It all began when a teacher left the school.  She taught one of the two computing classes, and as they were timetabled at the same time, the other teacher couldn’t take it over, so someone else was needed.  I was asked.  Up to this point I knew nothing about computers.   My “computing” experiences were limited to log tables, slide rule,  hand operated, rotary,  mechanical calculating machines and simple electronic calculators.  I had the summer to prepare, so I took home a set of text books and worked through them during the summer holidays.  It wasn’t much of a grounding, but it was before the days of microcomputers … and I got away with it.

I had to learn a lot of new topics.  These included:

• the history of computing – which I found fascinating … I still do;
• the machine architecture of the central processing unit, including elementary circuitry, and a wide range of peripherals – input devices for capturing data in different formats, output devices for presenting the results of processing in different formats and memory devices;
• Problem solving techniques, including systems analysis and programming techniques – even how to count or sort a simple list can be quite quite a complex process;
• Coding techniques – from simple Binary encoding to complex database design;
• a variety of computer languages – stating with BASIC, but also PASCAL, LOGO, COBOL, Fortran, APL … and so on … even some examples of assembly code.  I treated it a bit like learning foreign languages, and although I have never been particularly proficient at foreign languages, (it took me three attempts to get a basic O-level equivalent grade in French … and I only really learned a few basic phrases whenever I visited anywhere on holiday … thinks like “two beers, please”), I found that like once you learn one language then a lot of features of that language can be transferred to another.  There are even families of languages like human languages;
• The uses of computers in business, industry, research and so forth – which seemed to an open-ended exercise and opened many new interests and as a result I learned a lot about business practices, industry, engineering and science;
• Communications systems, including security systems;
• Human issues such as: workstation design and ergonomics; working practices; light sensitive epilepsy;
• Legal issues related to computing, such as: contracts; export restrictions; licensing; data protection; Computer misuse; copyright protection and software piracy;
• A range of different types of proprietary software – word processors; spreadsheets; databases; Computer Aided Graphics; Music programs …

… all of which has been extremely useful in later life.

Often I had pupils in my class who were very talented and knew more than I did about some aspects of computing.  To many people of my age, this would have been a real challenge.  To me, on the other hand, I was guided by some research into Teaching Styles and Pupil Progress that I studied long before as a student teacher.  This described a number of different approaches adopted by teachers from the old-fashioned “lecturer” approach where the teacher represents the fount of all knowledge – they lecture and impart information to their students, (this obviously wasn’t appropriate in my circumstances), to the collaborative work-group approach where the teacher is a facilitator, coordinator and “expert” (someone with a wider level of experience and knowledge – which fitted my approach more closely).

I also started to undertake work as an examiner in Computing and served in several capacities for several examination boards, but there is more about that in a separate post.  I found this to be a valuable experience and would recommend it to any teacher.

I also joined the local branch of the British Computer Society as an Associate Member and met many people working in computing which was to prove very useful – especially in terms of learning more about how business work, and how computers were used in the “real world”, outside schools.

Practical work at the time when I started working in computing involved writing computer programs on sheets of paper and sending these “coding sheets” off to the local technical college, where they were types into a terminal and we received the results a few days later.  They rarely ever worked first time, so even a simple program often took several weeks to complete.  We then got a terminal installed in the school which speeded the process up – but it was with the introduction of the RM380Z microcomputer that things really started to take off.  At first we worked with just one microcomputer – but the BBC launched a special educational programme complete with a specially designed, affordable, microcomputer.  The Head saw the adverts for the special, limited offer, and decided to spend what little spare cash the school had to buy some … and things started to move rapidly.

Now, he was even less technically minded than I was – but he saw the future coming … and I congratulate him for that.

As a result we put together a programme – a pioneering programme.  Up until that point, Computing was always seen as a specialist subject – very much maths-orientated with lots of programming … not much in terms of word processing, spreadsheets, design, etc.   We talked about a new kind of course and I drew up a proposal for Computer Awareness course to be taught to all pupils … not computer studies or computer science but concentrating on the use of computers rather than the machines themselves and how they worked.  No-one else in the neighbourhood was offering similar courses.  We were pioneers, pathfinders.  He asked me to become Head of Computing and introduce the course – and that’s I got my second promotion in the same school.

