Vinny , of the shelf and the out of touch men in frocks

The whole idea of this blog is to chart my journey along the road that is a cert Ed. I have tried to only post things that relate to that. But a few things have now come together that have once again got my back up. Before I go on anymore lets be upfront.  If you wish to go and read my post save your time and stop the looking for the red under the bed. As i am one and the other thing is I am also a Humanist.

So if you are still happy to carry on .... Lets go.

The other evening I went to an evening with Polly Toynbee by as part of Sheffields off the shelf festival. What she had to say was a good all round summing up of where we are as a county. Where we are going and what is more than likely going to happen. This women clearly know's her stuff and talk's sense. Since the start of the century the gap between the bottom and the top was improving as the trade union moment began and pay and conditions improved. looking at social history its clear to see it was fair from a rose garden but things where moving. Then came the 1980's and it stopped but not only that but the progress made went backwards.

Today we are yet again going backwards but at an alarming rate back in the 1980's 1 in 8 childen lived in poverty today its now 1 in 3. This county is a not a 3rd world one we are a member of the G8 and G20. This is just wrong we have the money but its not evenly handed out. Only 10% of this county are 40% tax payers of them  1 or 2 % at the very top hold most of the countries wealth taxing this small number by only a small increase would pay off the deficit over night.

The cuts that are taking place are no longer if and when but are taking effect now once a service go's it will not come back and if it is possible it will need even more money and staff just to build up the skills base. As Labour found when they set up new services like Sure Start centres.

Where Am I going with this well last night I watched the last episode of Educating Essex on channel 4 over the last few weeks we have been able to follow life in a secordny school in (yes you got it) Essex. For the last program we got to see how a lad called Vinny was getting on. He is a young lad aged 15/16 who finds himself in care as his relationship with his mum has broken down. He's not a bad lad but has just last his way and is angry with the world. But his teachers and mostly the head teacher refuse to give up on him and try to help him. He is not able to go to the school prom as his behaviour was not good enough. When asked the head teacher say yes its upsetting and yes he feels bad. Vinny has been let down by the system and I am part of it the head go's on to say. Vinny with some help go's on to get on a course at college so who know where he will end up.


The county is full of young people like Vinny. Why as a society do we write off so many Vinny's ? 


Why do we as a county not value what the Vinny's of this world my one day go on to achieve ?


We as a county cannot go on like this as I have already said in one of my posts the idea that the whole education system needs change. I now believe this reform needs to go on into other things. Too many peole are not into politics do not vote and see no point in it. Every election we get to read some of the best works of fiction ever known , party manifestos that promise the world and then come's to nothing. The party system is not fit any more. As a former chair of my local ward party I have seen it. Everyone go's around like a headless chicken thinking that as members they can change the way the party think. I tried over and over again to help our ward change to try new things but no , no one can see it. A party of what ever colour is a way of sharing views and standing by value and principle and not the be all and end all. How nice it wound be if at election time the knock at the door comes and some one says Hello I am James and this is what i stand for and the is is what I will do oh and by the way I am the Labour candidate. One thing we do need is more indpentant members who just what to help others but unless you have the money you can cross that Idea off. All partites have tried to get more women and ethnic groups into parliament but now one from poor backgrounds who with a bit of help can more then most do the job of an MP.

The next thing that got me going was the tents out side St paul's my view is good look to them. They have a point and things need to change making money is not the problem it how you do it and what you do with it that matters. Last night on question time one of the panel missed the point , he was from the daily mail. 'What give's them the right to do this ect. ect If they want to change things become an MP was his war cry'. As another panel member pointed out thats the problem they are not able to be one. If that was not enough he went on to say that it was only a few most of us are not taking part so what the problem was his basic agreement. 


Well he has missed the point as I have said in the past education has been freed by technology. Standing up for what you believe is right and being able to say so has also been freed. We do not all have to be in a tent  in London to have say. The Arab spring was started by a coming together on Facebook . News is also now free and we are able to read and find what news we wish. The fact that I am writing this is an example of this. Another was the March for the alliterative back in March my wife was part of that and prod of that I am. I was at home dog sitting but was able to watch live news feed and take part via Twitter and Facebook. So Mr writer of daily rot, oh I mean mail. You are the one out of touch not me or the many more who know believe things have to change the question is how ? 






