#British Education

[learningsanctum]

October 04, 2024

Studying constitucional law.

Back in February I had started this blog with the intentions of sharing my progress on the new and variated faculty subjects I was going to undertake in this new year. After all, I was finally at the higher education and things had to be different now, right? I wouldn't be barely passing subjects just like I did back in high school, would I?

Well, yes. The first semester was a fiasco of me barely passing and I had to retake most of my exams so I could score just enough not to have to take the subject again. It was disappointing but I didn't think much of it because in my heart and mind I had this hope and idea of doing things differently at the higher education system. I was going to make it right.

Then the new semester started and I was still not studying and sleeping on my free time, tired from working from 07am to 02pm and then going to classes from 07pm to 10pm. Still, I have a gap between 02pm and 07pm I could have been using and had planned various time to use it... only to end up sleeping the whole afternoon.

Please, do understand, I'm not the most health person in the world, much on the contrary, going to the GYM is a habit I have been postponing with the same excuse I had to studying "I have so little time and I am so exhausted", but I realized I had to start creating new habits if I wanted to become a healthy person.

A word to the wise I'd like to share before anyone thinks I suddenly came up with strength and studied all my subjects at once, I didn't. I started therapy about three months ago and you wouldn't believe how the mere fact of knowing I have one hour at week just to talk about myself to someone is relieving. Specially since I'm a very introverted person on general and really dislike bothering my friends with my problems. Therapy helped me to rescue myself from the dangerous trap I was setting up around myself; I was able to identify and actually think about me be going about life and days in a survival mode. I was so deep into surviving and not thinking that somewhere amongst the trenches I lost the sense of what I really wanted in life.

What do I want? That's what I had to stop to ponder about. Did I even remember? It was surprising to see that yes, I definitely remembered what I wanted.

My biggest dream was to go to study abroad. I wanted Cambridge and Oxford. Books, libraries, coffees and burying myself in study for hours a day.

Then came the next, most terrifying question: how could I achieve it? I used to be a golden child, know-it-all, teacher's pet and a goddamn academic weapon! And I had long fallen from grace. I started slacking at seventh grade when I swapped the private hard and thriven education system for the basic public one. I was a star in the public system because everything they were learning I had learnt already in primary. it, of course, came to bite my ass in high school since I assumed I didn't need to study anymore. And I know damn well that if I want a Russell Group university I will have to gain an scholarship. My country's money is worth nothing near the big European pounds.

All things considered I started searching about going to Oxford. Months of research and weeks trying and asking even AI about scholarships available for me to pass to university. Turns out only "Reach Oxford" is available in my country. And tons of people made sure to throw it at my face and say Brazilian acceptance rates in this scholarship were almost inexistent. I didn't give up. I have become set on my goals already.

Then I did what all girls wanting to bounce back into academic life do: I made a mood board, applied to a higher position then the one that I was (I passed!) and started to change my mindset. Day by day. Month by month. A long and torturous process that took a tool on me but was necessary. I had lots of setbacks and just this week I discovered the process to enter Nottingham university through foundation year is easy (if I get the desired grades) since it's an automatic progression pathway, but I have to pay a money that I don't have and believe in my current situation I won't be able to make anytime soon. Still I haven't given up.

Today, at my lunch at work - and it's important to me to talk about my work because while some people have the privilege to sit and study eight hours per day, here in my country, most low class people have to work to study and this ends up in a destructive exhaustion since classes are at night and work usually takes up all the morning and afternoon leaving almost no time to study - I had time to research more and I decided to prepare myself to study once I got home.

I though that since today I didn't have any classes because it's an election day and my faculty will serve as voting spot I would study the much I could for the subject I supposedly should be having today. I decided that even if I can't take IGCSEs and A-levels now because I'm very short on money then I would start studying for what I have in hands, which is my law faculty at my hometown. it's all I have so I might as well be my hometown's good before I become Oxford good.

All of this to say that I am happy to inform that today I studied one whole hour the subject of constitutional law and am able to answer few - even though more simple - questions about the subject. It means my therapy is paying off and it means that my hard work in changing my mindset is giving me the expected result, not only accepting that I might not have what I want now but also motivating myself to use the resources I have to make the best out of my situation. This might as well prepare me for when I finally am able to sit through hours at a library at Oxford to write a paper, no? ;)

And from this, if you have read this far, I would like to say that yeah... maybe you can't study like that one girl from the internet who doesn't do anything but studying... but sometimes half an hour is all you need to keep yourself motivated and to... honestly? Change your whole damn mindset.

[sspookyspoonss]

Legit got told that I need to go less college work at my parents evening tonight.

I have done it.

I have surpassed academic weapon, I have reached academic nuclear bomb… My creators wish they could go back, alas they cannot, all they can do is watch the fire of academics consume my life.

[tuttle-did-it]

In 2017 When the DUP aligned with the Conservative Party, I had to explain to all my English friends why that was such a horrible, bad thing.

They’d never heard of the DUP, or Arlene Foster. 

