education Archives - Page 14 of 54

A great way to create more integration! I know – Faith Schools!

Posted on October 8, 2016 by Opher

The major problems occur in society when people live apart and become suspicious of each other. To mingle and talk is great; it breaks down barriers so that people discover they are all intrinsically similar. We humans are one people.

Religion, race and culture separate people. When people get together in multicultural ways they can benefit from the richness of different cultures. It cross-fertilises. It brings colour, vitality and joy. Out of it comes hybrids that invigorate.

It is when people become segregated from each other and alienated that trouble occurs.

We used to have a great fear of black culture from Jamaica, Pakistanis, Indians and Sikhs. But most of the people who arrived in the fifties and sixties have been integrated, taken on British values and fit in.

I know it is not perfect. A lot of work still needs doing. We need more cohesion and equality, more respect and sharing.

These days we have major problems with our Muslim community and radicalisation.

So what about a great way to bring people from different religions, cultures and races together – why not segregate them in Faith Schools!!!

Who the hell thought up such a stupid idea?

Let’s set up Jihadi colleges and Creationist schools! Why not? I mean it isn’t as if we haven’t already had problems with radicalisation in Birmingham schools; it isn’t as if there are thousands of unregistered schools indoctrinating kids with who knows what; it isn’t as if we haven’t had the Christian Catholic school indoctrinating kids.

What madness is this?

Is this a means of getting religion to fund schools?

Are GCSE results the only thing that count? Have we totally lost sight of the big picture?

There are all sorts of extreme religious fanatics who would like nothing better than to get their hands on our kids!

Segregation is not the answer to integration! This is how it should be done!

My Surreal sixties book – Chapter 21

Posted on October 5, 2016 by Opher

I will probably publish this for my own amusement. It is the book that started me off writing – way back in 1970. I’m fond of it. But I don’t know that it will appeal to many people. It is the classic first attempt.

This particular chapter had elements of my first lesson. Boy – was I nervous. I can remember pausing outside that classroom before plucking up courage to go in. It was scary but I learned to love it.

Science for me had been dead. But I was determined to do things in a more interesting way. I wanted to try to make the kids think. I hope I succeeded.

21.

Returning from his travels the first requirement was cash and that required work. Getting by was becoming a drag. He had to find something steadier than an unemployment cheque. After much consideration he settled for a career in teaching – the main enticement being the holidays.

He thought it would be easy. Little did he know.

The closer the day came the more apprehensive he became. What, from a distance, appeared like a simple task became more daunting by the minute.

As he approached the door his stomach turned flips. He gripped the handle and turned it

On entering the classroom he put on a fixed expression and strode purposefully over to the desk, arranged his things and then looked up. A sea of faces were peering back at him, all weighing him up and appearing to not like what they saw. He surveyed the class and they looked him up and down. They had stopped talking and slouching in their chairs and were weighing up the crazy little guy who had just walked in purporting to be their teacher. They studied his every move and expression with seasoned eyes and had already, before he had even opened his mouth, formed their opinions.

Messny, clutching his carefully prepared lesson plan, stood in front of the highly critical assembly and prepared to deliver his first lesson. There was a pregnant pause as he arranged his larynx to articulate a sound and they waited, intrigued to hear what noise might come out.

As he had rehearsed he deliberately moved slowly in order to collect his thoughts and allow his physiology to settle. He knew that the last thing he wanted to project was nervousness. He’d heard how rabid they could be with new teachers. The million rehearsals had gone well. The real thing was a totally different experience. His subconscious was screaming at him – telling him that he was about to be eaten alive and telling him to run.

He conquered that and finally gained control over his wayward vocal cords.

‘Good morning,’ he began in a remarkably calm voice, ‘My name is Messny Krapbutt.’

This was met with a chorus of stifled laughter.

Messny waited for the noise to subside.

‘I will be taking you for Biology this term.’

There was no response.

He tried a smile. ‘It will take me time to get to know you so please forgive my ignorance over the next few weeks.’

The faces remained blank and watchful.

