Leo Couldn't Play Guitar!

A very short and gentle article on Scottish Education. Leo Fender in his youth, was fascinated by the advent of radio. Strangely enough, another hero of mine had much the same upbringing - Richard Feynman. (Look him up - this is about Leo!) Despite the loss of an eye at an early age, Leo used his experience with fixing radios to develop electronic amplification systems for local musicians. After WW II, small combos requiring amplification became far more popular than expensive Big Bands and Fender Amplification was born. By the early 50s, Fender had invented the first in a series of stable electric guitars to avoid the feedback inherent in amplified acoustic guitars. Later, he invented the Telecaster, Stratocaster, Precision Bass and Jazz Bass - all standard guitars used to this day. Why am I writing about Leo Fender when I am an educator interested in teacher well-being and mental health? The main reason is derived from an aphorism of George Patton, "If everyone in the room is thinking the same, someone ain't thinking!" Can I gently suggest that much of the current context in Scottish Education can be traced to the 'group think' mentality and inability of our system to have positive dissent and alternative ideas? I was recently asked by a very senior leader in Education, "How would YOU reduce workload?" My answer? "I would reduce the amount of work demanded of our schools or employ far more people to deal with it." The response was "You don't understand how difficult that would be!" Going back to Leo Fender's loss of an eye. Maybe in the land of the musical band, the one eyed man was King? He saw how to move music forwards. So ask ourselves this question: who in Scottish Education dissents and when they do, what is your immediate reaction? One thing is certain, the status quo is unsustainable.

Paul