A plea to Nicky Morgan and STEM evangelists

It seems, if the reports I have read are true, that the Education Secretary,  Nicky Morgan*, has warned schoolkids that choosing to study Arts subjects, "Could hold them back For the rest of their lives."

It seems she said this at a 'Your Life' event to promote and encourage kids to study the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and maths). She told the gathered masses that studying arts and humanities closed our children's career options rather than opened them. She continued by saying that those kids who have no idea what they wanted to do tended towards the arts and humanities stuff but this closed so many options whilst STEM subjects meant doors would be one for you to pursue careers in medicine (bit of a silly example after the comments from yesterday's doctor's strike) and engineering (wonder if she's visited the former manufacturing centres recently).

She said that employers valued maths as the most desirable subject, which is a fair comment because being numerate is important, but then put any spark of intelligent thinking out before it could catch fire by adding, "People who study maths to A level will earn 10% more over their lifetime."

The last nail in the coffin was banged in with the observation that too many kid are making the wrong career choices at 15 - perhaps this means that we need to give them more information and let them make their choices a little later?

It seems to me that the three foundational subjects derive their status because everyone needs to be able to read, write and count - I don't think many would disagree with this - but the event was about the STEM subjects (maths and physics in particular) so I guess we can write off Morgan's comments as mere marketing. But I don't think we can ignore them because in her words we find more of the same old tosh that is damaging our kids and making our nations poor as we disregard the arts and humanities. Mind you, looking at some of the tosh that gets wheeled out in the unmade beds, concrete hours and other 'art' that some competitions parade and applaud, perhaps the arts are doing the work for her!

Now I am someone who studied maths and science and had pretty useful careers in engineering and technology. I am a STEM person and I have enjoyed the world I inhabited before swapping it out for a dogcollar, but have to make a few observations and issue a few correctives:

i. Education is about imparting knowledge in a way that enthuses and informs. It's goal is to discover in each of our children those things that attract them (so we need teaches to understand and make them attractive) and things they have natural gifts and attitudes towards- and maximise them.

School is about discovery, nurture, excitement and enabled and fulfilled kids - not blessed grades!

ii. Whilst I, as a kid, wondered about those who 'don't do science' I soon came to realise that we are all different and my spending every available minute in London's Science Museum (I'd walk their and back from Stoke Newington most Saturdays as a kid) was something that shaped me. I wonder what I'd have done if I'd discovered the V&A first (was nineteen before I lived there for a week listening to Wagner) or stumbled into the National Portrait Gallery - would I have become captivated by music and art then rather than fifteen years later?

Taking up the STEM subjects in favour of the 'soft' subjects might, as Morgan says, get you a career in medicine, science or technology BUT if you don't have additional languages you'll function at a disadvantage and need those who did humanities to speak and listen for you. Oddly, most of my medical friends were musicians and book readers - loves that began at school and saw them get better grades in English and mUsic than they did in Maths and some of the sciences.

What we are heading for with this eschewing of the 'soft' arts and humanities is a bland, uncreative and dismally grey world.

iii. This is not about enabling kids and seeing them fulfilled, this is (in my humble opinion) about creating a country who are at the forefront of technology and science: It's about Gross National Products and out 'taking our place' as a major technological and scientific force. Because this generates money and wins worldwide approval.

This is about more than making our children numerate - it's about guaranteeing income and marketable goods for future. Isn't that why we worry abut out the advances in technology from the East?  We buy their stuff because they use cheap labour and high technology whereas where once might ocean-going vessels were built we now find a few men welding shopping trolleys (I kid you not!).

What I think Ms Morgan should have said is this:

'Kids, find the things that excite you and put everything you have into making them yours. Become the best person you can be at the things that excite you and seek to understand the world around you. Learn that we are all different and understand that 10% extra earnings over a lifetime is a lot to pay to deny who you really are!'

Going on, she should end with:

'Teachers, excite and enthuse those in your care. Help them to explore the whole world before them: Take them to the theatre, concerts, museums, art galleries and more beside (this is where she apologises that they can't really do this because of the lack of government funding and the deconstruction of the state education system). Take you children and watch them and as the flame flickers in them, fan it into a fire that consumes them and help them to blaze with passion for those subjects.

