Back to school

I have spent the week in various schools acquainting myself with what passes for teaching these days :p. I was lucky enough to attend one school near the top of the league tables for my city, one in the middle and one close to the bottom (I'm not going to debate the validity of 'league tables = school quality' argument). The visits were certainly insightful and viewing the process from the opposite side of the battlefield revealed a wealth of information I don't remember from my school days or simply never knew. The behaviour of children for starters was much better than I had expected in all the schools I visited, discipline was well organised and, while I only visited long enough for a snapshot, even disruptive children seemed to respond to moderate measures. I regret that my ignorance of the real state of classroom behaviour has been horribly coloured by watching too many Hollywood films. I was surprised that I actually relished the task of helping children to focus and progress with their work more when they struggled to concentrate (ok, when they were messing around and distracting others!), perhaps there is a challenge in persuading a recalcitrant pupil to work and achieve that simply is not there when the class quietly and obediently progresses with their assignments. The questions pupils ask are frequently very entertaining, one that comes to mind concerned diamond bullets and infinitely thick walls.

Observing teachers in different schools of differing ages and experience it rapidly becomes clear what a disparate profession it really is. In a few days I witnessed adherents to the traditional teaching methods with decades of experience, students with only a few months of experience and all else betwixt the two. In many professions there is such a dogmatic adherence to the accepted norms that trying to change the method of accomplishing a task becomes a titanic struggle with the established doctrine and it was refreshing to note that this is not an accusation that can be levelled at the teaching fraternity. The freedom enjoyed by every teacher to formulate their own lessons and choose the manner of delivery is encouraging and I think must contribute to the enthusiasm that almost all the teachers I met possessed (in varying quantities of course!). The tendency to complain about ones job/salary/boss is certainly a phenomenon in all walks of life and teachers are no exception but I did feel that almost all derived a great degree of satisfaction from their occupation and genuinely cared about the pupils under their tutelage. Overall I am left with a strong conviction that teaching is the career for me, now all that remains is to persuade a university interview panel that I am suitable for the role.

The Shelter Stone trip didn't come off after a late bailing by my climbing partner but I was able to invite myself along to Glen Coe instead and had two superb sun kissed days on the mountain crags of Anoach Dubh. The drought meant everything was in condition and I was chomping at the bit to get on some hard routes, in the end though, my partners were a little more reticent at the prospect of brit tech 6a climbing and I scaled my aspirations back slightly. I still did some superb routes, including the excellent line of Crocodile where the finger jams are so solid I almost stripped my fingers trying to rip them back out of the corner crack. Sadly the idyllic weather broke and I fully suspect that Glen Coe will remain seeping and wet till next May!