Forgotten, Remembered - A letter from one teacher to his students
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
By guest contributor: Mr Mayola
Dear class,
Is everyone in today?
Let’s have a recap of what you’ve been taught this year:
• Mathematics ☒
• Literacy ☒
• Physical Education ☒
• Science ☒
• Art & Music
• History & Geography ☒
• Computing ☒
• Survival in times of crisis ☐
Wait! I didn't teach you how to survive in times of crisis and pandemic?
It wasn't on the schedule to prepare for sudden change?
Was that not on the timetable? Tuesdays after assembly.
The Coronavirus is a global epidemic, resulting in the mass loss of life. We have not seen a
catastrophe of this scale. It has outpaced recent, modern pandemics such as: Swine Flu, Bird Flu, SARS, Mad Cow Disease and Ebola.
It is unprecedented , it has caused massive restructure and change.
NEWS ALERT! Italian restaurant chain collapses
(https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52093585)
There is devastation to business, life, relationships, money, accommodation and employment.
China, U.S.A., Italy, Spain and Iran to name a few, are victims.
So the question is...
● If we had known this would happen, what would we have done differently?
● Would I have taught you differently?
● Would Mathematics and Literacy take a back seat, while we push the arts and business to the forefront?
Let’s take our minds back to September, to the first day you walked through those gates. The day you first met me.
As the nerves quenched the heat of summer. We found ourselves surrounded in a familiar, yet unfamiliar setting. I felt as though I were an impostor, in the guise of a teacher. Quickly, we realised the holidays were over. While some were looking forward to coming to learn, others were not. While eager to meet new friends; we had convinced ourselves this year would be different.
Classes were separated by ability and chance; with some tinkering here and there. We promised ourselves a year of fun and learning.
I advised you to build on:
● Character
● Communication
● Citizenship
● Critical Thinking
● Creativity
● Collaboration
With these, along with discipline we were told we would succeed. Our goal was to learn the core and the foundations. Little did we realise, on March 11 2020, the WHO (World Health Organisation) officially declared that the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic... Although the WHO (on January 30), had
been reluctant to call it a pandemic (https://www.wired.co.uk/ar cle/china-coronavirus) .
This shifted the dynamics of the world; including teaching.
This made me stop. Think. What should I have been teaching you all this me?
Childhood is a luxury afforded by little.
The Victorian masses had to work; child and all. From a young age, Victorians had to think about what they must become to ensure a good life. We should have spent me, assessing how to make the most of your future. How to develop skills you were good at and introduce you to new ones.
I did plan... For every lesson... But it wasn’t for you.
I planned for them .
We tried to reinvent the wheel.
It was never really for you.
Planning should have been for you. On 'Who to be'
Be
Be grateful for life, be grateful to life
Be gleeful everyday,
Benign,
Be boundless energy
Be a strong academic student, be an A student in Sociology
Be the author of your own horoscope
Be peaceful if possible, but justice at any rate
Be high when you are low,
Be on time but know when to go
Be absent of wars at any past or present fought amongst themselves
Be the cure and the vaccine
Be a cartographer,
Be the owner of more land than is set aside for wildlife
Be cupid, to world government
Be a brilliant soul, sparkling in the galaxy while walking on earth ...
Taken from Common (It's your world part 1 & 2:Be, 2005)
This is your LifeForce! (Steve Peters, 2012)
These are all the things you would tell your great grandchild to be, whilst on your deathbed.
It’s what makes you, when you’ve been broken.
It is what wakes you, when you're unconscious.
It allows you to bounce back, when you’ve been thrown.
● a source of knowledge
● a group of persons who hold a common doctrine or follow the same teacher
● a large number of fish or aqua c animals of one kind swimming together
The first known use of the word came in the 12th century : a group of scholars and teachers pursuing knowledge together , with a similar group constituted a medieval university.
It comes from Middle English to which it came from La n, which in turn came from the Greek 'scholē' - meaning leisure, discussion, lecture.