‘Right,’ he said nervously. ‘Let’s get started.’ He stood behind his bench in front of the large blackboard. ‘First of all – a question.’ He reached into his pocket and took out a small ball. ‘We’re here to study Science so let’s start by understanding what Science actually is.’ He held the ball up in the air above the bench. The eyes all followed his hand, waiting to see what he would do.

‘Who can tell me what will happen if I was to let go of this ball?’

He looked around and all the faces were wearing the same uncomprehending expressions. What was the idiot doing? This wasn’t Biology. There had to be a catch. Nobody wanted to be the fool who fell into it.

‘Come on,’ Messny urged as the class stubbornly remained silent, ‘what will happen to the ball if I was to let go?’

One girl plucked up courage to speak. ‘You mean – if you just let go, not throw it or anything?’

‘Yeah,’ Messny said reassuringly, ‘that’s right. If I just let go.’

‘It’ll hit the bench and bounce off,’ she replied with an air of triumph

‘No it won’t,’ Messny replied, cutting her glee dead.

The class shuffled uneasily. They could not see the catch, but they knew there had to be one.

‘If you don’t throw it, it will,’ the girl insisted indignantly. She was not going to be brushed off.

‘No it won’t,’ Messny assured her.

‘What will it do then?’ the girl sneered.

‘If I let go of the ball it will stay hanging in the air for a while,’ Messny explained. ‘Then it will gradually drift off sideways,’ He indicated a sweep with his hand as if following the course of the ball in the air. ‘It will then build up momentum and bounce off the wall.’

A big chuckle passed around the room. The guy was nuts.

‘No it won’t,’ the girl insisted with a look that said exactly what she thought of him. ‘It will fall straight down and hit the desk.

A wave of laughter went round the room. They were enjoying this.

‘Well,’ Messny said with a raise of eyebrows, ‘why don’t we try it and see?’

Messny held the ball up and let go of it. It fell straight down, hit the bench and bounced up. A roar of laughter rang round.

‘Did you see it hover for a second?’ Messny asked hopefully.

‘Nooo!’ they shouted in chorus.

‘OK,’ he conceded. ‘It did that time. Let’s try it again.’ He retrieved the ball and held it up in the air. He repeated the process a number of times with the same outcome. The class found it highly amusing.

Finally he put the ball back in his pocket. ‘Will it always do that?’ he asked.

‘Yeees!’ they shouted in gleeful unison.

He held his hand up to quieten them. ‘Are you sure?’ he asked with a serious expression. ‘How many times do we have to carry out this experiment before we can definitely say that it will always perform the same way?

There was a silence while they mulled that over.

‘Come on,’ Messny urged. ‘I say that the ball will hang in the air. You say it will drop. But how many times do I have to repeat it before we can say that it will always, definitely, drop – without the slightest shadow of doubt? How many times do I have to do this before I get a fact?’ The class were completely quiet. ‘Ten times? A hundred times? A thousand times? Ten billion times?

There was no response.

‘The answer to my question is that it takes an infinite number of times in order to get a fact. You have to do it every single possible time to be utterly sure that it will always behave in that particular way. Of course we can make mathematical models, use our knowledge of gravity, and predict that it will always behave in a particular way, but it will still not be a fact. A fact is indisputable. There are no facts in Science – only a series of working hypothesis based on experimentation and observation. We predict what will happen and it usually does. But there are no facts. I am not going to teach you any facts at all. Science never got anywhere by believing things. Everything I tell you is a lie.’

There was a pause.

‘Right,’ Messny said, ‘let’s get on.’ With that he launched into the lesson.

So what has the EU ever done for us?

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Opher

So what has the EU ever done from us – apart from a bureaucratic system, mass immigration and costing us money?

