Originally posted by Hirst
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United Kingdom VII: Taking Pride in Your Success
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Originally posted by Hirst View PostWhen we had the first lockdown, we should have been adapting the schools at that point for their return. Individual desks with screens, classrooms moved into large open areas like sports halls, teaching to be done on shifts to allow reduced classroom sizes, hiring more temporary teachers. We did more-or-less nothing acting on the basis that kids don't spread the virus (which everyone knew was nonsense) and that disrupting teaching in any way will completely ruin the lives of children, without any consideration for things like catch-up learning or taking it as an opportunity to review the curriculum and figure out just how much of it is actually of any real benefit to people in the real world.
After I got to about 14, most of my education seemed to revolve around finding out the exact volume of shapes, working out how to do things manually that you'd do on a calculator and trying to find meaning in the tedious works of the world's most overrated playwright. Play within a play? Wish I'd been playing Sega Rally.
The government does paltry things and suggests they're doing something; really they should double the school budget and enormously ramp up education, because a lack of education is honestly the root of so many problems.
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Originally posted by Golgo View PostI agree with a lot of what you said there, but thank **** we didn't 'take the opportunity' to do this. The notion that all education must be directed towards 'real world' benefits, i.e. to vocational training and turning young people into biddable workplace drones, is truly execrable.
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Originally posted by Hirst View PostYeah, I shouldn't have said "real world", that's my mistake really. What I meant was things that are more relevant to the person in question in what they might either find useful or will engage with in some meaningful way. I can appreciate that not everything you learn will be fun and not everything will be useful, but it seemed like the vast majority of the information we had to absorb was both dull and useless for anything other than passing an exam. I think the overwhelming majority of pupils in my school just wanted to get out and never go back.
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The Debenhams news is truly sad. In every city they have a massive presence. I cant say much as I rarely shopped there but it was always great for Christmas presents and browsing. It also gave more kitschy brands a chance to have a little space in retail. Many other shops will now go as this is another major reason not go go to a high street any more.
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Originally posted by Golgo View PostSoz if I over-reacted there, it's just that I fear we lose so much when education becomes fixated on economic use-value and turning young people into tax-payers (which I realize now you weren't saying anyway). I see it in university too, including research, which increasingly needs to have 'pathways to economic impact' (i.e. commercial partners) before it can get funded. Darwin and Einstein probably wouldn't have got funding for their research if they were going for it today.
It's a bit like when they cracked down on kids going on holiday during term-time - there was a study that while it likely had a marginal effect on test scores, being in a different environment was overall beneficial in most cases due to educational possibilities (learning about different places) and social benefits. Test scores won.
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Originally posted by Dogg Thang View PostNeil, the idea last year that things have to get back to normal is exactly why things never got back to normal.Originally posted by wakka View PostYep. And the other side of the coin, which is that the ballpark easing date they have in mind is really quite far away, and could result in uproar from some quarters if they announced it. They might have taken the position that they will be better able to manage the public mood by remaining as vague as possible.
Neil, I know lockdown sucks mate, but it's a case of short term pain, long term gain. I'm personally actually really relieved that the restrictions are firm and the easing date a long way off. We can save an absolute ton of lives by holding it down for a few more months while at least the most vulnerable get the jab.
I see it as quite a different situation to 2020. Although we are in lockdown, vaccinations are now in progress, and the end feels very much in sight.
I'm not coping with lockdown by a long ****ing shot so some clear idea of when this ****ing **** show will be over is about all that keeps me from going total mental
Not knowing **** is the worst
Neil
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OK, then work to July as the point when things might be opened up a bit.
As for last year. The government and their enabling press are lying if they think things are going well on some of the fronts. With the amount that is in the population, it will be a long time to go to a reasonable level - and as we will exit the lockdown before it is reasonable, it will be a bit longer.
It is utter ****e, but it is also (sadly) pretty predictable.
edit: Not in anyway to belittle what people are going through. I want to leave lockdown - being a lockdown sceptic is supposed to mean you don't think it works. Sadly, the kind of people that say they are in the media are usually just selfish people and like to spread the idea that others are lockdown fetishists. But this is utter ****e.
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