Monday, August 04, 2008

Here in the UK we have had a programme on TV called::
Can't read - can't write.
I caught the last two of the series of three.

It is about a number of adults who have never achieved the ability to read or write. And about the teacher who struggled to assist them in their progress.

That teacher - I did a blog about him in October 2004.


.
....... Philip Beadle is a man I have never met but today he has won the teacher of the year award

Some thirty years ago we drove down the M1 in a VW camper van to live in the East End of London. In it was Joan and me, of course, Gloria the Canary and the Sheilas.
Joy was then eight and Ann two years old. Both of them were educated in the worst schools in the country. The Secondary School was Eastlea where the teacher of the year 2004 is based. And I am delighted for him and the school.

The Sheilas have developed into outstanding human beings and still becoming - not just being. One is now a TV Director and the other a Fashion Stylist trotting the globe to get my iPod gadgets and cigars!
Their most outstanding achievements are being wondrous humans NOT just their work and relationships ....... hmmm.

I always remember that Joy decided to change her options in the latter end of her schooling there. When she informed the teacher that she intended to go to Fashion College and work in that industry - the teacher laughed in her face.

It was a tough old school and still is I guess. Then, like now, there was some fab teachers - there, in the grime of that London Borough with once the highest crime rate and other distasteful deprivation factors, shines a light or two.

So I was delighted to read about this 'teacher of the year' and one fab quote:-
"He is really straight up and lets you know he has feelings as well" said one of the kids.

A quote on his classroom wall:-

"Beauty can be found in the banal.
Beauty can be found in the mundane.
Beauty is found in the smallest detail"
... thank you God for those who work in the toughest situations and often get no credit.Thanx for the credit for this beautiful human .........


Watching the 'students' behave - their struggles and their pain - it reaffirms in me that the greatest of struggles in life are deeply connected to the emotions. The emotions are connected, deeply rooted, in our spirituality.
They had issues with confidence and self esteem.

I identify with these beautiful humans because of me. I had trouble in reading - and couldn't until I was twelve. I still have difficulty in spelling and I am a poor reader if I am ever asked to read in public. I have no trouble in speaking or doing up-front stuff.

I also feel deep things about the TV programme because lots of work I do is working to assist others to develop confidence, self esteem and generally accepting that they are beautiful - valuable ...... and more. I see most thing as emanating out of emotional insecurity. I saw these humans having difficulty in writing because of their fear of failure.
It is a complex issue and I do not want to simplify it in any way. The TV programme was fascinating. Don't we all need to keep on learning and that always starts with facing up to our reality - and the internal one being the most important ......

We can learn every day from those around us.
AND .........
Insecurity, emotional literacy, confidence, self esteem ............
I am working on my own too.

Look around you –
there are people around you.
Maybe you will remember one of them all your life
and later eat your heart out
because you didn’t
make use of the opportunity
to ask them questions.

Alexander Solzhenitsyn