Well –

It has brought peace for the longest period of time in European history – that was why it was set up in the first place
It has created a forum for dialogue between European countries that cannot be underestimated
It has provided international legislation and enforcement of environmental issues that has stopped pollution and produced countless conservation schemes
It has created a multinational Human Rights that protects the rights of all people living in the EU and sets an example to the rest of the world
It has brought in legislation to protect the rights of workers and their health and safety
It has enabled free trade that has improved the British economy. It enables trade without restraint, tariffs or visas.
It has brought in regeneration programmes that have transformed inner city areas such as Liverpool, Newcastle and countless others
It subsidises areas with great poverty or who are in need – Scotland receives a lot of money as does Wales, Ireland and parts of England
It has financed scientific research and enabled projects (such as CERN) that no one nation could have managed – space projects, University research, international cooperation
It has instituted conservation projects and protected nature in large projects throughout Europe
It subsidises agriculture and practices that protect nature
It has enabled Britain to operate as a gateway into Europe. Many firms, such as the car industry, Siemens alternative energy, Banking and Finance and many manufacturing companies set up production and headquarters in London and Britain to service the continent. This has greatly contributed to our wealth.
It has provided a source of labour and brains that has kept our science at the top, brought in consultants and specialists, doctors, nurses, teachers, skilled individuals, builders, field workers, care home workers etc. who have provided services and kept our economy going.
It has financed joint ventures that would be too risky or expensive for any one nation to attempt (eg. aviation)
It has enabled our students to go to any EU country to study and broaden their horizons and students to study here and set up crucial links. We are attracting brains.
It enables me to travel to Europe with needing visas or passport control.
It enables cooperation between EU countries to coordinate intelligence, operations against terrorism and crime.
It provides a powerful bloc for negotiating deals with the resat of the world.
It provides a stronger, unified voice in the world that carries the weight of the combined population and economies.

I would not underestimate the huge contribution the EU has made. Of course, you can believe all the lies, exaggerations and fabricated stories put out in our incredibly biased media. The picture they paint is simply not true.

Do we get value for money? I think so. I reckon the benefit to the economy far outstrips what we put in.

Are there problems? Too true – the bureaucracy, costs and corruption, unelected bodies, negative effects of mass migration, freedom of movement of criminals and terrorists, and the difference between the members with weaker economies and those with stronger are all problems.

Could they have been addressed without Brexit? A resounding yes.

It is not beyond wit to modify the system to deal with corruption, bureaucracy and unelected people. (Not that our politics doesn’t suffer from all of these problems).

There needs to be checks put on migration.

In time the weaker countries will come up to the level of the stronger.

Imagine the United States with borders between States, visas, tariffs, and restrictions. What a nightmare. That is what we will be doing.

But we are out. That is it.

The challenge now is to ensure the government keeps the cooperation, the outward looking stance, the environmental, science and conservation work, the human and workers rights, the free trade without tariffs and the skilled workers we so desperately need – to maintain public services with a poorer economy.

If we are not a gateway to Europe and all those firms and headquarters creep away to Berlin, Paris and the rest, we will be screwed. We have to keep them here. That means a free trade agreement and that means free movement. If we close our borders our economy will dive.

That is the battle.

Do we want a soft or hard Brexit? Who is making the decision? – An unelected right-wing government.

The pressure from Big Business is to exploit people for more profits. The pressure from little Englanders is to go all patriotic and nationalistic.

The people who will inevitably suffer will be the poor, the disabled, elderly and public servants. I guarantee that the ones at the top will still get their bonuses!

How to change the world for the better! Easy steps!

Posted on October 2, 2016 by Opher

The first step is to acknowledge that things are not so bad as they might be:

We are not dead
We are not starving
We are not at war
Hardly anyone has been killed by terrorism
We are quite comfortable
We are not cold
We are not in great danger
Our children and grandchildren are safe
If we need help we will be taken care of

In fact we are exceedingly lucky when compared to the conditions most of the world lives in!

The second step is to realise that most of the things we worry about do have solutions:

Islamic terrorism will be defeated
War in Syria/Libya/Iraq/Afghanistan will come to an end
The environment can be protected
Poaching of rhino and elephants can be stopped
Overpopulation can be dealt with
Global corporations can be controlled
Inequality and poverty can be addressed
Racism, sexism and xenophobia can be addressed
We can create global legislation
We can enforce global laws
We can prevent and cure cancer and heart disease
We can set up a colony on Mars and the Moon

All it takes is the will. Some of the things are hard but they are not impossible.

