The excuse for this post is the Knebworth festival of 1978 featuring Frank Zappa, Peter Gabriel, The Tubes, The Boomtown Rats, Wilko Johnson's Solid Senders and Rockpile.

ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL REMAINS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL HOLDER AND IS USED HERE FOR THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION, COMPARISON, AND CRITICISM ONLY.
NO INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT IS INTENDED!

http://www.ukrockfestivals.com/Kneb-fest-recording-9-9-78.html

Went to this with some friends from Devizes, Wiltshire including Ian Hopkins who, many years later, did a stint as mayor of said town and brought back live music to the Devizes Corn Exchange.This venue was famous in the seventies for putting on some big gigs:
'Yes (pre-and post- Rick Wakeman), Rory Gallagher (who played for the best part of three hours!), King Crimson, Thin Lizzy, Osibisa, Rod Stewart and The Faces, Chicken Shack, Ashton Gardner and Dyke, Nektar, Hawkwind, Juicy Lucy, Cochise, Man, Curved Air, the Groundhogs, the Edgar Broughton Band and the Pink Fairies.'

Not bad for a town of 10,000. Unfortunately all of these gigs were a few years before my time (I arrived in 1977).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2009/02/23/devizes_corn_exchange_gigs_1970s_feature.shtml

The presence of these bands was mainly due to Mel 'the man who hired the world' Bush, the local promoter. Bush went on to promote, amongst others, Bowie, Queen, The Osmonds, Phil Collins, Elton John, Bad Company, A-ha, The Jam, Paul McCartney & Wings, Wham, Slade, Status Quo, and, at Wembley - The Band, Joni Mitchell and Crosby, Stills Nash & Young...

Devizes... A small market town probably most famous for its brewery, Wadworth, and its 6X bitter. Ideally situated for lovers of the ancient...Not far to Stonehenge, the Avebury stones, Silbury Hill, a white horse or two. My first ever job was at the brewery. I was assigned to the barrel washing bit, which was in the open yard close to where the lorries and shire horses would drop off their empty barrels. To this day the brewery still uses shire horses to deliver beer (one of only four breweries which do so nationwide) within a 5 mile radius. It also still employs a cooper to make & repair the mostly wooden barrels used. On my first day a barrel fell on to my left hand and crushed the top of a middle finger. I was at A&E for most of the morning and back at work that afternoon, in agony! Accident Report Form? Forget it! It was a strange introduction to employment. It was like working, I imagine, in Victorian times. The barrel washing machine was a Heath Robinsonesque contraption with lots of hissing,squirting water.The barrels went on an ancient conveyor belt, and they would constantly fall off. Tap & spile! My job was to take a barrel, either wooden or metal keg, from a large stack, and, with a hammer & chisel, remove the wooden bungs from the end of the barrel (where the tap would go) and  from the side of the barrel, then shove or roll the barrels to the man at the machine. Cold, wet, and very messy. But good holiday money, a free party six can of 6X every week, and overtime on Sunday mornings, at the end of which you'd be allowed into the underground bar to sample a few...
Having led an itinerant life and arriving in Devizes at the age of seventeen, I was keen to find new friends. I befriended the aforementioned Ian at the brewery (he also had a holiday job there) and that led me to the strange back room of the Elm Tavern, where every holiday-night a small gathering of young locals, students and slightly older hippies would shoot the breeze and drink copious amounts of 6X (or the potent winter brew Old Timer), before choosing other hostelries to move on to. I was a brief addition to this friendly, motley lot, enjoying the vicarious feeling of actually coming from somewhere but knowing that the lack of roots would always make me an outsider. That feeling of removal, of estrangement, of not really belonging that I've always had. We weren't spoilt for choice - there were twenty-eight pubs in Devizes, almost all owned by Wadworth. Not bad for a small market town. I remember The famous Bear Hotel (bit upmarket that one) in the market place, and the Lamb with its 'shooting tubes', one of the few remaining in Wiltshire. The pub still has teams for this bizarre game which involves shooting down, er, tubes...
I guess that it's this feeling of being on the outside which attracted me to alternatives, whether that be with music, politics, literature, whatever. I was timed perfectly for the burgeoning punk rock movement  - seventeen in 1977.
'Danger stranger
You better paint your face
No Elvis, Beatles or The Rolling Stones in 1977'.
(The Clash - 1977).
Out with the old. Out with the bloated dinosaurs of rock. In with DIY rock, attitude, independent record labels, fanzines, ideas, excitement. Like any musical 'movement', you sometimes had to search through the dross to find the nuggets, but nuggets there were aplenty, and the music industry was shaken up and revitalised. Indie labels such as Stiff, Fast, Factory, Rough Trade, Chiswick, 4AD, Step Forward and, later, Two-tone produced some great music encompassing punk, rock, funk, electronic, folk, ska etc etc. 7" singles, picture-sleeved, made a comeback, and I'd buy a couple every week. Devizes was, for a couple of years, a base from which to venture out to Bath (Ian Dury, Elvis Costello, John Otway & Wild Willy Barrett, Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers...All at the Bath Pavilion); Bristol (The Ramones, The Boomtown Rats, Iggy Pop supported by The Adverts, The Clash supported by Suicide & the Coventry Specials A.K.A... At The Locarno or Bristol Colston Hall) and Swindon (The Jam, XTC, The Pink Fairies...At the Swindon Oasis (and that's not the modern-day leisure centre.)
Books!  Oh that teenage existential angst! Hang on...I've still got it and I'm fifty-two! Still searching for Neverland! Maybe I'll grow up one day. Albert Camus? I salute you sir! On The Road! Ah the romance of the beatnik! Eric Blair, a fine choice of name change  to the River Orwell! Sartre! Cocteau! My, how exotic were the French! And there was probably no author on earth who epitomised feelings of alienation more than Franz Kafka. Often surreal and/or absurd, his books covered themes of bureaucracy and futility, of 'the seemingly endless frustrations of man's attempts to stand against the system, and the futile and hopeless pursuit of an unobtainable goal' Ah life! An interesting and highly influential chap, it is reckoned that he may have burned 90% of his work...Nice one Franz!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Kafka

