Do we know how to educate young people?

 Now I need to start by saying that I am not here criticising teachers or pedagogy in general. This post has come out of discussions I have had on social media which have helped me clarify my understanding.

It comes also from watching programmes like "Back in time..." and also "Educating...". Which are always really interesting insights into the past and the present.

So the challenge of "educating" young people is actually a relatively new one. You don't have to go back very far to the point where most young people did not get an education as such - they learned what they needed on the job, from family or artisans. It was only those with independent wealth who could take the time to travel and spend time discussing with others. Or reading books - a talent that was also an indication of privilege.

The early forms of education of young people tended to rely on "rote learning". In simple terms, a teacher put something on a blackboard, the students would copy it down and were expected to learn it. I say early - within my lifetime, the idea of learning bible verses by heart has been promoted as a way to educate young people. Rote learning has many problems, not least that it doesn't work.

My era of learning was very much more "hands on". Actually, it was an era of educational experimentation - schools where the pupils could do what they wanted were the vogue idea.

Today, there is a different idea too - engaging education, dealing with pupils much more as individuals. There is, in the sciences, a lack of the excitement and experimentation that I experienced, but there is a lot that is significantly better. Not least, the acceptance that different pupils will learn in different ways.

The problem still, in my view, is that we don't educate them. The focus is examinations, and - to a large extent - the teaching is to an examination. We train young people to pass exams, and in doing so, I think we fail to educate them.

The other thing that inspired this line of thought is the comments this week that "we need to get young people into school" otherwise they are not being educated. I strongly disagree with this, because most young people can - with some direction - get an education outside a school. Looking at and exploring nature can be educational. Discussion can be educational. TV can be educational. Listening to grandparents can be educational. Reading books - or even spending time on the internet - can be educational.

It may not help them pass exams. But then, I don't believe that passing exams should be the purpose of education. Education should seek to expand young peoples minds, provide them with tools they need to learn throughout their lives. Especially now, when the future might be very significantly different to the present, they need the skills to relearn, reskill, rethink. Not just pass exams.

I don't think we do know how to educate young people. It is not the fault of the teachers or the people who teach the teachers. It is the fault of the political direction. And in this, I think we are still failing our young people.

Engaging worship

 So, some people find the idea of a zoom Quaker worship odd - a zoom meeting where everyone is muted? I mean, why?

 More traditional churches have taken a variety of approaches to online worship - zoom from the building or YouTube of the service seem to be common. It struck me that this is very much reflecting the form of worship we are used to: worship as presentation. Where the participants can join in or not, and it makes very little real difference.

 And then, in the meeting this morning, I realised that our silent meetings are totally different. Joining in - being a part of the meeting - is not an optional aspect. Each person is a full participant, and it makes a difference.

I am not intending to criticise any form of worship, but I did get a real sense of participation today, that I do not think everyone gets from a broadcast service. Because, for me, I am not "joining in". I am an essential part of the worship - actually, an existential part of it, as my typo wanted to suggest. Without me, it does not exist.

Silent meeting is not for everyone. But zoom meeting is as participative and corporate as physical meeting. And it is an experience that helps me understand deeper what worship really is.

Left Behind

In meeting this morning, I was (as often) looking at my bookshelf. I noticed my copy of "Left Behind". Just for those who know it, it is not a book I have as representing my beliefs and understanding.

But reflecting on this, one of the issues I have with the book (and the theology) is that there is an acceptance that many people will be left behind by God. And yet, watching The Crystal Maze, one thing that is often said is that "No-one left behind" - a military principle, and a good one.

For me, faith is about leaving nobody behind. We should not accept that people should be left behind - and this applies spiritually and financially. This applies to health support and getting vaccination and everything.

The idea that "some will be left behind" is, to my view, anathema to a person of faith. I don't accept it, and I will fight for all to be accepted, to be included.

Left Behind - evey person left behind is a failure.

Spread your wings?

 So in meeting today, I was watching the clouds go by - this is not unusual, as I like to draw inspiration from outside during meeting. They were shifting at quite a rate today! There was a good wind, and lower clouds were passing quickly, while I could occasionally spot a higher cloud not moving noticably.

