The tutorial could have gone better. I had gone into the tutorial with an idea of trying to get the students to talk as much as possible about their experiences of revision so that they can discuss together how they could improve their revision techniques. I managed to make it last the twenty minutes (further than some others had reported) but it became a little fragmented towards the end. The interview in front of the post-16 tutors and the student panel were more fun, and I felt I did well in those. I also did rather well in writing the reference, though I did not manage to finish within the twenty minutes (and I made the schoolboy error of forgetting to write my name on the paper…).

The final interview was also much more relaxed and comfortable than I had anticipated. They gave me scenarios of some things that could happen in the course of the job. I think I coped rather well.

However I did not get any of the jobs that were available. I did well to be in the shortlist of ten from the 111 that applied, but it seems in the end not having school experience was again my downfall: the other candidates apparently had been in positions of similar roles in other schools.

It’s unfortunate. They were quite clear and accepted that many of those applying want to get paid experience in a school in order to eventually become a teacher; and that any decision they would make would not be impacted by my desire to teach in the future. In my feedback I was told I would make a good teacher "without doubt", but it’s looking even further away now.

Many of the comments underneath the article casually state "it is not stealing; it is copyright infringement". They often compare taking a CD from a shop to downloading the same content from the Internet. It appears they hold the CD in much higher regard: in this instance it is stealing — they are taking a product permanently and from that point it cannot further be sold; whereas the content on the Internet is not stealing since the product still exists. Rubbish.

What is the difference between two lumps of plastic and bits of paper cunningly shaped and moulded to produce exactly the right noise and a collection of beeps and bumps that make the same noise? The CD is, after all, merely a copy of a song; no less so than the copy available for download. CDs can be replicated, as can digital media files. When you think that CDs cost little more than their electronic counterparts (if you look in the right places, granted), what is the difference between stealing a CD from HMV and downloading content without paying and sticking it on your own CD? Perhaps just a matter of pence.

However, downloading content to try it out is cited as being a motivating factor to buy further content. At the moment I am watching Skins episodes from 4OD — Channel 4’s On Demand service. I could be persuaded to buy a DVD of Skins and I might perhaps watch the next series of it on the television. Of course, I pay for it in the advertising I receive, and perhaps this is the way forward for on demand music downloads. Not sure I want Kris Marshall selling me BT phones in the middle of an album though…

Take this morning. I received an email from the TDA trying to persuade me to get into teaching. It has announced its new pay rises for newly qualified teachers. From £20,627 to £20,155 marks a whopping 2.45% pay increase. That is of course unless you happen to teach in London, where starting salaries rise from £24,168 to £25,000, making a rise of over 3.4%.

If people are so drawn to London, why do they have to give bigger pay rises to people that would otherwise be there in the first place?

Christianity — Seven Virtues

The seven virtues, as described at Wikipedia:

Chastity (opposes Lust)

Embracing of moral wholesomeness and achieving purity of body and thought through education and betterment.

Temperance (opposes Gluttony)

Practicing self-control, abstention, and moderation.

Charity (opposes Greed)

Generosity. Willingness to give. A nobility of thought or actions.

Diligence (opposes Sloth)

A zealous and careful nature in one’s actions and work. Decisive work ethic. Budgeting one’s time; monitoring one’s own activities to guard against laziness. Putting forth full concentration in one’s work.

Patience (opposes Wrath)

Forbearance and endurance through moderation. Resolving conflicts peacefully, as opposed to resorting to violence. The ability to forgive; to show mercy to sinners.

Kindness (opposes Envy)

Charity, compassion, friendship, and sympathy without prejudice and for its own sake.

Humility (opposes Pride)

Modest behavior, selflessness, and the giving of respect. Giving credit where credit is due; not unfairly glorifying one’s own self.

I feel I have somewhat unwittingly been trying to abide by these seven virtues. I am not claiming to be a saint — I can think of many examples where I have woefully let myself down in diligence and humility in particular — and being more aware of the virtues may help me improve as a person.

The clever thing about these seven virtues is that on considering each one in turn it is very easy to think of examples where you have let yourself down. As they counter the Seven Deadly Sins, the Seven Virtues also provide some remedy to counter such misdeeds. However, one curious thing to note is that neither the Seven Deadly Sins nor the Seven Virtues appear in the Bible in such a clearly defined way, rather religious figures later speculated on key sins used as a basis to identify wrongdoing.

Taoism — Three Treasures of the Tao

The Wikipedia entry describes the Three Treasures of Taoism in the various translations made over the course of the last few centuries.

ci

The literal translations of the Chinese character for ci are compassion, tenderness, love, mercy, kindness, gentleness, benevolence. It also represents a mother’s love, as it is the Classical Chinese term for mother.

jian

jian translates as frugality, moderation, economy, restraint, and to be sparing. In terms of ethics, it represents having simple desires.