Some are called to be actors whilst others are called to be doctors - both bring cheer to the soul.

Some are called to be artists whilst others creat computers that enable to who aren't to be creative.

Some will build and do technology, but without the copy writers and journalists, who will read about them or buy the products?

Some will make music and sing, others will dance and all, regardless of their occupation will find solace, comfort and inspiration in this.

Dear Ms Morgan - don't condemn our children (or our nation) to a grey stodgy future.

When I was doing Physics we were told to buy the book 'Scientists must write'
By the time we're finished will it be 'Scientists need to learn to read?'

+ 'Your life' is a campaign to encourage the kids to study maths and physics; their goal being a 50% increase of kids taking exams in the subjects over the next three years.

* perhaps from henceforth that should be amended to 'moron' (should we have a poll?)

Tamworth Hustings - 8 days to go

And the scores on the doors this morning are:

Conservatives 34%

Labour             34%

UKIP                13%

Lib Dems          9%

Green Party      5%

So with the first two parties being neck and neck, and the other three static, it is obvious that   each and every vote will indeed make a difference.


Why we should vote
In conversation with an enthusiastic and earnest Christian I found myself being challenged as to the hustings and told that we shouldn't be bringing politicians into the church building because, 'We should have nothing to do with the world!'

My response to this was, 'So we shouldn't be taking aid to nations where there is famine or war or natural disaster or any other need then?' And of course the answer, accompanied by incredulous raised eyebrows, was a resounding passionate, 'Of course we should; 'The Bible tells us to act for those in need and to defend the weak and the oppressed.'

This enthusiastic young believer was, of course, quite right and provided me with the opportunity to introduce St Augustine of Hippo (City of God) and his (paraphrased) words:

'Those who are citizens of God's kingdom are best equipped to be citizens of the kingdom of man ... for Christians, through faith in Jesus (the Christ), acknowledge that they are already citizens of heaven who merely reside as sojourners in this world,'

and yet this world according to Augustine (bk 9 - sect.17):

'Does not live by faith but seeks an earthly peace and in the end what it proposes, in the well ordered concord of civic obedience and rule, is the combination of men's wills to attain the things which are helpful to this life.'

It is the prayer of every Christian that this world is peaceably and rightly governed - but if this is an honest profession then surely it should be met with honest endeavour to bring this about. We act not just with our lips but with our hands - and in this case the hands are require to place a tick in a box and thereby play our part in the process of bringing into existence that 'right government' we so often pray for.

Of course, as Augustine likened government as being little more than a gang of thieves and robbers who having bested other thieves and robbers, rules over the people, gives us the reason for why we should vote, for should enough right thinking people fail to vote the government that is elected will (by the application of simple logic) be that which those who think wrongly voted for.

To vote having sought out those candidates who support Christian values, to support those parties whose manifestos display the closest correlation between the attitudes of this world and the demands placed on us to act with justice, humidity and mercy, is to bring our faith to bear in the matter of this world - and by doing so perhaps the Kingdom of God might be brought just a little closer in our political dealings.

Just a thought.

ePetition: Christians in Mosul

PLEASE READ, RESPOND and PASS ON

Christians under serious threat in Mosul, Iraq

Responsible department: Foreign and Commonwealth Office

We the undersigned call upon the UK Foreign and Commonwealth office to take decisive and immediate action to support the thousands of innocent Christians and others in Mosul, Iraq who are currently facing the threat of murder, rape, forced conversion to Islam and FGM.

We ask you to work to ensure safe passage for these people, to work with relief and development agencies to ensure they receive food, water, shelter and medical attention, and to listen proactively and quickly to the informed voices of organisations working on the ground in the area, offering whatever help is most needed there.

Sign this petition

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/67979

Number of signatures

(at time I published this)

12,522

Created by:

Martin Saunders

Closing:

30/03/2015 23:59

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IDS - that £53 comment

Sad to say that as much as I struggle with our political parties at the moment (and let's be honest, who wouldn't) I not only find that there is little to separate the ConDem coalition from it's ComThem opposition (the party formally know as 'Labour') I do wish people would portray them properly.

