Taken out of context, this catchy line from South Pacific could well be applied to Dame Daphne Sheldrick, who celebrates her 80th birthday today. Dame Daphne was born of British ancestry in Kenya in 1934, and has spent her life caring for orphans of wild animal species from black rhinos to zebras, and warthogs to …
Category: Uncategorized
May 22
The blight of self-harm – and what to do about it
As reported in yesterday’s Guardian, a WHO study (to be published in full later this year) reports that the number of teenagers in England who self-harm has trebled in the last ten years, and is now around one in five. Self-harm – cutting, burning or otherwise harming oneself – is a sign of intense mental …
May 10
An incomprehensible act
Ever since 300 girls were abducted from their school in north-eastern Nigeria last month – almost exactly a month ago, in fact – it has been hard to find anyone across the globe who does not regard their abduction as anything other than a most dreadful and despicable act, unworthy of fellow human beings. The …
Apr 25
Time to move beyond the politics of education
Yesterday I attended the annual conference of the Scottish Council of Independent Schools (SCIS) in Edinburgh, and as usual at such events, was given great food for thought. SCIS represents over 70 independent member schools in Scotland, and the debate ranged across various topics, including the publication on that same day of a report demonstrating …
Apr 17
Supporting indigenous communities – a win-win for all
My latest communication from Indigenous Community Volunteers in Australia, whose website can be found here, prompted me to reflect again, very positively, on the power of connecting and sharing experience, and the immensely encouraging effect on individuals and on communities when people reach out and collaborate with one another. The vision of ICV is of …
Apr 07
Celebrating our uniqueness
I marvel frequently at how amazing human beings can be. It is a helpful – and true – contrast to the multiple messages we receive every day from different directions about how human beings can have a dark side of cruelty and violence; it is also an incredibly useful discipline to inspire to action – …
Mar 08
International Women’s Day – a day for equality, not just for women
The first International Women’s Day was celebrated in 1911, and then – as now – it was (and is) an opportunity to highlight and celebrate the achievements of women, and to focus attention on the work that still needed (and needs) to be done to ensure that women have equal rights, in whatever context they …
Feb 25
Why people are important in education – but so is technology
I had a very good experience recently when I phoned a Government department to sort out a claim: the (pleasantly reassuring) computer voice asked me to say in a few words what it was I was calling about, repeated back to me a very accurate summary of my issue, and then took me through a …
Feb 20
Developing a fuller awareness: International Mother Tongue Day
Friday of this week marks International Mother Tongue Day, which has been celebrated since February 2000, with a clear mandate from the UN to promote tolerance through recognising the diversity of linguistic communication in the world. This statement on the UN’s page devoted to the Day is striking: “Languages are the most powerful instruments of …
Feb 17
The courage to make a difference: Nasrin Sotoudeh and her fight for justice
It is easy to forget sometimes that we are immensely privileged to live in a society where we can take justice and freedom – of action and speech – for granted. No society is perfect, of course, and nor is any system of law or government, but on the whole, living in Australia, or the …