But I also saw some birds - no idea what. They were just flying with wings outstretched, enjoying the thermals or the wind, and flying effortlessly.

It struck me that we are so often blown about by the winds and storms (the world and political situation at the moment being a significant part of that), but sometimes - not always - we should open our wings, and fly on the drifts, not get buffeted by them. What does this mean? It means just ignore the problems for a moment, and enjoy life.

You will be back in the gusts eventually, but - maybe - better prepared after soaring for a while.

Reflecting

A group of photons leave the sun. They travel 95M miles in a few minutes, with just a few hitting space dust on the way.

They finally make it to the Earths atmosphere. Quite a few hit dust in the atmosphere and bounce around there. But not the Main Man (Photon). That one fights through.

This group make it very close to the earth, and then they hit a piece of glass. Quite a few are absorbed or reflected, but a good number get through. These find a piece of kitchen furniture, and many are taken in there, but a fair few are reflected off, rather slower, but still very excited. The original gang are now down to a sprinking.

These carry on their journey, and moments later they find some more glass. This time, ony a few get through, many are reflected. These carry on momentarily and then enter my eye. Some more degredation as they work through the structures of the eye and then a photon or two make it to be converted into electrical energy in my retina.

Then, in the space of a few inches, some of the most complex and amazing processing happens. This contributes to me seeing a reflection in the window.

This happens all the time of course. The amazing things that happen we treat as quotidian - and they are. But they are also amazing.

Doom and gloom?

 2020 will, it seems, be remembered for being the year of Covid. As we are seeing the start of a second wave, we have no idea how bad this will be. I was reminded this morning that this year has been split into seasons by Covid too - the "Normal but seeing what happens" winter; the "Lockdown" spring; the "Freedom from lockdown" summer and the "Second wave, semi-lockdown" Autumn.

And, of course, one of the issues is the handing of this by western governments - UK and US specifically. For me, the handling makes me angry - this may be less than perfectly quakerly, but so many have died and been ill - the "Long Covid" impacts that will be with us for years are just starting to be seen, but appear to be devastating.

Next year - in the UK, we add on the shambles of Brexit, which will cause more suffering, more deaths, more chaos. So even if we make it through 2020, there are new challenges in 2021 to get through. It feels like a computer game - each level just builds the pressures, and if you can make it through: WELL DONE.

And then, as if tht wasn't enough, there is the Boss Level of climate change. This will not have gone away, but by the end of 2021, we will be 2 years nearer disaster than as we started 2020 with serious warnings and predictions.

The handling of this by the current government in the UK and US does not encourage me - there may be a change in the US, but there seems little chance in the UK, and if anyone wants to know how much the current administration cares about the natural world, the HS2 work is already destroying world-beating natural areas that should be preserved for the future. It does not bode well.

Is ther any hope? I don't know. I know each year we survive is an achievement. But each year that passes when we do not address the real, core, institutional problems the less likely we will survive longer. But maybe.

I am reading Tolkeins "Beren and Luthien" at the moment. The essence of so many of his stories is that while the evil seems powerful, it can be destroyed and brought down. Usually by the powerless, the small and weak. To the small and weak among us, we are important. And we will win.

I lost a job and then I found a job....

So, as some people know, I have now found another role within the same company as before. If you have known me for a while, you may know that this has happened before - a few times. I have lost a job, but found another position really quickly. In this case, because it is within the same company, it has been really quick.

I think it is true that God has blessed me in my working situations, many times.

Let me clarify, I have very marketable skills, and I know how to find work. I also landed in an area (computer software systems) that ha been the most significantly growing in my working time. That is part of the way that God has blessed me.

Then I see others. Often equally talented (in different areas maybe) people struggle to find new roles. Are they not blessed by God? Or "less blessed".

Simple answer is: No.

Longer answer: I have no idea. But also, it is easy to assume that I am blessed because I am worthy or deserving of it. Which is, of course, totally untrue. If I am blessed, it is to help and support others. It is to spread that blessing to others. It is not because I "deserve" it.

The thing is, if I am blessed, my only response should be to bless others with my blessings. The ONLY response should be to spread that. To tell people how blessed I am, how special I am because I am blessed - that is a betrayal of everything I have been given.

To be Gods blessing to others - that is my aim.