I am amazed when I think back at what we were able to achieve with so little … to start with just one room with ten simple computers which were in use from 7:30 in the morning until 5:50, or later in the evening.  Later we got a suite of three rooms with PC’s but they were still very basic.  They were heady days.

The school’s computers were always in great demand.  Pupils would arrive well before the school day began, come to the computer rooms during the lunch hours and stay long after school finished.  Obviously I couldn’t supervise the facilities all on my own.  My colleagues helped me … but there was a limit to how much we could do … Fortunately there were always senior students who were more than willing to help supervise the facilities and we introduced a system of “Computer Room Prefects”.  There were quite a band of them over the years and I still hear from them from some of them from time to time.

The greater availability and familiarization with computers meant that I was also involved to a greater and greater extent in supporting the teaching of other subjects.  Computing had long been used as a tool in Mathematics but they began to a useful tool in many other subject areas as well, ranging from the sciences to art and design and in modern languages.  Many students began to prepare their coursework on computers and I found myself being involved in many different areas of the curriculum.

The increasing role of computerization was also beginning to be felt in the administration of the school as an organization in itself.  As a result I found that also assumed a role in greater role in school administration.  School records were being computerized, I found myself assisting with the construction of the school timetable and other tasks.  My summer holidays shrank from six weeks to two (if I was lucky … ) as we dealt with timetabling, creating group lists, recording and analyzing examination results.  One of the tasks that this introduced was the need for Data Protection measures – especially after the enactment of the Data Protection Act.

When I eventually left teaching and came to Kyrgyzstan, I had a firm grounding in computing and the use of computers.  Of course, with the passage of time, that grounding is obviously weaker now.  There have been many advances in technology which have passed me by or had a passing influence on me and my developing career here in Central Asia.  I tend to rely on local experts, who have more up-to-date information at their fingertips than I have, for advice … but I often surprise them with the breadth and depth of my knowledge, as a “layman”.

The obvious question that came to my mind was “why?” … First of all, his degree is in Restaurant Management … so why Chemistry?  His answer was that he had studied Chemistry as part of his course … he really enjoyed the subject had even participated in a National Chemistry Olympiad.  He felt that perhaps he had made the wrong career choice earlier in life … but at the time there hadn’t been the opportunities to enroll on a chemistry course.  I must admit that, given my history, I had some sympathy with this – although I doubted if he had enough background to teach the subject.

Secondly, why did he think he could be a teacher.  Some people think that teaching is easy … after all, everyone has been through school and observed many different examples of teachers at work – some successful and inspiring … others less so.  Everyone seems to be an educational expert.  I have even heard some tell me that “all you have to do is stand up at the front of the class and spout some facts, mark a few books and you are free to go home at four o’clock”.  Put like that I suppose it does sound easy … if only that was the case.

There is a lot more to it than that, however.  I remember when I first realized that simply knowing something didn’t necessarily mean that you could teach it to someone else … I was about 15 or 16 at the time and some people from church who knew that I was good at Maths, asked if I could help their son, who was about two years younger than me, because he was having difficulty.  I wasn’t sure about this, mainly because we didn’t really get on … he was an only child and “very full of himself” … but I said I would have a go.  I can’t remember the topic but it was something straightforward like Pythagoras – you have so know some basic facts, apply a formula and get the answer … the sums were easy, but “problems” could be a little more difficult because you had to find you way through the words to discover exactly what was going on and the words were a distraction.  He couldn’t get it and at one point I exclaimed “Come on, it’s easy!” to which he replied … “It is when you know how.”

This experience was not exactly a success and I don’t think I inspired him … but it didn’t put me off.   I had quite a pleasant time at school … got on well with the teachers and my peers … liked my subjects … and on the basis of this positive background and stories like “Goodbye Mr. Chips”, like so many others, I thought that teaching would be an easy career.