Issues like this are no longer for the real left wing or the hippy set with what at times have come up with unworkable changers and idea. But are now main stream change will come more people want it most do not have the answers but have the will. Meanwell the Church of England has been somewhat found with there pants down. At first quite happy with the tents that was until the takings went down in the gift shop. Then it all went wrong. We want you to go was the cry of the men in frocks then one had enough and broke free and said no. Good on him change then happened. You can stay was the cry , we understand and will be part of the fight. I can only think that the years of incense has pickled there brains. Why do they still believe they can change things no one is listening  to them anymore churches are closing or many stay open just for the one old lady with a funny hat and the one man and his dog. The church is part of the problem it hold's millions in trust and shares  in the very bodies that hold all the money. Most of the management of St paul's are ex city types. Why not turn over the underused church billings to the people and the communities they say they care about ? Why do we as a county allow them power to change laws and discriminate on grounds of race and sex to name two ? Why are 26 Bishops allowed to sit in the lords just becomes they are Bishops ? 

Right Sister lets get the sick out the door fast
USA health corp move in tomorrow 

Only yesterday one of their number i.e. Archbishop of York was up on his feet calling not for the lords to do what ever they can to make the health and social care bill workable in the hope that we can stop the whole NHS falling into room 101 with all the rest of things we hold dear.  But calling for spiritual health to be added as separate part of the bill. As past of my plan for a better country the link between state and church has to go the 26 bishops have to go too. The one's is the church that think diffently also need to stand up and say so.

For the Vinny's of this world the future is but a dream as more and more the people who can help the many Vinny's in the world are being cut and cut. One day it will not just be the Vinny's who are left to wonder if only.    

to reflect or to reflex ?

This week we have been looking at reflective practice and its place in both our course and professional practice. Refection not only give us time to look at things in a stuctherd and logical way. But Make us take time to stop and think. But it has its limits and problems. The  main thing being its only as good as we want it to be and too often its from one view point. It is also too esay to be hard on oneself and only focus on what went went wrong and not on the good things.

It too over time can become well lets face it a boring experience just something we have to do because we are told its the right and profesoanl thing to do. Yes we can try new ways and ideas of how to do it but it is still something that is done in isolation and is what ever model of relation you use at the end of the day looking at the same set of questions and cycle.



Round and round it go's like a ride you long to get off but cannot find the way out.
Why dose it have to be that way ? Why do we put up with it ?

They must be a more effective and wider picture we can take to give make real value to reflection and and make it a passive experience after all we teacher's try hard to make learning for our learner non passive. So why do we sale our selves short when it come to our own learning.


Another way is out there its called Reflexive practice using this way can take our experience of reflection to a whole new level. Often what happen in class room and the way things turn out when teaching come about from factors out side the room. Who we are , what we believe in , who we work for , what they believe in , the mood we are in, how we learned. Many of these things also effect our learners too.








So why not think about a wider picture when we reflect after all we do not teach in a bubble way from the world around neither do we leave our thoughts and mood at the class room door however hard we try to be profesonal.

Has Steve Jobs shown the way ?

As I was travelling along my journey with Sir Ken a few things happened. That led to the start of a light bulb moment. The start of an idea or a view point. One of the things that happen was the death of Steve Jobs.

1st lets get's something out the way I am a complete Apple fan and have been for a few years. Have I been hooked by the marketing well maybe. But I like what they do for 2 reasons. 1) they look good. 2) all you do is take them out of the box plug them in and they work.    

I am not going to go on about Steve too much this is not the place. But if you get apple or not what he did was to change the world. Taking technology from being something that sits on a desk to something that we can interact with. Technology is no longer a passive thing but part of our lives.






So my starting point is why is learning too often a passive thing something that happens in given time, date and place. Turn up, sit down and see all , hear all and say nowt (to use a yorkshire saying) Then off you go and get on with it. Often leading to you being given yet another piece of paper for you to file. Only to the used when someone ask's can you go that ? oh yes I can here is my bit of paper that say so.




The second thing was the use of Facebook and our groups online chat with our tutor. This brought out all sort of things and was a very active learning experience.

The third part of this was a revisiting of a long held view of mine. The one that the current education system clearly is not working. Year after year it fails 1000's of young people. How do you know some may say. Well I have met some of them I came into contact with them with my youth work indeed my current work with Young offenders is showing even more to me that something has to change.

