It’s not all like Hogwarts…

Today’s Writing 101 task was to expand on an insightful comment that I had made on another person’s blog.

All well and good, except I haven’t written too many comments on other people’s blogs in the last few weeks.

I’ve barely kept up with writing posts for this blog.

I know blogging is meant to be a form of ‘social’ media. Part of the deal for getting people to read and interact with my online offerings is to interact with other writers.

But I’ve been a bit of a blogging recluse recently. I’ve managed to churn out a few missives for these pages but I haven’t ventured too much into the larger blogosphere.

It’s not that I don’t want to. I actively enjoy reading other online journals, but time has not been a commodity I’ve enjoyed too much of lately.

So on the rare occasions I’ve read another blogger’s post, I’ve probably just hit the ‘like’ button to show my appreciation and moved on. I’ve rarely left comments and those that I have left have certainly not been worthy of expanding into a post for this blog.

But earlier today I read this on This British-American Life.

Go and read it now.

Back?

Did you see my comment?

OK on the off-chance that you didn’t go, the post is a lament (written with wit and panache) about how some Americans perceive the British Education system as being superior to that of the US system.

And my comment is how I work in a UK school , which is, in itself, proof that the British education system has it’s flaws…

I’m only half-joking.

I became a teacher because I graduated into a failing economy with a less than brilliant degree. After slumming it for a year in a dead-end office job I decided that teaching might be a bit more interesting than data entry.

Not the greatest motivation for joining the profession.

I started life as a French teacher. Because my degree is in French Studies.

I was a dreadful French teacher.

Somehow I managed to complete the training but I couldn’t find a job because most schools want teachers to offer two languages and I only offered French. I could have offered rudimentary Italian, but Spanish or German are the languages that most UK schools offer alongside French.

I contrived to end up teaching maths instead. How that came about is a longer story than I want to tell today but sufficed to say I wasn’t remotely qualified. I’m a little more qualified and a lot more experienced now, but my initial appointment was questionable to say the least, and that I was better at teaching maths than I was at teaching French was certainly fortuitous.

I’ve subsequently discovered a talent for working with the more disaffected kids within the system. There’s definitely a place for someone like me within education.

But the fact remains; I became a teacher because I couldn’t think of anything better to do.

I endure while record numbers of people who actually wanted to be teachers leave the profession in their droves. Is that the hallmark of a system that works?