http://www.megaupload.com/?d=GGARX6JJ
go there to download
all of the songs were hits in 1983 in the UK and here is the reference list for all you music aficionado's who want to see when in the year these songs were big and for how long they stayed at the top of the charts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_in_music_(UK)
in addition try a search for google for "top of the pops 1983" and then go to videos. Top of the Pops was sort of the American Bandstand in the UK. Some of the videos are amazing and worthwhile watching.
here is one:
and yes...that is the comedian tracy ullman who had the 20th spot in the top singles of 1983.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
After Such Knowledge, What Forgiveness?
this very phrase, Hector says at a very pivotal point within the play.
Here is the poem from which it comes from and then the definition of the title
Gerontion by TS Elliot
HERE I am, an old man in a dry month,
Being read to by a boy, waiting for rain.
I was neither at the hot gates
Nor fought in the warm rain
Nor knee deep in the salt marsh, heaving a cutlass, 5
Bitten by flies, fought.
My house is a decayed house,
And the jew squats on the window sill, the owner,
Spawned in some estaminet of Antwerp,
Blistered in Brussels, patched and peeled in London. 10
The goat coughs at night in the field overhead;
Rocks, moss, stonecrop, iron, merds.
The woman keeps the kitchen, makes tea,
Sneezes at evening, poking the peevish gutter.
I an old man, 15
A dull head among windy spaces.
Signs are taken for wonders. “We would see a sign!”
The word within a word, unable to speak a word,
Swaddled with darkness. In the juvescence of the year
Came Christ the tiger 20
In depraved May, dogwood and chestnut, flowering judas,
To be eaten, to be divided, to be drunk
Among whispers; by Mr. Silvero
With caressing hands, at Limoges
Who walked all night in the next room; 25
By Hakagawa, bowing among the Titians;
By Madame de Tornquist, in the dark room
Shifting the candles; Fräulein von Kulp
Who turned in the hall, one hand on the door. Vacant shuttles
Weave the wind. I have no ghosts, 30
An old man in a draughty house
Under a windy knob.
After such knowledge, what forgiveness? Think now
History has many cunning passages, contrived corridors
And issues, deceives with whispering ambitions, 35
Guides us by vanities. Think now
She gives when our attention is distracted
And what she gives, gives with such supple confusions
That the giving famishes the craving. Gives too late
What’s not believed in, or if still believed, 40
In memory only, reconsidered passion. Gives too soon
Into weak hands, what’s thought can be dispensed with
Till the refusal propagates a fear. Think
Neither fear nor courage saves us. Unnatural vices
Are fathered by our heroism. Virtues 45
Are forced upon us by our impudent crimes.
These tears are shaken from the wrath-bearing tree.
The tiger springs in the new year. Us he devours. Think at last
We have not reached conclusion, when I
Stiffen in a rented house. Think at last 50
I have not made this show purposelessly
And it is not by any concitation
Of the backward devils
I would meet you upon this honestly.
I that was near your heart was removed therefrom 55
To lose beauty in terror, terror in inquisition.
I have lost my passion: why should I need to keep it
Since what is kept must be adulterated?
I have lost my sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch:
How should I use them for your closer contact? 60
These with a thousand small deliberations
Protract the profit of their chilled delirium,
Excite the membrane, when the sense has cooled,
With pungent sauces, multiply variety
In a wilderness of mirrors. What will the spider do, 65
Suspend its operations, will the weevil
Delay? De Bailhache, Fresca, Mrs. Cammel, whirled
Beyond the circuit of the shuddering Bear
In fractured atoms. Gull against the wind, in the windy straits
Of Belle Isle, or running on the Horn, 70
White feathers in the snow, the Gulf claims,
And an old man driven by the Trades
To a sleepy corner.
Tenants of the house,
Thoughts of a dry brain in a dry season. 75
Gerontion
old man who deplores aging, aridity, and spiritual decay and despairs of civilization. [Br. Poetry: Benét, 391]
See : Pessimism
Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Here is the poem from which it comes from and then the definition of the title
Gerontion by TS Elliot
HERE I am, an old man in a dry month,
Being read to by a boy, waiting for rain.
I was neither at the hot gates
Nor fought in the warm rain
Nor knee deep in the salt marsh, heaving a cutlass, 5
Bitten by flies, fought.
My house is a decayed house,
And the jew squats on the window sill, the owner,
Spawned in some estaminet of Antwerp,
Blistered in Brussels, patched and peeled in London. 10
The goat coughs at night in the field overhead;
Rocks, moss, stonecrop, iron, merds.
The woman keeps the kitchen, makes tea,
Sneezes at evening, poking the peevish gutter.
I an old man, 15
A dull head among windy spaces.
Signs are taken for wonders. “We would see a sign!”
The word within a word, unable to speak a word,
Swaddled with darkness. In the juvescence of the year
Came Christ the tiger 20
In depraved May, dogwood and chestnut, flowering judas,
To be eaten, to be divided, to be drunk
Among whispers; by Mr. Silvero
With caressing hands, at Limoges
Who walked all night in the next room; 25
By Hakagawa, bowing among the Titians;
By Madame de Tornquist, in the dark room
Shifting the candles; Fräulein von Kulp
Who turned in the hall, one hand on the door. Vacant shuttles
Weave the wind. I have no ghosts, 30
An old man in a draughty house
Under a windy knob.
