Now for anyone who has known me for any time at all will know that I am never without a camera. I have loved taking photos for as long as I can remember. The first time I can remember is a trip to Whipsnade Zoo from Burrowmoor County Primary way back... The CROSS bit is that I didn't follow this love of photography and I'm furious at that 'careers' teacher who asked me what subjects I was good at and told me to be a Hotel Receptionist or go in the Army - can you see any similarities between the two because I can't.
I didn't follow his advice I went and did two years at Norwich City College taking Preliminary Social Care. Which I enjoyed, I thought I'd quite like to be a nanny which I did - also could be described as hired skivvy depending on the family you were working for. Ended my nanny career on a farm in Berkshire with a lovely little cottage and a car and still stay in touch with that family.
BUT I am so cross with the school system for asking you what your best subjects are and basing their advice on your whole future career on that. They NEVER asked me what I was good at outside of school, never asked me what I was interested in, what I LIKED to do, what things I couldn't stop thinking about or couldn't wait to do at the weekend.
This came to a bit of a head a couple of years ago with my youngest. The older three had all done 6th form, had a year out and gone to uni. Pretty much doing things that they were interested in but fitting the school/6th form/uni model that schools favour. Youngest was/is a bright spark, really good at sciences (AGaT; Able, Gifted and Talented in Chemistry) and maths. He toyed with the idea of doing something Physics/Chemistry based. When he was at home although he got his homework done and got the 'right' scores and grades, when all that was done, he drummed. He played the actual drums (we have great neighbours!) and he drummed on the table at meal times, he drummed with his feet if his hands were busy, he hummed music, he watched music, he listened to music, he went to see bands and he drummed some more. He drummed at Parent's Evening with his fingers and I would sit there saying 'Charlie, STOP drumming and listen' He thought about doing Music for A Level and they told him they wouldn't have him because he wasn't achieving his Target Minimum Grade in the subject. They probably said that at one of those parent's evening WHILST he was drumming.
So he decided to go to College to do music. No one in the family was happy about this, he was the bright spark, he could do so well, wasn't he going to go off and be an amazing chemist? I thought long and hard and knew school wasn't the right place for him. He was always asking teachers questions that they didn't have time to answer and it frustrated him so much. I didn't know what to say. In my soul I knew he was a drummer boy and I said 'Follow your heart Charlie.' 'WHAT?' said my daughter 'Don't be bloody stupid!' Physics son phoned up saying 'No Mum, no, make him go to 6th form, he's throwing everything away.' But I left it to Drummer Boy and he did go to college and he has loved every minute. He eats, sleeps, breaths and absorbs music through every pore.
Last night was the college gig. The new First Years are incredible - they bravely kicked it off with a female singer and Whole Lotta Love and they pulled it off, just fabulous. The Second Years were doing their own compositions and there was my boy, doing his thing; singing, playing bass AND drumming. And he looks like he's right where he is supposed to be. AND his siblings all think he's bloody marvellous and extremely cool :)
The same thing happened with my sister; bright spark but also extremely creative. She got pushed the uni route, got a first in law, woo hoo, fantastic we all thought. But years later LISTENED to her creative voice screaming inside (she would say that's far too dramatic) and now is a Printmaker and Sculpturer. (spell check tells me that's not a word but I'm leaving it in)
Anyway, back to me being cross, hmmm I seem to have calmed down a bit now. I'm all for education but surely it's should be about the whole person, not just what they can do in the dinosaurs that our schools are? Do kids learn abut managing a budget, how to do what you love, how to work collaboratively in a community? May be they get some bits of that but school is a factory that we put them into and they are supposed to come out the other end in a neat box. Well my box was being kicked from the inside with bits of 35mm film sneaking out of the edges and proper old flash bulbs popping away that smelt funny. I'm sure you've seen the Ken Robinson animation that sums it up so well? If not WATCH IT! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
I got kind of head hunted recently. Then I was told that if I was offered the job I'd need to go back to Uni for two years because I didn't have the correct teaching qualification. I already have a degree in Early Years Education and an adult teaching qualification. But I didn't have the RIGHT qualification, the right piece of paper. I could have talked about the subject standing on my head easily, and I may not have that particular qualification but I have a hell of a lot of experience in the subject matter and a lot of experience in talking about it to people. But yeah, I'm not a qualified teacher. So I said no, I won't come for an interview but thanks for thinking of me.
I just don't think that the best qualification for a teacher is a degree in teaching. You need to know about the subject too. And really I think that all teachers should be doing a couple of days a week working in the field that they teach about, otherwise whatever they say is something they've read rather than what they KNOW because they've done it.
That got me thinking about my own teachers and people that I have learnt from. Moira the OT was a fabulous lady, managed to teach without telling you and that is such a skill, learnt oodles about children with SEN from her. David Bruce who I nannied for taught me all about wine and a little about beer and a lot about not judging people by their background rich or poor. Ruth Parsons, my friend from the woods, teaches me something new each and every time I see her and she's not even trying to, actually so does my yoga teacher also Parsons, may be it's the name. Julia at my old job taught me to have a go and to let people that you were managing have a go and just to see if things would work. But the only teacher I really remember from school is Mr Jones Music (not the Welsh one, we had two) who would take us to church to practice for the carol concert and play them jazz style if no other teachers were about. And I didn't take music.
My best teachers have been people who were not teachers but people who are well rounded and passionate about what they do, and people who are not afraid to share what they do. They are not people who think 'Oh if I show her that she might do it better than me and nick my idea' They are sharers and I think we need more of those.
So back to ME (haha!) and photography. I've enjoyed the project and am so pleased that it has made me focus on what I love again. Although the project finishes tomorrow I will continue to play and to create because I should have been doing that all along x
ps - this is one of my sister's prints, I think she's amazing
http://www.katewillows.co.uk/photo_7749520.html#photos_id=9493906
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