004 - Winners and Losers
Hi,
I hope you have all had a good first week back in school. This week, 31 little people sat in-front of me and it had me thinking about an article I found from the School of Life.
‘Our societies have advanced tendencies to label certain people ‘winners’ and others – logically enough – ‘losers’. Aside from the evident meanness of this categorisation, the underlying problem with it is the suggestion that life might be a unitary, singular race, at the conclusion to which one could neatly rank all the competitors from highest to lowest.’
The idea of a ‘catch up’ curriculum is presuming that these children have in some way ‘lost’. I am not sure it’s right to label these children ‘behind’ - What are they behind? - Surely they are exactly on track for where children should be after a 6 month break from school during a pandemic.
The ‘complex truth is that life is really made up of a number of races that unfold simultaneously over very different terrain’. It is ridiculous to force these children into a system that can’t change for their needs. Now would be a very good time to assess the needs of these children and build a system around that.
Three things
One interesting article. – A slightly older article about the huge impact of almond farming on bees
One person I think is worth listening to - 🎧 Books I’ve loved - Alain de Botton
One productivity tip – One Hour Night Routine
I hope there is something of value for you here. If you have anything to add, please contact me, I’d love to hear from you.
Mr T