Back to Knebworth, and Zappa was superb - here's a gist of the great man at his peak (from 'Apostrophe' - he was one for the guitar solos but this has lots of vocal and plenty of wit, although an abrupt end:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Zappa



And here's the whole show if you if you have a spare hour and a half!





I remember not enjoying The Tubes too much, but always liked this song - this is their glammed-up performance from The Old Grey Whistle Test:







Some Peter Gabriel, and some early Boomtown Rats...A token 'punk' addition to the festival bill:

There's a heaven and there's a star for you - an uplift of melancholic songs, yay! (Or, music to get down to, ha!)

ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL REMAINS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL HOLDER AND IS USED HERE FOR THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION, COMPARISON, AND CRITICISM ONLY.
NO INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT IS INTENDED!

In no particular order!


Gregory Isaacs - If I Don't Have You
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregory_Isaacs



Josh Rouse - Rise
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Rouse




The National - Sorrow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_National_(band)



Ryan Adams - Dirty Rain
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_Adams



Aretha Franklin - I Say a Little Prayer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklin



Johnny Cash cover of a Nine Inch Nails song, written by Trent Reznor. A fitting epitaph for the man in black.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Cash



The Only Ones - The Whole of the Law
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Only_Ones



Josh Rouse - Life



Bill Withers - Ain't No Sunshine
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Withers



Mazzy Star - Fade Into You.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazzy_Star




The Cure - Boys Don't Cry
'Boys don't cry, but men do.' (Gary Lineker, MOTD, 25/08/12)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cure



Lucinda Williams - Are You Alright.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucinda_Williams



Richmond Fontaine - Post to Wire.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richmond_Fontaine



Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - Tears of a Clown
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokey_Robinson



Aimee Mann - Wise Up (from the film 'Magnolia')
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aimee_Mann



Ryan Adams - Come Pick Me Up



Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_Attack




Wheat - Don't I Hold You. A live highlight was seeing this lot in the woods on a lovely day at Latitude several years ago...Sublime.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheat_(band)



Al Green - I'm so Tired of Being Alone
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Green




Prefab Sprout - When Love Breaks Down
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefab_Sprout



Julie London - Cry Me a River
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_London





Four Tops - Reach Out (I'll be There)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Tops



Sparklehorse - Sad and Beautiful World
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sparklehorse




Stay With Me - Lorraine Ellison.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorraine_Ellison



Richmond Fontaine - Lost in this World



Elliott Smith - Between the Bars
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elliott_Smith



Joy Division - Love Will Tear us Apart
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joy_Division



Ken Boothe - Everything I Own
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Boothe




Billie Holiday - Good Morning Heartache.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billie_Holiday



Sparklehorse - Hey Joe
From the Linkous Family: "It is with great sadness that we share the news that our dear friend and family member, Mark Linkous, took his own life today. We are thankful for his time with us and will hold him forever in our hearts. May his journey be peaceful, happy and free. There’s a heaven and there’s a star for you." - March 6, 2010 (sparklehorse.com) 



Carole King - It's Too Late
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carole_King



Aimee Mann - Save Me



Curtis Mayfield - Move On Up
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Mayfield
Get a grip!