After such knowledge, what forgiveness? Think now
History has many cunning passages, contrived corridors
And issues, deceives with whispering ambitions, 35
Guides us by vanities. Think now
She gives when our attention is distracted
And what she gives, gives with such supple confusions
That the giving famishes the craving. Gives too late
What’s not believed in, or if still believed, 40
In memory only, reconsidered passion. Gives too soon
Into weak hands, what’s thought can be dispensed with
Till the refusal propagates a fear. Think
Neither fear nor courage saves us. Unnatural vices
Are fathered by our heroism. Virtues 45
Are forced upon us by our impudent crimes.
These tears are shaken from the wrath-bearing tree.
The tiger springs in the new year. Us he devours. Think at last
We have not reached conclusion, when I
Stiffen in a rented house. Think at last 50
I have not made this show purposelessly
And it is not by any concitation
Of the backward devils
I would meet you upon this honestly.
I that was near your heart was removed therefrom 55
To lose beauty in terror, terror in inquisition.
I have lost my passion: why should I need to keep it
Since what is kept must be adulterated?
I have lost my sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch:
How should I use them for your closer contact? 60
These with a thousand small deliberations
Protract the profit of their chilled delirium,
Excite the membrane, when the sense has cooled,
With pungent sauces, multiply variety
In a wilderness of mirrors. What will the spider do, 65
Suspend its operations, will the weevil
Delay? De Bailhache, Fresca, Mrs. Cammel, whirled
Beyond the circuit of the shuddering Bear
In fractured atoms. Gull against the wind, in the windy straits
Of Belle Isle, or running on the Horn, 70
White feathers in the snow, the Gulf claims,
And an old man driven by the Trades
To a sleepy corner.
Tenants of the house,
Thoughts of a dry brain in a dry season. 75
Gerontion
old man who deplores aging, aridity, and spiritual decay and despairs of civilization. [Br. Poetry: Benét, 391]
See : Pessimism
Allusions—Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
The Cultural Divide Between North and South England
Here are some articles I found about the division between the North and South of England.
Copyright New York Times Company Oct 19, 1998
To the Editor:
Re ''Has England Lost Its Identity?'' (London Journal, Oct. 14): With regional legislatures poised to take over their affairs from Parliament, you report, English traditionalists begin to sense a snub and to fear for what made England England -- a devotion to privacy, sense of honor and respect for eccentricity. There is even talk of a separate assembly for England.
But the establishment of such a body -- only a subject of Conservative musing so far -- would soon be followed, I would bet, by an even greater cultural division -- the demand for parliamentary partition, North versus South. In fact, most of the traditional Englishness about which you write is far more characteristic of Southern rural values than of traditional North-of-England values.
The major cultural divide within England -- predating 19th-century class formations -- is that of North versus South. The culture and ancient dialects of the North are more like those of Scotland and Ulster than southern England in many ways. One could structure a history of this cultural fact focusing on the ancient Northumbrian kingdom and its capital at York.
ROBERT ST CYR
Greenlawn, N.Y., Oct. 15, 1998
North-South divide puzzles nation
Britain's so-called north-south divide should actually be redrawn as a diagonal line, new research suggests.
A new map defining north and south by socio-economic data suggests the dividing line runs diagonally from Gloucester, ending just below Grimsby.
The divide puts Hereford in the north while Lincoln - actually 155 miles to the north east - is in the south.
The research comes after an exhibition asked visitors to plot the divide and found no-one had the same answer.
North? South?
The Lowry art gallery in Salford, Greater Manchester, asked visitors to mark the North-South boundary on an interactive map at its Myth of the North exhibition.
After they found virtually no-one agreed, they raised the idea of research into people's perceptions of North and South to an expert in human mapping at the University of Sheffield.
Professor Danny Dorling and his team threw a series of statistical, social, cultural and economic factors at the problem.
They included variants in house prices, visual changes in the built environment, physical and historic boundaries, cultural and political differences and different life expectancy rates.
They discovered the North and South were often as socially and economically defined as they were by geography.
Cheshire in particular had many "southern" characteristics, they found.
Professor Dorling also found the dividing line between North and South shifted depending on social and economic factors.
His team also claimed there was very little middle ground - or social Midlands, if you were - between the South and the North.
Bill Longshaw, curator of Myth of The North, said: "I'm not sure I agree that culturally people in parts of Gloucester, Coventry or Birmingham are really northerners but Danny's analysis really does make you think about where The North begins.
"But no one who has visited the exhibition seems to be able to agree where the boundary is either, so at least this exercise has brought some academic and scientific reason to the debate."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/7061201.stm
Design Cross sectional study using data from the 2001 national census.
Setting Great Britain.
Participants Adults aged between 25 and 64 in Great Britain and enumerated in the 2001 population census (n = 25.6 million).
Main outcome measures European age standardised rates of self rated general health, for men and women classified by the government social class scheme.
Results In each of the seven social classes, Wales and the North East and North West regions of England had high rates of poor health. There were large social class inequalities in self rated health, with rates of poor health generally increasing from class 1 (higher professional occupations) to class 7 (routine occupations). The size of the health divide varied between regions: the largest rate ratios for routine versus higher professional classes were for Scotland (2.9 for men; 2.8 for women) and London (2.9 for men; 2.4 for women). Women had higher rates of poor health compared to men in the same social class, except in class 6 (semi-routine occupations).
Conclusions A northwest-southeast divide in social class inequalities existed in Great Britain at the start of the 21st century, with each of the seven social classes having higher rates of poor health in Wales, the North East and North West regions of England than elsewhere. The widest health gap between social classes, however, was in Scotland and London, adding another dimension to the policy debate on resource allocation and targets to tackle the health divide.
