The best laid schemes

Obituaries
For many of us, the skill of diversion or digression was one that came naturally to us while at school — we did not have to be taught how to do it! As soon as the teacher got on to a serious or dull topic, we saw it as our responsibility to gently, gradually move them off it to one which would no doubt be of much more interest to us. We soon discovered the teacher’s particular failings in this regard and attacked it keenly! Some teachers were knocked off topic very easily and not very subtly, while others had to be moved very carefully to less threatening ground — anything to prevent the teacher fulfilling his own intentions. It did not matter that we had heard the stories a hundred times before; if it got us off topic, it was a price worth paying! The Red Herring was effective!

By Tim Middleton

For many of us, the skill of diversion or digression was one that came naturally to us while at school — we did not have to be taught how to do it! As soon as the teacher got on to a serious or dull topic, we saw it as our responsibility to gently, gradually move them off it to one which would no doubt be of much more interest to us. We soon discovered the teacher’s particular failings in this regard and attacked it keenly! Some teachers were knocked off topic very easily and not very subtly, while others had to be moved very carefully to less threatening ground — anything to prevent the teacher fulfilling his own intentions. It did not matter that we had heard the stories a hundred times before; if it got us off topic, it was a price worth paying! The Red Herring was effective!

Teachers for their part spend a great deal of time planning and preparing their lessons. Each is required to prepare and present their schemes (and records) of work, outlining the aim, objective, method and outcome of each lesson. It is thorough, exact, specific and related closely to the syllabus. Of course, the intention is that the aims and objectives of each lesson will be met, that the outcome will be fulfilled to the extent that inexperienced teachers may be so moved to claim that the aims and objectives of each lesson were fulfilled, otherwise they may be seen to have failed.

The fact is, though, that the aims and objectives of each lesson will not necessarily be fulfilled and such a thought should not be deemed horrendous or disastrous. The teacher may have had every good intention, every perfect method, every clear explanation on hand, but the scheme may not have been completed, simply through no fault of his own. The weather outside may have been an absolute scorcher (or alternatively a freezer), making all attempts to work extremely difficult. The lesson may have been interrupted by a fire practice (or actual fire). The teacher who had the class beforehand may have had a riot on her hands, making the pupils high as kites; there may have been a number of absentees from the class, on health or truancy grounds. There may have been all sorts of valid and understandable reasons why the schemes were not completed. The key for the teacher is to be astute, clever and honest enough to acknowledge why the schemes were not met. However, even if the teacher notes that the aim and objective were not met on account of a failure on his part to explain things clearly or to give relevant examples, much value will still have been derived from the experience. The best laid schemes do not always come to pass, but that need not be a problem.

Keen poetry lovers may pick up on a famous few lines here, taken from the poem, To A Mouse, by Rabbie Burns, the Scots poet. He addresses the field mouse right at the start as a “Wee, sleekit, cowrin, tim’rous beastie” (translated as “Little, cunning, cowering, timorous beast”) and apologises for mankind’s brutal assault on the natural world, before reaching a climax in stating that (translated) “The best laid schemes of mice and men / Go often askew, / And leave us nothing but grief and pain, / For promised joy!” These lines were, of course, also the inspiration for the much-studied John Steinbeck novel entitled Of Mice and Men which explores the theme of dreams being shattered without being completed or fulfilled.

At the start of a year we have great intentions to achieve great things. At the start of the year, teachers encourage pupils to dream big, to reach for the stars, to have a plan. Consultants will remind us that if we fail to plan we can plan to fail. We need to draw up these schemes and plans, just as teachers must have their schemes and records of work. The reality is, however, that as experienced and witnessed again and again, even the best laid schemes do not work. The greater lesson that we can share with our children is for them to understand that things will not always work out as planned, dreamed or hoped. Just as with teachers and their feedback column, so with pupils it is not a disgrace if schemes are not fulfilled; as long as we can give an accurate explanation of why the schemes were not met we are more than halfway to ensuring it will not happen again.

Zimbabweans are well-known for always making a plan. Often, however, the plan does not work, sometimes through no fault of our own. It should not divert us, but we can draw an important lesson from such an experience. The question is: Are we a man or a mouse in facing up to that reality?

 Tim Middleton is the executive director of the Association of Trust Schools [ATS]. The views expressed in this article, however, are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not necessarily represent the views of the ATS.