Once I got to college, I soon came to realize that there was a lot more to it.  As well as studying my subject, developing my own skills and placing what I had already learned into a wider context, we studied the educational system and the history of it’s development, psychology and sociology (child development, socialization, how people see, how people remember, motivation …. )  and other practical skills that we would need such as educational technology (the use of duplicators, tape recorders, overhead projectors, video players and that sort of thing …); voice projection; presentation of displays, worksheets etc.  To be fair, some of it seemed superfluous, like “teaching your grandmother to suck eggs” … and there were lots of things that I think we perhaps ought to have covered but never did … but I suppose they only had three years … and a lot of ground to cover.

In my three years of training I did teaching practice in three very different schools … and taught a wide variety of subjects and classes … children of various ages and abilities … one thing they all seemed to have in common was that they were totally different from what I had expected.  There is no way that those three teaching practices prepared me for what was to follow … but they did provide food for thought …

My teaching career proper began in a large rural comprehensive school – on three sites so there was a fair amount of traveling to do throughout the day.  I was Teacher in Charge of Religious Education … the only teacher of Religious Education, as it happened.  Being the only one, however, I couldn’t take every class and there were a couple of people to help me … but basically I was left on my own devices.

The classes were not very interested in Religion … it was very much a chore and very little of what be called “traditional religion” seemed to grab their imagination.  Bible stories were a real “turn off” – and I had to be very careful how I introduced them.  Something with a practical element like “ethics” or “logic” sparked some discussion but the real surprise was when I introduced an element of comparative religion … they were very interested in this – especially as we based the work on a newly published book set in an inner city, multi cultural school.  One of the reasons it was such a surprise was that everything was so alien … an inner city school – but we were in a rural community; multi-cultural – when the one we were in was mono-cultural, Christian.  The only thing they had in common with the characters in the book was their ages.

I also had some Maths classes and because I saw them several times instead of just once a week, I got to them much better than the other classes.

It wasn’t all classroom based … one of my tasks was to organize the school’s big charity event … one of the Senior teachers was a great supporter of Christian Aid and every year they had a big fund raising effort for the organization … one year I was given the job of supervising the stage lighting for school productions … not that I really knew anything about the subject and had to do a lot of rapid learning … but, fortunately there was a pool of talented sixth formers who knew a lot more about it than I did and were quite happy to get on with it.

There were several incidents which stick in my mind from this time.  One involved a pupil who wrote an essay for me.  It was his first piece of written work for me and when I handed it back I said that there was one point I didn’t understand … to which he replied, “Oh, so you did read it then?”  Pardon?  Apparently he would often write a bit of gobbledygook, nonsense, somewhere in the middle to see if the teacher actually read it.  It seems I had passed with flying colours.

In another I did not do so well.   A pupil stayed behind after the end of a lesson and told me a sad and disturbing story.  His grandmother had died recently and had returned and was haunting him.  They held conversations.  These events were accompanied by flashing lights.  I didn’t know what to say … I felt very uncomfortable … I “passed the buck” and told him to talk to the local vicar as he knew the grandmother and would be able to advise him what to do.  To this day I am still uncomfortable about this … and I still don’t know what I should have done, what else I could have done.  The disturbing thing about this story, however, took place several years later … when I went on a course about “Dealing with Loss” … that is bereavement.  There panels of sociologists and psychiatrists and when I told the story, hoping, expecting to get some helpful advice … they burst out laughing.  To be fair … I think they were just as surprised, shocked and as much at a loss as I was … but it didn’t make me feel any better.

The Headteacher of the school had a basic rule of thumb … the first year a teacher worked in the school, especially if they were a probationary teacher like me, (that is they were newly qualified and new to teaching), then they were basically “taking” from the school – gaining experience and additional “on the job training”.  Everything is a new experience.  During the Second year its a case of “fifty-fifty” … they are still learning, but they are also putting into practice that they learned in the first year.  By the time they get to the third year, they are “giving back” to the school.  Now, it seemed to me, (and still does), that that’s a bit crude, but there is a lot of truth in it and it makes a lot sense in a school situation where there is a clear annual cycle.   Anyway, I did my three years and and then felt that it was time to move on … so I started looking around for the next step in my career.

