"I never let my schooling interfere with my education", the brilliant Mark Twain said.  I have decided, after a lifetime of teaching, that school is the antithesis of education - as you can guess from my blog name - and a lot of my blog will be putting my case forward - with a good deal of humour and anecdotes.

The derivation of the words school and education deserve to be re-visited. School derives from the ancient Greek word skhole, meaning 'leisure', and educate from the Latin 'to elicit or draw out'.  How far we have come from their original meanings. Leonardo da Vinci said "You really cannot teach anyone anything; you can only draw out what is already there".  What a shame he isn't alive today and Secretary of State for Education.

When teachers are asked "Why did you become a teacher?" they usually answer that they want to help young people learn, which is a noble ideal.  I have to say that my motivation for teaching was both that and because I selfishly derived a huge amount of enjoyment from the job, almost always because of the students.  I occasionally, after some hilarity, would say to a class: "Why should I pay for expensive West End shows when I get paid to come here and be entertained by you?" They were never sure whether that was a compliment or a patronizing insult.

They are my thoughts for today.  Speak to you next weekend.