The latest example of this is that poor man's champion (not) being the Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith (IDS), who is a firm supporter of the changes that are occurring within, and to, our welfare system.

That the man thinks that many of these changes are fair is something that will be responded to when the hustings come a knocking but the reporting of IDS' engagement with David Bennett (thanks to the BBC's 'Today' programme leave a little to be desired. The issue surrounds Mr. Bennett's question, 'Could you survive on £53 a week?'

The reply was, 'If I had to I would.' It was not, 'I can live on £53'

The 'having to' and 'can' are two very different kettles of caviar; people might be able to exist on £53 a week but they certainly cannot live on it. I have to say that I doubt whether IDS would be able to match his current lifestyle on £53 a day but should he, like so many I work with, find himself out of work and having to live on benefits he'd have no choice but to to make it work, for like those upon whom he is legislating by means of the changes, he would have to!

I am worried that we will let this gross misreporting fuel a backlash that vilifies the man and draws attention away from the realities, which (in case you have forgotten) are:

The bedroom tax which hits those of a working age who receive housing benefit (including those whose partners have cancer, who are parents of handicapped kids and many more besides).

The reduction of legal aid (an essential for those who have not to be represented and afforded the same rights as those who have!)

The changes from council tax benefit to a locally run council tax support

The below inflation cap on  tax credits and working-age benefits

The new independence payment which replaces Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

The overall benefit cap for those who are of working-age people

The Universal Credit system

People on benefits who have a history of struggling to manage money will soon find themselves faced with them receiving benefits which they will need to pass on, and for some who have addiction problems (drink, drugs, gambling) this may well see them in arrears with their rent and heading towards being homeless.

Let's stop jumping on the crass reporting of the newspapers; diverting our fire at shadows created by the press and let's start making a focussed and structured stand for those who HAVE to live on £53 a week.

And so it begins? No, was already here!

Went out to check whether the bins had been emptied and the very first person passing by greets me with, 'So whatdya think of the vote then?' 'What vote," I ask innocently (and honestly). 'That gay marriage thing,' says they, 'It's all wrong if you ask me!'

Appraised of the topic I ask whether they wrote to their MP to explain their views and received a, 'Nah, they don't listen to people like me!" And with that, they continued on their way to their blue-collar world of 'done to not done for' folk. This is more often than not the top of the pile in the area I serve.

And there we have it, forget the vote itself and take a step back and look at the issue of representation. I meet more and more people who regard themselves as not only marginalised but also voiceless. There are those who have lost jobs and can't get another because of age, location and the fact that work isn't that available anyway. These people used to be relatively comfortable (well they could pay their bills) and now they struggle and are resigned to being unemployed.

There are those who live within the culture of the benefits system and social housing. These are the people who range from living in a 'hand to mouth' life to those who, perhaps oddly, appear to have quite a lot of disposable cash. What this group all share is the fact that they know what they need and generally get it but the means by which this is brought about renders them as the voiceless detritus at the bottom of the pile.

The last group I regularly engage with are those who duffer some form of limitation or disability and the greatest grouping within this population are those who are mentally ill. The seek to be cared for in an increasingly stretched mental health system where often it seems the greatest goal is not containment or cure but finding a way to remove them from the list! The reality is that they are excluded from help and from relationships that might help.

So here we have it - 'gay marriage' doesn't really interest or trouble me because at the end of the day I'm dealing with hard issues. With families and child protection conferences; with repossessions and hospital visits, sections, self-inflicted illness through many of the various addictions; Sadness and stress that are because of the cancers and Alzheimer's and other 'end of life' (but not immediately) stuff. Because there is sin in the world and it not only hurts God but damages relations and mars His image in us and makes it  (the world and us) less than it can be.

This is what the Church is about:

A voice to the voiceless (come and work with me as we attempt to get people listened to).

Caring for those who society and state (stop me and ask me about the number of mentally ill who have lost any semblance of care provision).

A willingness to open our doors and provide a place where all are welcome and cared for (what Church has always been).