I applied for a job in London … returning to my “first love”, Mathematics.  In fact, I didn’t get the job … at the interview we were told that someone else had been appointed, but “it was a close decision and thanks for applying”.  So, I got quite a surprise a few days later when I got a phone call saying that the successful applicant had to withdraw and asking if I was still interested in the job.  Yes, I was, and so  moved to London where I was to stay for the next seventeen years.

Having been, nominally at least, my own boss as “Teacher in charge of Religious Education”, I now joined the rank and file as ordinary classroom teacher.  I had fewer groups to get to know, (as an Religious Studies teacher I saw about 300 pupils every week … and it was difficult to learn all their names, but now I was down to about half that, which was a lot easier), and I was teaching a subject which, even if it wasn’t popular with everyone, was thought to be useful and not just a “necessary chore”, a statutory obligation.  I got on well with the classes – although, yes, there were “ups and downs”.

Although it was a city school, it was suburban rather than an inner-city school.  It was multi-cultural with large Jewish, Cypriot, (both Greek and Turkish), and Asian communities.  Most of the time these groups got on well together – although, particularly in my early years, there was a sizeable group of “skinheads” under the influence of the National Front.

The “three year rule” seemed to come into play once more … no, I wasn’t really looking for a new job, but one came along.  This time, I didn’t have to apply – it was offered to me.  The funny thing is that I probably wouldn’t have applied for it.  As it happened, the second in the Department got a job as Head of Maths in another school and so there was a vacancy.  I assumed that the second in the department ought to be someone with, at least, a Maths degree – but, fortunately for me, the Head of Department and the Headteacher didn’t seem to agree. Now, when you are offered promotion like this, it is difficult to turn it down – and I didn’t.

I was fortunate in that I that there was a Statistics class that needed a teacher … now Statistics was my applied option … so I was asked to take it.  A short while later I was asked by the local technical college to teach Statistics to an adult education evening class.  I wouldn’t say that I was in “seventh heaven” but I was beginning to feel that I had “landed on my feet”.

The next big move came when yet another teacher moved on … she taught one of the two computing classes, and as they were timetabled at the same time, the other teacher couldn’t take it over, so someone else was needed.  You’ve guessed it … I was asked.  Now, up to this point I knew nothing about computers.   My “computing” experiences were limited to log tables, slide rule,  hand operated, rotary,  mechanical calculating machines and simple electronic calculators.  I had the summer to prepare, so I took home a set of text books and worked through them during the summer holidays.  It wasn’t much of a grounding, but it was before the days of microcomputers … and I got away with it.

Practical work at that time involved writing programs on sheets of paper and sending these “coding sheets” off to the local technical college, where they were types into a terminal and we received the results a few days later.  They rarely ever worked first time, so even a simple program often took several weeks to complete.  We then got a terminal installed in the school which speeded the process up – but it was with the introduction of the RM380Z microcomputer that things really started to take off.  At first we worked with just one microcomputer – but the BBC launched a special educational programme complete with a specially designed, affordable, microcomputer.  The Head saw the adverts for the special, limited offer, and decided to spend what little spare cash the school had to buy some … and things started to move rapidly.

Now, he was even less technically minded than I was – but he saw the future coming … and I congratulate him for that.

As a result we put together a programme – a pioneering programme.  Up until that point, Computing was always seen as a specialist subject – very much maths-orientated with lots of programming … not much in terms of word processing, spreadsheets, design, etc.   We talked about a new kind of course and I drew up a proposal for Computer Awareness course to be taught to all pupils … not computer studies or computer science but concentrating on the use of computers.  No-one else in the neighbourhood was offering similar courses.  We were pioneers, pathfinders.  He asked me to become Head of Computing and introduce the course- and that’s I got my second promotion.

I am amazed when I think back at what we were able to achieve with so little … to start with just one room with ten simple computers which were in use from 7:30 in the morning until 5:50, or later in the evening.  Later we got a suite of three rooms with PC’s but they were still very basic.  They were heady days.

