion picolos: 1 gigolo

10 cards: 1 decacards

10 rations: 1 decoration

10 millipedes: 1 centipede

2 monograms: 1 diagram

8 nickels: 2 paradigms

2 wharves: 1 paradox

(OK, so the last bit's just padding, but it's fun. Some of these appear on a Teacher's Day-to-View calendar, but you'll find more here.)

Actually, there's not been much writing either, except of the Application-Form-plus-CV-and-Supporting-Letter variety. I used to think that a CV was a simple record of what one has been doing. Pshaw! What a foolish notion!

As any CV-writing website - and there are several out there - will demonstrate, a CV is a delicately balanced tool with as many potential variations as a screwdriver, and the jobseeker must choose the appropriate one in order to gain access to the potential (pause for swift intake of breath and adjustment of tone to reverential) employer.

Hmm... Screwdriver: connotations of DIY, shaken-not-stirred, breaking-&-entering, taking-&-driving-away. Sometimes I am troubled by my subsconscious........

OK I don't want to jerry his Jag, roger his Rover, or do anything at all to his Beemer. I just want an interview.

So I'll stop worrying about (a) Slotted, (b) Phillips, (c) Pozidriv, (d) Torx, (e) Hex key, (f) Robertson, (g) Tri-Wing, (h) Torq-Set, (i) Spanner

Thank you Wikipedia ..........and.... I'd better go hone a new metaphor....... I mean key.

So, first read over your CV file, which you have of course diligently reviewed every six months since you completed your education, sometime in the last millennium. (You haven't? Well, pshaw to you too!).

Now, what exactly do you want to do with it? (Sorry. What is your objective?) Do you want to apply for a job in the same field?......... in a different field?............ apply for a particular job vacancy?

Does your CV fit the bill? Yes?

Brrrrrrringggggg! Go straight to style*.

(Er, what?

Later*.

OK.)

If not, what's the problem? Underqualified? Overqualified? Too young? Too old? Unemployed? Fired? Gaps? Inexperienced? Criminal record? No degree?

Don't fret. Be positive. It's not just what you've done, it's what it says about your character, strengths, and potential value to the employer lucky enough to land you. It's not just what you say, it's also how you say it. It's not just what you put down, it's how you lay it out.

Et cetera!

And now, balanced precariously as you are between optimism about your innate fabulousness, and anxiety about the intricacies of the above, perhaps you would like to consider whether the appropriate style* for your CV is: Chronical, Targeted, Combination, CV, Inventory or Functional?

_____________________________________________________________

OK. I've stopped.

Speaking as someone for whom the term career might have been invented (Consider it as a verb rather than a noun.....) I present a bit of a conundrum for a prospective employer with formal procedures and conventional expectations. I have been involved for an extreeeeeeeemely long time in community work, community arts and arts education; sometimes it's been paid work, sometimes not; sometimes freelance, sometimes on contract; but always productive and satisfying. Add to that the fact that, for over a decade, virtually every project or contract has come via referral, and the CV has been something of a formality; and it becomes apparent why, this close to my 50th birthday, I find myself consulting websites on how to fill in a CV that conveys all of the above as energetic, multi-faceted, etc. rather than...... something less marketable....

It's actually been a very interesting exercise. In common, I think, with most people, I find networking and self-promotion quite unsettling, but I do understand that if you don't lay out your stall properly, potential customers will pass you by. When it comes to creating what I sincerely hope will be an effective CV, it's at least as stimulating as a sudoku puzzle - and I like sudoku! What gets me is not the listing and highlighting, the boxing and bordering, and the honest business of selling the product (me!). It's the gimmickry of goal statements and what I shall call dynamic jargon.

Habibi regularly receives emailed CVs (or biodata - not a term I'd heard of til I came here)

......

OK: tangent time!

(It did not bother me that a company that I used to work for counted its employees as 'work units'. It was a big, well-run, 24/7 company, and no-one ever actually called me Work-Unit 2222 to my face. However, quite apart from the fact that the term 'biodata' does not strike the ear with either the self-confidence of 'CV' or the gravitas of 'curriculum vitae', it says 'Work Unit' to me.

It says that the person who puts this term at the top of her written representation of herself has been conditioned to see herself as a mere cog, a drone. That kind of conditioning would also explain the whipped puppy eagerness of the 'goal statements' which pant across the page, scattering 'Pat me! Pat me!' promises in all directions.

