Reflections as a Global Educator
“Existence flows past us like a river: the “what” is in constant flux, the “why” has a thousand variations... So it would take an idiot to feel self-importance or distress. Or any indignation, either. As if the things that irritate us lasted.” - Marcus Aurelius "Every ending is a beginning. We just don't know it at… Continue reading When to close a chapter & recognise the World has moved on.
From earliest childhood, I have been fascinated by history, especially people and places. It was inevitable really, especially to be born and raised in the old border county of Salop, (Shropshire) that is cut in two by the river Severn as it works its way from ancient Celtic mid Wales all the way through the… Continue reading Living in the past or learning from the past? When your whole city, county and country is a museum.
“Nothing essential happens in the absence of noise.” Jacques Attali The Germans have a very apt phrase for this time of the year; "zwischen den Jahren" and it refers to the time between Christmas and New Year. A transition between the old year, still to end, and the promise of the new one, still yet… Continue reading The sounds of a school
“Happiness, too, is inevitable” Albert Camus No two school years are ever the same. The calendar and cycle of events may seem the same but what you plan for in the summer rarely makes it into the late autumn schedule. The energy, optimism and enthusiasm of the late summer catapults the school community into the… Continue reading Tenderness needed for tumultuous times
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
“Life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by so quick you hardly catch it going”. Tennessee Williams As the plane took off from Chisinau airport on a Saturday morning, to cross Europe and take me back to my family and the UK for the October break, my mind did take… Continue reading Making the moments matter
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men” Frederick Douglas. June’s anniversary of D-Day, also coincides with the anniversary of the death of my father in law, Peter Whittle. He took a brave decision: a leap of faith and an unexpected journey when he chose to make a new life and… Continue reading When children need to walk their own journey.
“In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion”. Albert Camus. I have never been a huge fan of celebrating my birthday. It is not that I am worried about getting older, it’s just something I have never felt the need to make a fuss about. In Moldova, celebrating… Continue reading Let Your Life Speak
And indeed it could be said that once the faintest stirring of hope became possible, the dominion of plague was endedAlbert Camus I had hoped to read my book on the three hour journey back to the UK from Chisinau, but found myself on a very crowded plane, with various people still finding the concept… Continue reading What kind of World do we want?
The lowest ebb is the turn of the tideHenry Wadsworth Longfellow Since I returned to Moldova on the 16th August, starting in earnest the preparations for what we all knew would be like no other academic year, there have been two distinct moments of complete relaxation where my thinking switched only to time, moment, place.… Continue reading The myth of ‘Covid secure’ and other gobbledygook starting a new academic year.
Mail from Moldova 