The third step is to recognise that there are a lot of things that are much better now:

We have had peace in Europe for the longest time in history
We do not have marauders coming through killing us
We live comfortably without great threat
We are not cold and hungry
We have a much better standard of living than our parents and grandparents
We can travel the world
Violence and murder is on the decrease
Racism and sexism are being addressed
There is no systematic cruelty to animals – dog fighting, badger baiting, cock fighting
We have welfare and support for those in need
We live in far greater comfort
We live longer
Education is much better

We have a tendency to think that things were better in the past. But they weren’t. Looking back over the last three hundred years you can see the journey we have made. We have become more civilised.

Over the next hundred years we can, via the internet and education, create a quantum leap forward.

The fourth step is to help build that change in mass psychology – the new positive zeitgeist:

To be optimistic
To highlight the problems and issues that need addressing
To harry and force politicians to act
To provide a positive force for change
To be outward looking, full of compassion and realism

In future posts I will outline my thinking on how to deal with all of the major issues besetting us. They are all able to be solved.

Retaliation and Injustice – The Burkini Ban

Posted on September 21, 2016September 21, 2016 by Opher

I found this article very thought provoking.
As an antitheist I am opposed to all types of organised religion. I think religion is conceived by man and used for power. It is a million miles away from spirituality and stinks of control. I believe it has done far more harm than good.
Islam is one of the worst in many ways. It is an intolerant religion that dictates a very prescriptive code of ritual and way of life that has locked the Middle East back in the seventh century and stultified the culture. It indoctrinates young children as standard and discriminates against women. There is not much about it that I find appealing. In its most fundamental form it is violent and aggressive. The barbarity of some of its sharia practices are straight out of the dark ages.
Not that it is alone in that. Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism have had their bloody pasts and many superstitious practices. Fortunately we have been through the enlightenment and have largely secularised society and removed religion from its overt claustrophobic control.
I do not oppose people’s personal beliefs or wish to curb them. If people wish to believe in a religion that is fine with me as long as that is on a personal level, doesn’t involve children and they do not seek to inflict it on others.
The Burqa and Burkini seem absurd to me. I find it ridiculous and misogynistic that women are subjected to these clothing restrictions while men are not. I find it repulsive that this dress code is imposed on women (against their will) through force and law in some countries, and through social/cultural imposition in others.
As an objective outsider I find the concept disturbing and absurd. It says a lot about what the 7th Century culture thought about women.
However, would I ban it?
One side of me says definitely. It is a symbol of misogyny and oppression. It goes against all the cultural values of a secular society. It has no place in the modern world or in a secular culture. It is a pre-Islamic relic of a patriarchal culture where women were second class citizens without rights and traded as commodities. Women were viewed as possessions and temptations. Britain is a secular society with an ethos of tolerance and equality. There is no place for medieval superstition.
The other side of me says that a secular society should be tolerant of others. That, if it is the woman’s choice and there has been no coercion or social expectation, she should be free to wear what she likes. If she choses to cover her body then it is her choice no matter what connotations that has for others, like myself. I would certainly not take kindly to anyone telling me what I can or can’t wear.
It is a dilemma.
I certainly feel that women should have equal rights in all respects – including the right not to be socially/culturally coerced or stopped from wearing what they want, or believing what they want.
I would take a hard line on anybody who forces or coerces a woman to comply with a dress code.
I would ban all face covering from public arenas, such as teaching, nursing, doctoring or anywhere that involves dealing with the public.
I would ban all religious schools that segregate children. I think it an insidious apartheid.
I would prevent any religious sect from indoctrinating children.
I would hope that education will result in integration and increasing secularisation so that we can leave all religion back in the Dark Ages where it belongs and see it as the superstition it is.
But I wouldn’t ban burqas and burkinis much as I detest all they stand for.

The Ten Things that are Buggin’ me today!

Posted on September 16, 2016 by Opher

I am quite a fun-loving individual. I’m not depressive or gloomy. I like a laugh and I like doing things – especially travelling, writing, photographing and listening to music.

But I do get exceedingly angry a lot of the time. I can’t turn off from a lot of the insane things that human beings are doing.

