http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28302487 aha Chief 'whip' even better .... he can struggle with his own MPs...... half of whom hate him
Towards the Ubermensch "I teach you the overman. Man is something that shall be overcome. What have you done to overcome him? All beings so far have created something beyond themselves; and do you want to be the ebb of this great flood and even go back to the beasts rather than overcome man? What is the ape to man? A laughingstock or a painful embarrassment. And man shall be just that for the overman: a laughingstock or a painful embarrassment... Behold, I teach you the overman. The overman is the meaning of the earth.Let your will say: the overman shall be the meaning of the earth! I beseech you, my brothers, remain faithful to the earth, and do not believe those who speak to you of otherworldly hopes! Poison-mixers are they, whether they know it or not. Despisers of life are they, decaying and poisoned themselves, of whom the earth is weary: so let them go. Once the sin against God was the greatest sin; but God died, and these sinners died with him. To sin against the earth is now the most dreadful thing, and to esteem the entrails of the unknowable higher than the meaning of the earth... What is the greatest experience you can have? It is the hour of the great contempt. The hour when your happiness, too, arouses your disgust, and even your reason and your virtue. The hour when you say, 'What matters my happiness? It is poverty and filth and wretched contentment. But my happiness ought to justify existence itself.' The hour when you say, 'What matters my reason? Does it crave knowledge as the lion his food? It is poverty and filth and wretched contentment.' The hour when you say, 'What matters my virtue? As yet it has not made me rage. How weary I am of my good and my evil! All that is poverty and filth and wretched contentment.' "Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman--a rope over an abyss... What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not an end: what can be loved in man is that he is an overture and a going under... "I say unto you: one must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star. I say unto you: you still have chaos in yourselves. Alas, the time is coming when man will no longer give birth to a star. Alas, the time of the most despicable man is coming, he that is no longer able to despise himself. Behold, I show you the last man. 'What is love? What is creation? What is longing? What is a star?' thus asks the last man, and blinks. The earth has become small, and on it hops the last man, who makes everything small. His race is as ineradicable as the flea; the last man lives longest. 'We have invented happiness,'say the last men, and they blink. They have left the regions where it was hard to live, for one needs warmth. One still loves one's neighbor and rubs against him, for one needs warmth... One still works, for work is a form of entertainment. But one is careful lest the entertainment be too harrowing. One no longer becomes poor or rich: both require too much exertion. Who still wants to rule? Who obey? Both require too much exertion. No shepherd and one herd! Everybody wants the same, everybody is the same: whoever feels different goes voluntarily into a madhouse. 'Formerly, all the world was mad,' say the most refined, and they blink... One has one's little pleasure for the day and one's little pleasure for the night: but one has a regard for health. 'We have invented happiness,' say the last men, and they blink." behold: end Democracy, do not let little men carry on, the future belongs to the overman - Superman - thus spake Zarathustra
Well we voted against a more democratic voting system last year so as a country we can't complain too much. Although, at least universal condemnation of incompetence does seem to eventually see action taken (re: Gove). If only FIFA worked in a similar fashion...
David Cameron insists Gove NOT demoted! Well David, he damn well should have been, the bloke is a massive cock-up waiting to happen! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-28302487
I think it was his attitude as much as anything that annoyed me - rather than try and work with the teaching profession he seemed hell bent on picking a fight with them at every turn! His comments on school governors, for example, were shameful. My new Minister's younger than me - no turning back now
Could somebody please tell me what Gove has actually done wrong. I know nobody likes him and I have to admit he always seems very smug but what has he actually done or not done that has angered people so much? He has had a job to do in times of austerity so I do not expect him to have been able to produce rabbits out of a hat - but it seems more than that - you don't get to be disliked by so many without some reason. Yorkie says a massive cock up - so what exactly was that?
If this were a modern writer and not Friedrich Nietzsche I would say that he had read one too many superman comics ! This way of thinking was however typicle for some writers of the 19th Century - an anti-egalitarian trend found also in Wilfredo Pareto, the Futurist Manifesto and also in Thomas Carlyle. Their fear was of the 'hero' or genius being trampled by the crowd. Other theories of the time include the idea of war as being socially hygienic because 'only through struggle will the hero emerge '. The later influence of such writings on Mussolini and Hitler (who had both read Nietzsche) was clear. Fortunately there were intellectuals on the other side such as William Morris or Propotkin but I don't want to get into a war of quotations here. Suffice to say that Nietzsche presumes the 'will to power' as being the driving force of human activity (like Macchiavelli before him) - what he doesn't say however is the fact that unless I have fear for my neighbour I have no need to exercise power over him. The will to dominance arises from fear - because, as every psychiatrist knows, there is no such thing as a superiority complex - but only one of inferiority. The search for supermen or saviours is nothing other than the perpetual human tendency to cast responsibility over to someone else.
I like Plato and his allusion to the chariot http://www.artofmanliness.com/2013/03/04/what-is-a-man-the-allegory-of-the-chariot/ Interesting this theory of the superman.... was espoused by the Nazi party....