Copyright New York Times Company Oct 19, 1998
To the Editor:
Re ''Has England Lost Its Identity?'' (London Journal, Oct. 14): With regional legislatures poised to take over their affairs from Parliament, you report, English traditionalists begin to sense a snub and to fear for what made England England -- a devotion to privacy, sense of honor and respect for eccentricity. There is even talk of a separate assembly for England.
But the establishment of such a body -- only a subject of Conservative musing so far -- would soon be followed, I would bet, by an even greater cultural division -- the demand for parliamentary partition, North versus South. In fact, most of the traditional Englishness about which you write is far more characteristic of Southern rural values than of traditional North-of-England values.
The major cultural divide within England -- predating 19th-century class formations -- is that of North versus South. The culture and ancient dialects of the North are more like those of Scotland and Ulster than southern England in many ways. One could structure a history of this cultural fact focusing on the ancient Northumbrian kingdom and its capital at York.
ROBERT ST CYR
Greenlawn, N.Y., Oct. 15, 1998
North-South divide puzzles nation
Britain's so-called north-south divide should actually be redrawn as a diagonal line, new research suggests.
A new map defining north and south by socio-economic data suggests the dividing line runs diagonally from Gloucester, ending just below Grimsby.
The divide puts Hereford in the north while Lincoln - actually 155 miles to the north east - is in the south.
The research comes after an exhibition asked visitors to plot the divide and found no-one had the same answer.
North? South?
The Lowry art gallery in Salford, Greater Manchester, asked visitors to mark the North-South boundary on an interactive map at its Myth of the North exhibition.
After they found virtually no-one agreed, they raised the idea of research into people's perceptions of North and South to an expert in human mapping at the University of Sheffield.
Professor Danny Dorling and his team threw a series of statistical, social, cultural and economic factors at the problem.
They included variants in house prices, visual changes in the built environment, physical and historic boundaries, cultural and political differences and different life expectancy rates.
They discovered the North and South were often as socially and economically defined as they were by geography.
Cheshire in particular had many "southern" characteristics, they found.
Professor Dorling also found the dividing line between North and South shifted depending on social and economic factors.
His team also claimed there was very little middle ground - or social Midlands, if you were - between the South and the North.
Bill Longshaw, curator of Myth of The North, said: "I'm not sure I agree that culturally people in parts of Gloucester, Coventry or Birmingham are really northerners but Danny's analysis really does make you think about where The North begins.
"But no one who has visited the exhibition seems to be able to agree where the boundary is either, so at least this exercise has brought some academic and scientific reason to the debate."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/7061201.stm
Design Cross sectional study using data from the 2001 national census.
Setting Great Britain.
Participants Adults aged between 25 and 64 in Great Britain and enumerated in the 2001 population census (n = 25.6 million).
Main outcome measures European age standardised rates of self rated general health, for men and women classified by the government social class scheme.
Results In each of the seven social classes, Wales and the North East and North West regions of England had high rates of poor health. There were large social class inequalities in self rated health, with rates of poor health generally increasing from class 1 (higher professional occupations) to class 7 (routine occupations). The size of the health divide varied between regions: the largest rate ratios for routine versus higher professional classes were for Scotland (2.9 for men; 2.8 for women) and London (2.9 for men; 2.4 for women). Women had higher rates of poor health compared to men in the same social class, except in class 6 (semi-routine occupations).
Conclusions A northwest-southeast divide in social class inequalities existed in Great Britain at the start of the 21st century, with each of the seven social classes having higher rates of poor health in Wales, the North East and North West regions of England than elsewhere. The widest health gap between social classes, however, was in Scotland and London, adding another dimension to the policy debate on resource allocation and targets to tackle the health divide.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Page 46: Hector and Posner Discuss Yorkshire Fertilizer
QUESTION: Hector talks about a Yorkshire firm in the 19th century which swept up bones of the dead soldiers and ground them into fertilizer. What is the significance of the firm being from Yorkshire?
ANSWER: In Chris Hedges' War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, there is this anecdote from the post-Napoleonic period, drawn from the London Observer, November 18, 1822:
It is estimated that more than a million bushels of human and inhuman bones were imported last year from the continent of Europe into the port of Hull. The neighborhood of Leipzig, Austerlitz, Waterloo, and of all the places where, during the late bloody war, the principal battles were fought, have been swept alike of the bones of the hero and the horse which he rode. Thus collected from every quarter, they have been shipped to the port of Hull and thence forwarded to the Yorkshire bone grinders who have erected steam-engines and powerful machinery for the purpose of reducing them to a granularly state. In this condition they are sold to the farmers to manure their lands.
My interpretation is that Hector is disparaging Yorkshire as being populated by uncouth profit-hounds who have no honor in their search for money. This sentiment is in keeping with the perception of Yorkshire as a center of industry (ie. Industrial Revolution) and uncultured people. The best literary Yorkshire examples of this stereotype are Mr. and Mrs. Squeers in Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby. Mr. Squeers is the definition of a rude, boarish Yorkshire man who beats little boys at his school and is only concerned with profit.
Hope this helps!
Kim
ANSWER: In Chris Hedges' War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, there is this anecdote from the post-Napoleonic period, drawn from the London Observer, November 18, 1822:
It is estimated that more than a million bushels of human and inhuman bones were imported last year from the continent of Europe into the port of Hull. The neighborhood of Leipzig, Austerlitz, Waterloo, and of all the places where, during the late bloody war, the principal battles were fought, have been swept alike of the bones of the hero and the horse which he rode. Thus collected from every quarter, they have been shipped to the port of Hull and thence forwarded to the Yorkshire bone grinders who have erected steam-engines and powerful machinery for the purpose of reducing them to a granularly state. In this condition they are sold to the farmers to manure their lands.
