My daughter received her GCSE results this morning.
After losing a huge chunk of Year 10 suffering from meningitis the aim for her was never to get across the board 7,8 and 9s but to scrabble by enough to allow her to get into sixth form and reset her aims and objectives.
She managed that with room to spare and obviously I'm very proud of her.
But it does drive home that there are many different reasons for education. Sometimes it can be purely transactional - getting enough good grades to get onto the next stage of a plan.
Sometimes it can be for the pure enjoyment of personal challenge and fulfilment.
A couple of weeks ago I was watching a documentary, Outside the City, following the lives of the Trappist monks at Mount St Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire.
There is a lovely scene in which the monks are sitting on the floor as they shell broad beans in silent contemplation; lost in the moment.
It seems to me that as we get older education moves very much from the transactional to helping us become absorbed in the subjects that we have a passion for.
GCSE results
My daughter received her GCSE results this morning.
After losing a huge chunk of Year 10 suffering from meningitis the aim for her was never to get across the board 7,8 and 9s but to scrabble by enough to allow her to get into sixth form and reset her aims and objectives.
She managed that with room to spare and obviously I'm very proud of her.
But it does drive home that there are many different reasons for education. Sometimes it can be purely transactional - getting enough good grades to get onto the next stage of a plan.
Sometimes it can be for the pure enjoyment of personal challenge and fulfilment.
A couple of weeks ago I was watching a documentary, Outside the City, following the lives of the Trappist monks at Mount St Bernard Abbey in Leicestershire.
There is a lovely scene in which the monks are sitting on the floor as they shell broad beans in silent contemplation; lost in the moment.
It seems to me that as we get older education moves very much from the transactional to helping us become absorbed in the subjects that we have a passion for.
I'm very grateful for that.