It is said to come from the word 'echein' , meaning to hold, or from the word meaning to separate or multitude.
Bringing this all together, a school is a source of knowledge that comes from each other, from leisure and discussion.
We learn through play, talking and exploring.
Students are akin to fish! - in a school – holding a gathering.
In schools of fish, they learn to hunt. Learn to survive. The school is where it is safe, the species pass knowledge on to the next genera on, ensuring their part in the production and up-keeping of the whole ecosystem. It is more than adhering to leadership protocols and policies.
Dolphins have to learn to hunt in shallow waters if there are no fish in the depths
( https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0038t5t ) .
I should have taught you how to adapt, manage money, manage yourselves.
I would have taught you to pick up a Swiss Army Knife to explore the trees on your way.
Watch: Gever Tulley's TED talk - 5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do. (https://www.ted.com/talks/gever_tulley_5_dangerous_things_you_should_let_your_kids_do)
However, I can’t forget the academics - I would have taught you both. I would have planned
for both. So in essence this is an apology letter . You have been forgotten.
By systems, protocols, by policies, by principalities, by powers, by rulers of this world, by
wickedness in high places all in the search for ‘OUTSTANDING’ .
By guest contributor: Mr Mayola
Dear class,
Is everyone in today?
Let’s have a recap of what you’ve been taught this year:
• Mathematics ☒
• Literacy ☒
• Physical Education ☒
• Science ☒
• Art & Music
• History & Geography ☒
• Computing ☒
• Survival in times of crisis ☐
Wait! I didn't teach you how to survive in times of crisis and pandemic?
It wasn't on the schedule to prepare for sudden change?
Was that not on the timetable? Tuesdays after assembly.
Coronavirus
The Coronavirus is a global epidemic, resulting in the mass loss of life. We have not seen a
catastrophe of this scale. It has outpaced recent, modern pandemics such as: Swine Flu, Bird Flu, SARS, Mad Cow Disease and Ebola.
It is unprecedented , it has caused massive restructure and change.
NEWS ALERT! Italian restaurant chain collapses
(https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52093585)
There is devastation to business, life, relationships, money, accommodation and employment.
China, U.S.A., Italy, Spain and Iran to name a few, are victims.
So the question is...
● If we had known this would happen, what would we have done differently?
● Would I have taught you differently?
● Would Mathematics and Literacy take a back seat, while we push the arts and business to the forefront?
Let’s take our minds back to September, to the first day you walked through those gates. The day you first met me.
Your Teacher.
Early Days
As the nerves quenched the heat of summer. We found ourselves surrounded in a familiar, yet unfamiliar setting. I felt as though I were an impostor, in the guise of a teacher. Quickly, we realised the holidays were over. While some were looking forward to coming to learn, others were not. While eager to meet new friends; we had convinced ourselves this year would be different.
Classes were separated by ability and chance; with some tinkering here and there. We promised ourselves a year of fun and learning.
I advised you to build on:
● Character
● Communication
● Citizenship
● Critical Thinking
● Creativity
● Collaboration
With these, along with discipline we were told we would succeed. Our goal was to learn the core and the foundations. Little did we realise, on March 11 2020, the WHO (World Health Organisation) officially declared that the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic... Although the WHO (on January 30), had
been reluctant to call it a pandemic (https://www.wired.co.uk/ar cle/china-coronavirus) .
This shifted the dynamics of the world; including teaching.
This made me stop. Think. What should I have been teaching you all this me?
What I should have taught you!
“A man who does not plan for his future, plans to fail”, is what I should have said. Plan your steps.Childhood is a luxury afforded by little.
The Victorian masses had to work; child and all. From a young age, Victorians had to think about what they must become to ensure a good life. We should have spent me, assessing how to make the most of your future. How to develop skills you were good at and introduce you to new ones.
I did plan... For every lesson... But it wasn’t for you.
I planned for them .
We tried to reinvent the wheel.
It was never really for you.
