Arthur's letter from the early 1970s - 1972

I've been cleaning out old boxes of papers - I could not throw this away .. 

he pounamu - it is a treasure 

 175 St Andrew St

Sunday 29th Oct

Dear Elaine

                I got your letter last week so I suppose it must be my turn. I sent your correspondence on some time ago and hope you got it all right. There are a few more letters here but they may have to wait till you are down at the end of the year.  On second thoughts I will readdress one of your letters & send it on cant tell what is in it but hope that it & this one arrives all right. I will try to make a point of posting them today. 

You mentioned the weather in your letter.  It sounded all right to hear you say something nice about it. If it is any better here it is only a little bit.  I haven't put anything in the vegetable garden, when I think it is time to start it rains again. 

Graeme was luckier than some with the lambing. He lost quite a lot   The boys were counting dead ones left at the gate for the lorry to pick up to take to Haslets and they were up to 130.  That sounds bad but Graeme said the weather had spoilt a good lambing and he had 140% at tailing time so he has been too busy to growl. He still has as many alive as he will be able to feed as the grass is backward on account of the weather.  The floods didn't do him much harm.  It was the overall condition of the weather that left the death rate up and some of his neighbours lost more than he did.  The death rate you have been hearing about would have been over Mataura way where they had lots of floods & a lot of shorn sheep perished, pre lamb shearing that we hear so much about. 

Graeme & his wife & family are well.  They had a family gathering at Labour weekend   not Allisons   the Towns are more prolific, three girls and their husbands and families  I think that was thirteen all told. Margaret and Angus were at Te Anau that weekend.  Angus caught three fish I stayed at home  went nowhere & saw nobody  and didn't enjoy my own company but I suppose that is my own fault.

You asked how Bill Leith is, all I hear is that he is in & out of hospital at times, they seem to keep me guessing.  Harry Ebbing is back at work and playing Bridge again, but I haven't heard any particulars about his eyesight. 

About myself I'm getting on all right. After you went away last time I went to Dr Baird with a pain & a bit of swelling, he gave me a lot of pills & I seem to have recovered & have to go back if there is any sign of a recurrence - so as there hasn't been any it is reasonable to think that I am all right. 

Your letter sounds as if you are all right & enjoying your busy life.  Hope you enjoy your weekend away.  Mr & Mrs Town seem to be keeping fairly well but I'm not otld very much when I ask.  No more news but if I get a letter soon I will write again. 

                                                                        Cheerio Dad.

I smile as I read it - with deep affection - the way of speaking - the phrases - the Cheerio (no-one, in my memory of my youth told me they loved me - but that was the way of the times).  The attention to detail around the farm - his wishes to be more involved, but as was inevitable, his difficulty in building close connections, "I suppose it was my own fault."  This reminded my of my appreciation of my father, my gratitude for his wisdom ( I still quote the occasional snippet of how he advised me - this is a reason for my persevering in taking time over noticing the wisdom of the past). And it reminded me of happy memories from childhood - and sad realisation that he was not a man of words or overt affection. But he was a good man. 

Thanks, Dad, you were a good father, and a man of your time, and a good man.   

Strategy for Voters

 

This letter got printed in the Press on 26 September - the heading I had selected was Strategy for Voters. I am sad that it was changed. 

Insert photo of Brian'sletter

 

Complex Task

 

Brian Ward (25/09) is right. Making good decisions is a complex matter.  Voters are NOT helped by simple sound bites.  Voters are also turned off by the political commentators who highlight and laugh at petty fights and focus on what voters might think. Politicians and commentators struggle for attention - their jobs depend on it - entertainment is most important. Policy sits behind entertainment.  But more importantly, behind both entertainment and policy sits political strategy. 

The strategy of the right is to create diversions that entertain the commentators and thereby reduce voter turnout.  The extreme right is now actively undermining democracy and turning people away from voting through disinformation. Both National and Labour know this. They both care for the wellbeing of this nation and they fight for their policies to be heard. 

So what can voters do?  Voters can sift through the nonsense and vote for the future, for our young people and for the planet.  It is especially important for voters to encourage those who are bored or disenchanted by politics to vote for the future of their children.  The strategy of voting against the extreme right is critically important.  Let's get everyone to vote.

Elaine Mayo

Hoon Hay

Here is the original of the letter published, abridged, on 19/09/23.  The abridged is better - and almost at the limit of the length the Press publishes.  

 

The story of collaboration in maths ed awaits. 

Insert Photo of the printed versionand also of Hitchin's post.

Ping pong and petty politics

Doug Hitchin (Sept 16) is both right and wrong. Learners from disadvantaged homes lose most if schooling does not inspire them. However, neoliberal dogma rather than "old fashioned organisations" has destroyed progress in education.

I was one of the lucky ones who began teaching in the 1970s when young teachers were respected for the gifts they brought to the system because of their enthusiasm and up to date knowledge.  Fresh approaches to teaching and learning were developed in partnership with experienced teachers, teacher educators, academic researchers, and, importantly, under the guidance of expertise within the Department of Education. 

I benefited personally from this collaborative development.  During the 1980s our Kiwi educators worked together, nationally and internationally, on initiatives which gave girls and "ethnic minorities" opportunities to learn to love mathematics.  This even included "family maths" which included parents.  The fun of exploring ideas while learning maths was previously limited, mainly, to boys in top-stream classes.  Mathematics flourished as a subject during the 1980s.

Then came neoliberalism. The "New Right" reformed the education system by removing centralised control.  It also opened up deregulation and destroyed the collaboration which had enabled this country to achieve high international rankings in education.

Since then we have had 40 Years of ping pong where successive governments have focused on restructuring education, tinkering with the curriculum and assessment, and correcting the perceived errors of the previous administration.

Have we now reached the point, now, where petty politicians can attract voters by telling them how teachers should teach and what equipment they may use, and for how many hours each day?

 

How can we work together to reestablish a shared vision for education?  Our children need it and our teachers need it.  Please, let us move away from ping pong and petty politics. 

 Dr Elaine Mayo

 Hoon Hay

IP Investigating patterns - 3.4

 

Kia ora tatau

I'm looking forward to tomorrow - and sad that there are only four sessions possible this term.   So this is our last.  Never mind - we will round up the term with (hopefully) lots of insights and fresh questions to explore.  Here's the plan:

(1) Boxes and three dimensions - Last time we continued looking at boxes and cut one up (or looked at one that I had cut in advance - that was fun, thought provoking - and it used visualisation.  I will bring them along again tomorrow, with a slightly different twist (Jenny - you will see what happened - and not be left behind).

(2) Rates of change and the beginnings of calculus.  Last time we investigated patterns where the rate of change was constant (we added 3 coins each time to get to the next pattern) and we saw on a graph that the pattern was a straight line with a gradient of 3).  And we actually figured out the equation of the line (but only just, time was running out).  We learnt that figuring out the equation was possible - but a bit tricky.  So we won't bother with figuring out the formulae this week.  I will give them to you - and we will see what we can find out about the shapes, and the gradients.  And how this links to calculus.  And how its okay to make up fresh ways of explaining things (as long as your associates know what you mean by what you say.  (I wish/hope we might have time to revisit "magical 3D numbers" that are less than 100 - but I think we'd be better to finish with something more practical.) 

(3) More visualisation.  The theme of these sessions has been around dimensions -  lines have one dimension, surfaces have two dimensions, solids have three dimensions.  So what has zero dimensions?  Then we'll think about something that is even more puzzling.  I'll bring some scissors.  And we'll chat about whatever suits us. 

Ngā mihi

Elaine

https://www.dropbox.com/h?preview=calculus+definition.png