Kid Power !!!!

Hats off to this boy – nobody has to be a victim.

9-Year Old Boy Designs Anti-Bullying Kit

Current Level of Debate in UK on Bullying

Finger pointing and an almost obsessive desire to place blame while talking about ‘symptoms’ seems to be the state of debate on education in UK schools right now.

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I find something quite depressing about seeing people applying their energies equally between finding someone to blame and ensuring that everyone acknowledges that THEY are not to blame.

This debate seems to be completely lacking in attention to two key things;
a) How do we address ‘at cause’ in society how and why people become bullies, the bullied or bystanders who choose not to do what is ‘right’,
b) What should be society’s long term goals in these areas and how do we (together) map out desirable end goals and how (together) we can begin to move toward those desirable end goals?

Incidentally, this makes me realise that the teaching of ‘Conflict resolution’ skills in schools ought to achieve two things – enable people to avoid bullying situations because children (and sometimes adults) find other ways of dealing with their conflict situations, and we might also see more people engaging in healthy debate on key education issues instead of just taking up entrenched defensive positions and taking pot shots at each other – like World War I soldiers in the trenches.

Our children deserve that we find ways to address such issues at cause, instead of fight over who is to blame for the symptoms.

Environmental Destruction & Human Rationality

Earlier today i was sent the following link to a fascinating article. I read it through three times, finding cause for deep thought and introspection in different ways.

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Firstly, the doomsday scenario that Lovelock predicts is something truly scary, not so much for us and our generation, but for our children’s generation and their own children.

If such a scenario was being predicted by anybody it might be cause for enough concern, but when it comes from James Lovelock, the man behind the Gaia Theory then people have to sit up and take notice.

What is perhaps most startling in the article is that the scientific community is torn between their acknowledgment and enormous respect for the man and his life’s work contrasted with the speed of their desire to deny and refute what he is saying now.

However, when i stop to think about it, their refusal to accept, and need to argue against his views is obvious. If Lovelock is even half right then what he is saying is going to have seismic impacts on every aspect of life on earth. If a major government went in to the Copenhagen talks secretly acknowledging that Lovelock was right, they might say to themselves that if the long term game for human existence is over, then we might as well simply get what we can for us and our nation in the short term. Suddenly, nobody would care about taking responsible long term decisions, because the long term would essentially be acknowledged no longer to exist.

It would be dramatic enough for that kind of thinking in geopolitical terms, in the way that nations deal with each other and with environmental issues. However, we would also have to consider all the social implications. The ‘social contract’ between the individual and society might begin to break down. The individual’s responsibility to balance their own short term desires, wants, pleasures etc. would no longer be balanced by society’s judgement or expectations of what is right, correct, moral or ethical. In short, societies would disintegrate, the rule of law would have limited impact.

All that humans hold dear about motivation, aspiration, being ‘good’, the meaning of a fulfilling and happy life – all these things would be questionable. Even something as simple as the motivation to be a lifelong learner becomes ambiguous when there is a change in what the word “lifelong” actually means.

These are challenging issues, with no easy answers.

My final thought – when humanity is faced with such challenges and such questions mankind craves for the leadership of giants (and not pygmies), ready to speak the unspeakable, to keep crying out for rationality in the face of rampant emotionality and capable of still making sensible decisions even when most minds are rendered unworkable through fear and panic. Will society find those leaders in time and have the courage to listen to them? Or, will it want to shoot them on sight, too fearful to hear what they say?

Number One Again !!!!!

The Education World Survey 2009 is out and for the second year in a row The Shri Ram School is ranked Number One day school in the country.

Education World 1
Education World 2

Especially when considering the extent to which other schools’ positions on the survey changed this is a real feather in the cap of the school and a testament to the teamwork, dedication and commitment of the teachers, staff and a formidable leadership team working hand in glove with the parent body for the good of our children.

Day Schools League Table
Parameters of Excellence