Postcard from Bishkek

This is quite a long postcard but I hope that, (especially given my background), you’ll bear with me.  I have been asked some questions about the educational system here in Kyrgyzstan … so, here are some notes and some thoughts on the subject: . The first thing to say is that “Education is a highly […]

When I was a schoolboy, (and later when I was a schoolteacher), one of the standard projects that classes were set was to plan a holiday.  The task involved a number of different skills, establishing a budget, and costing various alternatives; setting priorities as to the type of holiday, (for example, activities like trekking or […]

I wouldn’t say that I have been particularly sporting, however, I have “had a go” at many different games over the years. Most of it my sporting experience was of the “knock-about” variety rather than organised sport.  The trouble with organised sport was that it required talent, skill, training and commitment.  Now I have a […]

I am a great believer in “lifelong education”.  You might expect this from a former teacher whose livelihood depended on learning, but amongst my favourite clichés are “It’s a wise man who knows what he doesn’t know” and “You are never too old to learn.”

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.

One of the most valuable experiences I had as a teacher was undertaking the role of an examiner, (in both Maths and Computing). Some of my experiences helped me to understand the importance of getting into the mind of the examiner.  The first was when I was at school.

My move into computing came about like so many of the big events in my life – by accident. 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 […]

For some reason, many people are scared of numbers.  I’m lucky in that I’ve never really had that problem. I wasn’t particularly good at maths in Primary School, in fact I tended to get “average” grades, but in my last years that I found a liking and (minor) talent for Mathematics … the crucial moment […]

A friend of mine was looking for work recently and came across an advert for the post of a Chemistry teacher.  He asked what I thought … should he apply. The obvious question that came to my mind was “why?” … First of all, his degree is in Restaurant Management … so why Chemistry?  His […]