Summary of Condition of Installation

This is the problem Z, and the strange thing is that it virtually didn't exist when I grew up. There was a huge difference in school then of course, we actually had books, and pencils and chalk and blackboards. The teacher could spell and speak properly, knew how to discipline disruptive pupils and we didn't have any computers or calculators, so had to learn to read and write, and even competed for the best marks in class. Now any competition is not allowed in case it shows that the mixed ability teaching doesn't work, all pupils must "pass" everything, sports must not have a winner etc. Some pupils did come out of school with better or worse EXAM results, but that is life and cannot be corrected by political maneuverings. Girls usually did better overall than boys, but that is a developmental effect, and equalised itself as everyone got a bit older. Around 10% of secondary pupils did have difficulties with reading and writing, and just about everything else, but the diagnosis was not that they should become rocket scientists, but that they should do what they could in society. Just look how Blairs' "University for 50%" has worked out, graduate pay is at the lowest level ever, and there is a huge shortage of staff at all levels, because there is no indicator of real ability available, "degree" or A level, or GCSE has very little meaning now because the standard for all exams (2391, 2382 etc) has fallen to a very low level. Getting 3 A grades at A level used to be very hard, a few percent achieving it, now 3 A* grades is 30% of candidates, were we all stupid back then?

My partner was a teacher in the "roughest" school in Bristol, yet she taught almost every pupil in the reception class to attend, behave, and begin to read, write, and add up, often even although the parents often could not do these things. They actually enjoyed coming to school because they were busy and involved, although they all got free school meals. They did not need pills for all manner of psychological disorders, or to have diagnoses which are now handed out with abandon. "Spectrum" applies to us all, but now is an excuse for everything, but good teaching can overcome nearly all difficulties. It is now in very short supply, see the first paragraph!

David Stone said:

Just look how Blairs' "University for 50%" has worked out

IIRC, the policy pre-dated Blair with the intention of fudging the unemployment statistics. Those extra 35% of school-leavers went to "uni" instead of the dole queue. The really clever bit was that they had to pay their own way too.

Then of course in order to provide the places, all manner of tertiary education institutes became universities. So for example, an aspiring cook took a degree in catering and then wondered where the graduate opportunities had gone. It was all a con.

I am not at all sure that things were better in our day: 50% of school-leavers had no exam qualifications - not even a single CSE.

It is not all doom and gloom now: the return of apprenticeships seems to be a good thing. Whether a T-level really is "equivalent to 3 A-levels" is another matter entirely.

Chris Pearson said:

IIRC, the policy pre-dated Blair with the intention of fudging the unemployment statistics. Those extra 35% of school-leavers went to "uni" instead of the dole queue. The really clever bit was that they had to pay their own way too.

Doesn't account for the number of people I know who had degrees before this time, with some of the characteristics we've been discussing.

David Stone said:

This is the problem Z, and the strange thing is that it virtually didn't exist when I grew up.

Newton wasn't aware of Eintein's work (as far as we know).

Well said Dave. I agree entirely (for once).

Z.

"Newton wasn't aware of Eintein's (sic) work (as far as we know)."

But it's all relative.

And they both had a good grasp of mathematics and were good communicators.

Z.

.But it's all relative, and I think that they both had a firm grasp on mathematics and language.

Z.

The forum site is broken and is playing silly ruggers.

Z.

Zoomup said:

.But it's all relative, and I think that they both had a firm grasp on mathematics and language.

Well, certainly Einstein thought it was relative, and Newton wrote his Principia Mathematica in academic Latin of the time. Newton was reportedly excellent at languages and grammar, and even invented his own languages and codes, as well as a new part of the language of mathematics.

Einstein was reportedly not good at Latin, and there are various snippets that he may not have been good at languages generally, although the truth of the matter may be something very different!

I think, though, perhaps both of these giants had excellent insights into the language of mathematics itself.

Zoomup said:

.But it's all relative, and I think that they both had a firm grasp on mathematics and language.

Well, certainly Einstein thought it was relative, and Newton wrote his Principia Mathematica in academic Latin of the time. Newton was reportedly excellent at languages and grammar, and even invented his own languages and codes, as well as a new part of the language of mathematics.

Einstein was reportedly not good at Latin, and there are various snippets that he may not have been good at languages generally, although the truth of the matter may be something very different!

I think, though, perhaps both of these giants had excellent insights into the language of mathematics itself.

He equals emcy squared as we says up norf

Einstein's German is a very easy read - rather like Feynmann's English, he communicates the key principles first, and then goes back to colour in so to speak, much as you would in a normal conversation.

Among German Academics of the period that is quite rare, Lorenz or Sommerfeld are both a lot harder going. It is his mother tongue, and the language in which most of his work is written.  I understand he studied French and Latin at school and never really enjoyed it, and also spoke some Italian that he picked up while there as a child.

He only took up English to any extent in his 50s when he moved to the States, and while he could get along in spoken English, he apparently relied heavily on secretarial staff to tidy things up if there was a document or letter or whatever which was especially important, sometimes even writing a German version as well to be translated  rather  than risk a mis-understanding.

I do not consider that unreasonably below par - I'd get someone to check my German, and probably also my English, if it was for a significant publication.

The key here is to know what you can and cannot do well, and behave accordingly so folk do not need to suffer the latter, especially if they are paying for it.

Mike

Or "eebygum emcy squared innit." As they say in Gilling East.

Z.