Oops! Helping Children Learn Accidentally
Hywel Roberts
Independent Thinking Press
People of an artistic, creative leaning can sometimes find
themselves travelling down the false avenue of working in the public sector. I
know, for I am one such person. The draw of The Civil Service or Local
Authority is that your time is spent trying to help people and for a soul full of joy and empathy such as mine,
that is an important decision.
My experiences of such things have been rather negative as
it turns out. I am not at liberty to divulge my current employer – not for
matters of national security or anything so grand – but because I have been
made aware that they employ a media / PR company, at vast cost to the taxpayer,
to monitor all social media and related areas for ANY mention of their name. So
if I mentioned them here, I would likely lose my job.
But like many that decide to work for the emergency
services, I went in with the best intentions. It doesn’t take long to see that
something has gone terribly wrong. Bureaucracy has run rampant. Structures of
power are labyrinthine in complexity and there’s this vague idea that no-one
knows what is happening. And the people who have been there the longest, people
who in a private company would be treasured for their knowledge and experience,
are soulless, defeated wrecks, the last of their passion, commitment and yes,
empathy, long since drained.
I have a lot of friends and acquaintances that are teachers
and it has become apparent from many of them that they see themselves as the
fourth emergency service. What they are doing might not save lives but in
fairness, it can make them a hell of a lot better. It has led to some
uncomfortable (for me) biting of the lip but in a way, a more abstract way
perhaps, what they do is equally important. At least, it should be. But as with my own experiences, it’s a profession
ravaged by those in charge seemingly putting as many obstacles in the way as
possible.
Oops! Helping Children
Learn Accidentally is a book aimed at inspiring teachers. It’s not aimed at
me but I’ve been forced to endure enough teacher chat to get a general gist of
the challenges they face. Like others in the public sector, it is a calling
that has very idealistic origins. Like a paramedic that just wants to save
lives or a police officer who wants to make their community a safer place. The
harsh reality is that, for paramedics, a lot of people you see are drunks or
timewasters. For police officers you may spend as much time behind your desk as
out on the beat. And for teachers, it seems, it is the dull rigidity of the
curriculum and a bizarre, counter creative inspection culture that can paralyse
their efforts.
This book makes clear the unique and vital position teachers
hold. The mass monolithic beast of state control is less of an all consuming
worry because, when it comes down to it, there are just two groups of people in
the classroom: teachers and kids. And rather than let the sometimes negative
aspects of the whole setup get you down, this book hammers home that you can
take control yourself and really make a difference.
Oops! is a thoroughly engaging read: no heavy
academia or dry, endless essaying. For the academics out there, it makes enough
references to works such as Mantle Of The
Expert but on the whole the style is dictated by its author and his very
personal (and personable) view of his profession.
Having worked in all manner of schools, Hywel has braved the
world of freelancing as a method to pass on his experiences and enlightening
view of teaching. That’s a thing that requires a great strength of personality,
and that shines through with his honesty (worries that keep him awake at
night), humility (his own mistakes and how he learned from them) and humour
(numerous references to his favourite film, Jaws).
Some of it is refreshingly basic. “Smile at your pupils” is
one such example. As it progresses it looks at other ways of engaging children,
using a lure to ‘trick’ them into learning. The intro nails it best: “Good
teachers are great liars.” But it is the creation of these false realities that
get the kids thinking without realising. The book is full of cunning ruses that
always raise a smile. It made me think back to my own school days and the
teachers who I can now see were employing similar things. It goes without
saying, those are the teachers I remember and the lessons I enjoyed most.
Of course, I am not a reliable source to explain how good a
teaching aid this is. But I can say that if I were a pupil, this is how I would
want teachers to engage with me. It’s a truly inspiring read, championing
positivity, creativity and passion which will appeal to teachers just starting
out, or those that feel they’ve lost their spark. The structure is sharp: short
condensed sections and paragraphs passing simple ideas and anecdotes, lots of
quick lists and examples, things to try. Best of all, I think it makes you take
along hard look at yourself and your place amongst your peers. That works in
any profession or organisation. Are you a shadow or a face? Are you a radiator
or a drain? How do you need to change to get to where you want to be?
A teaching aid that is actually enjoyable is not something I
expected I would ever read. It is very much a book for those with a key
interest in teaching but to return to my opening points and thus conclude this
review in an efficient manner, the purity of the ideas here and their relation
to an unfairly criticised profession ring true in wider circles. If the comparison
weren’t so violent, Hywel would be the Dirty Harry type character, arriving in
your backwards, demoralised workplace and cleaning up the corruption and the
mismanagement and instilling some belief in people who initially signed up for
some incredible noble reasons. The person you want to be, but for some reason
can’t. Why not?
In fact, more appropriately: Hywel Roberts is to teaching
what Batman is to crimefighting. He doesn’t have any super powers or any easy
answers. He’s just a man with a whole load of tricks and ideas and a sense of
what is proper and right. And the kids love him. Strongly recommended to all
teachers out there, the perfect way to refuel your enthusiasm, rediscover your
direction, and learn something new about yourself whilst you’re at it.
Dean Freeman
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