“I touch the future. I teach”
To all those who educate us, in every way
In June I wrote Under the Influence about the incredible advances in technology and what that could mean for future generations. I also suggested that all that glitters is not gold, with the potential for a darker side as we move deeper into a future so easily manipulated by data intensive research and technology. If we don’t face up to challenges as well as opportunities, how do we stand a chance of reaping the value of our different backgrounds, thoughts and experiences to develop solutions that can transform lives. All lives.
This has been brought into heartbreaking focus with recent events that have sparked violence across the UK. There will be many causes that will differ from community to community and with different groups of people involved, so I’m not going to jump headlong into conclusions without understanding the facts and evidence.
What we do know is that it has left decent people who have every right to live peacefully in communities subjected to the most awful racial hatred and violent destruction of their safety. There can never be an excuse for the violence we have seen and the law must slam down hard, with use of the word “thuggery” rightly chosen to give their actions no political credence or power. But that can’t be the end.
Scrolling through my now deleted-in-disgust-and-frustration X account, its impossible to ignore the role social media has played by pouring oil on already inflammatory, manipulative messages whether from the minority far right, authoritarian foreign states, or UK political rhetoric which has been so misleading and devoid of any viable solutions – something I wrote about for The London Economic a while back.
There is little point trying to lock the stable door well after the likes of Elon Musk have bolted, and we’ll see if the competition regulators look at the tech companies. But it leaves us with the dichotomy of human beings being clever enough to develop and deploy new technology that relies on mass data - our data - but needing us all to step up to carry the enormous social responsibility and accountability. That really does mean all of us, not just the politicians, scientists, technologists, regulators and policy makers. We have seen the power of collective responsibility and accountability in communities who have supported people being threatened. Now we need those voices along with ours to be amplified rather than drowned out in the media by a violent minority. There needs to be proper debate that is based on facts and evidence, not soundbites and lies.
As we think about the future technology driven world we are creating and the huge benefits it can bring, we need to make sure that the learning environment equips current and future generations with employment skills increasingly reliant on science and technology, but with a strong focus on making informed ethical decisions. Otherwise we risk sleepwalking towards greater inequity and damage to social cohesion?
We have a lot working in our favour.
A couple of weeks ago I was joined at a neighbourhood cafe by a group of teachers from the local school, with its motto Libertas per Cultum - freedom through education. They were enjoying a celebratory glass of wine on the last day of term when, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a large group of boys running full pelt down the middle of a London road with their shrieks becoming louder, along with boisterous pushes and shoves. As they neared the cafe, they slammed their feet into first gear, pushed hard on the brake and screeched to a respectful walk on the pavement with a cheery “bye Miss, enjoy the holidays!” to each teacher, who in turn wished them - by name - a happy holiday back.
A small glimpse of the mutual respect that can build between student and teacher.
We continued our conversation about the positives, stresses and strains of teaching. It started me thinking about my own connections to teachers over the years and the changing environments they must work in. I’ve lost count of how many times teachers and vital support staff have left me in awe of why and how they do their jobs. Perhaps they are motivated by the title quote attributed to the US astronaut, Christa McAuliffe. Surely with all its pressures, teaching has to be more than “just a job”.
Ten years ago, I was working with a prison organisation pushing upstream against the lows of education provision in highly complex environments with limited resources and access for students despite evidence showing the impact of education on rehabilitation and reducing reoffending. So much of the success was due to the relentless commitment of individuals - teachers and the organisation’s team - who refused to give up on a broken system or a learner. An angry young man I met in a prison segregation unit had started to find some inspiration in the unit’s noisy chaos thanks to a teacher introducing him to 20th century American literature, with books she had personally bought to supplement the prison library’s slim pickings. The teacher listened to him and there were small signs of brightness in his eyes as he told me about his latest reading.
I saw the same commitment from teachers who worked with young people right on the edge of remaining within the education system, those working with youth offenders - some of the smartest young people I’ve met but so often lacking a voice and hope - and as I moved into science, specifically physics, the critical lack of teachers being recruited exacerbated the challenge caused by the number leaving, still with their passion for the subject but lost to a broken system.
