When I finished teaching, after thirty-six years, I decided to write a book to encapsulate my philosophy, garnished with anecdotes. This is it.
Excerpt – A passion for Education – The story of a Headteacher
It was early on in my second year of teaching and Friday afternoon with my favourite group. I was teaching A Level Biology with the Upper Sixth. They were intelligent, friendly and engaging. It was a good way to end the week. I could relax.
That was the day my week nearly ended for ever.
We were in the biology lab for a practical session doing some standard food tests – all predictable and fairly boring.
I was drawing the results table on the old chalk board and turned round to instruct the class on how and when to fill in their results when I found the room almost empty. There was just one boy standing in the centre of the lab with a boiling tube full of liquid that was bubbling away. That would not have been too strange if it had not been for the fact that he wasn’t heating it at the time.
‘What are you doing Mr Johnson?’ I asked puzzled by what I was seeing.
‘Nothing sir,’ he replied innocently.
I noticed a head peering round the door and another peeping over the back bench.
‘He’s making nitro-glycerine,’ the half visible face informed me.
I felt a bit of a shiver run through me and squinted at the bubbling boiling tube.
‘What have you got in there?’ I asked sternly, striding over to the lad with the bubbling boiling tube.
‘Nothing sir,’ he replied again.
‘He’s put glycerine in with conc. sulphuric and conc. nitric,’ my informant offered before ducking back down.
I weighed this up as I headed for that boiling tube.
The lab was lined with reagent bottles. The boy had mixed a big boiling tube of glycerine, concentrated sulphuric and concentrated nitric acid. Now I was no chemist but I knew that the concentrated sulphuric acid removed hydroxyl groups that could be replaced by nitrate groups from the nitric acid. From the extent of bubbling that was going on in the boiling tube a reaction was definitely occurring. It seemed quite probable to me that nitro-glycerine was a distinct possibility. If nitro-glycerine was formed it was highly unstable. Indeed the heat of reaction was quite certain to trigger an explosion. A boiling tube of nitro was quite likely to take out the whole lab. I did not think hiding behind a bench or round a doorway was going to afford much protection.
I walked briskly over and poured the contents of the test tube down the sink washing it away with copious amounts of water and rinsing the test tube out.
It probably wouldn’t have made nitro-glycerine but I wasn’t taking any chances.
The rest of the class started coming out of hiding.
What punishment do you give to a boy who could have blasted your lab to bits and killed everyone? – Perhaps a detention?
I settled for a lengthy discussion and an apology. He was a pleasant, enthusiastic lad with a good inquisitive mind, if a little silly. He’d been showing off and being daft. The fact that it could have been catastrophic was not really understood.
It was fully understood by the end of my conversation. What might have occurred was explained very graphically.
What should, and could, have happened to him as a result of doing this was also explained. It probably would have resulted in his expulsion if I had followed procedure.
What good would that have done? His A levels, his university, his career, my relationship with the class? The repercussions were enormous.
By the end of our discussion he had learnt a lesson. I was confident nothing of similar ilk would happen ever again. What more was to be gained?