Leo,unfortunately I cannot contribute much to the debate about present teaching in Britain because I last lived in Britain in 1989, and teaching within the German system is a completely different thing - with its own problems etc. I do believe that you are right however when you talk about a 'dumbing down' - but, I believe this to be a societal problem and not just one of good vs bad schooling. Anyone who grew up in the 50's, 60's or 70's will suspect that University degrees, A' Levels etc. were of a higher standard then - they were. Universities then were also full of people who took an active interest in politics, and wanted to change the World. 20 years later the same Universities were full of people studying 'Business admin' who were more concerned with following their shares than with political debate. The level of political discourse has become more narrow - more Americanized - less concerned with content, and more with personalities. The standards in the media have also dropped considerably since then - standards in advertizing also. T.V. then had a much higher quality than now. This 'dumbing down' process is observable in most areas of our society - this together with parents who are less active in educating their children and a barrage of unfiltered crap obtainable by kids over the internet. All part of the process of turning 'citizens'into 'consumers'. When a child emerges at 18 totally incapable of performing any usefull task in society then everybody has failed, not just the School system.
Leo, my 'sigh' was not a sarcastic one. It was not directed at you personally. I know you feel that you are being ganged up on, but don't be too sensitive. I echoed Fez's sigh out of a general sense of exasperation at my inability to begin to muster any cogent argument. I find pecking out reams on my iPad quite tiresome. I find it difficult to review all the comments made so far. I tire easily. So I sighed because of the inadequacies of a forum like this when one sets out to have a discussion about the more serious things in life. Frankly I am astonished at the ability of yourself and the other main contributors to to keep all this verbiage coming. It's fascinating, extremely well-informed, a very good read in fact. But is a football forum the ideal place for it? Just asking. It is a commonplace that email can so easily be misconstrued by the reader. There is no body language to refine its import. And this thread is no more than an email discussion. I sighed as a short hand way of saying ' I don't know where to start, I haven't got the willpower to stick with it any longer, other people have said what I think far better than I can say it, and, in short, I'm out of here. Which, it transpires, I wasn't. But I am now. My ipad doesn't allow me to put any smilies on, otherwise I could have peppered this with all sorts of conciliatory, light hearted icons to let you know that I am not 'getting at you' so consider them present in spirit.
OK - a response worthy of a reply - I don't mean that to sound condescending. For what it is worth I do not feel ganged up on and do not take the comments personally. I am aware that there is a strong "teachers connexion" amongst the hornets fans but I have never felt afraid to be the lone voice crying in the wilderness. I have no political affiliation so have no "group" to side with. In the past w_y has intimated that he needs me as support for the right wing yet on here even he stands in the other camp Also for what it is worth I do not see myself as right wing and dislike as many Tory policies as I do Labour. I could not have known the meaning of "sigh" but accept it now as shorthand for "I wish I could respond but for whatever reason cannot" I deliberately have tried this summer to post a lot more than I have for a long while. 1) because when I was a mod I felt it helped keep the forum alive in the absence of football and as a Mod I sort of felt a responsibilty to try to do that - now that H rarely posts or even BabyDan (certainly not on non Watford issues) the summer could have "died" on here ( I think Yorkie had the same thoughts) 2) because I thought one or two "controversial" threads would be good. Time is not something I have in short supply in the short term although when that will change is in the lap of the gods. 3) because other posters on here do not abuse people who have differing views - a football forum may not be ideal but I do not use Facebook, Twitter or any other forum as there are some pretty nasty people out there and I really cannot be bothered to post on forums where people get nasty - life is literally too short - and this was why I took a year's sabbatical as I felt our forum was being infilitrated by troll types (not least from Leeds). My previous post reflected that if there was no sensible comment to respond to then the thread had run its course. In fact I think it has anyway - as you say it has all been said now. Not all has gone well recently for Mrs L and I have to admit it is tiring me and probably making me more short fused than I ought to be. My apologies to anyone who feels I have disrespected them - I did not intend offense. I will now in fact stop posting much while I try to cope with domestic issues so probably will appear mostly on prediction league threads and maybe the occasional Nest rather than the debate threads. As always I value others who post their opinions here and long may friendly banter continue.
Leo, thank you for that fulsome reply. I take all three of your points explaining your thinking and reasons for promoting this and other threads. And I'm glad you don't feel ganged up on. Well said, sir. It's strange that despite the fact that I've now been out of teaching longer than I was in it, I get so irked by what I perceive to be generalisations about 'teachers'. As you say though, there has been a strong chorus of voices on this thread saying all the things that I would have liked to have said, and more, and far more eloquently than I could, in defence of the profession. Thanks to all of them. As you say, long may the friendly banter continue. PS I'm on the laptop so I can bung in a smilie or two PPS I do miss the free chalk, though.
Times have changed GG - apparently so much chalk was going missing that schools did away with blackboards and we now have to make do with smartboards. Very hard to fit them into the briefcase...
