‘If you can read this, thank a teacher.’
So the slogan goes but I’m not so sure whom I should be thanking. To find our more go to Articles and scroll down to ‘We don’t need no education!’
Most of us acknowledge inspirational teaching and films such as The Prime of Miss Brodie and Educating Rita brilliantly explore this idea. Inspirational training also exists and yet receives little acknowledgement. The Nuts and Bolts of Vocational Training and Assessment is dedicated to the vocational trainers who’ve inspired me so, Anne, Bill and Peter – maybe one day there’ll be a film made about what you do to inspire your learners!
Following my last post there’s been a good response, so thanks to those who have shared their points of view.
What’s been said so far, is the belief that attempts to regulate television news plays into the terrorist’s hands and may lead to restriction of our civil liberties. On the other hand there’s also concern that by giving undue coverage to terrorist atrocities, we equally play into their hands by disrupting our normal activities and encouraging copy-cat behaviour.
I’ve collected some of these misgivings into a Code of Practice for Television News where you can see what we’ve arrived at so far.
It’s commonly believed that astronauts on the space station are weightless because of the absence of gravity, yet the pull of gravity on the space station is virtually the same as here on Earth.
In this YouTube clip, Dr Derek Muller gives a very clear and entertaining explanation of the real reasons why astronauts float in space.
Click on Common Misconceptions to see other things that are often misunderstood.
In the forthcoming general election you may be finding the constant repetition of campaign slogans is making it difficult to decide which side to chose. The nuts and bolts approach is stick to basics and so your first reaction to the following scenario may reveal where your unconscious sympathies lie.
Cast your mind back to the days of sailing ships and you learn that a mutiny has taken place at sea. Following news of the mutiny, before you know any of the facts, who is it your first instinct to blame:
Give the question a moment’s thought then continue to Random Thoughts and let’s see if it has helped to make up your mind.
I recently attended couple of short presentations and because the presenter was clearly new to the game, I won’t make a big issue of the self-indulgent mannerisms that detracted from what was otherwise a worthwhile experience.
However, it’s not a good idea to muse out loud, continually ask for a show of hands (for no apparent reason) or try to ingratiate yourself with the audience by the use of feeble jokes
What really drives me to write this post is that both presentations started well before the advertised time and that’s a massive No – No!
Click on The Training Charter to learn more about presentation techniques.
There’s a grammatical equivalent to Banksy in Bristol, using his ‘apostrophiser’ to correct this common error.
We need more characters like this!
The Naked Vocational Trainer 