Gregory Isaacs - Confirm Reservation

For when the fight's over...



Dennis Brown - Love Has Found It's Way
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Brown

...And for when it's not...




Sparklehorse - Good Morning Spider
Found a link to this entire album - one of my favourite ever. Could have just put this on this post and be done with it. Every track is brilliant. Two songs are already above.

Orford Ness and W.G. Sebald

It'll cost you £8 (£4 for children) to visit Orford Ness. This covers the one minute boat trip to get to the shingle spit. If you want a day's walking in a strange and  foreboding place, I highly recommend it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orford_Ness

Take a packed lunch - there's no sustenance to be found once you're there, and there's a  choice of walks, although they can depend on the time of year. Visiting details:

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/orford-ness/

If you are after a feeling of 'otherness' then this is the place for you. Weird structures, bits of battered metal and shrapnel randomly strewn about, defunct military signs, odd buildings with historical information. For years it was the place for secretive military experiments and out of bounds.

W.G. Sebald writes about it in his wonderful book The Rings of Saturn. This is like no other book I've read (until I read his other ones, that is!). Sebald, before his death in 2001, was a German Professor of Literature at the U.E.A. in Norwich. The book is essentially about his walks through the Suffolk countryside, but is so much more than that. He readily goes off at tangents, refracting his topics, and musing on life. He writes about Joseph Conrad, Roger Casement, the Chinese opium wars, the British silk industry, the Temple of Jerusalem and Kurt Waldheim (though not by name):
 'A deserted beach reveals the abandoned hulk of a research center used by British military intelligence for the development of bombing technology. Most tellingly, an idle glance through the pages of a London newspaper turns up a nightmarish photo of the Ustasha, the Croatian fascists who murdered thousands of Jews, Serbs and Bosnians. They did so under the watchful eye of their Nazi allies including, as Sebald drily notes, a young officer named Kurt Waldheim, who would later occupy “various high offices, among them that of Secretary General of the United Nations.”'

(http://www.thejewishweek.com/arts/film/sebald_dont_put_me_box)

It's part philosophical work, part travel book, part history, part biography, part autobiography.  It has an elegiac, melancholy feel. Lots of what he comes across during his Suffolk walks is symbolically in decline, or decaying, or dead, whether it be the cliffs at Dunwich, the fishing industry in Lowestoft, the Southwold railway or indeed Orford Ness. Sebald has become, over the last fifteen years, an influential figure in literature, art, and history. In common with his other books, what he really writes about is loss, displacement, detachment and the coming to terms with the catastrophe and fallout of Nazism.
Anything else you need to know you'll find here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/jan/25/wg-sebald-suffolk-walk

http://sebald.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/w-g-sebald-melancholy-poet-travel-agent/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._G._Sebald 

http://underthought.wordpress.com/category/book-reviews/sebald-wg/

http://www.amazon.com/The-Rings-Saturn-W-G-Sebald/dp/081121413

The  humanitarian campaigner and an Irish patriot, poet, revolutionary & nationalist: 

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Casement

http://sebald.wordpress.com/2007/04/04/tacita-dean-and-wg-sebald/

There is a fine new documentary film on Sebald out this year too - Patience (after (Sebald) which recently showed at the Ipswich Film Theatre - lots of black & white footage of Suffolk locations and lots of snippets of interviews with people who knew or have been influenced by the man himself:

http://www.artevents.info/projects/current/the-re-enchantment/patience-after-sebald

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/jan/29/patience-after-sebald-review

At Orford, waiting for the ferry:

On Orford Ness:

David Bowie

ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL REMAINS THE COPYRIGHT OF THE ORIGINAL HOLDER AND IS USED HERE FOR THE PURPOSES OF EDUCATION, COMPARISON, AND CRITICISM ONLY.
NO INFRINGEMENT OF COPYRIGHT IS INTENDED!

This post will consist of a favourite track from every David Bowie album from 1967 to 1983, and links to info. on each album. I do veer towards the plaintive and/or songs that can soothe the spirit.

First up is the eponymous debut album from 1967, released on Deram, two years before Space Oddity. Not surprisingly, not a commercial success! Whimsical, English, think music hall crossed with Syd Barrett. Interesting though, to see how it all started. Here's all you need to know about it:
David Bowie (1967)

1. First choice - When I Live my Dream. 'I'll wish, and the thunder clouds will vanish.'



2. Space Oddity (1969) - Letter to Hermione. 'I'm not quite sure what we're supposed to do.
So I've been writing just for you.'