Planning should have been for you. On 'Who to be'
Be
Be grateful for life, be grateful to life
Be gleeful everyday,
Benign,
Be boundless energy
Be a strong academic student, be an A student in Sociology
Be the author of your own horoscope
Be peaceful if possible, but justice at any rate
Be high when you are low,
Be on time but know when to go
Be absent of wars at any past or present fought amongst themselves
Be the cure and the vaccine
Be a cartographer,
Be the owner of more land than is set aside for wildlife
Be cupid, to world government
Be a brilliant soul, sparkling in the galaxy while walking on earth ...
Taken from Common (It's your world part 1 & 2:Be, 2005)
This is your LifeForce! (Steve Peters, 2012)
These are all the things you would tell your great grandchild to be, whilst on your deathbed.
The Lifeforce!
It’s what keeps you going, even if you’ve been held back.It’s what makes you, when you’ve been broken.
It is what wakes you, when you're unconscious.
It allows you to bounce back, when you’ve been thrown.
School - What is it?
Merriam-Webster defines a school as several things, including:● a source of knowledge
● a group of persons who hold a common doctrine or follow the same teacher
● a large number of fish or aqua c animals of one kind swimming together
The first known use of the word came in the 12th century : a group of scholars and teachers pursuing knowledge together , with a similar group constituted a medieval university.
It comes from Middle English to which it came from La n, which in turn came from the Greek 'scholē' - meaning leisure, discussion, lecture.
It is said to come from the word 'echein' , meaning to hold, or from the word meaning to separate or multitude.
Bringing this all together, a school is a source of knowledge that comes from each other, from leisure and discussion.
We learn through play, talking and exploring.
Students are akin to fish! - in a school – holding a gathering.
In schools of fish, they learn to hunt. Learn to survive. The school is where it is safe, the species pass knowledge on to the next genera on, ensuring their part in the production and up-keeping of the whole ecosystem. It is more than adhering to leadership protocols and policies.
Dolphins have to learn to hunt in shallow waters if there are no fish in the depths
( https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0038t5t ) .
I should have taught you how to adapt, manage money, manage yourselves.
Closing
So knowing what we know now, in mes of uncertainty, bereavement and change , I would have taught you differently.I would have taught you to pick up a Swiss Army Knife to explore the trees on your way.
Watch: Gever Tulley's TED talk - 5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do. (https://www.ted.com/talks/gever_tulley_5_dangerous_things_you_should_let_your_kids_do)
However, I can’t forget the academics - I would have taught you both. I would have planned
for both. So in essence this is an apology letter . You have been forgotten.
By systems, protocols, by policies, by principalities, by powers, by rulers of this world, by
wickedness in high places all in the search for ‘OUTSTANDING’ .
Schools have become businesses and you are the product . Not the customer.
It is important that we look above such systems in place and prepare students for economic and social changes regularly. Let us not swim within this main stream education.
Noam Chomsky's theory of the Language Acquisition Device suggests children have the capacity to produce and acquire a great deal of language. I believe the L.A.D. has the potential to develop language that includes topics, which surpass those on the current curriculum.
Yes, you have been forgotten, but today you have been remembered .
In a school, the teachings have to be consistent with the times in which they live. Otherwise fish cannot adapt to the changing surroundings.
Remember a school is not a school without the input of the fish. Neither is a school a school without you. Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
The Teacher (Mr Mayola)
It is important that we look above such systems in place and prepare students for economic and social changes regularly. Let us not swim within this main stream education.
Noam Chomsky's theory of the Language Acquisition Device suggests children have the capacity to produce and acquire a great deal of language. I believe the L.A.D. has the potential to develop language that includes topics, which surpass those on the current curriculum.
Yes, you have been forgotten, but today you have been remembered .
In a school, the teachings have to be consistent with the times in which they live. Otherwise fish cannot adapt to the changing surroundings.
Remember a school is not a school without the input of the fish. Neither is a school a school without you. Thank you.
Yours sincerely,
The Teacher (Mr Mayola)
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