Greetings Noble Sir

by Nigel Flaxton

  I suppose the joint performance Rocky and I enjoyed most was in ‘The Happiest Days of Your Life’. We had both acted in a previous production, but this time we were Godfrey Pond, Headmaster of a Boys’ School and Miss Whitchurch, Headmistress of a Girls’ School inadvertently sent to share premises. In the film of the play the roles were acted by the unforgettable Alistair Sim and Margaret Rutherford.

  The first Head of Music at the Upper School produced an operetta entitled ‘Newcomer’ written and composed by her husband. Both were excellent musicians. The theme is the life of the individual and there were many parts for students with good voices. I was asked to take one part that was less appropriate for teenagers - that of ‘War’. I performed dressed in modern camouflage uniform with miniature Sergeant’s chevrons and a black beret, suitably angled and replete with cap badges. My experience of an RAF version obviously came in useful as I barked orders at characters miming a bayonet charge, One of the ladies who served school meals saw me at a rehearsal and suggested I should appear in my role and supervise the returned plate trolley in the dining hall. This was always a problem as students rushed out without stacking plates carefully. So I did - and really hammed the stentorious Sergeant. Apparently I was so successful many students were frightened to bring their plates to the trolley at all! For my part I had expected much leg pulling because I was so obviously overplaying.

  In ‘A Century of Education’ by Richard Aldrich et al. the point is made that during the hundred years the emphasis in education moved from teaching to learning. At nearly the halfway mark our Psychology course at St Andrews certainly homed in on child-centred learning. But much of the whole course was devoted to the practice of teaching - hence our weekly visits to schools and our periods of block practice underscored by our precious record books. The greatest catalyst for the change undoubtedly was the computer and allied technology. A classroom to-day is so different from my earliest ones by virtue of the learning equipment used by all individuals. The teacher now is far more a manager of learning resources than a didactic source of knowledge. The ‘Ole Country Boy behind the Norfolk reeds’ with his room full of Mac computers was in the vanguard, of course.

  The shift in emphasis was not welcomed by some teachers who felt the role in which they were safe was being undermined. I was not one of them. Whatever I know about the new technology I have learned from people often young enough to be my grandchildren. I am quite content to be treated by a young doctor provided he or she is a success.. I enjoyed some golf lessons from a young professional who was a former student. Teaching and learning roles depend on where the skills and knowledge lie that are to be transmitted. Age and or position should not affect the interchange.

  I can reminisce about my own schooldays and how I got information on any topic. The School library had many empty shelves but there were the complete volumes of the fourteenth edition of the ‘Encyclopaedia Britannica’ I mentioned earlier. These we used very extensively. However if we needed to read a particular book a visit to the local branch of the city’s library was necessary entailing a short walk from School or a cycle ride from home. If the book was not there a bus ride was required to visit the central library which was far more extensive. Either way the exercise took some hours, maybe days if a request had to be put in. Now I have a Kindle and can download a book in a matter of minutes.

  I am sufficiently romantic to revel in that. It shows how firmly education is in the hands of the learner to-day.

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