3. The Man Who Sold the World (1970) - All the Madmen. 'And I'd rather play here with all the madmen
for I'm quite content they're all as sane as me.'





4.  Hunky Dory (1971) - The Bewlay Brothers. 'Lay me place and bake me pie I'm starving for me gravy.'






5. The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1972) - Five Years. 'News guy wept and told us. Earth was really dying'.





6. Aladdin Sane (1973) - The Prettiest Star. 'One day, though it might as well be someday,
you will rise up high and take us all the way.'






7. Pin Ups (1973) - Amsterdam. Yes I'm cheating here! This Jacques Brel song was not actually on Pin Ups (he can even make an album of cover versions sound brilliant) but was on the B-side of the Sorrow single, which was on the album.





8. Diamond Dogs (1974) - Sweet Thing. Easy this one - a masterpiece.




9. Young Americans (1975) - Win. The trickiest decision, as Young Americans is a timeless classic, but this gets the nod...



10. Station to Station (1976) - Wild is the Wind. Originally recorded by Johnny Mathis for the 1957 film of the same name. Nina Simone also does a great version.




11. Low (1977) - Always Crashing in the Same Car. Tell me about it!




12. "Heroes" (1977) - Heroes



13 Lodger (1979) - Red Money. A re-working of Sister Midnight, found on Iggy Pop's The Idiot album. This and the LP Lust for Life, both released in 1977, are collaborations with Bowie, and are two astonishing albums, both seminal and ahead of their time.



14. Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) (1980) - Up the Hill Backwards. It'll be alright!





15 - Let's Dance (1983) - Let's Dance. Not spoilt for choice here, so it has to be the single, and it's a good video!

What I do now - an essay on 'functional' maths

First off - don't panic, I haven't done this for fun (it's part of a course), but feel like sharing it as it's what I attempt (sometimes forlornly) to do now...

Before discussing the role of mathematics in today’s world, let us briefly look at its historical and cultural development. The needs of mankind over time are directly correlated to the development of mathematics. From helping develop concepts of time, dates and distance, to early trade and commerce, mathematics has been a fundamental necessity. The first known example of mathematical symbols was found in Africa on a bone which dates from around 35,000 years ago, and therefore pre-dates the written language by thousands of years (Learner.org, 2011). It has a series of tally marks which may represent simple counting. Another bone, now known as the ‘Ishango bone’, dated to 25,000 years ago, has groups of markings, some of which represent prime numbers. The precise use for this bone is still being debated but it was possibly used as a lunar calendar, and proves that mathematical concepts, and possibly prime numbers, were being used as early as 23,000 BC. The early twentieth century saw the astonishing underwater discovery of the remains of a small bronze analogue computer, built by the Greeks and dated to the year 87 BC, and known as the Antikythera Mechanism. It is thought to have been used to calculate the movements of stars and planets in astronomy, and to make astronomical calculations and predictions. Technological artefacts of similar complexity and workmanship did not reappear until the 14th century.

Trade and commerce in ancient times necessitated the need for arithmetic in order to count goods – to record what was sold, bought or bartered. The first recorded teaching of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division was by the merchants of Venice so that they could expand their commercial influence (Swetz, 1987). The surveying of land would naturally have led to mathematical concepts of geometry and trigonometry, being practised thousands of years ago, whilst circles and their properties would have been studied during the construction of arenas and water tanks. This led to the discovery of the properties of shapes and solids, formulae for area and volume and to the classification of curves and shapes. Early algebraic problems could have been practical ones such as calculating logistical needs, allocating resources and also working out areas and volumes.

In the past, it was not seen as important to have a numerate society as a whole. Maths was the domain of mathematicians, and the subject, for most, gladly left behind at school (or never learned at all). Mathematics as a common demand and need, however, can be seen as a product of industrialisation, and particularly, post-war globalisation. The fast development of technology, the proliferation of computers and the development of the internet over the last twenty years have led to a huge abundance of data: information that needs to be read, understood and interpreted by a large proportion of the population.

