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March 2, 2011
 

A small drop in the ocean...

Fish_chips_and_peas_by_eepaul

I’m still trying to come to terms with the fact that fish and chips, our well-loved and former national dish (now displaced by chicken tikka masala) may eventually become a novelty due to rapidly depleting fish stocks.

So it was good to read about one small solution to over-fishing in Annalisa Barbieri’s piece in today’s Guardian. The solution involves, yes, wait for it, listening to fishermen.

While Annalisa decries the woeful inadequacies of the common fisheries policy and berates the EU for failing to do anything to change things, she praises the efforts of one local fishery in Devon that has succeeded in reducing the amount of discarded fish by 50%.

The fishery did this by talking to fishermen and actually involving them in the design of new nets. It did this through Project 50%, Defra-funded project which also used social marketing to get the word out. As one fisherman is quoted as saying:

“It was the first time that I’ve known a government organisation to work with the local fishermen and ask us how we could help.”

It sounds obvious, but it’s amazing how little of this listening we see – not just in government, but in our institutions generally.

Photo: EEPaul

Filed under  //   Defra   Listening   Project 50%   fishing  

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January 14, 2011
 

Back to school

School_gate_by_fin_fahey_640

My 4 year old daughter started school last week and there have been tears most mornings. My daughter’s teacher has told me we needed to do something about her “disruptive” behaviour. As we leave Lila forlornly in the classroom, screaming, it’s set me thinking about the whole “This is society, get used to it” thing.

I liked Fin Fahey’s Flickr picture because it sums up how I feel about the school: a gate sweetly inscribed "Girls & infants", with graffiti and barbed wire all over it. The gate is padlocked and although it looks like this should be the entrance, it’s not at all clear how to navigate it.

It’s what business coach and facilitator Johnnie Moore refers to as the “come here now fuck off” approach. How many companies operate like this? Instead of making employees feel loved and cosy, they do just the opposite!

In Geneva last year I met a lovely man called Michael Parmly who told me to read Summerhill by A.S.Neill. I thought, this is a business presentation, why is he talking to me about education?

I’ve only browsed a few pages of the book but already I’m hooked. The basic underlying philosophy is that if you give children love and support and they will thrive; focus on results alone and you will alienate them.

I guess what Michael Parmly was pointing out is this: a little bit of love and freedom works wonders for all of us.

Filed under  //   Education   Emotional Intelligence   Listening   Michael Parmly   Starting school   Summerhill  

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