My interpretation is that Hector is disparaging Yorkshire as being populated by uncouth profit-hounds who have no honor in their search for money. This sentiment is in keeping with the perception of Yorkshire as a center of industry (ie. Industrial Revolution) and uncultured people. The best literary Yorkshire examples of this stereotype are Mr. and Mrs. Squeers in Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby. Mr. Squeers is the definition of a rude, boarish Yorkshire man who beats little boys at his school and is only concerned with profit.
Hope this helps!
Kim
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Here is the clip from Brief Encounter that Posner and Scripps perform. It is towards the end of the clip.
A Huge Thank You to Tom for finding this.
WWI Research
and here is a GREAT website on World War I from the BBC.
WWI has a huge history so we are only going to touch lightly on it and mainly on the poets of WWI.
Here is a link to the book WWI British Poets. It is an excerpt from the book it includes the major poet we will be talking about tonight, Rupert Brooke.
So this is technically not part of the playlist but it can be.
Here is the video for The Pet Shop Boy's "It's A Sin"
and then here is the download link for the song
First Part of Research
So this is part one of the my presentation for tomorrow. Part one is about Ancient Greek education (Sparta versus Athens education), Platonian versus Aristotelean theories of education, and then last but certainly not least homosexuality in ancient greece. If you guys look through the packet that was sent out before rehearsal, specifically sighting writers and figureheads, many of then were thought to be homosexual or were out of the closet. I am pretty sure Alan Bennett didn't just put these people in the play for kicks. Also, don't worry if you are having trouble understanding the Platonian and Aristotelean theories of Education, we will shell them out together tomorrow.
Also just a heads up, the History Boys Playlist will be a cumulative thing. I might post a song here or there, as they come along. I am really open to suggestions as well.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Dramaturgy for Wednesday, January 14
Hello! Here is a copy of the information I will be presenting tonight at rehearsal. Topics include: Sociaty in 1983 Great Britain; Hector vs. Irwin; and Religion and Secularization in Great Britain:
1. What is Great Britain like outside of the school circa 1983?
Economics: 1979–1990 The Thatcher Era
When Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979, her main priorities were to reduce the role of the state in the economy and to reduce the power of the unions and their ability to paralyse the economy, a battle which culminated in the Miners' Strike of 1984. She also applied monetarist policies to reduce inflation, and reduced public spending--these deflationary measures resulted in the 1979-80 recession that led to 100,000 being added to the unemployment register every month. Her rhetoric was of a trimmer civil service and good housekeeping. Major state controlled firms were privatised, including British Aerospace (1981), British Telecom (1984), British Leyland (1984), Rolls-Royce (1987), and British Steel (1988). The electricity, gas and English water industries were split up and sold off. The ultimate success of Thatcher’s approach has been contested, but the political landscape has changed, with the chief opposition to Thatcher's Conservatives, the Labour Party, advocating many of the same economic methods, but with a greater social dimension.
Since 1973, the UK has been a member of the European Union and its predecessors. Various British governments have signed on to measures which have been aimed at improving economic conditions, such as the Single European Act (SEA), signed by Margaret Thatcher. This allowed for the free movement of goods within the European Union area. The ostensible benefit of this was to give the spur of competition to the British economy, and increase its ultimate efficiency.
Exchange controls, in operation since the war, were abolished in 1979. British net assets abroad rose approximately ninefold from £12 billion at the end of 1979 to nearly £110 billion at the end of 1986, a record post-war level and second only to Japan. [4] Privatisation of nationalised industries increased share ownership in Britain. The proportion of the adult population owning shares went up from 7% in 1979 to 25% in 1989.[7]
During much of the 1980s Britain experienced a period of boom, including an unprecedented housing boom. However, the period was also characterised by continued social strife. Unemployment skyrocketed and social ills such as homelessness and absolute poverty, which had been almost entirely eradicated in Britain during the post-war era, became common features of British life again. There was rioting in various city centres including Toxteth and Brixton, violent clashes during the miner's strike, and a wave of civil disobedience culminating in rioting when the Thatcher government introduced, ultimately unsuccessfully, the Poll Tax. While the policies of "Thatcherism" took hold in Britain, a similar set of policies were also being adopted in the U.S. through so called "Reaganomics", named for the American president, Ronald Reagan, who championed them. However, Thatcherism in the UK paid more attention to budget-balancing than Reaganism, which argued increased growth would makeup budget shortfalls - something criticised by George H. W. Bush as "voodoo economics".
It is not clear whether Thatcherism was the only reason for the boom in Britain in the 1980s, as there was also a world wide boom around the same time. However many of the economic policies put in place by the Thatcher governments have been kept since, and the Labour Party which had once been so opposed to the policies had by the late 1990s quietly dropped all opposition to them.
Race and Class in Great Britain in the 1980’s:
Post-war immigration (1945-1983)
Until the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, all Commonwealth citizens could enter and stay in the United Kingdom without any restriction. The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 made Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKCs) whose passports were not directly issued by the United Kingdom Government (i.e. passports issued by the Governor of a colony or by the Commander of a British protectorate) subject to immigration control.
Indians began arriving in the UK in large numbers shortly after their country gained independence in 1947. More than 60,000 arrived before 1955, many of whom drove buses, or worked in foundries or textile factories. Later arrivals opened corner shops or ran post offices. The flow of Indian immigrants peaked between 1965 and 1972, boosted in particular by Idi Amin's sudden decision to expel all 50,000 Gujarati Indians from Uganda. Around 30,000 Ugandan Asians migrated to the UK.[5]
By 1972, only holders of work permits, or people with parents or grandparents born in the UK could gain entry - effectively stemming primary immigration from Commonwealth countries.
