We’re going through a big learning curve in this house. My partner is in some important training with his job, our daughter is now at school and at the ripe old age of 41, I’m nearing then end of my degree.
If you’d have asked me at 16 if futher education was in my future I would have laughed, taken a swig of Smirnoff Ice and lit yet another cigarette. As I’ve mentioned before, my priorities at the time weren’t in the right place.
Learning isn’t easy for any of us it seems. Even now I’m struggling anf not just with my own education, but also with my daughters. Homework for a 5 year old? I’d never have believed it when I was a kid. I’d have been fuming. But our girls comes home with pages of shite to study from home most days.
I have homework too (well, it’s all homework for me, but whatever) and find myself dipping in and out of what I’m trying to absorb without feeling like I ever really understand anything.
My partner bottles up his worry about learning, then gets frustrated over something specific and we’ll talk it out.
At any age, it’s hard to admit you don’t already know it all.
I was arrogant enough to think that way a decade ago. I thought I knew everything I needed to, but I had no fucking idea.
So I’ve written this poem as a dedication to the way I feel about learning. A retrospective look at my schooling, and the reflection of that seen through our 5-year-old daughter.
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Education
When I was younger
You got a school book
And although it was homework
I’d never bother to look
When maths came around
I hated the numbers
And my few calculations
Came from huge social blunders
English felt boring
With a focus on classics
But I craved the books
Written by modern dynamics
Geography and history
Given through the same door
With no teaching of countries
No mention of war
I cringe to remember
Bad sex education
From an uninterested teacher
Giving limp information
Professors were tired
The helpers were too
I spent most of the day
Flushing my life down the loo
But school is a place
Where learning is part
Of a much bigger puzzle
To build a young heart
You don’t realise it now
But your future is bright
Though it needs your commitment
To live through the fight
Friends come and go
Social politics in breaks
You can’t find the realness
In a world full of snakes
And when I look back
At my adolesecent dream
I see it melted away
Like a soft whipped ice cream
But for you I want better
So I encourage you gently
To listen and learn
To be honest and friendly
And despite all the progress
You’ll feel the same hate I did
For the classes so boring
As a ‘student’ not ‘kid’
So the lessons don’t end
I’m still learning too
As I hear about phonics
And trips to the zoo
Education is crucial
To a future of hope
And a life full of promise
In a world crammed with slopes
We’ll digest it together
Grappling homework and books
Gruffalos and unicorns
The good guys and crooks
We’ll research your passion
And help with its nurture
To build your own base
And spread your winds further
Until it’s that time
And you want to move
To the life that you dreamed of
With a huge point to prove
Whatever your choices
However you get there
We’ll watch on so proudly
As grey ages our hair
So I’ll stress the importance
To love school, don’t quit
But deep down we all know
That learning is….
…Essential 🤣
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Of course I don’t believe the insinuation at the end – learning is essential and school isn’t (always) shit. I think things have changed over the years and learning is less desk-based and more practical, which is great. I believe that’s the only way we can get youngsters to engage.
Apologies it’s another rhymed ditty, but I’m finding myself enjoying the rhythm of it. I promise I’ll put in the hours and work on a more traditional poem for you next time.
Thanks for reading!
Creative Steph 