Let me tell you about my life
I grew up in the 1960s when, briefly and amazingly, Britain became as close as it has ever been to being a meritocracy. I'm not saying everything was a bed of egalitarian roses but it worked well for most of the people, most of the time.
Me and my siblings were the first generation of our family to be educated formally and continually after the age of fourteen. Many of my older relatives told a similar story, of having sat 'the scholarship' at the age of eleven, and of having passed it, so qualifying for a place at the grammar school. Except they couldn't go, because their parents could not afford the uniform, the books and the tram fare, and because their additional income as a full time worker was needed for the family budget.
So thanks to Rab Butler, William Beveridge and Harold Wilson I was able to get a grammar school education and a free place at Durham University. All I had to do was be clever.
Oil crises, three-day weeks, the Winter of Discontent and Thatcherism arrived in rapid succession while I was still a student, and so I knew that being clever and getting a degree in Archaeology would not be enough. I had to plan how to put bread on my own table. So I took my free postgraduate year and qualified as a secondary school teacher.
I've taught in schools, museums and visitor centres. I've delivered lessons and courses in history, archaeology, non-profit marketing and, weirdly enough, web design and the intelligent application of IT solutions to learning.
I love teaching and I love learning, which I do continuously. Today I learned how to clean and cut bricks. I got the information I needed from the internet.
Me and my siblings were the first generation of our family to be educated formally and continually after the age of fourteen. Many of my older relatives told a similar story, of having sat 'the scholarship' at the age of eleven, and of having passed it, so qualifying for a place at the grammar school. Except they couldn't go, because their parents could not afford the uniform, the books and the tram fare, and because their additional income as a full time worker was needed for the family budget.
So thanks to Rab Butler, William Beveridge and Harold Wilson I was able to get a grammar school education and a free place at Durham University. All I had to do was be clever.
Oil crises, three-day weeks, the Winter of Discontent and Thatcherism arrived in rapid succession while I was still a student, and so I knew that being clever and getting a degree in Archaeology would not be enough. I had to plan how to put bread on my own table. So I took my free postgraduate year and qualified as a secondary school teacher.
I've taught in schools, museums and visitor centres. I've delivered lessons and courses in history, archaeology, non-profit marketing and, weirdly enough, web design and the intelligent application of IT solutions to learning.
I love teaching and I love learning, which I do continuously. Today I learned how to clean and cut bricks. I got the information I needed from the internet.