In today’s world, good levels of basic numeracy (and literacy) are particularly important for any nation that expects to compete in the global economy. In the last thirty years this has led to a drive to improve the levels of everyday numeracy so that the largest possible number of people can function in society and be able to do things such as plan journeys and read and write timetables, and read and understand the meanings of graphs, statistics, data, percentages, finance, tax and insurance. In Britain, practical numeracy skills were described by the Cockcroft Report (‘Mathematics Counts’,1986) as those mathematical skills that ‘enable an individual to cope with the practical demands of everyday life.’ It was becoming increasingly apparent that the levels of basic mathematics at home (and in many other developed nations) were simply not good enough if Britain was to compete in an ever-changing, high-tech, ‘global village’ world. This report was commissioned because of ‘the apparent lack of basic computation skills in many children, the increasing mathematical demands made on adults, the lack of qualified maths teachers, the multiplicity of syllabuses for old, new and mixed maths, the lack of communication between further and higher education, employers and schools about each group's needs and viewpoints…' (Cockcroft Report, 1986).

The outcome of this report and other similar commissions such as the Moser Report (1998) led to National Strategy for Adult Basic Skills and the development of the National Core Curriculum and such qualifications as Key and Functional Skills – these included mathematics courses that addressed the real, everyday world.

The Moser report also acknowledged that their recommendations, designed to improve basic levels of numeracy, were easier said than done (Lifelong Learning, 2000): ‘There are inevitably problems of motivation among prospective learners. This is partly because people with difficulties are often understandably reluctant to acknowledge, or are unaware, that they have a problem; or that it matters or indeed that there are ways of tackling it. Moreover, few employers take a constructive approach to advancing basic skills in their workforce.’

Even though much work has been done and thousands of people have improved their numeracy skills over the past two decades because of a national strategy, mathematics is still a taboo area for many people. Low levels of numeracy can be exacerbated by poor public perceptions of mathematics. Both employers and employees can be very insecure – an insecurity often brought about by poor experiences of maths lessons at school. There are plenty of well-educated and well-paid people out there who may be virtually innumerate, or who avoid careers or tasks that may involve mathematics, however basic. So the push to improve levels of numeracy has also had to improve people’s confidence in it, so that they can make effective use of whatever mathematics they have already learned, and so that they can then appropriately use numeracy to whatever level that suits their circumstances. A related finding is the perception that numeracy is not as relevant as literacy – and this view is sometimes held not only by learners but also by some vocational teaching staff. Even some managers and employers are reportedly not as concerned about numeracy as they are about literacy and communication skills (QIA Skills for Life Improvement Programme – Numeracy Overview, 2008). Therefore all the barriers experienced by would-be learners of numeracy may be the same for teachers – fear, anxiety, low priority, perceived irrelevance, lack of time and commitment and negative school experience.

It is again worth pointing out here that learner motivation can be aided by addressing the issue of poor public perception and by linking mathematics to life and work in general. If the maths involved is useful in a practical way and can be seen to help job-seeking opportunities, then it is far more likely to be seen to be beneficial and be tackled in a positive way.

It is also quite clear from research that innumeracy can be closely linked to other social issues. To illustrate this point The Moser Report used this example: ‘Some 60% of people in prison suffer from functional illiteracy and/or innumeracy.’ (Lifelong Learning, 2000). The Programme for International Student Assessment Report of 2006 (PISA Report) stated that: ‘With the growing role of science, mathematics and technology in modern life, the objectives of personal fulfilment, employment and full participation in society increasingly require that all adults… should be mathematically, scientifically and technologically literate.’

The point is clear. Being confident with basic mathematical concepts may not only improve chances of employability, but also aid personal development. A better educated, numerate person may also be a more confident, rounded, contented person. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, recently claimed that a ‘systemic fight against educational underachievement can tackle the social exclusion that lay behind last summer's riots’ (The Guardian, 23^rd March 2012). The implication is that if people feel socially excluded, then they will feel that they have no future in society. Achieving at maths (and English), at any level and at any age, can help a person believe that they do have a future, that this may help them gain employment and find a place in that society.

Johnson went on to directly link poor basic skills to social unrest, and therefore by proxy to low self-esteem, by arguing that tackling illiteracy and innumeracy was the best antidote to the ‘nihilism’ and ‘exclusion’ revealed by the riots. The challenge is therefore to encourage learners to realise that learning and becoming adept at practical numeracy can help their personal development for a number of reasons, and not just economic ones. This is why The PISA Report (2006) states that ‘deficiencies among lower-performing students in mathematics can have negative consequences for individuals’ labour-market and earnings prospects and for their capacity to participate fully in society.’

