Category Archives: Education

Education, Government, Scotland, Society

The importance of libraries and our need to rely on them

LIFELONG LEARNING

Library

Public libraries are places for educational and lifelong learning.

Reading is one of life’s great pleasures. Not much comes near the feeling of being engrossed in the pages of a book, growing to love and loathe the characters and becoming familiar with fictional worlds. Often, the difference between fiction and reality is wafer thin.

For some, reading for pleasure involves non-fiction to learn about people, places and subjects, whether it’s sport, hobbies, history, travel, science or study and business-related material.

There is a unique and idiosyncratic joy that comes from reaching the closing chapter and pages of a great book – and sometimes a momentary sadness that our journey into the world of imagination and learning created by the book’s author has come to an end.

Reading for pleasure is one of our nation’s favourite pastimes, but it also has a very important role to play in educational development and the health and wellbeing of individuals and society.

There is a growing body of evidence that demonstrates the positive impact of reading for pleasure on literacy and attainment, as well as on our emotional wellbeing. Reading also manifests itself by allowing people to experience other cultures and faiths and to develop an understanding, empathy and appreciation of different beliefs and values.

It should go without saying, but literacy is a fundamental and lifelong skill. The nation always needs a population that is ably literate and educated. The ability to read improves chances of employment and leads to better health and higher levels of wellbeing. It also helps people to comprehend and ask questions that otherwise would be missing.

But, for reading to become a lifelong habit, it must be encouraged from a young age and promoted as an enjoyable activity.

Libraries, of course, are not alone in promoting literacy, but they do have a distinct role as a local space where people of all ages and backgrounds can come to explore, learn and discover.

In Scotland, the Scottish Government is currently developing a cultural strategy, with core themes emerging around access, equality and excellence. The library sector will have a significant contribution to make to this discussion for the role libraries play in supporting lifelong learning, skills and appreciation of culture. Libraries across Scotland promote a range of reading displays – with often new books on offer – and the importance of reading for pleasure is recognised at a national level too.

Libraries are also running the Tesco Bank Summer Reading Challenge Scotland. Coordinated by The Reading Agency, the initiative encourages children aged 4-11 to read at least six books over the summer holiday period. Book Week Scotland, an annual celebration of books and reading for readers of all ages, encourages adults and children alike to enjoy the pleasure of reading through library, school, community and workplace events.

In 2016, more than 17 million books were loaned from Scotland’s public libraries, more than six million of these borrowed by children.

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Education, Government, Society

Geography not given enough prominence in state education

– Improving skills in ­literacy and numeracy are vitally important components of school education. But it is wrong to assume that these can only be achieved by teaching English and Mathematics respectively. Many other subjects can and do teach these skills using real life examples

Intro: The school curriculum undervalues geography. But it is needed in understanding the world.

A vital part of school education is to improve skills in literacy and numeracy. They are important components in any school curriculum. But, it is surely wrong to assume that these can only be achieved by teaching English and Mathematics respectively. Many other subjects can and do teach these skills and are able to be taught using real life examples.

Geography is clearly one of these subjects. Being able to articulate orally and in writing one’s understanding of the world is one sure way of increasing literacy. Collecting, using and analysing information about the world increases numeracy rates, and gives them a good if not better grounding as citizens and future employees.

But geography is much more than this. Teachers, parents and educationalists should surely aspire to children having a greater understanding of their world: what is happening around them, analysing the causes and assessing solutions.

Through primary and secondary education, children should be taught to have a better understanding of our world’s complexities and how society interacts. For example, everyone should be taught about the cause and consequences of flooding, and what can be done to reduce the effects and moderate the causes.

Equally, too, all students should understand what is the best use of the land and sea for providing food, for giving a home for nature and to understand the devastating effects of climate change.

In these, and many other topics, geography provides students with an ability to discuss issues that directly impact on their lives. We should ask, then, why is it that knowledge-based learning is so out of fashion? Ones that contribute more to pupils’ learning experience and in acquiring key skills? And why are students being restricted in the choice of subjects later in secondary school?

There is a built-in assumption that English and Maths are vital, plus a science and a foreign language, so that subjects like history and geography are left out. But geography covers the sciences, both natural and social, and it teaches literacy and numeracy skills. But, it is most certainly undervalued in subject choice.

We now have an unsystematic approach to subject choice at the discretion of the local education authority or the head teacher. But who benefits from this approach? Certainly not the students or subjects like geography.

Let’s ensure children are learning key skills for their future lives and careers by those who have enthusiasm and great knowledge of their subjects.

Geography is a key-subject for all future citizens, as it opens the whole world to pupils’ perspective, improves their global view, and provides a context for learning numeracy and literacy. Geography is clearly one of the subjects of our time.

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Education, Puzzle, Science

Questions of Science: How do you build a time machine?

INTERNATIONAL DATE LINE?

idl

The International Date Line (IDL).

MOST READERS will have heard of the International Date Line (IDL), established as an irregular line, drawn by convention through the Pacific Ocean, substantially along the 180th meridian. IDL marks the place where the date changes.

Crossing the line from west to east, travellers gain a day and, conversely, lose a day traveling east to west.

The position of the IDL has been arbitrarily designated and is partly curved to accommodate eastern Siberia, then bulges westward again in order to avoid crossing land.

Let us now assume that a super-fast aircraft can take its passengers around the equator, circling the globe in six hours. Flying west to east it will cross the IDL four times in 24 hours and consequently lose four days. Starting, say, on March 18 it will land on March 14. Continuing the journey the passengers will go back into history, eventually reliving the birth of Jesus Christ. Traveling east to west they will travel into the future, giving them a decisive advantage in the lottery on one’s return.

Have I managed to build a time machine, or is there something wrong with this reasoning?

solution

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