Trivium 21c

The job of the conservative is to conserve the tradition, the job of the progressive is to challenge the tradition, shake it up and, maybe, break it.

Imagine a society that was deeply conservative, it would stagnate, change would not happen, the same rituals and ways of seeing and being would be passed on and those who tried to break with tradition would be dealt with ruthlessly.

Imagine a society that was exceedingly progressive, it would have no roots, change would happen all the time, just because things were done that way yesterday would not be a blueprint to do it that way today or tomorrow and those who tried to make things stand still would be dealt with ruthlessly.

Imagine the English Language, never changing, responding to rigid rules, no new words and a fixed grammar…

Imagine the English Language, always changing, having no rules, new words all the time and no fixed grammar.?/ with Punktuation… Oh Exclamations Up Yours!

Without the adherents to tradition there would be nothing to rail against and without the revolting breakers of tradition there would be no creativity…

Though what happens when the progressives wish to conserve and the conservatives wish to progress? The progressives hold on to their tradition of child centred play based topic learning and the traditionalists snarl and break that tradition by bringing in rigid rules, to ‘restore’ standards, or bring new ones in… to ensnare those extreme progressives who take their ‘virtuous’ stand against rigidity and rules… Once the teacher closes the door to their classroom, they can do what they like, what’s a government to do? What instruments do they have in their lockers to ensure their wishes are carried out?

Tests… Accountability…

So the call comes out: hey, let kids be kids… roaming free in halcyon daze…

Though what sort of childhood and when was this idyllic past? Kicking a ball on a black and white terraced street? Picking daisies in the park of a Sunday? Tracing raindrops with your fingers down a window pane? Running wild through the trees? Swimming in the lagoon? Spearing fish through the Ice? Please Sir can I have some more? Playing in bomb sites? Twelve to a bedroom? Seen but not heard? Fifa 2016? Piano lessons, Ballet, Art class, Scouts and Guides, Travelling on buses, trains and automobiles… Facebook, TV, Popcorn, SnapChat, KFC…?

Sandpits, water, forest, finger painting, singing and dancing with tambourines… Or timetables, tests, knowing the difference between a preposition and a subordinating conjunction  and believing there is only one answer…

We don’t need no thought control… the brain washing – the ‘stuffing it down our throats’

School or play? Find your own way, be who you want to be…

As some put it on SATS strike day: “Performing in tests versus the love of learning…”

And it seems like only yesterday some people were saying there was no dichotomy.