Furthermore, learning Functional Skills mathematics requires a problem solving approach, and the skills required for problem solving are in turn more than a vehicle for teaching and reinforcing mathematical knowledge and helping to meet everyday challenges. They are ‘skills which can enhance logical reasoning. Individuals can no longer function optimally in society by just knowing the rules to follow to obtain a correct answer. They also need to be able to decide through a process of logical deduction what algorithm, if any, a situation requires, and sometimes need to be able to develop their own rules in a situation where an algorithm cannot be directly applied. For these reasons problem solving can be developed as a valuable skill in itself, a way of thinking rather than just as the means to an end of finding the correct answer (NCTM website).

This gives teachers of mathematics a social responsibility and the task of encouraging their learners to realise the wider implications and to help them to realise their own potential. This may involve serving a wide range of student abilities and include those who are motivated and who may perform well, to those who are  apathetic and indifferent to mathematics and who may be most in need. With the help of governmental public policies (as already mentioned above), appropriate institutional support and good professional practice teachers can contribute to providing equal opportunities, equitable learning and personal development outcomes for all students.

Bibliography

Bartlett, S. & Burton, D. (2003) Educational Studies: Essential Issues, London: Sage Publications Ltd

Curzon, L.B. (1997) Teaching in Further Education, an Outline of Principles and Practice, 5th Edition, London: Continuum Education

Frank J. Swetz, Capitalism and Arithmetic. Peru, Illinois: Open Court, 1987.

Official Publications PISA Report, 2006: Science Competencies For Tomorrow’s World. Volume 1: Analysis. OECD Publishing. Available at: www.oecd.org/pages/0,3417,en_32252351_32236191_1_1_1_1_1,00.html (accessed 27-3-12) QIA Skills for Life Improvement Programme, 2008  – Numeracy overview. Available at: sflip.excellencegateway.org.uk/docs/DA_numeracy_briefing_for_Rob_Pheasant_NC_70908.doc · DOC file (accessed 27-3-12)

Wilfred H. Cockcroft, Mathematics Counts. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1986

                                                                       

Electronic References

Antikythera website. Available at:

http://www.antikythera-mechanism.com/

(accessed 11-5-12

Education England website. Available at:

http://www.educationengland.org.uk/documents/cockcroft/

(accessed 22-3-12)

Learner.org website. Available at:

http://www.learner.org/courses/mathilluminated/units/1/textbook/01.php

(accessed 27-3-12)

Life Long Learning online. Available at:

 http://www.lifelonglearning.co.uk/

(accessed 8-12-11)

Lifelong Learning online. Available at:

http://www.lifelonglearning.co.uk/mosergroup/freshsum.pdf

(accessed 26-3-12)

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics website. Available at:

http://www.nctm.org/

(accessed 18/05/12)

St. Olaf College, USA website. Available at:

http://www.stolaf.edu/people/steen/Papers/numeracy.html

(accessed 22-3-12)

The Open University website. Available at:

http://www.open.edu/openlearn/whats-on/ou-on-the-bbc-the-story-maths-about-the-series

(accessed 27-3-12)

The Guardian website. Available at:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/mar/23/boris-johnson-bad-schools-london-riots

(accessed 28-3-12)

Vicissitudes - Cyprus, Korea & The Cold War

For school holidays my brother and I had to catch a plane to Cyprus between 1970-1972.  This was Cyprus pre-Turkish invasion of 1974:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyprus

Being 10-12 years old at the time, the politics of the country completely passed me by. What I do remember, however, is that on the island the two communities were not very integrated. The Turkish Cypriots were very much in the minority and were, generally speaking, the poorer citizens. You knew whenever you were travelling though a Turkish village because the road suddenly got very bumpy. The politics grumbles on today – the country is still split in two – Turks to the north, Greeks to the south. Back safely in England by 1974, I remember news reports of Turkish troops parachuting in, and of thousands of displaced Greeks moving south. This was the first time in my life that it dawned on me that things weren’t all so plain-sailingly ordered, predictable and comfortable in the world around me. Volatility was but a blink of an eye away.