Bugan wei tianxia xian

The third treasure, daring not be at the world’s front, is the Taoist way to avoid premature death. To be at the world’s front is to expose oneself, to render oneself vulnerable to the world’s destructive forces, while to remain behind and to be humble is to allow oneself time to fully ripen and bear fruit. This is a treasure whose secret spring is the fear of losing one’s life before one’s time. This fear of death, out of a love for life, is indeed the key to Taoist wisdom. (Ellen M. Chen, 1989:209)

The Three Treasures therefore seem to promote compassion, simplicity and modesty. I think these are more of an echo of how I approach life at the moment. I strive to show compassion to everyone; being charitable and giving, receptive and generous with time. I yearn for simplicity, being rather satisfied with life at the moment and being prepared for challenged. In terms of the quote from Chen for bugan wei tianxia xian, I do love life and I do fear death. I do not want to promote myself beyond my means and I am happy to be diligent and patient.

Conclusions

There are many other ideas I might have explored and probably will explore in the coming days: similar ideas are expressed in Buddhism, Islam and Hinduism, for example. These two immediately sprang to mind. Though it seems Taoism and Christianity are both indepedent and far removed from each other in its origins, its ethics are similar.

As Chris Crudelli mentions in Mind, Body and Kick Ass Miracles, the best way to stay alive is to avoid the sword. Living in a such way that helps and pleases people and imposes little on others in a negative way I hope will lengthen my life.

• All men are bastards. It is true. Except me of course.
• Friends are often the least interested in what you have to say. Perhaps it is because they already know what you are going to say. More likely they just get bored listening to you.
• You learn more about people by asking for something from them. Ask them the impossible. If they ignore the request or walk away, perhaps they aren’t such good friends. If they stay and talk; if they try to attain the impossible or at least try to talk their way out of it, at least you know they have thought about what you said.
• You might think you know someone inside out, but they will always have the capacity to surprise.
• There are always rewards out there if you try hard enough. They might not be huge financial rewards, but your achievements will be recognised.

Furthermore it has left me feeling extremely powerless. I don’t have the power to have people eating out of the palm of my hand, and I don’t want that power either. I am rather submissive in that respect: I much rather being told what to do rather than do the telling. It does lead me to rely solely on myself to get tasks done, which is no bad thing: I don’t need to trust someone else to get a job done. But it’s a rather lonely way to lead a life.

Friends, eh?!

I don’t see a generation out there who are lost or are hoodies, I don’t see the world like that, when I go around that’s not what I see.

I’ve taken a rather pessimistic view of sport in Britain, and that the Olympics will do little to change that. In my personal experience, sport is only pushed in the way of those that display early talent. And even then, only those that get personal attention early on have a chance of making it into the big time.

It was a gripe of mine that while at Borden Grammar, that despite years of concerns from teachers about lack of funding and teaching resources for academic studies, funding was made available for and spent on a huge astroturf pitch, a new pavilion (with impressive catering facilities) and an additional all-weather area for other sports. It felt like a betrayal, in part, that I spent time in a school supposedly encouraging academic excellence, which maintained a firm eye on improving the sports facilities. This wouldn’t have irked me so much had there not already been an astroturf pitch in Sittingbourne, and had the school not been surrounded by a park, a leisure centre, further field space and a local workers’ group recreation centre.

But despite this, during my time at university and at school, I’ve found that time is invested in you only if you are a marketable asset. If you can represent the school or university at a competitive level, you are open to all sorts of time investiture, financial investment and perks. I never felt welcome at football or cricket trials at school and was never really encouraged at all during that time. At university, participating in any sort of sporting activity requires money (and a substantial amount): that is, of course, unless you show any sort of finesse. In which case, you are not only treated to free gym membership and use of all the university’s sporting facilities (and I dare say priority in obtaining them), you are also privy to free personal attention, performance monitoring and any advice they can spare (see the CPRS site).

In essence, sport is for those that have the time invested in them. This is the kind of thing Lord Coe sees. If you have been able to build on early talent, you will never see a locked door. If you are like me and want to get into sport, I hear tiddlywinks is quite affordable.

Beforehand I had been working on some freelance work. It isn’t all that easy. I had been hoping to get it done fairly quickly but the intricacies in the detail are quite amazing. I am, in fact, surprised by the additional research I’ve had to do to get the results that are required. That’ll teach me!

The final thing that affected me this week was being called a coward. It was meant in a light-hearted way and I don’t think there was too much meaning behind it, but it did get me thinking. It followed me saying how I now crave a simple and quiet life: to settle down and knuckle down. I don’t want to be under undue pressure and I don’t want to be in a job that no-one else gives two hoots about. I think I’m in the right, but does it make me a coward?

I wasn’t unhappy with eUKhost — in fact what they offer on their cheapest package would probably have sufficed for me — but there was always a nagging doubt about them in my mind. Media Temple certainly seem more professional.

So that is why geoffbrady.net has been up and down these past couple of days.