Here are ten things that are buggin’ me today:-

10% of all the world’s wilderness has been destroyed since 1996 – that is utterly insane. All of the creatures living in that wilderness have been butchered and destroyed. Logging, mining, hunting, poaching, and strip and burn. Coffee, palm oil and farming. We are destroying the planet at an ever increasing rate! Soon there will be nothing left! It makes me mad!!!!!
1% of Britain’s richest own 25% of all the wealth – these are the greedy fuckers who are responsible for destroying the planet, creating poverty, creating the capitalist mantra of corporate greed and progress, ransacking everything for personal gain and not giving a hoot about the consequences. Inequality is the basis of most of the world’s problems.
Rhinos, Elephants, Gorillas, Tigers, Chimps, Orangutans and all the other wildlife – All being machine gunned, hacked to pieces, used in Chinese medicine, ivory trade and bush-meat. Or else their habitat is being systematically destroyed. Soon there will not be any wildlife left outside of zoos.
Grammar Schools – now the Tories have been taken over by the extreme right-wingers and think they have no opposition they think they can do what they like. Grammar Schools are OK for the ones at the top (who can afford the tutoring in order to get in) but it throws 90% of the rest of us into the shit. Label them as failures and throw them on the scrap-heap – take away aspiration and hope!
The undermining of Democracy – there seems to be a systematic campaign run by the Tory Establishment to ensure that they remain in power for evermore. They have shackled the unions by bringing in legislation to stop them striking, shackled the BBC and taken over the board, run a campaign of lies throughout the media and are proposing to change boundaries so that Labour lose a bunch of MPs. Seems we might have Tories forever running the country on behalf of the wealthy.
Mindless society – the celebrity culture and shallow, cretinous mindset that revolves around trivia, soaps, getting drunk, game-shows, strictly, Simon Cowell and the law of the lowest common denominator – anything to stop people thinking (particularly about the planet, big business, the wealthy and the Tories and their games).
Capitalist Greed – the selfish mentality that puts profit before anything else. They are prepared to destroy the planet in order to have their yachts, penthouses and glamour. They do not care about the poor creatures butchered, the poverty, desperate people, war, inequality or drowned babies – just as long as they get more than their share.
Overpopulation – the thing that is driving it all – now heading for 8 Billion and due to double in the next twenty years. Insanity. But necessary for growth, profit and a cheap workforce to drive the corporate greed – good for business. I see no effort to reduce this stupidity! It will swamp the planet and destroy us all. I hope there’s a virus soon!
Trump – following the same populist, xenophobic, nationalist, right-wing movement verging on fascism, Trump has successfully motivated the desperate, disillusioned and impoverished and sold them the same old lies. They somehow believe a billionaire is on their wave-length and has their interests at heart. He is a lying fraud who is a great danger to everyone with his racist, misogynist, xenophobia. The fear of terrorism and Muslims has been deployed in the same way the Jews were scapegoated by Hitler. He’s a warmonger, an isolationist and a ruthless psychopath. Admittedly the choice isn’t great but it always comes down to the lesser of two evils.
Brexit – the same tactics were used by the Brexiteers as they lied. It is true that the EU is a right-wing institution but it represents a more universal attitude, an outward looking force. I hate the media propaganda being put out about how great everything is. It isn’t. The racists have been given a charter to target Poles and other foreigners. Hate crime is through the roof as they create an atmosphere of British bulldog that I find repulsive. Behind the scenes I am already hearing from friends of firms closing down their operations here to move to Europe. Siemens is cancelling major developments. Already people I know of are being made redundant. Many companies are waiting to see which way we go. If we want in to the market we have to swallow free movement. If we opt out then firms flee. If we lose the bankers and car industry we are in for hard times. Apart from the race and economic impact we have been lumbered with an extreme right-wing government 9With the likes of Davies and Fox) who are already flexing their muscles with Grammar Schools and a host of other elitist policies. I fear for the weak and needy. May has already pulled the promises made – there will be no bonus for the NHS and I bet all the other EU funded schemes will find themselves scuppered. The worst is yet to come. We haven’t even started.
Faith Schools – at a time when we have huge problems created by religious sectarianism and segregation you would think that politicians might have learnt their lesson. We want people living together in harmony – not apart being indoctrinated with sectarian, religious superstition. Indoctrinating children is child abuse!

