13/04/2015

Good morning. Well, that’s the end of the Easter school holidays. It’s back to work this week for pupils and teachers alike. A term of exams for many, and leaving parties for some.I can still remember many of my teachers, even after all these years. The master who worked the miracle of getting me through O-level maths –– skills I haven’t needed from that day to this.What I did learn though, and I’m still benefitting from, was the delight in the process of learning itself. And don’t think I’m using the word “delight” loosely. It was a third year geography project on fishing boats where I suddenly changed from trying to learn things because that’s what the teacher had told me to do -- and began to learn for my own sake – because learning stuff was actually and inherently interesting. Of course the joy of learning didn’t spread to all subjects – I never did pass Latin O-level – but that approach to the world is one of the best things I ever learned, at school or anywhere else. And I think the ability to inspire, to lead someone to the point where they take over and start to teach themselves, is one of the marks of a really great teacher.Taking pleasure from learning is an endless process -- life-long and life-enhancing. There’s always more to discover – even about the familiar world we live in and the people we live amongst. Sometimes it can be a difficult process, particularly when we encounter new ideas that lead to a change of mind – but that’s part of the excitement, the delight, the danger of learning.Lord, give us the courage to be open to your world;to learn new ideas;to learn new things about familiar people;to delight in discovery. And give us the courage to change our minds.Amen