Following the end of World War II, substantial groups of people from Soviet-controlled territories settled in Britain, particularly Poles and Ukrainians. The UK recruited displaced people as so-called European Volunteer Workers in order to provide labour to industries that were required in order to aim economic recovery after the war.[6] In the 1951 census, the Polish-born population of the UK numbered some 162,339, up from 44,642 in 1931.[7][8]
There was also an influx of refugees from Hungary, following the crushing of the 1956 Hungarian revolution, numbering 20,990.[9]
Contemporary immigration (1983 onwards)
The British Nationality Act 1981, which was enacted in 1983, distinguishes between British citizen or British Overseas Territories citizen. The former hold nationality by descent and the latter hold nationality other than by descent. Citizens by descent cannot automatically pass on British nationality to a child born outside the United Kingdom or its Overseas Territories (though in some situations the child can be registered as a citizen).
Immigration officers have to be satisfied about a person's nationality and identity and entry could be refused if they were not satisfied.[10]
European Union
One of the Four Freedoms of the European Union, of which the United Kingdom is a member, is the right to the free movement of people.
Since the expansion of the EU on 1 May 2004, the UK has accepted immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe, Malta and Cyprus, although the substantial Maltese and Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot communities were established earlier through their Commonwealth connection. There are restrictions on the benefits that members of eight of these accession countries can claim, which are covered by the Worker Registration Scheme.[12] Most of the other European Union member states have exercised their right for temporary immigration control (which must end by 2011[13]) over entrants from these accession states,[14] although some are now removing these restrictions.[15]
2. Hector vs. Irwin/Schoolmaster: Philosophy vs. Practicality
In The History Boys, one of the key conflicts is represented by the “opposing” viewpoints of Hector and the schoolmaster/Irwin. Hector represents philosophy in the true meaning of the word (philo: “love of” + sophia “wisdom”). Schoolmaster/Irwin represent a much more practical approach to education. They see learning as a “means to an end”-namely entrance for their students into Oxford or Cambridge.
In many ways, this struggle between Hector and Schoolmaster/Irwin represents a larger debate about education that played out in reality in Great Britain and the United States in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
Standards-based education reform
Education reform in the United States since the late 1980s has been largely driven by the setting of academic standards for what students should know and be able to do. These standards can then be used to guide all other system components. The standards-based reform movement calls for clear, measurable standards for all school students. Rather than norm-referenced rankings, a standards-based system measures each student against the concrete standard, instead of measuring how well the student performed compared to others. Curriculum, assessments, and professional development are aligned to the standards.
Standards-based school reform has become a predominant issue facing public schools. By the 1996 National Education Summit, 44 governors and 50 corporate CEOs set the priorities (Achieve, 1998) [1]
High academic standards and expectations for all students.
Tests that are more rigorous and more challenging, to measure whether students are meeting those standards.
Accountability systems that provide incentives and rewards for educators, students, and parents to work together to help students reach these standards.
By 1998, almost every state had implemented or was in the process of implementing academic standards for their students in math and reading. Principals and teachers have received bonuses or been fired, students have been promoted or retained in their current grade, and legislation has been passed so that high school students will graduate or be denied a diploma based on whether or not they had met the standards, usually as measured by a criterion-referenced test.
An 2002 BBC Article About “A-Level” Exams in Great Britain:
Tuesday, 13 August, 2002, 23:00 GMT 00:00 UK
A-levels are not an accurate test of a student's abilities and potential, academics have said.
Students would need to be tested for 40 hours for each subject for universities to have a true picture of their abilities, according to academics from King's College, London.
The release of their findings coincides with a renewed debate about exam results and whether standards are slipping.
Professor Dylan William and Professor Paul Black believe standards have been "broadly maintained".
But they say universities need other evidence of a student's abilities besides A-level grades. Professor William says grades might be improving because students are working harder and schools are increasingly "teaching to the test".
He said: "Whether standards are going up or down is not the issue - standards have been broadly maintained.
"The problem is we just don't know how accurate examination grades are for individual students, and they are of only limited use as predictors of future performance."
The academics said research in the 1970s showed A-levels were only accurate to plus or minus a grade.
They say the only way to make A-levels accurate to a 10th of a grade would be to increase the amount of exams students had to take to about 40 hours for each subject.
Prof William said this would not be popular with students so instead people would have to start trusting the judgements of teachers and university admissions tutors.
Some universities, including Kings College, use aptitude tests to gauge potential.
They are routinely used at American universities.
Professor William said although candidates for medicine at Kings usually have to get two As and a B, the college had accepted nine students from state schools who had Cs and Ds but scored well in tests on science reasoning.
Philanthropist
This is an approach advocated by the Higher Education Minster Margaret Hodge, who has said universities should consider lowering their A-level requirements for students from working-class backgrounds.
In a speech in April, she said A-levels were poor at measuring a student's potential.
At Bristol University, admissions tutors look at the average A-level scores of children at a candidate's school before awarding a place.
A pupil who had done much better than their school friends would be given a place even if their A-level results did not match those of other people previously accepted by Bristol.
The use of aptitude tests to spot talented students is advocated by Peter Lampl, the philanthropist behind the Sutton Trust educational charity.
He says more universities should use them to open their doors to bright children from low-income families.
The Secularization of the Church
Albert Mohler
President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
December 11, 2008
Secularization is the process by which a society becomes more and more distant from its Christian roots. Though the formal sociological theory is more complicated than that, the essence of secularization is the fact that the culture no longer depends upon Christian symbols, morals, principles, or practices. While most of the world is resolutely unsecular, much of Europe is pervasively secular -- and this includes Great Britain.
