When Doug and Kath lived with me earlier this year for 7 months , Doug was very fond of the saying "after hope comes despair" and would invariably have a story ( usually embellished) to prove the truth of these words. For me hope is about the big things in life which make the present day tolerable and is filled with such high expectation that despair is the inevitable consequence when those hopes never eventuate so I prefer to live with anticipation. Anticipation allows you to enjoy the surprises and quirks of every day life but allows you to look forward to something in the future.It's a softer more compassionate form of hope.
A few weeks ago I got an email from Tonyandelinor in Brunei. "Hi MArg just letting you know a letter is on it's way." So anticipation of a lovely long letter starts to kick in. After about two weeks I actively start to wonder if today is the day I'll get my letter. Finally 3 weeks later the letter arrives. Now there's the ritual of reading it. ( so much more staisfying than reading an email) Do I read it now or shall I wait till later when I've got more time? No - now wins- but first make a cup of tea and a piece of toast, open the letter and try to make out tony and elinors scribbles. It's written in fountain pen and now I remember when Tom and I visited last year and Tony and I drove Elinor crazy when we spent what seemed like hours drooling over fountain pens in a wierd little shop on the border of sarawak and brunei. Finally we each chose one and several bottles of ancient parker pen ink. It's like being on holiday all over again. And what news? None essentially because there's not much to do ever in Brunei but I feel like I'm sittitng down chatting to them as I read. Now that's the joy of anticipation.
This week there's plenty to despair about. In July our esteemed government cut all the professional development funding for early childhood services. On the EVE of world teachers day they announced that it is no longer necessary for all early childhood teachers to be trained and registered and last week a small RFP slipped under the radar on a contracts website calling for proposals for universities and other providers to provide a training programme for early childhood teachers that would be only 6 weeks long. I hope my colleagues will rise up and take action and protest loudly - I anticipate that it will be hard to galvanise my colleagues into action - but I won't despair becuase I know that is always the case. I will just rant and rave in the staff room as I am known to do. I will write a letter and make everyone sign it. That's a start.
first Hope ..........
..................... now Despair ...................................
.. Aha ..Anticpation !!!
My balls of clay hold so much promise . After the first lesson I know I do not have the patience for this. However week 2 shows some signs of improvment. Don't worry you are all safe . No one will receive this as a gift for christmas. You have my word on it.
Have a fun filled week everyone. Marg
Oh Marg, how sucky is that!
ReplyDeleteOf course we know that anyone who is a parent can teach early childhood education anyway. Pa ha ha. Well that esteemed government has also cut all literacy education funding, because apparently if you can read, you can teach others how to do it too.
But you can bet your bottom dollar they will be sending their kids to the ECE centres with the highest qualified teachers....
On a happier note, I believe I'm getting your christmas present this year. I hope that's something positive to anticipate.
Love MAS x
ps have a better quote for you
ReplyDelete"hope returns when all hope is gone."
Hey cool, a pottery course. I'm impressed with progress so far- that bowl looks pretty good!
ReplyDeleteI'm dissapointed but not surprised that the government thinks it's not worth the bother to train EC teachers. I'll sign your letter.
PS. Word verification: Perils (Honestly!) That's some kind of sign, I'm sure of it.
Hi Marg
ReplyDeleteI love the concept of anticipation: when we expect things to happen they do! Serendipity has elbow room to work magic, and if we expect it we're never disappointed. So every time I walk down the path I'm reminded of Bilbo Baggins saying in The Hobbit what a dangerous and exciting place the front gate is. Why... because at that point we make a choice: left or right, and then depending on the luck or wisdom of the choice we encounter and hopefully process new experiences. These help us experience life fully.
Thanks for the heads up on the changes in early childhood education. What a disaster - 'specially not acknowledging that the formative years are crucial and set the tone! I'm always amazed though how many parents "sweat" the choice available in the Secondary system, again not realising that it's all over sweet rover, by then. Age 3 years and age 7 years seem to me to be critical points in time to aim for having sound concepts securely cemented in. Our New Zealand Government it seems does not have a grasp of this wisdom, and sense of investment. There is also the factor that too many consider themselves experts in education - simply because they went to school! Ego and the ensuing sense of separateness is so negative, and I'll wager, cyclical.
Keep up the good work - young minds and clay have things in common.
I guess too, no more parcels, but your post are sound and fun, so we can imagine them as weekly parcels eh!
Cheers
Donald
Those balls of clay lined up did indeed look very promising, like stars in a claymation movie about to become anything. It reminds me (without thinking particularly about your bowls which I thought were progressing nicely) of a line I read recently about the potential that lies in chaos. Anything can come out of it and once it's defined it becomes order, and limited.
ReplyDeleteAnticipation sounds like hope plus pragmatism which isn't a bad thing. The very best can happen, and it won't ever be like/go the way you expect.
Bad news on the early childhood education. So sorry.
ReplyDeleteI love what you said about anticipation. I call it "that christmas feeling." That feeling you got when you were a kid when you couldn't wait for christmas morning. I've been having that feeling lately even in between being stressed about other things.
I love to make a ritual out of letter reading too. A whole event. Tea and toast is a good combo for a letter reading.
I don't know, looks like you have a good start with the clay...