There is a phrase in English that describes the ennui that occurs in the course of a relationship: “the seven year itch”.  Apparently, after seven years the partners in a relationship feel the drive to seek new openings, new opportunities.  At Ashmole it took, not seven years, but seventeen.  To be honest, I was beginning to feel jaded and in need of a change.  The opportunity came when my friend Tony offered me the chance to come to Kyrgyzstan.  He suggested a year would be sufficient to open an office … and I was tempted.  When I was at college the James commission suggested that teachers should be offered the chance to undertake a sabbatical once every seven years, (another example of the seven year itch?), and I thought then that it was a good idea.  It would enable teachers to take a break, catch up on ideas and theories that would help them to make their teaching more relevant and practical … I still think that.  However, the option was never implemented and to come to Kyrgyzstan would have meant giving up my job and a career that I had invested much over the years to develop.  For this reason, I wasn’t very keen.  The crucial point came when the school said that they would grant me a sabbatical … they would appoint a temporary replacement for the year and keep my job available for me … even if I decided not to come back to the UK and they would have to find a permanent replacement.  After seventeen years in one school, even if my role had changed several times, I was suffering from fatigue and in search of new and different challenges.  It seemed too good a chance to miss.

To be fair, I thought I would return to the UK and to teaching … but as it turned out … I ended up staying here longer than planned, (“the best laid plans of mice and men …” … and all that!).

I ended up staying and giving up a career that had meant much to me.  On the other hand that same career had also given me much and taught me much.  It was to be extremely useful to me in my time in Kyrgyzstan.

However, my career in formal education did not end with my move to Kyrgyzstan … I have maintained links with training and occasionally give lectures or conduct seminars on a variety of courses … and I feel that sometimes I still have a contribution to offer in this field and my experience as a practitioner is an invaluable element to this.

Let’s start with the simple and the obvious … my name is Ian Claytor. I am British and was born on 8th March, 1953, in Malvern, Worcestershire.

Ian is a Scottish name, (it’s the Scottish equivalent of John, or “God’s Gift”), although there is nothing Scottish about the family. There aren’t that many Claytors around … and it seems that the Malvern branch of the family originally came from Nottinghamshire. There’s a family legend that tells that we are descended originally from a family called Clayton, who were local squires and landowners, but there was a scandal involving a gypsy girl and a curse placed on the “seventh son of the seventh son” … they seem to have gone in for big families in those days … and in an attempt to overcome the curse one of my ancestors changed his name by replacing the final letter, an “n”, with an an “r”. (An attempt to create an “alpha effect” with an “omega change”, as Arthur C. Clarke put it in one of his short stories.) I am not sure I believe the account, but it makes for a good story.

Actually, Ian is what it says on my Birth Certificate and in my passport – so it is my official name – but according to Canon Law, (Church Law, that is), it’s not my name at all. When I was born my mother had Tuberculosis – it cost her a lung and my father once told me that they “pulled the curtains”, (meaning that they thought that she was about to die), not just once but twice during this period. Anyway, when I finally made my appearance, they were so concerned that I might not survive that the doctor christened me then and there. Apparently he named me Royston and, as I said, according to Canon Law, once you are christened, then you have been given a name and that is your name. Full Stop! So, how come I am now Ian Claytor and not Royston Claytor. My mother explained it me like this: my older brother, Tony, had trouble saying my name – even in the short version, Roy. Apparently, he kept calling me “Boy”. “No son of mine is going to go through life being called “Boy”", she decided, and so when it came time to officially register the birth with the authorities, she changed it to Ian.

She thought she had solved the problem because no-one could shorten the name … but she was thwarted by Richard, my best friend at primary school, who would insist on calling me “Ee”. I think that, at times, she felt that she could have throttled him.

In answer to one of the questions that I am most often asked here, I have to report that I am single and have never been married and so, no, I am not divorced and no, I have no children – although I do have a number of cats. You can read more about them here.

As I said, I have an older brother, Tony, who is married to Christine and they have two teenage sons, Dominic and Lawrie and live in Hertfordshire.

