An Educational Visit.

On Saturday, 28th March, I visited the Education Exhibition at the NEC, Birmin gham. I had been of two minds whether to go, but as this is a sector that I am interested in I thoght it would be a good experience, and entry was free!

As soon as I got there and started watching the teachers and ancillary staff with their collapsable carts of 'freebies' feverishly hunting down more and more goodies I realised that their body language said it all: Stressed, Disheartened and Over Burdened. Here was a highly commited group of people who were obviously giving up their own time, again, to support their pupils. Many were apparently taking advantage of Exhibition Discounts and Hand-outs to obtain supplies of materials and equipment that would probably otherwise have been outside their budgets.

This was no ordinary Trade or Professional Exhibition.

Ove a number of years I have had contacts with the Educational Establishment at varying levels and through many channels. Some of the insight that I have gained were as a result of my own children's education, along with my own return to further education.. Others came from experiences met during my Police Career. I have also had a long term view intoe the changing world of Primary Education, as a side effect of my wife working at an inner city primary school, in Leicester (50+ Languages!!!!). Many of the changes that have made the headlines in both local and national media have often been reported from a narrow perspective and have failed to show the overall and indeed accumulating effects that echo throughout the Education System. Having sat on the side and watched the changing focus of resources and policies over the years I could understand why may that I saw at the NEC that day had that "rat-in-a-treadmill" aura.

The more I thought abot this the more I recognised the frustrations of those dedicated people, the teachers and their support staff, and the more I believed that we Hypnotherapists can and should be able to help.

There were also several areas of a positive nature: the increasingly diverse and stimulating resources available at all levels, the wide range of support from outside agencies. I even spotted some things that I thought may cross over into the therapeutic environment. I was impressed by a computer system that uses Digital Video to help analyse and develop motor skills and aports performance - no there's an interesting possibility.

So at the end of the day I decided that Education is a good thing and I can see may opportunities for involvement.

Posted on April 12, 2009

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