Still, it was the early seventies, almost thirty years since the end of the Second World War, and in the grand scheme of things all was pretty fine, peace-wise and stability-wise in Western Europe. We’re ok sitting here in our safe European homes. Surely by now, and after hundreds of years of fighting, we could stop declaring war on each other? We had finally, proudly reached the end of fighting in Europe – hadn’t we? Well, yes, but only until 1991, when there would be all-out war and a lovely new phrase – ethnic cleansing – in the Balkans:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yugoslav_Wars

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnian_Genocide

And a Cold War had been raging since the forties. This was a superpower stand-off (Russia versus USA and their allies/colonies. Communism versus Capitalism) that led to espionage, intrigue and paranoia on both sides. But it wasn’t all cold. For starters, it led to the Korean War of 1950-53. Taken from the Japanese in World War II, in 1945 Korea was split at the 38^th parallel. Russia had the North, America the South. Good idea lads. Kim Il-Sung was Moscow’s puppet then and, yes, that’s his Stalinist nutter of a grandson there today. After general (and increasingly violent) border skirmishing the North invaded, and this led to a two-year tit-for-tat war which ended in stalemate after American and British (and Commonwealth) forces joined in to aid the South and the Chinese intervened to help the North. Negotiations to end the war dragged on for two years, partly because thousands of North Korean prisoners didn’t want to go home:

‘While the communist negotiators were adamant that all were to be returned to their country of origin, thousands of prisoners were unwilling to be repatriated. There were several great mutinies in the Koje camps before a satisfactory formula enabled those who wished to be repatriated to go home and for asylum to be granted to those who wished otherwise.’ (BBC.co.uk)
Vietnam war statistics are horrifying, but this war is often forgotten. American estimates of Korean War deaths are 215,000 North Korean; 400,000 Chinese (including Mao’s son); 46,000 South Korean and 40,000 American. Hundreds of thousands were wounded. British and Commonwealth figures are 1,078 killed in action, 2,674 wounded and 1,060 missing or taken prisoner. Horrendous figures considering this war lasted less than two years.

Next up was the Cold War incident that brought the world to the brink of disaster – the Cuban Missile crisis of October 1962. The Russians had only gone and erected a load of nuclear missiles in Communist Cuba. This may have been ok if, as the Russian leader Kruschev  declared, they were defensive weapons. But aerial photography clearly showed that they were in fact offensive. The Russians were lying. Cue American panic, and thirteen days of tense, nervous debate and negotiation before agreement was finally reached and the Russians dismantled the missiles. The Russians did have a point though, as their actions were in response to the deployment of missiles in the U.K., Italy and Turkey – missiles that could easily reach Russian land.

Going back to before the Balkan debacle, to 1989, Communist Eastern Europe would collapse and loads of new countries emerge from the shackles of totalitarianism – events that changed the world albeit with surprisingly little loss of life. This was partly due to the fact that the Russian President at the time, Mikhail Gorbachev, saw the writing on the wall and initiated reforms known as ‘perestroika’ (reconstruction) in 1986. This was swiftly followed by a policy of ‘glasnost’ (openness) in 1988. These policies unintentionally led to the collapse of the Russian Communist Empire – the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and therefore heralded the end of the Cold War.

These momentous events began in Poland in 1989. Before you could say Jack Robinson these nations rejected Communism and followed suit: Hungary, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Romania and Bulgaria.  (By the way, from phrases.org: ‘It would be pleasing to be able to point to a historical figure called Robinson who was the source of this expression. Regrettably, we can't. It could well be that there was an actual Jack Robinson who was reputed to be quick in some way, but, if that's the case, any reliable record of him has disappeared. It is just as likely that Jack Robinson was a mythical figure and no more real than Jack Tar, Jack Frost or Jack the Giant Killer.’).
By the end of 1991 the USSR had gone and fourteen new countries emerged from its ashes. These were: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Moldova, Lithuania, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.
By 1992 Albania and Yugoslavia had also decided against The Red Flag and the latter nation eventually split into six  separate countries (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro), whilst Czechoslovakia split into two – The Czech Republic and Slovakia.
In 1990 one country disappeared – East Germany – taking its ‘Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart’ (Communist view) or ‘Wall of Shame’ (Capitalist view) – The Berlin Wall - with it. The wall’s twenty-eight year existence was over and 100-200 people had been murdered trying to cross it. The day it fell led to scenes of mass jubilation, celebrating the crumbling of the tangible symbol of The Iron Curtain.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Wall

Considering that this was a maelstrom of transmogrification (get that!) it was incredible that Romania was the only former Soviet-controlled country to overthrow its regime violently. This just goes to show how unpopular these regimes were, how the whole phenomenon was like a powder keg, and just how much most of these populations wanted freedom and democracy. You reap what you sow. Nicolae Ceacescu was head of state of Romania from 1967-1989. Moderate and reforming at first (and friendly to the west), his rule became increasingly dictatorial and Stalinist. By definition this meant that he was in common with other national leaders who became self-important, adrift from reality and delusional, developing ‘personality-cults’ and thin, superficial veneers of normality and contentment. Peel under the surface and you’ll find rot and decay; poverty and cruelness; destruction and oppression.  