For the first two and half years of my life when my mother was ill with TB, I had been passed from relative to relative eventually ending up in a children’s home in Stourbridge in North Worcestershire. One of earliest memories is of playing on the swings at the home. Another is of sitting in the backseat of the car my parents had borrowed when they came to fetch me and, looking out of the back window seeing a big bright “Midland Red” bus turn the corner behind us.

Malvern, where I grew and went to school, was a small town of about 30,000 but it was originally a number of villages, (Great Malvern, Malvern Link, North Malvern, West Malvern, Little Malvern, Malvern Wells and a number with names that don’t contain the name Malvern), which grew up around the Malvern Hills.

My father was a postman for all his life, except for the war years when he served as a tank driver, driving a Churchill tank in North Africa and up through Italy. He was also a Trade Union official, serving for many years as the local branch secretary of the Union of Post Office Workers), an example I was to follow later on in life. My mother was a housewife for most of her life, but did spend some time working a shorthand typist and secretary. She was very fond of handicrafts and I think she would have found the traditional crafts of the Kyrgyz very interesting and would have enjoyed making Shyrdaks, Ala Kiyiz, Kurak and Saima embroidery.

I wasn’t a particularly good student at school. In fact I still have my school report where one of my teachers commented: “Ian works well when he can’t avoid it” … and I still wonder why he couldn’t have stuck with the traditionally tried and tested: “Could do better”, but it was at least original and showed that I wasn’t just “one of the crowd”. My schooldays, of course, did much to shape my future career, but there’s more about that here. Anyway, I must have done reasonably well because I ended up with three A-Levels and a place at Teacher Training college and the backdoor into Oxford University and an Oxford degree, and there’s more about that here.

Oxford was an adventure. Up until then I hadn’t traveled much and my horizons were very much limited to Malvern where I had grown up. I had been to the seaside at Weston-Super-Mare, (or Weston-Super-Mud as we called it because when the tide went out, the sea retreated so far that there seemed to be nothing but miles and miles of wet sand), and to Cornwall with the family of my best friend … they later moved there and he still lives there and now runs a number of hotels in the area – so we’re colleagues. Oxford, however, was different … it wasn’t a holiday, just a week or two … I was on my own, and I made the most of it.

I made some good friends in college, and we kept in touch for a while after we finished our course. When it came time for everyone to leave and go make their own way in the world, one of my friends, took my address but said: “I don’t promise to keep in touch … maybe I will, but think how many friends you had at school that you’ve lost touch with – and that was only three or four years ago … people move on, and I don’t like making promises I don’t know if I can keep.” It’s sad, but she was right – and I have always remembered that … especially the bit promises – after all, an Englishman’s word is supposed to be his bond!

After college it was a question of finding a job … and I got thrown in at the deep end. I became the Teacher in Charge of Religious Education in a large school in Thame in rural Oxfordshire. OK … “teacher in charge” … the only teacher of Religious Education, as it happened. Being the only one, however, I couldn’t take every class and there were a couple of people to help me … but basically I was left on my own devices.

It was in Thame that I started to follow my father’s footsteps and joined a union. It wasn’t exactly what you would think of as a Trade Union … or at least what I thought of at that time as a Trade Union. Teaching isn’t exactly a “blue collar”, working class, profession, and the union that I chose was not militant by any means. Some people referred to us conservative, or even “right wing”, but that wasn’t really true. We preferred to call ourselves the “moderate” teachers’ union. Normally, I “don’t do things by halves” and guided by the principles that although “membership has its privileges” it also has its responsibilities, so I found myself taking an active role in Association affairs. After the move to London, this grew year by year and before I know it I was branch secretary, and in the course of the next seventeen years I also took on the roles (at different times) of Branch Treasurer and Chairman as well as a conference delegate and Branch representative, negotiating with employers, local authorities and, on one occasion, a Minister of the Crown. As it happens, this experience taught me an awful lot and helped me a great deal when I came to Kyrgyzstan and I found myself attending meetings (and sometimes arguing) with government officials, Ministers and even Prime Ministers and Presidents and two British princes of the realm. (Yes, two … strange isn’t it, I traveled half way around the world to meet two members of my own Royal Family!)

