I was amazed to read the other day that some schools are going to try teaching in eight minute chunks as a way of keeping pupils' attention. I seem to have missed something here. Children are perfectly capable of spending hours on end texting their friends or playing computer games. There is nothing wrong with their concentration and treating them to 8 minute chunks is patronising codswallop.
Witchcraft and magic take years of work to master. There is no way to make this any easier, because it's a test of character as much as anything else. The sort of person who wants to be an 'instant witch' would do better to go and watch a Harry Potter film. By the time it's finished he or she'll will probably want to be something else....
I've never begrudged the time it's taken me to learn my craft. In the same way I've never begrudged the hours I've spent learning to play the piano or the harp or learning to paint... the end results were worth it.
In the same way, writing a book doesn't just 'happen.' It takes days, months - even years sometimes - of research, drafting, polishing and yes, even then you can end up with rejection slips by the bucket load.
I think it's time we began to emphasise the real value in education. It's not just about learning something 'that will be useful' such as how to flip a burger. 
It's about learning the things that will enrich your lives, give you an idea of the bigger picture. Dickens understood this perfectly in Hard Times with his character Gradgrind.
So - if you had a choice, what would you like to learn next?
2008-05-14 @ 09:21