The current system as Sir Ken and I now believe needs not reform but a clean fresh start. Teaching in way's that engage with all and help all find their way. We still need to teach the core subjects and everyone needs to leave school with a set of core skills that meet the needs of society and the economy. But its how we do it that needs change. As a county we spend large sums of money taking young people who have been kicked out by schools  putting them in centres treating them as individuals and teaching them in a way that suits them. So that they can go back into a system that treats them all the same and was in many ways the problem to start with. Why ?

One way to start this is using technology but not in way to deliver the same outcomes and get results quicker. But treating each learner as name not a number. One other thing am a total nut about is The Open University. As a current OU student its to be expected. In fact I love it the idea that you can have  a university that is truly open to all is a unique thing and Harold Wilson's government  should be prod of it.

From day one it pushed the boundaries of eduction and flung the windows open and let in some long over due fresh air. If you want to learn they will help you no matter who or what you are.

So my idea is this has technology now made education free ? I do not mean it cost nothing as it clear does and as a social science student I know too well about the social and economic price for many is too much. But what I mean is  has education been set free from the bounds of four walls and dreaming spires of oxford full of old dons sat in their college rooms  in front of a fire having tea and toasted muffins. With Students who will go on to be the next generation of dons.

Technology is thanks to Steve now fully useable and part of us all. The OU know this and just like day one are not followers but leaders. Kipper ties and late night TV shows are long gone they Show the way,  Take a look it can be said that the OU was made for the internet it was a sleeping giant longing to wake up and show the way and wake it it has. The challenge is how to take this and make it the base for a whole new education system that truly engagers with learning and see passed the name and number on a class register. To what is the real point of life the fact that we are all human but because of that we are all different.

No one owns eduction anymore but the system still try's to hold onto the idea of what is best and this is the only way to learn. The options are a given in their world. The cream go off and become Dons, the middle just get on with it (known as wall paper children) and once free from school mostly just survive and the ones at the bottom well they just get left to rot and become someone else's problem. 

Steve and the OU have shown the way the next big challenge is how do we as teachers take this on and make our students learning as interactive as we can. 

Time to think , lets get reading ....

Over the past few weeks I set my self a target. Every Sunday morning I sit in front of my macbook and see where I end up. The amount of information  on education is an education in its self. So armed with my list of thinkers of I go my trip round cyber land. The 1st person I had a look at is the work of Vygotsky and his  theory of Social development  and the idea that as a teacher you job is to help a student to use the knowledge they have and build on it to get to where they need to be. Using guidance and encouragement. To me a bit like a helping them on a journey with the hope that unlike tom-tom you do not take them own the wrong road and hopefully never a dead end.

Anther idea I came across was the idea of dialogic teaching. Using the power of language to help teaching and the need to keep it simple and accessible. I can see nothing wrong with that. I think I will come back to this idea latter. So now what so fair my reading list in safari was building nicely. (Time for a new set of internet book marks be thinks or more to the point a file full)

One name that kept coming in my head was Carl Rogers not sure why I am sure I have used his work some where before so time to do a bit of digging around him. His idea was I found out a corner stone of how I have been learning for the last few years with The OU, the idea of self directed learning taking responsibility for your own learning. This is a powerful and very useful idea to keep in your mind when planning any learning. I found when working with young people giving them something to do not just on their own but in groups was a very useful way of learning often they learn with out knowing it. The motivation to learn then come from them and if the right con cation are in place this motivation feeds each other and away it go's.

The most recent stop off in cyberland was what I thought was going to be a quick look at a youtube clip of some one called Ken Robinson. Who has this idea of using creative thinking. Oh great I was thinking another arty one , lets all  turn into a tree. Little did I know that that short clip was to set me off on a whole new path of reading and learning. This man talks sense. Are his views and ideas the answer to all educations ills ? who knows but it wound go a long way to help.

lets make a start

A number of months ago know I attend a PTLLS course at Northern College. More about that place later. But as I went on the idea was panted in my head that I could go onward and upward. Get your name down for the Cert Ed.

Well I did and here we are. I am no stranger to Uni life having been studying with the OU for some time. I am lucky I now belong to 2 families The OU student and the Northern College Student. Both great placers to be around and be part of.

I hope that from time to time this bog becomes a place for me to pot ideas. Jot down things , look back on this and hopefully see I have made head way. But who knows?