After a two hour show trial on Christmas Day, 1989, Ceacescu and his wife Elena had their hands ties behind their backs and were executed by their own elite paratroopers. Ironically, two weeks later, on the 7^th January 1990, capital punishment was abolished in Romania.

Globally, Communism was also abolished in Cambodia, Ethiopia, South Yemen and Mongolia. However, protests in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, were brutally repressed.

How many Communist countries does that leave left in the world today? The list may depend on the definition of Communism, but may include China since Mao’s ‘Long March’ resulted in victory by 1949 (run by the Communist Party of China); Cuba since Castro’s 1959 revolution (Communist Party of Cuba); Vietnam since 1954 (Communist Party of Vietnam) and  Laos since a 1975 revolution (Lao People’s Revolutionary Party). North Korea, you’d think, is a bona fide Communist state. Well, it is a perfect example of a Totalitarian state apart from the fact that it has removed all Marxist-Leninist references from its constitution and government, a Party Congress has not been held since 1980 and it has hereditary rule.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communism

So that’s five ‘pure’ Communist nations left. Even here though there will be inevitable flux. Both China and Vietnam are really more ‘nationalist’ in approach now and are embracing elements of capitalism in order to compete economically in the global market and turning them into prosperous developing nations.

When the Soviet Union existed Communist countries included: Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Benin, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Congo, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Ethiopia, Hungary, Mongolia, Mozambique, Poland, Romania, Somalia, South Yemen, Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia.

Back to Cyprus now - we went home for the three holidays per year, but the RAF only paid for two of them. So the paid trips were with BA and all mod-cons including personal care from an air hostess as we were unaccompanied minors. These flights were usually in Boeing 707s from Heathrow or Gatwick.

For the one holiday a year that the RAF didn’t cough up the cash, we caught an ‘indulgence’ flight. An indulgence means that you are basically hitching a lift on a military plane for a few pounds, and these lifts may be subject to late-notice changes as spaces can be filled by members of the military who have more priority then mere dependants, or by prioritised freight. The planes would either be an old RAF Bristol Britannia which shook, rattled and rolled across the sky from Brize Norton, Oxfordshire or an RAF VC 10 (the more comfortable option).

The destination was RAF Akrotiri, Cyprus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akrotiri_and_Dhekelia

I remember going to nearby Larnaca to visit the beaches or to go for a Greek meze. Pink flamingos shimmering in the distance on a huge salt lake just outside Akrotiri. A flamingo or two in the harbour in Paphos, arrived at via a beautiful coast road that took you past Aphrodite’s rock: the birthplace of Aphrodite, the Goddess of beauty and love.  Dining  al fresco by the water in Kyrenia, now in Turkish hands. Driving up Mount Troodos to reach a restaurant at the top. Miles of empty beaches in the north-west tip: the ‘pan-handle’. The scent of citrus fruit. Diving off rocks in Akrotiri, swimming to our own secluded, tiny bay, dodging the jelly fish. Fishing from these rocks with a home-made rod, catching a sea trout, trying to keep it in a rock pool and feeling very guilty when it inevitably perished.  Trying once, and failing miserably, at water-skiing. Far too self-conscious, awkward and unconfident. Three attempts, three falls. A distraught young couple arriving with my father at my house. Their  young child had just drowned and my Dad was doing his pastoral duty as commander of the (70) squadron, in charge of a fleet of Hercules transport planes and a couple of old Argosys.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_C-130_Hercules

Dad on the right!

With every Cypriot meal there would be free cochinelli wine – red and rough – on the table. Growing sunflowers. Catching lizards. A family holiday in Famagusta, fabulous sandy beaches and giant waves – spending hours jumping into them and letting them whirlpool me around. Exhilaration.  Walking  the two miles or so to the beaches of Akrotiri under the hot Mediterranean sun. Surrounded by miles of sand and gorgeous blue sea, picking my way through the blobs of oil randomly deposited on the beach by the passing tankers and swimming in the gently rolling surf. Sometimes reaching a raft and diving from it. Snorkelling: clear blue water, pretty fish and a grumpy looking grouper.

Later a large part of Famagusta would become a Turkish-occupied ghost town – a dead zone between Turks and Greeks, the once popular tourist resort becoming a mess of derelict, crumbling buildings, including lots of hotels. The Greek inhabitants had to flee the oncoming Turkish tanks.

http://www.inhostage.com/

The exiled local football team, Anorthosis Famagusta, eventually built a new stadium in Larnaca, and are now regulars in the Champions League or Europa League.