Certification
By: Paul Hickman
Tags: Leading, Following, Certification, Education, Exams Preparation

PTH created image

The class had turned up on time. Unusually the door had been wedged open. The lights were on, and a slide was being displayed on the IWB. Unfortunately, the tutor, Paul, was not around. They waited outside for what seemed an age as the college rules clearly stated that no students were allowed in unattended rooms. “Where the heck is he?” Lucy directed at all her other classmates. “This is not like him at all. I wonder what is up?” “Do you think we should break the rules and go in anyway? We could sit and discuss or make notes about the slide he has left up.” The class decided collectively by all marching into the room and assuming their usual positions — notebooks out, all present and correct for the lesson.

George piped up first, “Oi Lucy! Paul reckons you could take the class. Why don’t you just step up? Do it and see where we end up. It looks like his nibs is a no show.”

Lucy laughed, “Do you think I should?”

“Yes, why not? What harm could it possibly do?”

“I have the easy job, you lot do all the work, and I just stand here out the front thinking I am actually doing something. So this is going to be a breeze.”

“OBSERVATIONS?”

“Horizontally, it is split into three sections.” Said Michael, who had, at long last, found his feet in the class. “Past, Now & Future only this time there appear to be measurements on these areas.”

“Interesting. Paul doesn’t seem to do joined-up writing, so I think we should take each section one at a time.”

“Good thinking!” said Lucy.

George went closer to the board as if he would see things more clearly the nearer that he got. “Start with these cases. One of the three is labeled ‘Happy Days!’ and has a green tick, whilst the other two cases have a ‘No Entry’ sign. ‘Happy Days!’, having been brought out of memory, is going back into it. The other two remain abandoned out here on the platform. Perhaps?”

“Perhaps?” said Lucy.

“Well, I am taking an educated guess. I suppose that it might be happening like this. We need Paul really to confirm these things as he devised the bloody slide.”

Lucy suddenly thought she had got the whole point of the absence of Paul from this lesson. “It is no good just making up stories if we are not going to pursue the thought. We could procrastinate all day and get nowhere. Class, do we think George’s ideas so far are all okay?”

“YES!”

“Good. Any further observations?”

“The text to the left of the cases talks about memory being built up year on year since we were born. If I understand it right, the point made is that we cannot remember all that stuff all at once, so we bring some memories into mind now and then.”

“Well said, Michael. Sally, any thoughts?”

“There are three doors back into memory. I find that odd.”

Lucy asked gently. “Why?”

“People talk about short-term memory and long-term memory, and here we are with three doors. Ancient, Modern, and NEW. Now Paul does nothing by accident, so what does that mean? I would have to ask Paul what he meant. Jonesey, have you got any ideas?”

“Oh yes, joining a new course for one. Paul is always on my case, picking holes in everything.”

“Go on. Have a go. Perhaps the old sod just thinks that you do not try very hard. You are a lazy beggar. It has to be said.”

“Okay. Ancient is very much like the ‘long term’. Isn’t it. ‘Short term could be described as NEW memories. The only one we do not get is Modern. Sounds like a fashion thing. ‘Approved of’ memories could be.”

George piped up, “Some memory just feels ‘ancient’ like perhaps a wise saying, but we heard it a short time ago, and it means something to us. So, the memory is ancient, but the meaning is NEW. Well, Modern. Something we have known for ages but up to now not really understood. Maybe.”

Jonesey said, “Hang on to that thought because I am certain it will be crucial later on.”

“The ruler is graduated in ‘Years’ so there is a lot of them. Hence that section of the diagram is larger than the other two.”

‘Oi Lucy! Didn’t Paul say you mentioned horizon last lesson even though it was not on his last week’s slide?”

“Yes, he did. Isn’t that very strange? I had a glimpse of the future there. I must be Claire wotsit. So, what do class think of the future shown on this slide?”

John said, “Well, my dad sails a lot, and he always says that the horizon is a tricky blighter. At times it appears to be miles and miles away and at others close enough so you think you could touch it. It is like a mirage effect. You know when you are speeding along in the car, and you see a patch of wet road in front of you on a gloriously hot sunny day. The sea is closer than you think it is. Maybe.”

Sally spoke hesitantly in a quiet, slow manner. “Sometimes, when I am feeling sad. There seems to be no future. My horizons are so close I can touch them. I cannot think about tomorrow. Let alone next week. I feel so alone. I am trapped in a pit. Looking backwards is only painful, and there is no hope for tomorrow. If only I could see myself in a better place, bathing in sunlight, without care. If only I could see the past and the future differently. AND then I realise I am just caught up in my gloomy thoughts — a prisoner in a cell of my own making. I have to find the key to getting out of here, but where does it lay?

[long silent pause]

But you see, there is no cell, no prison, the sun is shining, life is perfect, and tomorrow will happen, wonderful life goes on, shifting, changing, twisting and turning, whether I see that or not. The tree in the forest falls whether anyone sees it happen or not. So, this journey we call life goes on, and nothing lasts, no problem prevails, maybe only love does.”

The classroom door opened and closed, and Paul had entered without anyone sensing that he had. “Well said, you do not have to study NOW. By looking at the past and future, you instinctively know what NOW is. It is being able to live in all three, Past, Present & Future, with extreme optimism, because you can ‘see’ the illusion of ‘then’ and ‘later’. I apologise for being late today, and I have no excuse. Something deep inside me told me that this class could work it out for itself. This ‘Education’ you see is not about remembering, though it often feels that way with all the exams, testing, certificates, proofs. It is about growing up inside as well as outside. I strongly suggest that you click on that next button at this point, and you will see a slide you have already, this very morning, discussed in some depth.

PTH edit of images supplied by pxhere.com

“Lucy, you can take the class through this slide in the lesson next week. We will set up a rota for the rest of this term so that every one of you gets to lead a session. Whoever is the leader for the following week will attend a private mentoring session in my study where I will subtly explain that they can do this and investigate why. This class is learning how to lead and not just be a follower. The babies in the tunnels are followers. They are all looking for something that they already have, and they just have not realised it yet. Lastly, to keep the-powers-that-be happy, write a 1000-word citation on how you have grown this week. Class dismissed. See you all next week. Jones, please stay behind. I have some additional guidance for last week’s lesson.”