I'm going back... back to the future

When I started work at Jordanhill twenty-one and a half years ago, I turned up on the date specified on my letter to discover the rest of the academic staff were still on holiday. I had to wait a few days until there was a staff meeting before I met my new colleagues. Except, at this meeting, one of my new colleagues was retiring. To my shame, I don't remember his name, but I do remember his retirement speech.

Last day in my old office at Jordanhill,
a photo by DavidDMuir on Flickr.

He loved film and so he talked about The Wizard Of Oz. He said that, as he looked back on his time at Jordanhill, he saw it in the glorious Technicolor of the land of Oz, but when he looked forward to retirement, he saw the dull black and white of Dorothy's Kansas. Twenty-one years ago, I thought that was more than a little sad. To be honest, I still think it's a bit sad, but, twenty-one years later, I think I can now understand the sentiment... at least in part. As I look back over my time at Jordanhill, what stands out most is not the annoyances and frustrations that go with any job but the joy and the fun. It is particular times with colleagues and students that I remember most fondly. It's Steve's gazebo at PGDE closing ceremonies. It's videos like It's Closed that were created as class projects but resonated beyond the twenty or so people in the ICT option. It's the Four Capacities song. It's Phoney and Torag go on an adventure with their chum David. It's the unfortunate news of Professor Pugh. It's Fionna's "but" [sic]. I could go on but snippets of my remembrance of times past are better shared at a social gathering than in a blog.

From time to time, over the years, I have thought about what I might say when I eventually left Jordanhill. (Is that odd? To rehearse a speech years in advance? I also plan my eight records for Desert Island Discs - surely I'm not alone in that... I am? Oh, well...) Given the chance, I'm sure some of the stories mentioned above would have found their way in to a speech but since there was no formal leaving do, there were no speeches. But ever since that first meeting where I heard The Wizard Of Oz farewell speech, I have often thought of film connections that could feature in a farewell speech. When I started the process of applying for a teaching post though, the choice of film title was obvious: it had to be Back To The Future.

Why is this obvious? Well, when I was in my final year at university, I had to start applying for jobs and I had to ask myself what I wanted to do with my Computing degree. My colleagues were getting jobs in industry and I did fill in a couple of forms to apply for those kind of jobs, but my heart wasn't in it. Then I heard from a friend that you could go to Jordanhill and train as a Computing teacher... and it was clear. That's what I would do. I knew that my colleagues were starting jobs at double the salary I could get as a teacher but once it was there as an option, teaching was the obvious choice. For example, while friends were getting summer jobs that would help them move into industry, what did I do? I got a job teaching children programming (on ZX Spectrums!) at an activity holiday centre in Eastbourne. Why? Because I realised that's what I liked doing. I enjoyed working with computers but I enjoyed working with children too (through Scripture Union, BB, Bible Class, church youth groups...). Teaching Computing was the obvious choice. Teaching was hard work and there were aspects I struggled with but I loved teaching children about Computing.

So going back. Back to the job I chose as a young graduate. Back to a job I loved. But not back to the past. Because, like the film, while I'm going back, I'm going with all the knowledge and experience I've gained over the last twenty plus years. And I'm going back at a time of change, to new qualifications that are still in development. I'm going back to new courses. Not a black and white future but a glorious chaos of colour. The future!

It is worth repeating that I have loved working at Jordanhill but I am looking forward to getting back to school.

I'm going back... back to the future!

(Check out the advert for my old job if you think it is something that would interest you but since the closing date for applications is 8 August, you might be a bit late!)

Retired Colleagues

Large changes have taken place at Jordanhill, with new courses being launched, and many long serving members of staff leaving/left.

David Stow 2 Originally uploaded by DavidDMuir

So many people left that the normal retirement conventions broke down. For example, at a departmental meeting held just before the summer break, a speech was made by an ex-head of department which gave a general thanks to five people who were retiring but no collection was taken to buy them a gift and no opportunity was given for them to say anything in reply. Which is a bit of a shame I think. With so many leaving, I can understand it is difficult to do things the way they were done in the past... but it doesn't feel right. The large number retiring may make it feel commonplace but to each individual, it is surely still important. 

I'd like therefore to mention two people in particular, David Hart and Jack Winch, who have recently retired. I'd like to talk about them for at least two reasons: one is selfish as I'd like to record my panic at the fact that their retirement leaves me as the sole Computing specialist at Jordanhill; the second though is more important because I believe the huge contribution they have both made to computer education in Scotland and beyond should be noted. I was taught by them back in the mid-eighties as part of my preparation to become a Computing teacher and I suspect that between them they have had a bigger impact on the development of schools Computing than any government initiative or curriculum document. 

David retired earlier than Jack and had the benefit of a "proper" retirement event. I don't think anyone who was there will ever forget David's demonstration of how to evacuate a chipmunk. (Don't ask!) However, what I remember most about David is his enthusiasm and the quantity (and quality) of resources that he produced. As a student teacher I found his copious notes on BBC BASIC (printed on a dot-matrix printer if I remember correctly) extraordinarily valuable. Also, I am not a well-organised person, and so I greatly appreciated his quiet and effective administration of the courses he was involved with. I don't know how many times last year we arrived at a point in the course and discovered that we'd forgotten to do something that in the past David had just got on with and organised behind the scenes. (For example, we only realised at the first meeting after Christmas that none of us had produced an attendance sheet for the new term. We'd always just had a list when we needed it because David produced it for us.) 

Jack retired just before the summer break and I think what I'll remember most about him is his sartorial elegance. His three-piece suits are legendary. (Although standards began to slip latterly when he appeared with the ten bob suit from Matalan!). I also remember as a student, coming out of a tutorial to find Jack sitting playing a grand piano that for some reason was in a hallway of the David Stow building. (I can't remember if he was singing too. I must have expunged that memory from my brain!) Perhaps more importantly though, I remember his patience and his skill at questioning. He had the ability to ask the right questions and prompt you to reflect on your own performance so that you would realise yourself where things hadn't gone as well as they might. And perhaps more importantly, he could lead you to see how things could be improved without brow-beating you or resorting to the "I telt ye, I telt ye!" method that I find it all to easy to slip into!

I am sure there are readers of this blog who remember David and Jack. Please leave your own comments and memories about them here. I'll be happy to pass your messages on.