Reflections as a Global Educator
“The memories of childhood have no order and no end”. Dylan Thomas I seem to have spent a lot of time this year searching for hope and light. Looking for a better narrative to tell students that it will get better. To be able to tell my own children that there is a good future… Continue reading Light is stronger than darkness, even in darkness
“As we grow old, the beauty steals inwards”. Ralph Waldo Emerson “You can’t do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth”. HL Mencken For Proust, it was the lime blossom tea and the madeline, that set off a stream of consciousness, reaching direct to the… Continue reading The need for decent people
“History is the antidote to hubris” David McCullough I have had a few moments in these last few weeks of the end of summer, to really spend time to think and reflect about the new academic year ahead. Sometimes, we are completely in the thick of the moment that we don’t stop and look up… Continue reading Standing in fear in the moment when we need to find courage.
“Remember then: there is only one time that is important – Now! It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power.” Leo Tolstoy This year seems less about time slipping by, and for many in our corner of Europe, it’s been more about time being frozen in… Continue reading Perception; Did we know we were happy when we were happy?
Don't it always seem to goThat you don't know what you got 'til it's goneJoni Mitchell “Big Yellow Taxi” There are a few well worn phrases, overused in education that exist in all staff workrooms & faculty lounges around the world such as “don’t smile until Christmas” or “when is the vacation?”. Perhaps the most… Continue reading Defining Global Britain in the 2020s? It is already here. In praise of the British Council
The first time I returned to the UK from my first ever visit abroad as a school boy, I made sure I stood on the ferry deck, in the rain and wind from the English Channel, to get my first glimpse of the White Cliffs of Dover. A symbol of “home” for anyone who calls… Continue reading “The return of the native”; reflections of an extraordinary academic year. (with apologies to Thomas Hardy)
This week, my 2am thoughts have been replaced from the fear of the 9th May with "Hey ho, let's go" but at least it is nice for once to see social media on Moldova featuring, mostly, the success of the country getting through to the final of this weekend's Eurovision. I wonder if the UK… Continue reading Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it coming
“I see Earth! It is so beautiful” Yuri Gagarin. When the Puritans of England banned Christmas Day, theatre & dancing in the 1640s, a ballad appeared, half mocking, half fearful, that the World everyone once knew, was now upside down in Cromwell’s England. It’s alleged that this ballad was also played when Cornwallis surrendered to… Continue reading “The World turned upside down”
I cannot remember ever being on school front gate duty staring up and down Beachley Road half expecting tanks to appear from the A48 as I found myself in Chisinau, this February looking out at the relative calm of Dacia Boulevard. Will those in the future ever believe some of the stories we will pass… Continue reading Books not Bombs; The future has to belong to our children.
Why teaching identity in schools is crucial to a global society I have been reflecting these first few cold winter weeks of the new 2022, especially back to the time before the pandemic hit, now two years ago. The Prince of Wales suite at the old British Council’s HQ in Spring Gardens, just off Trafalgar… Continue reading “If we know where we are from, we can know where we are going”
Mail from Moldova 