Lenny - my reading of the man was that he was dead set in his views and would not listen to those with years of experience and knowledge. So he managed to alienate himself from many groups that could and would have helped him succeed if they had been engaged. But, and particularly in education, it is a trait in many politicians in this country to manage to break things that are not really broken, but may need some TLC and support. I think they think they will make a name for themselves and go down in history as some kind of modern day Wilberforce or Astley Cooper - usually they end up like Blair. I am sure Yorkie and BB can supply much more detail, but I think the bloke is just too dangerous to be let loose in something so vital as our children's education.
Teachers hailed the departure of Michael Gove today after the politician once dubbed a “demented Dalek” and the “most hated Education Secretary in history” was stripped of his portfolio in the reshuffle. Classroom unions claimed the Education Secretary had paid the price for his “ideological drive” to overhaul the schools system in the face of huge opposition from many in the teaching profession. He has been replaced by Nicky Morgan, the Minister for Women and Equality, who will keep the brief alongside running the Department for Education. Elizabeth Truss, the Education Minister, has also been moved, winning a promotion to the Cabinet as Environment Secretary. It brings an end to a bitter four-year war of words between Mr Gove and the education establishment – teaching unions and Left-wing academics who he famously dubbed the “the blob” and “enemies of promise”. He faced repeated opposition to many of his reforms, including the creation of independent free schools, the expansion of academies, performance-related pay for teachers, a radical overhaul of the exams system and the creation of a new back-to-basics national curriculum. The National Union of Teachers once called him a "demented Dalek on speed who wants to exterminate anything good in education". He has also been called the "most hated education secretary in history". Last week, the NUT staged the latest in a series of strikes, fuelled by Mr Gove’s refusal to personally negotiate over a series of their most high-profile complaints. Today, Christine Blower, the union's general secretary, said Mr Gove had “clearly lost the support of the profession and parents for justifiable reasons”. “His vision for education is simply wrong,” she said. “His pursuit of the unnecessary and often unwanted free schools and academies programme, the use of unqualified teachers, the failure to address the school place crisis and endless ill-thought out reforms to examinations and the curriculum has been his hallmark in office. “Michael Gove’s search for headlines over speaking to the profession has clearly angered teachers. We remain in dispute over the direction of Government policy, which we believe is undermining the education service.” According to an NUT poll earlier this year, some 79 per cent of teachers believe the Coalition has had a “negative impact on the education system”. More than eight-in-10 opposed the academies and free schools programme and three-quarters said morale in the teaching profession has fallen since the last General Election. At the most recent NUT annual conference, Mr Gove was dubbed “a parody of an Education Secretary" and the “man with a mad idea for every occasion”. Ian Murch, NUT treasurer, added: “Michael Gove, the demented Dalek on speed who wants to exterminate anything good in education that's come along since the 1950s.” Mr Gove failed to address any teaching union conferences in his four years as Education Secretary, often leaving the job to his deputy, the Schools Minister. He did appear before head teachers’ associations. Speaking today, Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said the Prime Minister has “belatedly realised that Michael Gove’s ideological drive is no substitute for measured, pragmatic reform of the education system”. “Time after time he has chased newspaper headlines rather than engage with teachers,” she said. “The dismantling of the structures which support schools, the antagonism which he displayed to the teaching profession and the increasing evidence of chaos in the bodies he established has led Cameron to one conclusion – Gove is more of a liability than an asset. “Successful education systems value the views of the teaching profession, which Gove insulted when he called them ‘the blob’.” More recently, Mr Gove also fell out with the Home Office and repeatedly angered Nick Clegg by opposing his plan for universal free school meals for infants. He also appeared to clash with Ofsted, recently sacking Baroness Morgan, the Labour peer, as the watchdog's chairman, even though she was well liked by Sir Michael Wilshaw, the chief inspector. But Sir Michael appeared shocked as he learnt of Mr Gove's departure during a call-in session on LBC Radio this morning. "I'm surprised and shocked that this has happened,'' he said. "I'm a great admirer of the Secretary of State, I think he's been a transformative and radical minister of education.'' Head teachers’ leaders were also less triumphant following Mr Gove’s departure on Tuesday. Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “As someone who has had extensive contact with Michael Gove, I have no doubt that he has been driven by his commitment to improving the life chances of young people. “Many of his reforms have been controversial and time will tell what their effect is, but there is no doubt he has had a significant impact on the education system. We wish him all the best in his new role.” Russell Hobby, general secretary of National Association of Head Teachers, said: “Michael Gove had a radical and sincere vision for transforming education but he often failed to bring the profession with him. "His diagnosis was frequently astute but his prescriptions were hard to swallow. It is now time to rebuild trust and confidence between government and teachers so that improvements can endure.” Speaking earlier this year, Sarah Vine, Mr Gove’s wife, said the couple’s children are suffering emotional damage through opposition to his policies, with his daughter even seeing one of her school teachers protesting on television. She had considered sending their children to live with her mother in Italy to shield them from the “hate” hurled at their father. “They’ve just got to the age where they understand what he [Mr Gove] does and they understand that people hate him because people will say things to them in the playground,” she said. From the Torygraph.... just to show that even non-left wing media didnt view him so well.....
