Lighting fires


“What nobler employment, or more valuable to the state, than that of the man who


instructs the rising generation.” Marcus Tullius Cicero


“Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life, those the art of living well.”


Aristotle


“A schoolmaster should have an atmosphere of awe, and walk wonderingly, as if he was amazed at being himself.”


Newton D Baker


“One good teacher in a lifetime may sometimes change a delinquent into a solid citizen.”


Philip Wylie in time travel What often comes as a surprise however – even


to many physicists – is that it has been known for half a century that General Relativity also allows for time travel into the past under certain special conditions. The reason why most scientists do not believe


that travelling back to the past is possible in practice is because of the many mind-boggling paradoxes it throws up. For example, what if you were to go back in


time, to last year say, and kill your younger self. What happens then? Do you suddenly pop out of existence as the younger you slumps to the ground? After all, the older you cannot now have existed. But if you died last year, who killed you? It seems you are unable to kill yourself because


you must survive the assassination attempt to become the assassin. While a little morbid, this well known paradox is always a big hit with school children. What you have to remember about time travel


to the past is that you are allowed to meddle with history as long as things turn out the way they do. You cannot change the past. Of course this paradox does not imply that time


travel into the past is forbidden, just that there are certain rules associated with it. So what is all the fuss about? Time travel to the


future has been done and time travel to the past, while difficult, is not yet ruled out by theory. What are we waiting for? Why have not we built


a time machine yet? The problem is that, apart from it being


exceedingly difficult to create what are known as closed time-like curves in space-time (like a “loop- the-loop” on a rollercoaster that takes you through space and time back to the point you started – before you left), we do not completely understand the nature of time mathematically. For now, the best arguments we can come up


with to rule out the possibility of time loops is a very feeble one: it is to ask why we have not been visited yet by any time travellers from the future. If future generations ever succeed in building a time machine then surely there will be many who would wish to visit the early 21st century.


constraints of having to teach the science curriculum at school, enthusing pupils with some of the more exotic ideas in physics is, I believe, vital in keeping alive their interest in science in general


‘ SecEd • July 1 2010 ’ Of course it may be that time travellers from


the future are indeed among us but simply choose to keep a low profile. But here are a few (slightly) more sensible reasons. Maybe time machines are invented and people


use them to travel back to our time, but it turns out that another idea, taken seriously by many theoretical physicists – that our universe is just one of an infinite number of parallel universes – is correct. In that case, time travel to the past slides the traveller into a parallel world. There are so many of these parallel realities that our universe is just not one of the lucky few that have been visited. In any case, if we ever do succeed in building


a time machine then it turns out that it would only take us as far back as the moment it was switched on (because of the way it would hook up space and time). So we see no time travellers from the future because time machines have not been invented yet. The most likely answer of all is that time travel


to the past is forbidden by some as yet undiscovered laws of physics. Theoretical physicists are looking at a new theory that goes beyond General Relativity and which explains why time loops are forbidden. We already have a possible candidate for such


a theory, know as string theory, but this is not yet properly understood or even confirmed as correct. A big hope is that some new particle or particles


will be discovered at the Large Hadron Collider, the particle accelerator at CERN in Switzerland, and that this discovery will confirm or rule out certain competing mathematical theories, and hopefully give us a definitive answer on time travel. If I were a betting man I would say that time


travel to the past will be shown to be impossible even in theory. Getting to the future, on the other hand, just


requires building a fast enough rocket. Beware though that if you reach the future,


there is (probably) no coming back if you decide you don’t like it there.


SecEd


• Professor Jim Al-Khalili is a scientist, author and broadcaster based at the University of Surrey where he holds a dual chair in theoretical physics and in the public engagement in science.


A serious point, however, is that amid all the


There has been considerable debate recently about the patriotism that emerges each time a World Cup rolls around, with a suggestion that it is executed according to a plan created by marketing and advertising executives. We wave our flags, don our shirts and paint our faces, but return rather swiftly to pre-tournament apathy when England crash out. As we have watched England play, we have


been united in our hope and belief in the young men who are carrying the flag for our country, and this cannot be a bad thing, no matter how thoroughly it is orchestrated or manipulated behind the scenes. At our local supermarket, on the


day of England’s first match, people were talking to each other. There was plenty of pride in respective homeland teams, but they were also supporting England because they live here. The spirit was contagious, and it opened up the channels of communication. What’s more, many of the


shoppers had come armed with recipes to try from other World Cup nations – Argentinian empanadas, Portuguese custard tarts, Ivory Coast chicken – suggesting an interest in and tolerance of other cultures. Perhaps it is a simple game of


football that is inspiring this, with the machinations of big corporations behind it all, but it is a fantastic opportunity to open up the minds of the Brits and put the BNP-style fallacies straight to bed. This is clear evidence that you can support your country and pledge allegiance to another country; clear evidence that you can be English and embrace the cultural differences of other nations. A recent survey from The Telegraph found


England to be the least patriotic country in Europe, with just one in three British people aware of the date of St George’s Day. One reason for the lack of patriotism, highlighted by the survey, was the fear of appearing racist – no doubt because organisations like the BNP have made the flag a symbol of racist leanings. However, I firmly believe that we should encourage patriotism to battle racism rather than let it become an emblem for it. The thing is that patriotism has a huge role to


play in the lives of our students. Patriotism involves pride and a sense of belonging (which can be largely


“Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and


annoys the pig.” Anonymous Got a quote? Email editor@sec-ed.co.uk


The value of patriotism Psycho babble


absent in the lives of our youths, who turn to gangs and risky behaviours to feel a part of something); it involves a healthy love and respect for our homeland, whether it is our homeland by birth or adoption, and to its people, traditions and principles. It involves a commitment to protect our homeland – I’m not thinking about war here, but of a collective wish to work with other citizens to make it better. Being patriotic means being part of a team. Today’s youth will inherit this nation in the future,


and if they do not now become involved in making it better, if they do not have any incentive to celebrate and protect is values and traditions, if they do not feel pride in being a part of something great, they may not receive a nation worth inheriting. Patriotism encourages us to think


about how our country came about, and the toil and sacrifice upon which the nation was built. It pushes us to realise that there are many types of people and many different cultures that have come together to make our country what it is. So, please, ask your students


what this country means to them, and how they can be a part of building its future. Ask them what being patriotic means, and why and how it is possible to love and support more than one nation. Ask them how flying the flag of the country in which they


live can be considered racism. These are questions that need to be asked in order to open the minds of our students to the idea that patriotism is a positive value; it’s not a call to


war; it’s not a racist or exclusive sentiment; it’s a celebration of who we are, what we have achieved and what we can be together. The World Cup has given us a reason to wave the


flag and sign up for our country once again, and it’s a fantastic idea for educators to use it as a starting point to instill patriotism in the future “holders” of our country. Use it to celebrate the differences that can exist under a single banner, the idea that coming together in celebration encourages the community and national spirit that has too often been missing. Next term, I’m going to look in detail at exciting ways to stamp out racism and encourage tolerance.


• Karen Sullivan is a bestselling author, psychologist and childcare expert. Email KESullivan@aol.com


9


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16