At the chalkface
News
Reasons to be cheerful
“AS IAN looked up, Tucker hit lid, a pedagogical tactic somewhat
him hard, sending him flying akin to kicking in the tele. Sam
across the room. Fellow pupils Morgan hinted at my imminent
Green careers are cool!
looked on in disbelief as the extinction but only caned me for
school’s high-profile cripple lay nicking light bulbs from the train.
writhing on the floor.” Fair cop, I suppose. And, yes,
A Dickensian nightmare? An prefects hit me with plimsolls for
by Emma Lee-Potter
see what society is doing about it
or what they could do to make a
inner city horror show? No. My laughing in assembly. These things change,” explained Tim Smit, chief
old school in 1958 – the RGS seemed to come with the territory. From installing solar panels to executive of the Eden Project.
High Wycombe. Moreover, they seemed to work. finding new sites for wind farms, “Eden has launched this ini-
Ian was Ian Dury, a disabled They saved our academic bacon a growing number of people are tiative because we want to show
child. Tucker was – off we clever clogs choosing careers that make a that careers don’t always follow a
Edmund Tucker, a trotted to Oxbridge. positive impact on the planet. prescribed pattern and that a huge
demon headmaster. They were no doubt Now the Eden Project has range of experiences go into mak-
“Doer-ree!” he had well intentioned, but launched Real Cool Futures, a new ing an effective professional and
yelled, before rendering are now increasingly interactive website to help second- that a sustainable future is theirs
Dury unconscious. troubling. Was all this ary pupils learn about the range of to make.”
A grim episode academic excellence green careers available in today’s Meanwhile, Lucy Parker, chair
from the excellent new predicated on this tawdry world. of the DCSF’s Talent and Enterprise
biography of Ian Dury by repression? This contempt Although many youngsters are Task Force, said: “There has never
Will Birch. Dury’s time for childhood. This fear of concerned about climate change been a more important time to help
at the school was “pure the imagination. This hurting and the environment, they are often young people build skills aligned
unmitigated hell”. of the weak? unsure about how they can use their with their talents to enable them to
He was humiliated “Horrendous!” said Dury, talents and skills to make a positive pursue, or even create, a fulfilling
by staff and bullied and “But I beat ‘em.” contribution. and ethically responsible career.”
beaten by prefects. A He did. I saw him with the Funded by the Department for To mark the launch of the web-
polio victim with a calliper. Blockheads 20 years later. The Children, Schools and Families site, Real Cool Futures is running
Hit with sticks. At 15, he boy on the playground in all his (DCSF), the website features careers a competition to win an expenses-
legged it back home. pomp. He was magnificent – and information, teaching resources, paid trip to the Eden Project for a
I didn’t know. I recall him, still scary. What redemption! What and nearly 100 case studies of peo- school class.
two years older than me, slowly revenge on all those nasty bullies. ple with green jobs. More details are available in
crossing the playground. I never “Hit me with your rhythm The case studies include a law- the teachers and careers advisors’
spoke to him. He was very scary. stick!” Ha! Ha! And what a yer working in the renewable ener- section of the website. Visit www.
He was a very naughty boy. I look revenge on a pernicious system, gy and low-carbon sector, a wild
realcoolfutures.com
him up on the school photo 1958. which some people still crave. food forager, a tree planter, and the
There he is, standing behind Moan Well, thank goodness it’s gone. owner of an ethical surf clothing
Pattinson of Maths. He’s got the Thank goodness for modern teach- company.
Gene Vincent quiff. A wrong ‘un. ers. It takes courage not to fall back Although the Eden Project is
And wrong ‘uns weren’t tolerated. on those brute rituals. Teachers an educational charity and wel-
Was the place really this bad? these days are better than that. comes more than 40,000 school
Well, not for me. I was a goody Kinder and gentler and braver. pupils to its global gardens near
two shoes. Most of my teachers Reasons to be cheerful indeed. St Austell, Cornwall, every year,
were kind. Only a few were mani- Real Cool Futures is its first online Going green: An education
acs. “Hosh” Johnson bounced a • Ian Whitwham is a former initiative for secondary schools programme at the Eden Project,
board duster on my bonce. I’ve teacher. A book of his best ever across the UK. which has now launched the
still got the scars. “Chunk” Jones columns is out now. For details, “Many young people are con- Real Cool Futures website to
bashed my head in with the desk email
editor@sec-ed.co.uk cerned about our impact on the cli- encourage students to consider
mate and the environment, but can’t green careers
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16 SecEd • March 11 2010
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