Well, after digesting my lunch with a quiet read of Steven Pinker’s How the Mind Works, I’m not wholly convinced that it any longer does. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fascinating, informative and witty book — and by and large, I can grasp it. The whole “computational theory of mind”-thing feels, in fact, rather natural to me (but, then, I did spend my mid-teens poking away at the squishy keyboard of my ZX81.) What I find a little difficult to cope with are the arguments against it — especially Searle’s utterly ridiculous Chinese Room thought experiment (note to potential commenters: don’t even think of telling me it isn’t — you’ll only make me angry and, in the words of David Banner, you wouldn’t like me when I’m angry ;-))
But that isn’t what I want to blog about today. In spite of feeling a little lacking in metal capacity, I want to bring my faithful readers up to speed with the progress of the chapter outlines for Children of the Revolution and generally… well, discuss a few of my thoughts on attitudes to “disability” in education.
The further I’ve progressed with my outlines (which are almost complete), the more I’ve seen that the integration system I experienced in the ’70s and ’80s failed on so many levels that it was, frankly, utterly ridiculous to ever call it a success (which, in my case, I’d always considered it to be.) It was new, of course, “experimental” in a most literal way (I made a bloody cute Guinea Pig, if I do say so myself!) — but that doesn’t alter the fact whilst my experience was definitely one of the better ones, it was badly applied at the outset, clearly underfunded as time progressed and enthusiasm waned, and unlikely to succeed when underlying problems in maintainstrean education (such as over-large class sizes) were not even being addressed. Examples of the failings in my particular case were:
1) I had recurring problems throughout my education with desk-height/positioning in relation to my wheelchair. Two or three teachers tried to address it, but by and large with little success (it became a more difficult problem to fix in secondary school — having to move from classroom to classroom — so I just kept quiet and made do.)
2) In sixth form college, I was assigned an auxiliary assistant. A lovely lady who became a friend. Unfortunately, “they” only employed her to work half-days. (With no one else covering the times she wasn’t there.)
3) In 1984, I was still meeting careers advisors who were happy to suggest that my career options included weaving wicker baskets. Which was just what I was studying Physics, Computing and Mathematics for!
I could go on. The more I revisit those times, the more I find in among the laughter and tears a greater sense that this novel needs to be written. I know I’ve said that before, but it remains true. It’s valid from a social history point of view but I also believe it’s valid in the contemporary sense — because I don’t see all that much evidence of improvement. Children, whatever their needs, are still being failed by our education system. And after thirty years of “integration”, that’s bloody unforgivable.
Please feel free to share your thoughts on this.
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Wheelchair, huh? I didn’t know that. But why should I?
Anyway. I work in education, at one remove, anyway; I work for the work experience office of Oxfordshire County Council, which ties in with the Education Business Partnership. So we hear about all the latest educational fads foisted on us by the UK govt, and I have to say that in many respects, it’s a failing system.
Yup, I take a pretty simple approach to my disability online, mate; I mention it when it’s relevant. I don’t hide it, of course (Crip Pride anyone? ;-)), but nor do I feel the need to drop it into the conversation willy-nilly.
Nothing really changes, does it? Education is a political ball to be batted back and forth, and I doubt the system will ever be as successful as it could until this is addressed. I think the experiment in integration that I was a part of back in the seventies was highly political — rather than simply being thought of as something that needed to be done “for the kids”. It was certainly badly thought through. Teachers with no specialist training in the various areas of disability having to deal with kids (admittedly the more able) with specialist physical requirements (eg. tables that were a reasonably comfortable height) and the usual thirty to forty able-bodied kids. Largely due to the efforts of the teachers, it probably worked a lot better than it should have!
Work experience office? My joke way back was that I wanted to do my work experience as a postman. All that fresh air and… oh, walking. 🙂 The irony is, I’d probably get it today, discrimination laws being what they are!
Okay. Maybe not 🙂
Yeah, it was kind of a “Huh. Didn’t know that”, sort of mild surprise.
I’m with you on education, especially the integration bit. And don’t even get me started on academies…
Hehehe… Good joke. Oddly enough, Post Offices (basically privatised by stealth, another bugbear) are quite good about accepting WE kids, and usually good about ramps and such; sorting offices, on the other hand, are just teh gay, as 733t peeps say.
lol. Academies. Oh yes. That whole “sponsorshit” approach (hm? Oh, yes, I meant “sponsorship”) just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. There seems to me to be an identity problem with them that makes it doubtful that this particular “initiative” simply won’t last.
The gay sorting orifices… I really shouldn’t go there, should I? I wouldn’t mind working in a Post Office now mind, as long I get to tell West Life they’re a bunch of ugly, tone-deaf tossers 😉
I have a particular problem with private provision of public goods. It leaves me worried and suspicious, tbh. Not to mention the King’s Academy, of Reg Vardy and Creationism fame; even solidly evangelical CofE schools (bizarre concept, evangelical Anglicans, but they do exist) teach that Genesis is figurative. They exacerbate the very problems they were meant to solve, and if nobody saw that coming, that’s even more worrisome.
Hehehe…
Ah, yes — King’s Academy. Everyone seen as equal in the sight of God etc. Except for Darwin. A perfect (and local) example of just how tragic and fundamentally (pun intended) dangerous the academy system can get.
*dons his favourite Andy vest* Yeah, I know 😉
And except for “problem” pupils – the exclusion rate at King’s was 10 times higher than the national average during its first year. So much for helping struggling communities.
I don’t like it </Andy>
Ten times higher?… Didn’t know that, Mike. Thanks. It’s given me yet another idea for the “nov”. 😉
Higher, even.
http://education.guardian.co.uk/schools/story/0,5500,1268254,00.html
Jesus Christ *rolls eyes*
Well, if ever you need the inside scoop…
Ooo, sounds intriguing… spill. 😉
Well, you’ll have to give me a specific area… And it’s not so interesting as all that, tbh
Oh. I won’t bother then 😉
Education is seldom interesting or educational.
lol… well I know what you mean, but given the theme of my next nov, I’m hoping I can disprove it 🙂
I wish that had been a quotation, but unfortunately it was just me. Alas, alack and infamy.