Little Storping-in-the-Swuff

The first state funded report on Steiner education was published today. Written by UWE’s Philip Woods it encourages the sharing of ideas between Steiner schools and mainstream education.

Steiner schools teach project blocks (”main lessons”) such as farming, building, or ancient Greece and to motivate learning geography, history, maths and English. Academic subjects are studied in the morning when the brain is most effective, and sports or crafts in the afternoon. State schools teach discrete subject content specified nationally in a document that makes little reference to developing the “whole child”, and would benefit from a more holistic approach. Too much emphasis on skills and tests and spoon fed content can marginalise the development of a desire for knowledge. Steiner schools, as the report says, could benefit from better management and teacher training.

Unfortunately Steiner schools have maintained a purist attitude to anthroposophy, the spiritual philosophy of Rudolf Steiner. Steiner was a prolific author with an interest in mysticism and the occult. He believed himself to be a psychic. So it’s often the anthroposophy that alienates people: many parents don’t want their children taught by teachers whose training includes reincarnation and karma. Yet where some of the ideas are sound, must they be shrouded in a cosmic mist? Anthroposophists do themselves little favour (and earn enemies) when they refuse to engage with those of a more sceptical bent.

There’s a new state funded Steiner City Academy being built in Gloucestershire. When I’ve talked to those involved in Steiner schools they’ve been concerned that the anthroposophical underpinning might be diluted. Perhaps a school which “compromises” on Steiner’s principles won’t be a Steiner school as far as they are concerned. For the rest of us, simply because some of Steiner’s ideas are unacceptable, we shouldn’t ignore this well developed alternative educational system. The result may be a distinct new school system. Good. The report is overdue.

(…well, just after). At a private view last night, during the course of a wide ranging conversation on learning and understanding, the subject of quantum mechanics came up as an example of where abstract mathematical concepts can help us describe things we otherwise couldn’t.

I’m never unwise enough to get onto quantum mechanics unless I’ve got a drink in my hand. My interlocutor’s (tongue in cheek) opinion on quantum mechanics was “it’s bollocks” - if it can’t be described by Newtonian physics she refuses believe it’s true… And I could recall too little of the evidence to be able to persuade her.

I wonder if it’s possible to come up with a dinner-party-simple answer to this. I’ll post anything I come up with - but if anyone gets there first please post it in the comments - I’ll be very relieved! Anyone got a simple description of the Stern-Gerlach experiment?

Maths is (still…) in crisis, according to a new report by Tony Gardiner of Birmingham University who calls for a national debate on how to rescue it.

Meanwhile the Hefce has reported there is no need to act to prevent declining numbers in maths and science leading to University departments closing.

Doing nothing is not an option. This crisis is not going away, it’s getting worse. Having a debate is all very well, but changes at secondary level will take years to affect universities. We already had the excellent Smith Report - now let’s have some action!

It appears that one of the reasons the iPod is so popular is that it allows users to shut out the world and that therefore the long rumoured iTunes phone will not be a hit amongst the Pod community. But how do we know this?

Because Dr Michael Bull of the University of Sussex has made it his job to study the iPod and its users… and he is now the world’s leading expert on the social impact of these sublime devices.

Last night’s globalisation rom-com may be, as CNN put it ‘the best romantic comedy set at a G-8 summit you’re ever likely to see.’ But it was also the best thing Richard Curtis has written in a long while, bringing together the Comic Relief co-founder’s long standing commitment in irradicating poverty with his line in humourous tales of awkward-but-likeable British romatic misfits.

Whilst the plot itself may have merely been a container for a series of devastating statistics about African poverty, Bill Nighy and Kelly MacDonald gave outstanding performances as a lonely and overworked civil servant and a shy, quiet girl he shares a table with in a Whitehall cafe. David Yates (who directed both leads in the fantastic State of Play) creates plenty of Lost in Translation style hotel awkwardness, and it’s beautifully shot, with the stunning Icelandic scenery emphasising the loneliness of the leads.

In this resolutely British TV movie (broadcast on both sides of the Atlantic) Curtis has restrained his usual tendency towards the syrupy, not only allowing his trademark dialogue to sparkle, but also paring down the politics to a simple question of priorities. Whilst it can’t resist preaching, the film doesn’t provide easy answers - it puts the difficult questions without the usual cliches, recognising the good intentions of our politicians and the damage caused by simplistic anti-globalisation rhetoric.

Quietly, and insistently, the girl in the cafe reminds us, and the politicians, that these issues are too important to compromise and refuses to allow us to ignore the opportunity with which we are being presented.

This would have to be, in my opinion, the best work space in the world.

At midnight last night I returned from a 36 hour round trip to Keith for a funeral. A sad purpose for visiting a beautiful area and during lovely weather too. I am now absolutely exhausted, despite oversleeping and being late for work, and dozing through the entire day, and my only desire is to get some sleep. Except that the sudden storm which broke this unpleasantly hot and humid weather has brought all the frogs out, and there are loads of them!

So I spent a while trying to get a picture of one (they’re still tiny!) and with the help of a very neat utility called photon I can now export pictures from iPhoto directly to the blog. So here is one of the many new froglets that are hopping around me now as I sit here in the garden writing:

Right, I’m off to snooze…

This may seem very picky, but this review of Scrubs Season 1 DVD (out on Monday) caused me to pause, and think - shouldn’t I buy the NTSC version of this set? Which format is superior is a matter of debate, but I’ve gone to some trouble to ensure my DVD player and iBook will cope with Region 1 discs, and Scrubs is made for American TV. A PAL version would inevitably mean a transfer so surely getting the NTSC version would ensure the best possible quality on suitable equipment (even if the difference is barely noticable) and could certainly be no worse than the PAL version - unlike with films, where I prefer to buy PAL.

This may seem absurd, and I’ve already bought PAL versions of several American series and I don’t notice the difference (in fact also NTSC versions of British series - shamefully Monty Python isn’t available over here) but now having made this observation, I’m not sure I can bring myself to buy the UK release of Scrubs.

In case you’re wondering, I’m a Virgo and a Mathematician - a perfectionist and a pedant.

This frightening Guardian article on the horrors of software patents gets bonus points for its references to the wonderful Les Miserables, and for the use of the word bollixing (which means what, exactly?)

Hurrah! Doing a little light weeding as the evening became cooler I disturbed a frog. This is the first time I’ve met one outside of the pond, the first one I’ve seen with no tail, in short the first adult. Look out you slugs and snails! Quite why they’ve chosen the hottest weekend of the year to emerge from the cool of the water I’m not sure. Such is the perversity of nature.