Our government has spent energy, time and money showing how much disunity there is in the Conservative party (as if we didn't already know) and how much import they put on things that neither affect nor benefit the rank and file - but then again that's why we have Church.

To care for and represent everyone (and that means heterosexual and homosexual too!).

Pax

George Osborne - Guilty of fiduciary mismanagement?

I'm sorry to potentially upset those who might think that George Osborne is a safe pair of hands at the helm of UK plc's financial dealings but following the sale of Northern Rock to Northern Rock to Virgin Money for £747m I have to say that this is past 'Virgin on the ridiculous' it is downright blesséd criminal (or perhaps, to do him a favour, merely totally incompetent!)!

We are seeing members of the armed forces facing redundancy should they be silly enough to find themselves wounded in combat. We have libraries closing as Councils cut back their spending (CCTV in cabs excepted of course)! The number of young people without employment and the rising number of NEETs (post 16 Not in Education, Employment or Training) all add up to make one concerned and to crown all things there must be . . . .

Let's do the sums and see?

Northern Rock has cost the British Taxpayer something in the region of 1,400,000,000.

The Company was then split into two: Northern Rock plc and Northern Rock (Asset Management), the former being the 'good' business and the later being used as a receptacle for the 'bad' debt.

The company has shed some 3,000 staff (many of whom are probably now are receiving benefits)

And we sell it to one Of that nice Mr Branson's companies for £747,000,000

1,400,00,00 - 747,000,000 = £653,000,000 (it could be less, but it couldn't be worse!)

Northern Rock (Asset Management) is a black hole that accounts for c.£21,000,000,000 (but rest assured, we are not going to sell that to anyone - it's all ours!!!).

There is a bright side in that there potential for another £150,000 and then (possibly) another £50,000,000 and if Virgin sell the business on or relist it on the Stock Market within a five year period there could be another £50,000,000.

So, if they make money out of it, and one has to ask, "How could they fail, they have the good business," we might see another £250,000,000 in all.

Back to the abacus and we find a minimum loss of £403,000,000 (and we still have the Asset bit)!!

I just love Virgin Money's Chief executives view of it all, "We think we have made a great offer!"

It certainly is, but for whom?

The disabled in Birmingham who were to have their care cut to fund cuts?

Those whose library (and related services) are, or have been earmarked, to be cut?

Those local government workers who will find themselves unemployed (and paid by us through increased benefits)?

I'm sure you can add to this list (you are welcome to) and on a week when protesters have been told to move from St PAul's Cathedral I can but applaud the timing and the demonstration of just who benefits from the way our society, nation and the government operates. If anything was designed to see people take up the protester's cause, it is surely this.

Well done Mr Osborne!!!

Now what's this week's OT Lectionary reading about 'fat' sheep????

Politics - haven't a clue? Ask the electorate!

I am stunned that so many of the moronic voting public appear to hold the following views:

1. That there is a economic problem and that there needs to be a solution.

2. That the problem with any solution is that 'they' shouldn't have to suffer.

3. That the present government are the source of all the financial problems we are facing.

How on earth we can write off the, "There will never be a boom and bust' Labour mismanagement of the past few years and forget the PFI, 'help a friend (or friend's company)', 'New labour' minimal investment - maximum wasting of money and all the other excesses that were and lump it on the coalition government - leaves me breathless at just how stupid the electorate are.

That they can see that at the election, despite the old tosh being bandied by whichever Milliband it was that stuffed the other one and now runs the labour Party, this country was on the brink of financial meltdown and we faced something similar to Greece, Ireland and Portugal, and yet expect everyone else to have to endure hardship speaks volumes of the selfish (and stupid) nation that we have become.

That people can ring in and demand for areas that don't affect them to be cut so they can continue, and moan about the prospects of higher interest rates for their mortgages and loans that enable them to live, in a world where house prices continue to rise and they can have more, just provides the final straw for the camel. One 'nice' lady (i'm sure she is) was saying that she shouldn't have to see her living standards suffer and that there was plenty of slack in the social services, health and the like to avoid her having to pay the price for others!

Yes, of course there is!!!!

Let's get rid of [insert area that doesn't affect you], now!

Pax

"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Psalm 82:3-4