The Headteacher in Thame had a basic rule of thumb … the first year a teacher worked in the school, especially if they were a probationary teacher like me, (that is they were newly qualified and new to teaching), then they were basically “taking” from the school – gaining experience and additional “on the job training”. Everything is a new experience. During the Second year its a case of “fifty-fifty” … they are still learning, but they are also putting into practice that they learned in the first year. By the time they get to the third year, they are “giving back” to the school. Now, it seemed to me, (and still does), that that’s a bit crude, but there is a lot of truth in it and it makes a lot sense in a school situation where there is a clear annual cycle. Anyway, I did my three years and and then started looking around for the next step in my career.

I applied for a job in London … returning to my “first love”, Mathematics. In fact, I didn’t get it … at the interview we were told that someone else had been appointed, but “it was a close decision and thanks for applying”. So, I got quite a surprise a few days later when I got a phone call saying that the successful applicant had to withdraw and asking if I was still interested in the job. Yes, I was, and so I made another of the big decisions in my life and moved to London.

Having been, nominally at least, my own boss as “Teacher in charge of Religious Education”, I now joined the rank and file as ordinary classroom teacher. I had fewer groups to get to know and was teaching a subject which, even if it wasn’t popular with everyone, was thought to be useful and not just a “necessary chore”, a statutory obligation. I got on well with the classes – although, yes, there were “ups and downs”. I was there for seventeen years. That’s a long time, but although it was seventeen years in one school, I actually had several different jobs during that time. After a few years as a classroom Maths teacher, I took on classes in Statistics and then Computing, IT and vocational courses as well as taking on various administrative roles within the school. There’s more about that here.

I also took on a role as an examiner, (in both Maths and Computing). My first experience of working in the examination system was as a student when I got a holiday job as a “checker” for one of the exam boards. It surprised me how many so-called “intelligent” people couldn’t add up the marks they had awarded a candidate – and as a result this was something I paid great attention to when I eventually became an examiner. Later as a with the Certificate of Secondary Education (CSE), which was the equivalent of a school leaving certificate, and the system involved using class teachers as markers and examiners. When my career moved into computing I applied for several jobs as a assistant examiner in Computing, (without any expectation of success – hey, my degree was in Theology, not computing or any other related subject), and to my surprise and amazement I was accepted – for all of them! Every year, from May until August, I spent many long hours marking scripts and coursework projects, and attending meetings. It was a hard job, carrying great responsibility but it was a great experience which helped me immensely in many different ways. I would strongly recommend it to any teacher as being both rewarding and worthwhile. (There’s more about my experiences here.)

As I said before, I didn’t travel very much when I was young. Now, during those seventeen years I really got the travel bug. I traveled to various places around Britain, visited France two or three times every year and also lots of other places in Europe, (Albania, Austria, Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Greece, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Monaco, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, Yugoslavia, …). I went to the States four times, New Zealand, French Polynesia, Pakistan, Thailand, China (Hong Kong) and several of the Caribbean islands. I even visited Russia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan … but little did I know at the time that I would end up living here! I regret that I never made it to Africa or South America (… ever since I studied South America as part A-Level Geography, I have wanted to go to Brazil – especially the Amazon). I always enjoyed visiting new places, seeing the sights and being able to point to something and say to myself, “I remember learning about that in Geography, or History, or … whatever, and now I am seeing it in real life”; meeting new people; trying new food; learning about different cultures. One thing I didn’t really like was sitting on a beach, sunbathing. I was prepared to do it occasionally if my friends on holiday wanted to do so, provided we split the holiday and did some “”exploring” as well. I felt that it was wasting too much valuable time. As the Beatles put it: “Life is very short and there’s no time for …”, well they said (sang) “fussing and fighting, my friend”, but as far as I was concerned it should have been “sitting around idle”. I suppose it was the “Protestant work ethic” which had been instilled in me by this time.

