Absenteeism and Things to Think About

Firstly, I apologise for not posting in more than a week. I appreciate that I push you towards this 'little and often' approach and then fail to stick to it but, in my defence, I have (as Marwood calls it, in 'Withnail and I') entered 'the arena of the unwell' and as such been forced to drink lemon and honey and steadfastly avoid watching Jeremy Kyle.

Having not been out much, I've a less varied palette of experiences to reflect on this week but have found myself watching more television than I normally would. I'm not a great watcher of TV. I like documentaries, I usually watch the news and I watch some comedy when it's on. However, contrary to the beliefs of the BBC, I am yet to find Thursday's funny.

I do not have any satellite or digital channels and only 4 out of my 5 channels work. Now I know I sound like some Luddite reactionary refusing to embrace popular culture and listening to the Archers on my wireless and to an extent that's true (apart from the Archers bit - I'm not that odd yet). I studied Sociology in the dim and distant past and one of my tutors began to explore the concept of satellite tv (then in its infancy here). The two sides of the argument, as he saw it, were that it either provided extended choice or "Wall to wall Dallas". At the time, I didn't really understand although, even then, I knew that watching excessive amounts of Dallas wasn't healthy for anyone but now... I only have to spend an hour flicking through the endless Sky channels at my Mum's to realise that he was right. We do have wall to wall Dallas - loud adverts, endless repeats, garish colours etc. etc. TV stands in place of the traditional coal fires of the Victorian Parlour. It is largely ignored, it screams for attention with its flickering and spitting but despite the power behind it, it merely provides a focal point for the room and perhaps some warmth.

I started by mentioning Jeremy Kyle and this, to me, is the worst sort of TV - cheap in every sense of the word. I watched a debate programme (these are often Jeremy Kyle without the charming / charmless host) about obesity in Britain. I quickly found it rattled my cage more than I had anticipated and that I wasn't quite well enough to engage with it. The usuall comments on childhood obesity were raised:

1. It is the fault of the food comapnies and the super markets
2. It's all down to junk food and junk food advertising
3. It's computers and gaming
4. It's parents refusing to let their children play out
5. Parents haven't the time to cook - it's our work culture that's to blame
6. It's lack of education

etc. etc. Of course, it cannot ever just be one of these factors and an 'all of the above' explanation would seem to make more sense. This isn't what annoyed me though. I believe that there is one significant factor that nobody ever raises in these debates and that's poverty. Children are becoming increasingly obese because poverty is very real and there remains a sizeable (sorry)percentage of the population who have nothing. I taught in inner-city Leeds for many years - children ate the most inappropriate food at the worst possible times of the day. They'd be on the ceiling in the morning and asleep and grouchy by the afternoon. Even with increased choice and a school decision to stop selling chips in the canteern, so many desperately poor children lived on a diet of chips for lunch and chips for tea - even risking personal injury to climb over the fences at lunch time and get out to the chip shop - because they'd be good and full for around £1 a day. Their parents ate the same way. It's desperately sad really - especially that we seem to have so many debates about it but don't actually do anything.

As I've spent the weekend on my high horse about poverty and the class system, I've decided to stay true to my working class roots this weekend and go to Blackpool to see the lights. I haven't been for years - we stopped going as a family (in my Grandad's Lada) because my sister kept falling asleep and then crying and making us go through the lights again. I will of course be eating chips though (at slightly more than £1 I would expect) because I'm an adult and can make informed decisions and eat lots of green stuff for the rest of the weekend if I wish :) I'm also off to buy the Big Issue shortly because the guy I buy it from is featured in an article this week - he's very proud of himself and even offered to sign it for me - I certainly think that that qualifies him to be a celebrity above the likes of Big Brother contestants :)

Thank you to all of the FD bloggers who've given me your blog addresses. I've been amazed at the amount of engagement and commitment you've shown - long may it continue. I have to thank in particular Rob, Stu and Martin for comments they raised in their blogs that have really got me thinking. Martin wrote a wonderfully poetic entry about nostalgia, Stu wrote about wanting to be remembered for being a good person and Rob wrote about a family trip to Wales. I appreciate the thought and time you put into these reflections - the beauty of thoughtful reflection is that it makes the reader reflect on their experiences too.

Enjoy the rest of your reading week - see you soon
Kerry

Tribute Bands

Not a reflective post as such just a comment about stuff I've been up to. I went to see these guys on Saturday night:

http://www1.transmissionlive.com/

I am a huge admirer of Joy Division and thought Ian Curtis was a genius although I was much too young when he died to have ever had the chance to see them live. Transmission were good but I'm not sure I really get the concept of tribute bands - I see that, in this case, it's allowing you to see a band-a-like live when you'll never get the chance to see the actual band but what's the point of paying to see someone who sounds like Robbie Williams? In fact what's the point of paying to see Robbie Williams (but that's a different argument)? Surely if you have the musical ability you'd want to be making your own music and not performing elevated Karaoke?