Nevertheless, the secularization of society is one thing, but the secularization of the church is another. Yet, at least one major leader of the Church of England now assumes what can only be described as a secular vision of the church.
Writing in a new publication of the Institute for Public Policy Research in London, Dr. John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, calls for the Church of England to represent people of all faiths, and those of no faith at all.
Writing in Faith in the Nation: Religion, Identity, and the Public Realm in Britain Today, the Archbishop argues that the Church of England deserves its place as the established church of Great Britain because it now serves as a "public utility" serving the common good.
As The Times [London] reported the story:
The Church of England should be open for use by people of any religion or none, like a hospital, says Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York.
There is a strong case for regarding the Church as a public body that does not exist simply to serve believers, he argues. Whether or not most people attend regularly is irrelevant.
This is a strange and pathetic vision of the church. No longer the assembly of believers, the church is now defined merely as a public utility. What does this public utility do? It exists, he argues, in order to provide service such as education, funerals, and a context for important national events -- such as, he suggests, the funeral of Princess Diana.
In his chapter in the book, Archbishop Sentamu argues that the Church of England serves as a public utility that offers services "at the point of need for populations who will sooner or later require their services." Quoting researcher Grace Davie, a specialist on religion in Britain, Archbishop Sentamu explains that "the fact that these populations see no need to attend these churches does not mean that they are not appreciated."
This has to be one of the strangest and most unbiblical concepts of the church ever to reach print. The church is now to be more or less on-call for a population that sees no need to attend these churches but nonetheless is assumed to appreciate the fact that they exist. Confused?
Well, the Archbishop goes on to cite Grace Davie again in proposing the idea of "vicarious religion." As she explains, "vicarious religion" is "the notion of religion performed by an active minority but on behalf of a much larger number who (implicitly at least) not only understand, but quite clearly approve of what the minority is doing."
Finally, the Archbishop argues that the church provides "faithful capital" for the society at large, building community and relationships and social cohesiveness. Of course, as he acknowledges, all this is supposed to come without much (if any) emphasis on actual Christian beliefs or teachings. As a matter of fact, he assumes that most people will never attend church anyway. Evidently, the Archbishop no longer sees that as much of a problem.
This is the end result of liberal theology -- a thoroughly secularized church. This Archbishop celebrates multiculturalism and religious diversity. No urgent concept of evangelism is to be found in his essay, for he appears to believe that no such effort is needed.
Archbishop Sentamu effectively erases the boundary between belief and unbelief, suggesting that the church belongs to believers and unbelievers alike. The saving message of the Gospel -- the message of salvation from sin through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ -- is replaced with a social function. The Body of Christ is transformed into a public utility.
In Matthew 16, Jesus states that his church is built on the confession that he is "the Christ, the Son of the Living God." But in the church of liberal theology, any belief (or no belief at all) will eventually do. Furthermore, no one actually needs to come. Nothing of eternal significance is hanging in the balance anyway. A clear proclamation of the Gospel and the bold preaching of the Word of God may be missing, but the architecture is grand and the music is glorious.
Of course, Archbishop Sentamu is attempting to argue for the continued existence of the Church of England as an established state church. His argument represents what happens when the interests of the state are all that remain. But Christians in America -- which thankfully has no state church -- are not immune from the same temptation to reduce the meaning and mission of the church to social capital and public utility.
This is ultimately where liberal theology leads, and where the church meets its end. The gates of hell will easily prevail over anything reduced to the status of a "public utility."
1. What is Great Britain like outside of the school circa 1983?
Economics: 1979–1990 The Thatcher Era
When Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister in 1979, her main priorities were to reduce the role of the state in the economy and to reduce the power of the unions and their ability to paralyse the economy, a battle which culminated in the Miners' Strike of 1984. She also applied monetarist policies to reduce inflation, and reduced public spending--these deflationary measures resulted in the 1979-80 recession that led to 100,000 being added to the unemployment register every month. Her rhetoric was of a trimmer civil service and good housekeeping. Major state controlled firms were privatised, including British Aerospace (1981), British Telecom (1984), British Leyland (1984), Rolls-Royce (1987), and British Steel (1988). The electricity, gas and English water industries were split up and sold off. The ultimate success of Thatcher’s approach has been contested, but the political landscape has changed, with the chief opposition to Thatcher's Conservatives, the Labour Party, advocating many of the same economic methods, but with a greater social dimension.
Since 1973, the UK has been a member of the European Union and its predecessors. Various British governments have signed on to measures which have been aimed at improving economic conditions, such as the Single European Act (SEA), signed by Margaret Thatcher. This allowed for the free movement of goods within the European Union area. The ostensible benefit of this was to give the spur of competition to the British economy, and increase its ultimate efficiency.
Exchange controls, in operation since the war, were abolished in 1979. British net assets abroad rose approximately ninefold from £12 billion at the end of 1979 to nearly £110 billion at the end of 1986, a record post-war level and second only to Japan. [4] Privatisation of nationalised industries increased share ownership in Britain. The proportion of the adult population owning shares went up from 7% in 1979 to 25% in 1989.[7]
During much of the 1980s Britain experienced a period of boom, including an unprecedented housing boom. However, the period was also characterised by continued social strife. Unemployment skyrocketed and social ills such as homelessness and absolute poverty, which had been almost entirely eradicated in Britain during the post-war era, became common features of British life again. There was rioting in various city centres including Toxteth and Brixton, violent clashes during the miner's strike, and a wave of civil disobedience culminating in rioting when the Thatcher government introduced, ultimately unsuccessfully, the Poll Tax. While the policies of "Thatcherism" took hold in Britain, a similar set of policies were also being adopted in the U.S. through so called "Reaganomics", named for the American president, Ronald Reagan, who championed them. However, Thatcherism in the UK paid more attention to budget-balancing than Reaganism, which argued increased growth would makeup budget shortfalls - something criticised by George H. W. Bush as "voodoo economics".