Interesting that the shadow minister for Education has just been saying that Gove has been building on Labour policies rather well, and there is little that he has done that they would seek to change. Clearly though he has not taken the teachers with him and you cannot really carry out radical change on your own.
Yes you see - although the Telegraph article was not favourable to Gove the implication there was more that it was what he said and the way that he acted rather than what he did. The sentence that sums up his "actions" seems to be "many of his reforms, including the creation of independent free schools, the expansion of academies, performance-related pay for teachers, a radical overhaul of the exams system and the creation of a new back-to-basics national curriculum." Yet I am not sure that those policies would not find favour with a lot of people in the country if not inside the teaching profession itself. The article even intimates that perhaps head teachers were not as vehemently opposed to him - perhaps it is that he upset the NUT and they are a powerful lobby that makes a lot of noise. The NUT have fallen out with four of five recent Education Secretaries. Ed Balls was not eactly Mr Popular. However Gove does seem to be in a class of his own if you will excuse the pun. I am beginning to think it may be form over substance that is his undoing.
One of the main issues is the ideology over current practice. Politicians tend to come into overseeing Education, NHS, Police,etc with an ideological drive which leads them to wish to overhaul and radically change them and make their mark. Most people working in these areas are vocational with a deep commitment to doing the best and working at the coal face so to speak have real practical knowledge. They know what works well etc etc. Then these charismatic ministers, with no professional qualification, come in and and TELL people what to do etc.... and expect it all to be done in a year or two ( as they are only in that role short term... and want to see significant change for their own self-aggrandisement). It then becomes burdensome, on top of the demands of a full time job, to implement such changes , which many feel are not sound in any case. There are many many examples and I wont try and list them. But I must say as I have said before, I left a well-paid job as a head teacher in the 90s because it was unworkable ( the underesourcing of special education then). In my work recently I have supervised NHS staff subject to the most ridiculous timing of every activity and set unreachable targets. One head of service had to make appts and overbook by 25% so at to reach her target, and rely on doing all her admin during DNAs... and of course when there were no DNAs the service was overbooked, patients complained, and no reports could be written. One junior teacher, newly qualified, who is coming to see me, has had two different inspections ( OFSTED and QA) in two weeks and was observed each time, she had to write up full lesson plans for each of these etc etc. One of the them is in a subsidiary subject she is now required to teach and has no training in. But the school has no one else to teach it. I am seeing one deputy head from a private school, primary level, who is snowed under with reports, policies, quality processes that he HAS to be on top of. The guy is a nervous wreck... he came into the profession to teach and had become an unwilling bureaucrat. and so it goes on.... All these people want to go a good job.... Time for coffee....
It doesn't help that he ripped up the National Curriculum and Assesment processes, which is fine if that is what needs to be done. However he did so without actually bothering to adequately replace them or even offering reasonable guidelines, essentially telling schools to do whatever they want as long as its not what they're currently doing. Not my most detailed argument but the point is essentially valid. The last straw for me was his insistance on schools reporting back to government on adopted children, something that shouldn't necessarily even be known to schools and should be dealt with at Local Authority level.
Same thing happened up here, the curriculum was replaced though - by Outcomes Based Education, a system tried and discarded in other countries. It's proved to be a nightmare for secondary teachers in terms of re-writing programmes of work and somehow arriving at a country-wide assessment standard. For us primary teachers, the Inspectors viewed the change as meaning the discarding of normal teaching tools such as textbooks, and required us to replace them with 'games' and 'relevant activities' - all to be created in our own time of course. For the last three years or so, younger and newly-qualified teachers have been working this way as this is what they have been told to do at university - the older & more experienced teachers are now finding that they spend most of their time plugging the knowledge gaps that are becoming ever more evident as a result. All whilst teaching what they are supposed to be teaching themselves....
My sister was the Head in a very challenging "last chance" school in Kent and she loved working with some of the most damaged and challenging children you could ever imagine. But she quit to become a deputy head at another tough school as she could just not deal with all the bullshit from the LEA and Central Government - her life just consisted of filling in forms and writing reports and not working with the children. She has now retired early! Today on the news just about sums up how crap government and politicians can be. So Dick Clegg crows about providing free school meals to all junior school children and states it will be "fully funded" - but that does not include the kitchens, canteens, staff, utensils etc etc that the school needs to deliver those meals to all their children. So the LEA's and schools are having to pick up the bill for these "extras"...still it's a great soundbite!
And don't forget all the non-qualified chefs who will be required to produce menu plans for nourishing and tasty meals at 50p a head....
...and of course the schools who cant get it together through no fault of their own will be "named and shamed"
