listen willya
David Cameron, Tony stupid Blair, Margaret bloody Thatcher,
and all your snivelling Secretaries of Career, and learn this, now –
don’t go!__
business ) education
you’ve created a RIGHT MESS trying to make it go
and you’ve spent a QUARTER CENTURY trying to make it go
trying to work it out with long division, taking everything apart
to make it go; it just has no value anymore
nothing has any value anymore, no one cares anymore, we are
all just anxious; dy’know
you said KUE* every lesson, I said don’t be so silly,
I spent five years making it work, I said I’ve made it work
you said don’t be so silly – it doesn’t influence the statistics;
I have to go to school now and pretend I’m a professional
in all sorts of ways to make it look like it goes,
but it just doesn’t; y’know we’re going to have
to start all over again if we want anything like education in society again,
right back to the drawing board; and no history; let’s see –
_creativity_
nurture ) education
exploration_
listening ) education
_wisdom__
tenure ) education
_inclusion_
vision ) education
_innovation_
management ) education
_extension_
exploration ) education
_allowing_
creativity ) education
_tolerance_
wisdom ) education
___love___
care ) education
_prospect_
investment ) education
__justice_
love ) education
oh I could go on and on; and – no offence – but stuff your statistics
and your statuses and your budgets and your slogans
and your privatisation and your reform, screw them up
into one huge ball and throw them
in the bin, and let’s just have some
honest communication now; you, all of you, went wrong
as soon as you thought that public service should be value for money,
(should save money, should make money), but no –
___don’t go!___
business ) public service
a society that is alive, and rugged, makes money
to build public service, not own it, to run public service,
not demand of it, gives service to the public, not a market,
gives life to society, not just consuming it
you lot don’t know the first thing about big society, none of you,
public service should absorb money, it should be
soaked with money, it should lose money: the only reason
money should exist is for public service,
because the service it gives is always far more important
than a big building and a flag;
so, stop playing your endless games of balance and measure –
you’re wasting far too much human –
and start saying something alive, start doing something truthful;
c’mon now, you look ridiculous
* Knowledge Understanding Evaluation
don’t go!__
business ) education
it might well be that the above format won’t make any sense if you are anywhere under the age of 45: it is the revered and ancient way of setting out division calculations in Mathematics; it ‘reads’, “business [divided into] education [=] don’t go”, where you might more readily have “5 [divided into] 60 [=] 12” … the result appears ‘on top’, leaving the space below to do the working out of long division (“17 [divided into] 43.6299 [=] 2.56646470588”; ‘show your working-out, boy’ thwackk)
I first wrote this in 2012 when there was industrial action over teachers’ pay and conditions – just about the time I started completely losing my emotional marbles at work; I have slightly reconfigured the piece and re-posted it on the day that the NUT is taking industrial action over teachers’ workload, pay and budget cuts: what does the government respond: ‘we are spending more than ever on education’!? … ‘show your working-out, girl’ thwackk!!!
————w(O)rmholes________________________________|—–
allowing wormhole: need
anxiety wormhole: what I am about to say is true / what I just said was a lie
buildings wormhole: the policies came to nothing
communication & politics wormhole: B le tch l ey P ark
creativity & life & love & society & teaching & time wormhole: ashramas
education wormhole: the coming of ‘The Boats of Vallisneria’ by Michael J. Redford
evaluation & understanding wormhole: the Apple
Have wormhole: Jericho
history wormhole: currency of generations
justice wormhole: dedication
knowledge wormhole: Lapping Reflections [Deep Within Waters] – introdepthion
learning wormhole: aghh – we’ve been infected / it’s spreading through the system / we’re losing our files … / it’s taken out the processor … / I, I can’t open with this program anymore … / it’s scanning me – / I’ve got to buy a Virus Protection Program / from it …
listening wormhole: plop!
management wormhole: dry rot
money wormhole: tired
professionalism wormhole: dash
speech wormhole: a crack of lightning / in the dark of night
talking wormhole: “Darling” – poewieview #28
value-led education wormhole: Totnes
values wormhole: Dear Sir/Madam,
mlewisredford 