I'm out of practice. This is coming out sour, and, I think, disingenuous. If you come from a relentlessly competitive background, an employment culture of survival of the fittest, and have seen both the rewards of success and the price of failure, then of course you will have absorbed the attitudes, and the language, which such a culture generates. But it can be counterproductive if recruiters from other cultures read it through their own cultural filters. My English reluctance to sell-sell-sell would probably play as arrogance or complacency to a recruiter from an aggressively go-getter culture. Let the Games begin!

Exit Tangent now. Do not pass Gravitas. Collect Jargon.)

...As I was saying, Habibi regularly receives emailed CVs (or biodata!) couched in extraordinary language, much of it mishspooled. I've already dissed goal statements (In the tangent. If you skipped it - sorry!), but let me get to what I'm calling dynamic jargon.

I have two sections entitled 'Responsibilities' and 'Achievements'. Fine. So I'm responsible for this, that and the other, and have achieved the other, that and this. Yes? No!

But it's true!

Yes, but it doesn't convey your energy, your focus, your achievements!

......m-my ..responsibilities....?

Such as?

Erm, administration, stocktaking, bareback-riding, disembowelment..

No, no, no! You must be more dynamic!

?

#$(%^&!!!! (sigh) Have you considered - enabling? facilitating? maximisingoptimising?

I -

inititatinginstigatingimplementingintegrating?!

Actually I -

Incubatingresonatingtabulating?!

?!

Inflitratingexculpatingcoruscatingmasticatingsyncopatingadumbrating! Calibrating! Amputating! Mutilating! Flagellating!

VACATING!

- I beg your..... Where did she go?

So, dynamic jargon. I know it's just the current convention, and presumably it indicates some level of professionalism to HR personnel awash in a CV sea, but I suspect that it started off as someone's strategy to make sure she stood out from the crowd. Now we all have to do it!

By the way, I shamelessly cannibalised fairly typical advice from a variety of sites. The one I recommend, and include some terms from, is CVTips.com. They are not to blame for the way I used said terms: I really did need guidance on how to put a CV together, and theirs is the most straightforward and thorough of the bunch. There are some typos here and there, but the advice is realistic, and free, and they have templates in different styles and for different purposes. Don't hold any of the above against them!

circulatingpropagatingcelebratingvalidating...hallucinating..medicating

An apple for the student

Today I had a bad case of blinkered teacher.

It's the second semester, and final year students face coursework deadlines in all subjects. This means that they absolutely must manage their time so that they can work towards these deadlines, while at the same time keeping up with daily classwork and homework assignments. It takes tremendous organisation and discipline.

One student is currently doing two major coursework assignments under my supervision: a 3500 word Research Commission for IB Theatre Arts; and a 4500 word Extended Essay, a compulsory extra-curricular assignment designed as a bridge to undergraduate work, which she has also chosen to do in my field. She researched both during her summer vacation last year, gave me a first draft of the Extended Essay last term, and yesterday presented me with a restructured Extended Essay, plus half a Research Commission, with evidence of considerable fresh research, all done over the winter 'break'. I duly went through both, pencilling comments and questions in the margins, noting errors in spelling and syntax; and saw her at lunchtime today for a twenty minute tutorial.

I realise now although I went through both pieces with her, noting good points, and pointing out shortcomings and areas which require more thought, more work, more more more, I completely failed to recognise and acknowledge all the effort, enthusiasm and dedication that this eighteen year old has put into these assignments in order to get them to this point; the fact that she has done this during a so-called vacation after a very demanding autumn semester; and the evidence of how diligently she is working to meet all the requirements of six subjects plus plus.

I was so busy looking at where the exam candidate was supposed to be going that I overlooked how far the teenager had come, and what an achievement that was. Of course, she came for guidance, but some appreciation would have been nice. No wonder she looked subdued by the time I was done.

I don't care what anyone says about the good old days, the continuing decline in academic standards, and so forth, most of these students work their tails off to meet one requirement after another, and often several at once.



















Praise where praise is due.

Giles again (One for Dad & Jin)

"Tell them to forget about the ladies at the Commonwealth Arts Festival dancing in their birthday suits - on jumpers at once!"

IB & me - secondary education

Here in the UAE, all state schools teach in Arabic, as you would expect. Rashid School for Boys and Latifa School for Girls are private schools for UAE nationals where British curricula and exams are delivered in English, although all Arab students study Arabic, and must pass the national exam in order to graduate from high school.