It is not clear whether Thatcherism was the only reason for the boom in Britain in the 1980s, as there was also a world wide boom around the same time. However many of the economic policies put in place by the Thatcher governments have been kept since, and the Labour Party which had once been so opposed to the policies had by the late 1990s quietly dropped all opposition to them.
Race and Class in Great Britain in the 1980’s:
Post-war immigration (1945-1983)
Until the Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962, all Commonwealth citizens could enter and stay in the United Kingdom without any restriction. The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 made Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKCs) whose passports were not directly issued by the United Kingdom Government (i.e. passports issued by the Governor of a colony or by the Commander of a British protectorate) subject to immigration control.
Indians began arriving in the UK in large numbers shortly after their country gained independence in 1947. More than 60,000 arrived before 1955, many of whom drove buses, or worked in foundries or textile factories. Later arrivals opened corner shops or ran post offices. The flow of Indian immigrants peaked between 1965 and 1972, boosted in particular by Idi Amin's sudden decision to expel all 50,000 Gujarati Indians from Uganda. Around 30,000 Ugandan Asians migrated to the UK.[5]
By 1972, only holders of work permits, or people with parents or grandparents born in the UK could gain entry - effectively stemming primary immigration from Commonwealth countries.
Following the end of World War II, substantial groups of people from Soviet-controlled territories settled in Britain, particularly Poles and Ukrainians. The UK recruited displaced people as so-called European Volunteer Workers in order to provide labour to industries that were required in order to aim economic recovery after the war.[6] In the 1951 census, the Polish-born population of the UK numbered some 162,339, up from 44,642 in 1931.[7][8]
There was also an influx of refugees from Hungary, following the crushing of the 1956 Hungarian revolution, numbering 20,990.[9]
Contemporary immigration (1983 onwards)
The British Nationality Act 1981, which was enacted in 1983, distinguishes between British citizen or British Overseas Territories citizen. The former hold nationality by descent and the latter hold nationality other than by descent. Citizens by descent cannot automatically pass on British nationality to a child born outside the United Kingdom or its Overseas Territories (though in some situations the child can be registered as a citizen).
Immigration officers have to be satisfied about a person's nationality and identity and entry could be refused if they were not satisfied.[10]
European Union
One of the Four Freedoms of the European Union, of which the United Kingdom is a member, is the right to the free movement of people.
Since the expansion of the EU on 1 May 2004, the UK has accepted immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe, Malta and Cyprus, although the substantial Maltese and Greek- and Turkish-Cypriot communities were established earlier through their Commonwealth connection. There are restrictions on the benefits that members of eight of these accession countries can claim, which are covered by the Worker Registration Scheme.[12] Most of the other European Union member states have exercised their right for temporary immigration control (which must end by 2011[13]) over entrants from these accession states,[14] although some are now removing these restrictions.[15]
2. Hector vs. Irwin/Schoolmaster: Philosophy vs. Practicality
In The History Boys, one of the key conflicts is represented by the “opposing” viewpoints of Hector and the schoolmaster/Irwin. Hector represents philosophy in the true meaning of the word (philo: “love of” + sophia “wisdom”). Schoolmaster/Irwin represent a much more practical approach to education. They see learning as a “means to an end”-namely entrance for their students into Oxford or Cambridge.
In many ways, this struggle between Hector and Schoolmaster/Irwin represents a larger debate about education that played out in reality in Great Britain and the United States in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
Standards-based education reform
Education reform in the United States since the late 1980s has been largely driven by the setting of academic standards for what students should know and be able to do. These standards can then be used to guide all other system components. The standards-based reform movement calls for clear, measurable standards for all school students. Rather than norm-referenced rankings, a standards-based system measures each student against the concrete standard, instead of measuring how well the student performed compared to others. Curriculum, assessments, and professional development are aligned to the standards.
Standards-based school reform has become a predominant issue facing public schools. By the 1996 National Education Summit, 44 governors and 50 corporate CEOs set the priorities (Achieve, 1998) [1]
High academic standards and expectations for all students.
Tests that are more rigorous and more challenging, to measure whether students are meeting those standards.
Accountability systems that provide incentives and rewards for educators, students, and parents to work together to help students reach these standards.
By 1998, almost every state had implemented or was in the process of implementing academic standards for their students in math and reading. Principals and teachers have received bonuses or been fired, students have been promoted or retained in their current grade, and legislation has been passed so that high school students will graduate or be denied a diploma based on whether or not they had met the standards, usually as measured by a criterion-referenced test.
An 2002 BBC Article About “A-Level” Exams in Great Britain:
Tuesday, 13 August, 2002, 23:00 GMT 00:00 UK
A-levels are not an accurate test of a student's abilities and potential, academics have said.
Students would need to be tested for 40 hours for each subject for universities to have a true picture of their abilities, according to academics from King's College, London.
The release of their findings coincides with a renewed debate about exam results and whether standards are slipping.
Professor Dylan William and Professor Paul Black believe standards have been "broadly maintained".
But they say universities need other evidence of a student's abilities besides A-level grades. Professor William says grades might be improving because students are working harder and schools are increasingly "teaching to the test".
