Interview me

Questions supplied by Gill
1) Which do you think of as being the happiest time of your life so far, and why?
Happiest? Well, I suppose what springs to mind is the birth of my 4 children (or just afterwards, not during!) but this is more joy than happiness. I'm not sure what happiness is, actually. I used to think I didn't know because I had never experienced true happiness, but that's a bit sad and I'm sure I have at some point, probably as a child, dancing around the garden in my bare feet making daisy chains, or climbing trees. I don't look back on a time and think, " I was happier then". I think I am still working on it and am probably happier now than ever. I'm happy when I'm totally absorbed in doing something , like making things, drawing, painting, gardening. Happiest when I'm dancing round the kitchen with the children and when they are in the bath scrubbing off the mud from a really good day playing.
2) How did you develop your education theories and how effective are you finding them to be in practice?
Well, my mum and dad were both teachers and were constantly talking about it so it must have started from as far back as I can remember. I didn't have a very positive experience of school, so this has obviously affected my later decisions. When my first daughter was born , in 1987, I did not want to send her to school; I had already broken severval conventions in being a single parent, having a home birth and being forced to find alternatives to conventional medicine, etc. I got involved with a group who had the idea of starting a free school, although this fell apart by the time she was old enough to go to school, and I was struggling to work and bring her up on my own with no support, so I felt I had no choice but to send her to school. I had done a small amount of research into alternative schools, but nothing seemed possible for me to do on my own. I promised myself that I would take her out of school if she ever wanted to leave or had any problems, but she was one of the quiet ones who just got on with it and the teachers could never remember who she was at parent's evening, so that meant she was not a problem to them. This continued until she was 15 and about to do her GCSE's, so I persuaded her to stay on and finish them. In retrospect I feel that she survived state school, but the system failed to bring out her potential and partly destroyed her confidence in her abilities. It made her average, acceptable,"satisfactory", but, hopefully, she will recover.
In the mean time, I had another daughter, who I started taking to a Steiner playgroup and went on to the local Steiner Kindergarten for 2 1/2 years. I got very interested in the whole Waldorf idea and did 2 year-long parenting courses at York Steiner school. This continues to have a big influence on the way I choose to bring up the rest of my children. I got interested in Montessori when my 3rd child started at a Montessori nursery. I now have two children there part time, and part time home educated. So I have been reading a lot abot home education, (currently: Free Range Education; John Holt's why Children Learn) and I am begining to gain more confidence in the ability of children to learn themselves. So I a moving towards the 'autonomous' in the time they are at home, which is most of the time, really. And it is amazing seeing it happen before my eyes.
So I am currently fusing all these theories together into a workable thing that works for us, as we are going along. I enjoy hearing about other people's theories and experiences, and am constantly updating and reassessing the way I do things.
Effective? well, I would say that there are specific things that seem to be effective, like not allowing their heads to be forcefed with information (a la state education, but also includes excess of TV and t'internet, I suppose) has definately encouraged their thirst for knowledge. Holding back and not pre-empting the readiness for reading and writing has definately worked for Jem: she is way ahead and still eager ('when can we go to to library for more books, I feel like I want to read something'). But, obviously, it is something that is not testable, or quantifiable (despite what the government may think) that is much more important. But I just know that what we are doing it is more effective at producing a well-rounded human being than state education. Of course, this is not definable, but, then again this is my aim and not the aim of state education.
3) What's your most enjoyable hobby and why?
Well, you think I'm going to say knitting, right? Well, in some ways I don't class knitting as a hobby, at at these times it's not so enjoyable: I have worked as a knitwear designer and done a degree in knitwear design, and after this I spent long periods not wanting to see another knitting needle again! But, now I'm free to knit the odd bootee, (not odd bootees, that would be silly) , colourful plastic bags or anything else that takes my fancy then, yes, it is highly enjoyable. Why? well it is a kind of meditation, I suppose; the repetition relaxes you while you delight in what you have created. And I can talk to my mum about it for hours. And crochet. But I do also enjoy gardening and photography, and playing the guitar. And blogging, of course!
4) You find a dirty old brass lamp and give it a shine. Out pops a genie, who offers to grant you just one wish. What do you say?
This is just too difficult to answer. I sometimes think what I would do if I had loads of money- buy a house by the sea, somewhere lovely, like St Ives (I haven't been there lately, but I imagine it all light and breezy and sunny and creative and fun). I would have lovely afternoons on the veranda with friends, with tea and cucumber sandwiches, and the children would run about happily and play. And I wouldn't have to get all stressed about stuff all the time.
But this is just about me, and if I had one wish I dont know if I could use it on me, it would have to be about saving the world or something; ending world debt, exploitation, violence, abuse, poverty, war; making the world a better place.
How can you do all that with one wish? That's my eternal dilemma.
5) Which international cultural traditions or heritage appeal to you the most and why?
OK. I am fascinated with many different cultural traditions. I love to celebrate festivals and the changes in the seasons. I suppose I am ecclectic and pick and choose the bits that appeal most, or strike a chord in me. I suppose this is because I feel the need to connect with the universe and am searching for different ways that feel right. Also I am conscious of the over-commercialisation of festivals and want to find other ways to celebrate them in order to bring back something with meaning, and something that nurtures the spirit, rather than leaving you with a sense of emptiness. For example, at Easter, I didn't go overboard with chocolate Easter eggs, I just hid a few small ones around for the children to hunt for in the morning. I tried to make the day special by having homemade decorations (Easter branch with eggs) and some magical boiled eggs being left in the garden overnight by the Easter Hare. This is supposed to engender a sense of reverence in nature, and feed the soul. I often tend to use traditions that are quite local to this country, but preferably pre-Christian, or pagan. But this can be quite mixed up with all sorts of other things from all over the world and I am not averse to making something up if need be. It doesnt matter where it's from, as everyone has their own interpretation, I think. It all tends to revolve around nature, and the wheel of the year, which is basically the pagan festivals, and anything else that can be brought to add extra layers of interest to that.

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