My own international school offers I/GCSE and the IB, while other schools offer I/GCSE & A Levels to international students, or cater to particular nationalities: I know of Indian, American, German, Japanese, Russian and French schools each following its own national programme. No doubt there are more besides.

The IB Diploma programme is based on the belief that specialising too young limits the individual’s options. Accordingly it is modelled on a hexagon with five specialist compulsory subject groups, and one group of electives, which includes all arts subjects plus additional humanities, languages and sciences……sigh……. Will education ministries and society in general ever accord the Arts equal status with academic subjects?

(Oh come on, let’s call them commercial, shall we? Unfortunately, the Arts have become hostage to commercial interests - to be consumed not practised; but that's just one of my hobby horses, so let it trot off for now.)

Other requirements are: a Theory of Knowledge course, an Extended Essay, and a minimum 150 CAS hours over two years, which is to say 50 hours of Creativity, 50 Action and 50 Service. It’s a built-in guarantee that in between their studies everyone will get some exercise, have some fun, and think about other people’s needs!

On the other hand, I think that many students get stretched too thin, as over-enthusiastic or over-anxious teachers (and I have my moments) try to bring A Level depth to IB breadth. How much does an eighteen-year-old have to know to gain access to the next educational proving ground? Overkill 101, anyone?

Further reading of the IB school lists (looking at job opportunities: see previous post) revealed that, while all schools must offer an art in the hexagon, they don’t necessarily offer all of them. Theatre Arts requires considerable resources, and only makes economic sense if Drama is provided lower down the school. Damn! Even so: France, Germany, Spain, Croatia, Netherlands, Greece – the list rolled on!

I don't actually mind what art a student takes at IB, as long as they take one, something just for them, to expand their spirits and lodge something in their make-up that is not about achievement, responsibility, and all the burdens that begin to descend upon their shoulders only a couple of years later, as their desired university place brings their first serious debt. But I would like a job teaching those who want to do Theatre Arts!

IT tizzy and Multiple Intelligences - Ha! NOT stupid!

The visitor counter came back! Can anyone tell me what might cause this 'now you see me, now you don't, now you do' phenomenon? Is this an Etisalat thing too, or do servers get too busy and start dropping things?

Because I basically cannot grasp computer stuff beyond the most basic operations I follow installation and function directions really carefully. When I hit obstacles I very rapidly work through increasing levels of frustration and anxiety out of all proportion to what I'm trying to achieve, e.g. make it go. I am repeatedly shown that I am stupid and incompetent; it is certainly clear that I'm powerless; and after half an hour of this, I'm experiencing the keyboard version of road rage - the socially acceptable female version that converts violent urges into hissy fit and tears. I have been so proud of myself for setting up this blog, installing bits and bobs on it, and learning how to do strike-through, import images, work through Blogroller and Blogger; which makes it doubly frustrating when I run into trouble again, and I can't tell if it's me or IT!

I think that I'm better with practicalities than concepts: if it takes a needle, a wheelbarrow, a power drill, a stepladder or masking tape, I'm in my element. My brain processes what my senses tell me, and my muscles go into action, continually driven and moderated by that interface between senses and mind. If I 'simply' have to press a key and select, I'm stuffed if it goes wrong, because I cannot make the link between cause and effect. Perhaps I should learn how to write code. Seriously! I also only ever grasp a fraction of remote control functions, and my mobile phone is a device I use for exchanging calls and text messages. Only!

When Habibibaba was small, he showed real skill with Duplo, and when he was ready (i.e. in possession of the fine motor skills necessary to handle small pieces, and sufficient sense not to stick them up his nose) we started buying him Lego. In time Habibi brought out his own childhood Lego from the days of Red and White and the collection grew. Habibibaba could build anything, problem-solve, invent - it was lovely to see!

I share the common visceral need to do the best for our children, but I don't believe in hot-housing. It strikes me as early immersion in a high-pressure success culture, and inherently counter-productive. I think it's better to offer resources and encouragement (ok - to get down and play too!) and space to explore them, discover their possibilities and, in so doing, discover personal gifts and interests; that way lies self-knowledge and a capacity for fun and serenity as well as skill. I'm also very keen on the idea of bringing up a habibibaba who can interpret and implement the instructions on everything from Ikea flatpack furniture to a home theatre system, but that's only part of it - ok?!