Is this just me being cynical and old or do other people share my slight confusion?

Thanks
Kerry

Blogging Stuff

I've had some interesting conversations with students this week about blogging and the general apprehension it creates (I do appreciate that it is a touch surreal to write a blog about blogging but there you go) - I certainly share these concerns. It's especially hard to motivate yourself to add something when you're tired and so overwhelmed with work that you don't really want to reflect on it.

I had a very interesting photography class this week - did I mention that I'd started a photography course? I don't know what it is with me really, I have just finished my MA and after promising myself I wouldn't sign up to something new...I've done just that. It's very enjoyable though and amazing how quickly you can see yourself improving. Anyway, this week we look at composition. Many of the people in the group have come from a background of taking great photos and wanting to get better. I've come to the course from formally studying Art and wanting to try to creat beautiful photos with limited experience. The thing that struck me about this week's class is that I felt quite confident in the subject matter - the reason that this is worth reflecting on is that it made me think how if you've taken some time to prepare for a class beforehand it makes a big difference. Many tutors will let you know what you're doing the following week and suggest that you do some research - when I was at Uni, I wouldn't have bothered (but I was never a model student really) but now I realise the importance of being informed.

Other than that, I have thoroughly enjoyed looking at genre with my English group. We looked at it as the 'ingredients' we expected to form the film. It was great fun to give each group a different cinema genre and then the same object (in this case a tree but it could have been anything), the groups had to then describe how it would appear in the film and what role in the story it would play. You should have a go at it yourself - I bet that your 'horror' tree would be very similar to our final creation.

I've just realised that my Drama past is coming back to haunt me and that I am posting about being a tree - I promised all of you that this would never happen - mind you, being a tree is ok, it's the tights, greasepaint and masks you need to fear :)

Thanks
Kerry

Choices and Consequences

It's been a weird old week this week.

There are often times when we're faced with making difficult decisions in our professional and personal life. This got me thinking about the subconscious processes that we go through before we embark on a difficult decision. I've been encouraging my students this week to consider difficult decisions they may have to make in the course of their college career and looking at formalising those subconscious processes before they make their decision. It has been a fascinating experiment.

It was kind of similar to what we did with the survival exercise - give your immediate response and then go through again listing all of the potential choices you believe you had and all of the consequences that could arise from the choices you make, perhaps even working it through with somebody else. The funny thing is, that unlike the survival exercise, even when we go to the trouble of listing the choices and the consequences we nearly always overide the outcomes based on our 'intuituion' about the situation. We always believe that our first reaction here is right when in matters of life and death (like the survival exercise) we're far more receptive to the opinions of other people.

I've relied on my intuition many times - but if I haven't made a conscious effort to consider all potential outcomes then how do I know I'm right? Perhaps we're far more adept at quickly considering all outcomes than we give ourselves credit for. I guess the real test with decision making is to leave the decision for a while and then return to it asking yourself 'Would I have made the same decision again? What might I have done differently?' And this brings me, rather neatly I feel, to the purpose of reflective journals. They provide the forum for you to have those internal dialogues out loud but still in a faceless environment where, if you wish, you can retain your anonymity.

I really hope that you will see the relevance of this exercise. Sometimes it can be very supportive to take the baggage about work and college that you carry around in your head and off-load it somewhere else.

I look forward to reading your blogs.

Thanks
Kerry

Hello

I've spent the last few years discussing the merits of maintaining a reflective journal with my learners, whilst all the while hiding my secret shame of not keeping one myself. I cannot continue in this hypocritical vein so here you go - a reflective blog that considers what I do in work etc. and how the things I learn impact on what I do next.

I certainly intend to invite any FD students to pop over here and chat with me just as I intend to do the same with their blogs.

The new full-time FD group started yesterday and we were somewhat shocked to discover many more students than we expected. Thank goodness that my plan had been to start with a group exercise that didn't require computers and that I had emergency photocopies so that no-body was left without some handouts. I have learnt the hard way (and also from my brief stint in the Girl Guides before I was thrown out for not wearing the uniform) that you should always be prepared. I intend to make anything I do available on the college Moodle site just in case there are any late-enrollers for the course. I explained yesterday that my role in college is a supportive one and I readily extend this to the FD. If I can't help, I make it my business to know someone who can.

Last night, I went to hear Germaine Greer speak http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germaine_Greer
She is a real hero of my and it was very interesting to hear her talk about Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's wife. Perhaps what is more interesting through is that she is still producing cutting edge academic research and saying things that nobody else has said at 68. This reassures me that we're never too old to learn, to be controversial and to make people think.

I'll continue to add bits and pieces on here as they occur to me and I will also follow my own advice and set myself targets.

The past two years of hypocrisy on my part are slightly eroded by entry one - now lets see if I can stick to it :)