Washing the Dust from our Souls

A few weeks ago I read a piece from the BBC on the financial gains and losses  likely over a working life, for people with different degrees. 

Unsurprisingly, the Institute for Fiscal Studies' investigation found that studying creative subjects at university was unlikely to result in financial gain. For a woman, the net result was close to zero but for a man, the projected loss was £100 000 compared with their peers who did not go to university. 

There is a certain type of middle class snobbery that looks down on, or even feels sorry for young people who choose higher education courses in, say, media or theatre or photography. I know this to be the case from personal experience as a parent of a current photography undergraduate, and some teachers are not without guilt here. There is an implicit as well as explicit hierarchy of subjects and a corresponding attribution of value. 

Yet, over the past few weeks, how many of us have tuned into the rolling news channels or read information online far more regularly (sometimes, even, obsessively) than before, needing to feel fully informed? Incidentally, how much more than ever do we need to have confidence in the accuracy of what we see and hear? How many of us have turned on our favourite music in order to calm ourselves or have watched the brilliant National Theatre Live performance of One Man, Two Guvnors ? I have even dusted off my mindful colouring book and have followed along with illustrator @RobBiddulph 's regular #DrawWithRob sessions! I have also joined in with @GarethMalone 's virtual choir practices for The Great British Home Chorus. 

We have instinctively turned to these things to help us make sense of or provide a positive distraction from the situation in which we find ourselves.

There is a similar phenomenon at work in the way certain jobs that have often been poorly regarded are now viewed as key and treated with a new level of respect. Supermarket staff, refuse collectors, delivery drivers and care workers have been rightly lauded alongside our amazing NHS staff and emergency services as they all keep essential services going during a time of crisis. 

As teachers, we encourage our learners to have high aspirations but to what exactly do we want them to aspire? Have we, intentionally or otherwise, presented a view of success and ambition that is far too narrow? 'Ambitious' and 'capable' can take many forms as can 'enterprising' and 'creative'.

We need to teach the value of community and acknowledge the variety of contributions made to it; we need to model and encourage the valuing of talents and skills beyond the traditional and academic; we particularly need to ensure that the creative subjects are neither seen as inferior nor elitist, both in our curriculum planning and our day-to-day teaching. 

Through these challenging times, I am so very grateful to those who are working on the front line and elsewhere to keep us safe, fed and informed, but also to those who are using their creative skills and talents to help me to wash a little of the dust from my soul.