I know. That is not ten. I threw in one for good measure!

I could go on. But those are the eleven that make my blood boil. I want to live in a world that respects nature and animals, controls its population and industry, is not obsessed with profit and wealth, practices equality, respect and empathy, and doesn’t indoctrinate our children. I want to do away with nations, religion and corporations. I want a population half its present size. I want freedom and individuality. I want creativity, fun and relationship. I want leaders who are not lying psychopaths, sociopaths and in it for the power and money.

I know – it’s become a tirade! But if we don’t shout it will all be destroyed by those who do not care!

Education – we don’t want choice – we simply want excellence for everyone!

Posted on September 8, 2016 by Opher

We do not need gimmicky Free Schools, Business-run Academies or Grammar Schools for the rich – we simply want quality education and a fair system for all.

Hear what a highly successful ex secondary Headteacher has to say on education. The real story! The inside battles.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/passion-Education-story-Headteacher/dp/1502984687/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1473336393&sr=1-6&keywords=Christopher+goodwin

Top Customer Reviews

You need to read this book!

By Mystic blueport on 19 Oct. 2014

Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase

In this autobiographical account of his life as Head Teacher of Beverley Grammar School, Chris takes us through many of the failings of the post-war education system to the much superior, more flexible teaching of the twenty-first century. Along the way, he enthuses about rock music, leadership vs management, and – particularly – the kids. If you can make every lesson fun, every child feel cared for, and every staff member nurtured, attendance and results will pretty much look after themselves. You can pass every Ofsted inspection with flying colours, and your school can become best in class (no pun intended).I was at college with Chris, and it didn’t seem to me then that he was destined to be a head teacher of a secondary school – a music critic, more like. He has done education a great service by showing you can be a rebel and get results too. I hadn’t expected to enjoy this book as much as I did; it has extraordinary energy and a lust for achievement. Every teacher should read it! 8/10 (October 2014)

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Empathic approach to education

By Pete 2 Sheds on 5 July 2015

Format: Paperback

If you have any interest in the education of your child this book is essential reading. Having studied and worked in education myself I find Mr Goodwins insights and experiences very thought provoking. It deserves a place on the shelves of every educational establishment and needless to say a few people at the ministries and especially the minister for education should read this and maybe, just maybe, we could move forward and improve the educational standards of our children where they have been slipping on a global level.
Mr Goodwin shows, his Ofsted scores prove the point, that civility and empathy rather than antiquated regimented regimes can be extremely effective.

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Crusade for True Education

By Amazon Customer on 10 April 2016

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

As an retired teacher and Head of Department I found this book a joy to read. It is many things – personal biography, passionate polemic, practical handbook, education history, inspirational text, you name it – woven together in a natural, organic way which really gives you the feel of school life. The author knows whereof he speaks and in friendly fashion takes you, the reader, by the hand on a headlong and often exciting journey through the maze of modern education. His vision is clear and compelling, he knows what works and what doesn’t, he wants you to share his profound sense of the human potential which we can unlock if only we get our schools right. He articulates a philosophy which puts the whole child at its centre and explores the relationships underlying the magic of educational development. The book is written in a direct, heartfelt, jargon-free style and is packed with amusing anecdotes which illuminate his principles, unlike many dry books on the subject. Passionate and humorous and unafraid of controversy, it certainly gets you thinking. I found it a real page-turner and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone interested in good education, whether outside or inside the teaching profession. For anyone connected with school management, in any capacity, it is essential reading. A unique and valuable voice.

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An excellent and informative book

By Alexander on 24 Oct. 2015

Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

An excellent and informative book of Mr Goodwin’s time at the Beverley Grammar School. As a former pupil, it is hard to believe what was going on behind the scenes, however he kept it together and carried on securing the school an outstanding rating from Ofsted in both 2008 and 2010.