He said: "Whether standards are going up or down is not the issue - standards have been broadly maintained.
"The problem is we just don't know how accurate examination grades are for individual students, and they are of only limited use as predictors of future performance."
The academics said research in the 1970s showed A-levels were only accurate to plus or minus a grade.
They say the only way to make A-levels accurate to a 10th of a grade would be to increase the amount of exams students had to take to about 40 hours for each subject.
Prof William said this would not be popular with students so instead people would have to start trusting the judgements of teachers and university admissions tutors.
Some universities, including Kings College, use aptitude tests to gauge potential.
They are routinely used at American universities.
Professor William said although candidates for medicine at Kings usually have to get two As and a B, the college had accepted nine students from state schools who had Cs and Ds but scored well in tests on science reasoning.
Philanthropist
This is an approach advocated by the Higher Education Minster Margaret Hodge, who has said universities should consider lowering their A-level requirements for students from working-class backgrounds.
In a speech in April, she said A-levels were poor at measuring a student's potential.
At Bristol University, admissions tutors look at the average A-level scores of children at a candidate's school before awarding a place.
A pupil who had done much better than their school friends would be given a place even if their A-level results did not match those of other people previously accepted by Bristol.
The use of aptitude tests to spot talented students is advocated by Peter Lampl, the philanthropist behind the Sutton Trust educational charity.
He says more universities should use them to open their doors to bright children from low-income families.
The Secularization of the Church
Albert Mohler
President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
December 11, 2008
Secularization is the process by which a society becomes more and more distant from its Christian roots. Though the formal sociological theory is more complicated than that, the essence of secularization is the fact that the culture no longer depends upon Christian symbols, morals, principles, or practices. While most of the world is resolutely unsecular, much of Europe is pervasively secular -- and this includes Great Britain.
Nevertheless, the secularization of society is one thing, but the secularization of the church is another. Yet, at least one major leader of the Church of England now assumes what can only be described as a secular vision of the church.
Writing in a new publication of the Institute for Public Policy Research in London, Dr. John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York, calls for the Church of England to represent people of all faiths, and those of no faith at all.
Writing in Faith in the Nation: Religion, Identity, and the Public Realm in Britain Today, the Archbishop argues that the Church of England deserves its place as the established church of Great Britain because it now serves as a "public utility" serving the common good.
As The Times [London] reported the story:
The Church of England should be open for use by people of any religion or none, like a hospital, says Dr John Sentamu, the Archbishop of York.
There is a strong case for regarding the Church as a public body that does not exist simply to serve believers, he argues. Whether or not most people attend regularly is irrelevant.
This is a strange and pathetic vision of the church. No longer the assembly of believers, the church is now defined merely as a public utility. What does this public utility do? It exists, he argues, in order to provide service such as education, funerals, and a context for important national events -- such as, he suggests, the funeral of Princess Diana.
In his chapter in the book, Archbishop Sentamu argues that the Church of England serves as a public utility that offers services "at the point of need for populations who will sooner or later require their services." Quoting researcher Grace Davie, a specialist on religion in Britain, Archbishop Sentamu explains that "the fact that these populations see no need to attend these churches does not mean that they are not appreciated."
This has to be one of the strangest and most unbiblical concepts of the church ever to reach print. The church is now to be more or less on-call for a population that sees no need to attend these churches but nonetheless is assumed to appreciate the fact that they exist. Confused?
Well, the Archbishop goes on to cite Grace Davie again in proposing the idea of "vicarious religion." As she explains, "vicarious religion" is "the notion of religion performed by an active minority but on behalf of a much larger number who (implicitly at least) not only understand, but quite clearly approve of what the minority is doing."
Finally, the Archbishop argues that the church provides "faithful capital" for the society at large, building community and relationships and social cohesiveness. Of course, as he acknowledges, all this is supposed to come without much (if any) emphasis on actual Christian beliefs or teachings. As a matter of fact, he assumes that most people will never attend church anyway. Evidently, the Archbishop no longer sees that as much of a problem.
This is the end result of liberal theology -- a thoroughly secularized church. This Archbishop celebrates multiculturalism and religious diversity. No urgent concept of evangelism is to be found in his essay, for he appears to believe that no such effort is needed.
Archbishop Sentamu effectively erases the boundary between belief and unbelief, suggesting that the church belongs to believers and unbelievers alike. The saving message of the Gospel -- the message of salvation from sin through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ -- is replaced with a social function. The Body of Christ is transformed into a public utility.
In Matthew 16, Jesus states that his church is built on the confession that he is "the Christ, the Son of the Living God." But in the church of liberal theology, any belief (or no belief at all) will eventually do. Furthermore, no one actually needs to come. Nothing of eternal significance is hanging in the balance anyway. A clear proclamation of the Gospel and the bold preaching of the Word of God may be missing, but the architecture is grand and the music is glorious.
Of course, Archbishop Sentamu is attempting to argue for the continued existence of the Church of England as an established state church. His argument represents what happens when the interests of the state are all that remain. But Christians in America -- which thankfully has no state church -- are not immune from the same temptation to reduce the meaning and mission of the church to social capital and public utility.
This is ultimately where liberal theology leads, and where the church meets its end. The gates of hell will easily prevail over anything reduced to the status of a "public utility."
Hey guys
So I know there was mention of first names of characters because in the show pretty much everyone is referred to by last name. Anyways, I found your first names....if you're interested.
Douglas Hector
Dorothy Lintott
Adil Akthar
Christopher Crowther
Stuart Dakin
James Lockwood
David Posner
Peter Rudge
Donald Scripps
Anthony Timms
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