A reply to Ozy Mandias by Allan Alach
( I had the same thoughts myself! - Bruce )
It’s rewarding to be able to engage in dialogue via the comments on blog posts, whether the response is for or against. One respondent to my last posting used the nom-de-plume Ozy Mandias. This brought back memories of a high school English class, where we studied a poem of that name. I recalled enough of it to realise that it would provide an excellent analogy for my pessimistic view of the future of education in New Zealand.
Ozymandias
by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)
I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert.
Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
A post apocalyptic vision of New Zealand education if present policies continue!
4 comments:
So, the "two vast and trunkless legs of stone," could be "standardized testing" and "accountability." The statue would represent the authoritarian teacher, concerned more with their value added score than the students they teach. They are so proud of their ranking in the local paper and yet, the students, despite their high test scores, never learned.
It's entirely applicable to the modern reforms sweeping the world. Another apt poem might be "Ulysses" by Tennyson, specifically the end, which I view as a teacher's retort to all of this and their re-awakening, ready to throw off the yoke of these reforms and ready to go back to inspiring a love of learning in their students.
"Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
I won't post the whole thing, just the ending:
"Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
Nice follow up, Neil.
Post a Comment