I was delighted to read in an article in last week’s TES that Tim Brighouse , former chief education officer of both Oxfordshire and Birmingham, had been knighted in the New year’s honours list.Those of you with a long political memory may remember that in 1994 (I think) the then Secretary of State for Education, John Patten, referred to Brighouse as a madman and a 'nutter'. Brighouse sued and won a substantial out of court settlement which he then donated to educational charities.
Sir Tim's greatness lay partly in the fact that he had belief and trust in teachers. He really put into practice the quotation from Michael McIntyre that I included in my 7 January post:
…there's
actually no alternative to reliance on trust -- and to rebuilding trust
where necessary -- […] in professional ideals and ethics.
The same TES article tells us that Bob Drew, the Headteacher of Gearies Infant School in Redbridge has been awarded an OBE. Bob is quoted in the article as saying that:
Teaching is about showing people how they can change their life.
This is a nice echo of the quotation from Alastair Clark in my previous post.
I find it really cheering that people who clearly believe in promoting real learning should feature in the honours list.
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