Easter Intollerance

I have long preferred Easter to Christmas, the weather is much better and the cost of it doesn't fill me with dread. And I love the holiday. By this time in the academic year I feel I really need it, not so much to recover, but to have some space to myself.

So since last week’s cleaning itch; I have finished chapter nine (horary), painted my eggs, made my winter wreath into a spring wreath, written two poems and three short stories.  I now have four days of my Easter holiday remaining and work is creeping back in. Since Good Friday I have become increasingly aware that I have a stack of essays to mark, lessons to prepare and a load of documents to standardize. 

I have also found myself reading the Education section of the BBC News again!

In an article entitled Teachers 'fear extremism debates in class' I finally accessed a definition of British Values.
 

"Teaching about the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and tolerance and respect for others is part of our promotion of British values and is at the heart of what every school has to deliver for children.”

 

Unfortunately I happen to have a problem with British democracy; especially the bit where we have political parties to vote for but as they keep telling me, the choice is between Cameron or Milliband.

I get the rule of law, though it seems to me that in order to have the law on your side you need legal representation and is not always easy to come by.

I’m all for individual liberty but I have problems when one individuals liberty impinges on mine, for example that house across the road that had radio one blaring at 7.45 this morning and woke me up, on my lie in. I also have a problem with that woman who spent this afternoon screaming and shouting at her kids. Oh and the people somewhere out of sight who were having an almighty row.

I fear I might actually be intolerant.  I was going to make a list of all the things I couldn't tolerate, but ultimately it boiled down to one thing: Laziness.

We all get tired sometimes, we get worn down and we make the sort of mistakes that lazy people might make. There is no point ever in telling someone they are just being lazy, that won’t help.

As a teacher I have learned a few things and one of them is that the best way to teach is to let students make mistakes, but to lead by example.

So if they insist that I embed the virtues of British democracy into my curriculum which is about video games, then they had better provide me with a democracy that works for all of us, likewise pass laws that don’t advantage some and disadvantage others.

Tolerance and respect? Look closer to home and lead by example, because anything less would simply be lazy.