The teachers I met at the cafe all agreed that the system is struggling - and I’d add not only in schools but in Further Education and other learning place including the potential for quick fire changes to the private schools risking unintended consequences. Improved pay for teachers is important, but will it also take fundamental changes to the curriculum to make it more relevant to solving world challenges? In a world where misinformation and manipulation can be used to amplify large scale hatred, how do we find methods to create the time and inclusive environments where all young minds and those that influence them are able to understand each other, to listen and debate, be inspired and have the confidence to find their own voice and opinions. Teachers are an important part of the solution but they can’t do it alone.
One of the pieces of work I led on was the creation of a “Whole School Equity Plan” Because it was being driven by a single science subject, I had some concerns that it leaned too far into a mechanism to get girls - heavily underrepresented in physics - to study that subject and it wasn’t clear from the evidence that such a narrow lens would be successful. But the model had many positives, drawing together teachers, parents, carers, school governors and students to make changes that would create school environment where everyone working together - of all backgrounds - can thrive, find their place and voice in society as well as making informed subject choices. Not surprisingly it did not fit the political ideology of the government at the time and without any mandating, it drifted. Talking since to various civil society organisations and businesses, there remains an appetite to develop the model as part of a much broader way of addressing some of the complexities of community cohesion.
How we all respond to the events of recent weeks goes to the core of the democratic society we want to create today and for future generations. It will be complex. But for now we can take some heart from the anti racist protests and the swift justice for those who are hellbent on racial hatred and violence.
Did a teacher inspire you?
What I have never seen waiver is the passion of the teachers I have met and what they have brought to their students. That goes right the way back to my own education. So here’s the original source of my inspiration, in a pre-social media era but one where racism and inflammatory rhetoric was rife.
I’m sure there was a rumour that she’d been a catwalk model in Paris. But it’s so long ago now - almost 50 years - that I’ve convinced myself that I started that rumour. What I do remember very clearly was the first time I sat opposite her and what we talked about. The start of many conversations.
A couple of months earlier, a young mischievous spirit was being well tutored. Desperate to belong, I became the class jester. I got hold of a pair of scissors to cut my skirt several inches shorter, boiled a kettle during a lesson (the girl who dared me didn’t say it had the loudest whistle of any kettle), and I jumped out of a window during an exam to retrieve my pencil - ground floor I should add. The main recipient of my spirit was our French teacher. She and I soon reached an impasse. At least once a week I started the lesson outside the classroom having been told to go and see the Headmistress. I took a laissez faire (I did learn some French) approach to this instruction and rather than walk the long, imposing corridor to the Headmistress’ office in the old part of the school, I ran behind some trees where I was normally joined by another girl ejected from their class.
A few weeks passed and nothing was said. Then one day I decided, for reasons I can’t remember, to take the long corridor walk. I ambled along stopping to chat on the way rather than walking with purpose and finally reached a large, dark and firmly closed door. I knocked and a calm, steady voice said to enter. There she sat behind her desk. Sister Magdalene. A full length black habit and veil giving her an aura of authority, mystery and serenity.
“Ah, Rachel. You’ve taken your time to get here.”
“No Sister Magdalene,” I replied. “I came straight here. Promise.”
“Rachel. You’ve taken two months.”
Oh, that’s smart. She had waited for me to make the move. Check mate to Sister Magdalene.
We sat and talked, the first of regular conversations. She never taught a subject, yet I learnt so much. How to explore ideas, think, listen (including to my French teacher), carve out quiet moments, be brave, know I belonged, and so much more. When she stepped down as Headmistress due to ill health, she worked for a time in the school kitchen where we would still meet and talk until her untimely death.
Sister Magdalene helped to sort out this mixed up, mixed race girl trying to find her place in a hostile world. I never thanked her. I wish I had. But I’ve never forgotten her either.
