Category Archives: Education

Why Far Away is Close to Home

Posted on April 3, 2012 by davidsberry

Oakland, California is 8 time zones or 5,000 miles from Scotland and, as it seldom registers on our screens unless the Raiders make it to the Superbowl, is seen to have little relevance. Oakland does not have the profile of … Continue reading →

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Scotland by Hugh MacDiarmid

Posted on March 17, 2012 by davidsberry

As an enjoyable weekend break, I’m at the StAnza festival’s 15th outing and was enjoying St Andrews’ lively atmosphere in term time, delving into various entertainments and thinking I was well clear of politics and motivations to blog. Then I came … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | 1 Comment

Education is no Football

Posted on December 28, 2011 by davidsberry

Today’s Hootsmon features Alan Massie gaunin’ his dinger that the “SNP’s failure on schools is a dereliction of duty”. The seems a pretty ringing condemnation, yet reading the article, it is hedged around with caveats and conditions—“the SNP inherited Curriculum … Continue reading →

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Choice Means Understanding Options

Posted on October 28, 2011 by davidsberry

Growing up in North Berwick, we felt sorry for the private school kids. Shipped off in the train to Heriots or Melvilles in Edinburgh, they came home in weird uniforms long after dark when local kids were long done playing … Continue reading →

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Daft Question

Posted on October 11, 2011 by davidsberry

Even the Guardian has recently highlighted the debate here in Scotland whether we should be teaching Scottish culture in schools. For me, this is the ultimate daft question. My reasons are not political, nor simply because it is hard to … Continue reading →

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The Right Madness on Skye

Posted on September 25, 2011 by davidsberry

When I lived in Palo Alto, California, I fell in with a creative writing group called Waverley Writers who were pushing the envelope with ‘performance’ poetry long before ‘slam’ poetry became popular. To them, poems belonged both on the street … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, Education | Tagged | 2 Comments

Oh, for a Muse of Fire!

Posted on September 23, 2011 by davidsberry

The opening words of the Chorus in Henry V sprang to mind as, in the second row in St Mary’s tonight I was transfixed by the BBC Scottish Symphony’s performance of Menotti’s Violin Concerto in A minor as part of … Continue reading →

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So They Hit Us

Posted on September 15, 2011 by davidsberry

Ian, my best friend at Uni, introduced me to Schultz’s Charlie Brown cartoons and their disarmingly insightful comments on life. Perhaps my favourite showed Charlie sharing his nervousness about approaching the little red-haired girl with Linus. When at last he … Continue reading →

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Welcome to Scotland: Now Go Home

Posted on July 27, 2011 by davidsberry

I have taken some flak down the years for having been a regular reader of the Economist. But far from being another tub-thumping, jingoistic right-wing rag à la Torygraph, it has always provided me with a more balanced international perspective … Continue reading →

Posted in Commerce, Education | Tagged | 1 Comment

Puffin Farewell Party

Posted on July 16, 2011 by davidsberry

I had originally intended to simply post the photo above to show how serene and restful the May was yesterday with many of their 45,000 inhabitants out socialising, as they do. With their ‘pufflings’ now grown and departing daily, this … Continue reading →

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