I originally posted a version of this blog back in January 2017. A number of debates about teaching methods - especially the value or otherwise of PowerPoint - have led me to revisit and update it. You can find the original post here.
This blog is a reflection upon a conversation with Fred, a friend we got to know through church when we lived in Idle. Fred is well into his eighties and his health is beginning to fail him. However he still has a mischievous twinkle in his eye and absolutely loves to have company. Thankfully he is seldom short of it. People from all over seem to come and visit Fred and he can talk on a stunningly wide range of subjects. This is probably because, in his time, he has worked as a craftsman, a joiner, a coffin maker, a press photographer and a middle school teacher.
Fred lives on the edge of Bradford in a house which looks like it has never left the 1960s. His hallway overflows with fishing paraphernalia, whilst his attic houses a fully functioning dark room: bottles, trays and developing tanks, all meticulously organised into a careful workflow.
The real joy however is Fred's garden. He told us once that his mother helped him fall in love with gardening at the age of five. His garden therefore is a testament to eighty years of gardening knowledge and understanding: a labyrinthine maze of potatoes and carrots, towering sweetcorn, gnarled apple and pear trees, raspberry canes, ripe tomatoes, and juicy strawberries. My daughter loves exploring there in the summer, and so do I.
Fred lives on the edge of Bradford in a house which looks like it has never left the 1960s. His hallway overflows with fishing paraphernalia, whilst his attic houses a fully functioning dark room: bottles, trays and developing tanks, all meticulously organised into a careful workflow.
The real joy however is Fred's garden. He told us once that his mother helped him fall in love with gardening at the age of five. His garden therefore is a testament to eighty years of gardening knowledge and understanding: a labyrinthine maze of potatoes and carrots, towering sweetcorn, gnarled apple and pear trees, raspberry canes, ripe tomatoes, and juicy strawberries. My daughter loves exploring there in the summer, and so do I.
Just before our daughter was born, back in 2016, my wife and I were invited to join Fred for lunch. At this point, my wife already knew Fred quite well, however this was the first time I had really spent time getting to know him.
Before she became a vicar, my wife had been a primary school teacher, and of course I was in my first year of running a PGCE course. Our discussion that day therefore turned quite quickly to teaching. And so it was that we ended up talking about Fred's "remedial class" over a mid-week discount carvery at the local pub. This is a story about that meal.
Before she became a vicar, my wife had been a primary school teacher, and of course I was in my first year of running a PGCE course. Our discussion that day therefore turned quite quickly to teaching. And so it was that we ended up talking about Fred's "remedial class" over a mid-week discount carvery at the local pub. This is a story about that meal.
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