I was fascinated to discover Howard Gardner's theory of Multiple Intelligences. Take a look! This is no academic fad dressed in high-falutin jargon - work back from your own experience and observations and it makes very good sense. Here's an excerpt from a unit on Multiple Intelligences from Connexions, an exciting website that I've literally just found. (Can't do buttons, but revel in Internet access!). It's by Fred Mednick of Teachers Without Borders - which has to be a good thing.

Here we go.

"Is intelligence innate? Genetic? Fixed?

Generally, this is how intelligence has been viewed - as a quantity. Recently, new views have emerged with enormous implications for education. This new perspective asserts that intelligence can be measured in different ways, that it grows, and it is more quality than quantity.

It used to be that the question was asked: "Is s/he smart?" New questions now ask: " How is s/he smart?" The emphasis is on the various ways in which we demonstrate multiple intelligences, rather than a single intelligence. The readings and assignments that follow discuss multiple intelligences, provide an opportunity for you to apply them, and a way of determining how to assess students.

Howard Gardner created a list of seven intelligences. The first two are ones that have been typically valued in schools; the next three are usually associated with the arts; and the final two are what Howard Gardner called "personal intelligences."

Linguistic intelligence involves sensitivity to spoken and written language, the ability to learn languages, and the capacity to use language to accomplish certain goals. This intelligence includes the ability to effectively use language to express oneself rhetorically or poetically, and language as a means to remembering information. Writers, poets, lawyers, and speakers are among those that Howard Gardner sees as having high linguistic intelligence.

Logical-mathematical intelligence consists of the capacity to analyze problems logically, carry out mathematical operations, and investigate issues scientifically. In Howard Gardner's words, it entails the ability to detect patterns, reason deductively, and think logically. This intelligence is most often associated with scientific and mathematical thinking.

Musical intelligence involves skill in the performance, composition, and appreciation of musical patterns. It encompasses the capacity to recognize and compose musical pitches, tones, and rhythms. According to Howard Gardner musical intelligence runs in an almost structural parallel to linguistic intelligence.

Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence entails the potential of using one's whole body or parts of the body to solve problems. It is the ability to use mental abilities to coordinate bodily movements. Howard Gardner sees mental and physical activity as related.
Spatial intelligence involves the potential to recognize and use the patterns of wide space and more confined areas.

Interpersonal intelligence is concerned with the capacity to understand the intentions, motivations, and desires of other people. It allows people to work effectively with others. Educators, salespeople, religious and political leaders and counselors all need a well-developed interpersonal intelligence.

Intrapersonal intelligence entails the capacity to understand oneself, to appreciate one's feelings, fears and motivations. In Howard Gardner's view it involves having an effective working model of ourselves, and to be able to use such information to regulate our lives."

Interesting, hm? Mozart is generally recognised as a genius (Musical intelligence), as is Einstein (Logical-mathematical intelligence), and Shakespeare (Linguistic intelligence) but let's hear it for Shaquille O'Neal, (Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence), several winners of the Nobel Peace Prize (Interpersonal intelligence) and your best friend (Intrapersonal intelligence) - maybe you!

The point is, of course, that we all possess a mix, and if we understand something about our own mix, we can work with it. At school, I ask students how they learn best - by reading, listening to instructions or information, watching a demonstration, or doing; by sitting over a desk concentrating, or pacing etc. In practice, it depends on whether they're committing facts to memory, or learning a skill, but even so, by telling, demonstrating, and having them do and read, the teacher encourages and reinforces learning. And making them aware of the theory helps them to manage their own learning, and develop respect for their own gifts and those of others. Making them less susceptible to humiliation by Help desk!

I don't need to subscribe to Gardner's theory to recognise these things - the challenge is to work with a classroomlful of individuals in this way, but then, what are teachers for?

There's more background and evaluation at the M.I. link above, but if you'd like to do an inventory of your intelligences (Yeah!) click here!

Go on: won't it make a change from sudoku or horoscope with your coffee? No, I haven't done it myself. It's the weekend, and a domestic blitz is required before I set off for our school graduation ceremony (pleased, proud, tear-streaked) - so I must get off this machine!

However, I will give it a go later, and if you'd like to give it a go too, and post a comment, we can compare notes.

Well, this is a satisfactory resolution to my technomoron (i.e. moron) crisis. Ha! :D