In fact, I like being busy and I kept (keep) myself busy in many ways. I also have an obsessive personality and tend “not to do things by halves”

As well as teaching, examining and my work with the union, another way was my involvement in Rugby. Although I have tried my hand at many sports I have never been a great sportsman. In my schooldays, however, I played Rugby for the school team and the local club. I was never very good at it … I joke that my position was seventeenth man (for those that don’t know – a rugby team consists of fifteen players!). Even when I stopped playing as the result of an injury, I continued to coach one of the school teams and to referee some matches … although I can’t say that I really enjoyed either.

Another thing I undertook was “in-service” training. I am a great believer that education is a lifelong activity. We are always meeting new experiences, and the world is constantly changing with new facts being discovered and new technologies being developed and so we need to prepare ourselves for the challenges of tomorrow … and not rely on what we learned in the dim and distant past. When I went on my first “First Aid” course, for example, we were taught that the way to deal with a nose bleed was to pinch the bridge of the nose and put the patients head back with the nose in the air, but a couple of years later at the refresher course we were told to pinch the bridge of the nose and bend the patient forward with the nose down. As it was explained to us, if the head is back then there is a chance for the blood to flow through the nasal cavity into the mouth and then into the throat … causing all sorts of complications. It wasn’t, however, just a case of keeping up-to-date. I’m a bit like a sponge in learning new things. I loved playing Trivial Pursuits! I once included an obscure fact in a history essay at school and the teacher circled it in red and added a comment “Where did this come from?” I took great pleasure in telling him it was a book that he had told us we all ought to buy. I had done so, and showed him the reference. There was nothing he could say in reply apart from: “You remember the strangest things!” As a result I also took a number of courses which had nothing to do with work and my favourite was “Looking at Paintings” from the Open University. I don’t know if they still offer it … but it was very enlightening in many different respects. Attending courses is something I miss here … but the internet is a great tool and I feel very fortunate in being able to research almost any topic.

The next big decision in my life involved the move to Kyrgyzstan. In fact it wasn’t one decision, it was a series of at least three during the course of just over a year: to come here; to stay and what to do once I had decided to stay.

Tony, a friend whom I had known since my days in Oxford, worked as a lawyer for a large international firm based in London. His first visit to Kyrgyzstan was in the early 1990′s as part of his work – and he fell in love with the country and the people. On his suggestion I came here on holiday in 1994 and although I liked the place I never really thought that much more about it until he told me that he had landed a job here, wanted to open his law firm and needed help to set up the office. Would I come and help him? Yes, OK. I originally came for one year, but things never quite go according to plan and as the year was coming to an end there was still lots to do, so I stayed on to finish the job. I could have gone back home. I had a job waiting for me and staying here meant saying goodbye to that and a career that I had been developing for twenty years. To be honest, however, I was ready for a change and I looked forward to meeting the challenges of starting something new.

Once I decided to stay, and the office was up and running it was a case of “what do I do now?”. We looked at several options and eventually decided that the most perspicacious was Tourism … and so, together with another friend from the UK, we started the Celestial Mountains Tour Company, and two hotels. We would have liked to open more, but, (as I keep saying), things don’t always go according to plan.

As before, I keep myself busy. There’s never a dull moment. If ever I seem to stop and be idle, it’s not because I have nothing to do … it’s because I have so much to do that I don’t know where to start. I am involved in a number of projects here in Kyrgyzstan. I am an active member of the International Business Council (IBC) and the Kyrgyz Association of Tour Operators (KATO) – in fact I am the president of the Association, which always raises an eyebrow – an Englishman as the President of a Kyrgyz Association … but then some people say (jokingly) that, after fourteen years here, I am almost half Kyrgyz anyway. (I have actually taken out official “Residence” status but, no, I am not looking to take out Kyrgyz citizenship – to do that I would have to give up my British passport, and I am not keen to do that.) Some people even say I am more enthusiastic about all things Kyrgyz than most of the locals. I have even been thanked by locals for telling them things about Kyrgyzstan that they didn’t know … or for showing them a part of Kyrgyzstan that they haven’t seen before.

So, that’s my story … or, at least, part of my story. There’s obviously a lot of details missing but it should help to give you a feel of who I am, where I am coming from and why I say some of the things I do in these postcards.

Thanks for reading this far …