Has the World Education System failed me?
My personal observations, following my story, “Are World Education Systems Failing?”, posted yesterday.
I lived and was brought up in a small South Wales hamlet of some 200 souls. If readers know anything about Wales, they will appreciate how closed such a small community can be. Everyone gossips about everyone else, behind their backs. It’s a defence mechanism in a country that has been subjugated by England for centuries. Gossiping is the Welsh way that relieves that tension. And the English cannot stop it.
I had previously been at a larger primary school in Bridgend, some 5 miles away. My stay there was for only about 4 months. I can’t recollect much about my short time there, other than being told by a teacher that we should keep away from the older boys. The reasoning for that instruction was not clear to me at the time. I could only guess, much later, that it was because there had been reports of sexual harassment.
In any case, my parents decided that they would transfer me to the smaller and more protective school of St. Brides Major. The parents of my best friend, Johnny Illsley, must have thought the same. Johnny was sent directly to St Brides as soon as he was of age to join the infants class.
You can read how that friendship developed and how he inherited his grandfather’s wealth and power in my true story, “The True Story of a Welsh Godfather”.
Like in Thai society, you are taught from an early age to accept what your elders, teachers, and “betters” say. Being a Church school, St Brides did not teach comparative religions or alternative theories of evolution. But it did not suppress thinking or questioning. Life in the school was basic, no frills or comforts.
Bridgend Boys’ Grammar School could not have been more different. 600 boys, 15 university graduate teachers, two with masters degrees and one with a doctorate. All teaching their own specialist subject, all wearing their academic robes. Discipline was strict and there wasn’t the friendly family atmosphere of St Brides School, where there were only three classrooms, and four teachers, Boss Williams, his wife, and two others. It was like moving to another planet. But it was strong on giving pupils knowledge and encouraging them to discover, think, debate, and question.
At 18, I went to the University of Wolverhampton to read for an honours degree in Business and Management. Although the main subjects were Economics, Accounting, and Law, we were grounded in sociology of business, logic, scientific method, marketing, and several other relevant subjects.
One term in each year was spent, in an industrial or commercial company, putting into practice what we had learned in class. We were treated like adults. The professors and lecturers prefaced our names with Mister or Miss!
It now has several campuses, but in my day, much teaching was done in rented accommodation because of lack of space in the main building. Not ideal, as you miss a lot by not socialising and integrating with students from other countries and academic disciplines.
Because it was not a campus university, most of us lodged at an ex-prisoner of war camp some 5 miles away. There was a bar, a TV room, and a dance hall, but not much else. Many students went home for weekends.
It’s one claim to fame, or notoriety, was that Sir Anthony Blunt, the Russian spy, had taught there when it was a teacher training college for Malaysian students!
I well remember my first night at Brinsford. I turned the radio on, and this song was playing. Type this link into your browser window.
(5055) The Animals — We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (Live, 1965) UPGRADE ♫♥ — YouTube
My formal education ended with a doctorate at the University of Lancaster. My specialism was social anthropology. After retiring to Thailand, I was able to augment my research with first-hand observations and conversations with Thais, ranging from the poor to the wealthy and powerful, from workers in the rice fields and construction sites to the captains of industry. In a very real sense, I had graduated to the University of Life.
You can read many of my published books on Amazon and on a website called Books2Read. This is the link which will take you to details of each book and how you can purchase a copy. https://books2read.com/Matt Owens Rees/
I also publish short stories, such as this one, on Substack.com and on my website, www.MattOwensRees.com