At least half of them had never heard of Stormont. 

At least half of them had never heard of Oliver Cromwell.

Not one of them knew the history of The Troubles, or what the Easter Rising was. They had no clue how far back this all went, why it had happened, or why ‘one day the people in Northern Ireland suddenly went crazy and killing English people.’ 

Quite a few of them asked me ‘who Sinn Féin is and why is she in the news so much?’ 

Some of them had never heard of the ‘Irish tea-sock’  (butchering the word Taoiseach). 

‘But isn’t colonisation a good thing? Look how much good we did for India, Africa and Jamaica.’ -- literal question I received in one of my rants about English colonisation of Ireland 🤬

I’ve even met a few English people who weren’t aware there are two Irelands (ROI and NI). 

I was initially enraged at how little they knew, but literally some of them had never once learnt about British colonisation as a bad thing at all, and it never occurred to them that Ireland was once an independent Island that had been overtaken by the British. The only time Irish (Northern or Republic) news is discussed here is when it specifically interacts with English politics.

The English education system is absolutely appalling. 

I thot Oliver Cromwell died

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

the fact that shakespeare was a playwright is sometimes so funny to me. just the concept of the "greatest writer of the English language" being a random 450-year-old entertainer, a 16th cent pop cultural sensation (thanks in large part to puns & dirty jokes & verbiage & a long-running appeal to commoners). and his work was made to be watched not read, but in the classroom teachers just hand us his scripts and say "that's literature"

just...imagine it's 2450 A.D. and English Lit students are regularly going into 100k debt writing postdoc theses on The Simpsons screenplays. the original animation hasn't even been preserved, it's literally just scripts and the occasional SDH subtitles.txt. they've been republished more times than the Bible

[mythawolf]

I wonder why we Brits are taught in school that Democracy, Rule of Law, Respect, Tolerance and Individual Liberty are ‘British Values’ instead of learning about our colonial past?

Oh, wait…

[tuttle-did-it]

When I moved to the UK, I was astonished how little every single person understood how excruciatingly bad life was for the people in colonies, and how they were treated. I've had several conversations with people who insist that 'the world was better when the British Empire ran the world,' and that 'life was better for the people in colonies were happier under British rule.' Many of them equated it to being part of the EU in terms of 'perks.' No, really.

I assured them that, as someone who actually attended Irish history classes that talked about life under Empire rule, their education was woefully inaccurate, but obviously, they won't change their minds.

The UK educational system is woefully inadequate, and although I know many wonderful British English people who comprehend how terrible the British Empire was, the majority of the British English people I've met still believe that everything would be better if the British Empire was still a thing.

Percent of people in select countries who are proud of their country’s empire, think their empire made their colonies better off, and would like their country to have an empire.

[etonhousebahrain]

Fun Mindfulness Activities for Kids to Cultivate Presence and Focus

The health crisis has introduced a state of unpredictability and tension, as the sporadic and shifting schedules of educational institutions may have an impact on a child's psychological health.

[arcadiaschool]

Why British Curriculum Schools are the Top Choice for Education in the UAE - Arcadia Blog | Arcadia Preparatory School

British education has a reputation for academic excellence and traditional values. British private schools are highly regarded and known for producing leaders in various fields. Dubai has a growing number of international schools, including Dubai British schools that offer a British education curriculum. These schools provide an opportunity for students to gain a high-quality education with a global perspective. Dubai British schools have a diverse student body and a range of extracurricular activities, allowing students to develop their interests and talents. These schools are highly sought after by expatriate families looking for a top-tier education for their children.

[ncutigatwafans]

Ncuti Gatwa photographed by Tim Walker for British Vogue

[nowwavingnotdrowning]

First thing I thought was that every aspect of this is at least a year too late.

Under 8s play online games. Under 11s get sexually harassed. Under 12s are suicidal. Under 13s are sexually assaulted. And children have a right to know what's going to happen to their bodies before it happens, and to know basic facts about the world. That's not even mentioning that they're trying to ban mention of gender identity outright.

(source)

[danystargaryens]

GET TO KNOW ME: ♡ [6/15] Female Characters: ☆ Ruby Matthews (Sex Education)

I honestly thought that this whole being kind thing was a load of crap. Nobody can be perfect. And you’re certainly not. But I’ve realized you’re trying to make the world a better place. And that makes me want to be better.

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Content warning. Reader discretion is advised. A transgender teacher who works in Pitt Meadows, B.C., is going after one of their online attackers. Wilson Wilson has launched a human rights complaint against what they call a concerted attempt to get them out of the classroom. It’s believed to be the first action of its kind in the province. “A variety of slurs, accusations, and it’s all (related to the fact) that I’m a teacher,” said Wilson, who teaches art at a high school in the Lower Mainland community. [...]

Continue Reading.

Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

[northlight14]

Speaking as someone who was constantly late to school, I think punishing kids/teens for being late to school is stupid. Like, I get it. When they’re older, they can’t be late to work and stuff and they need to understand that. But majority of kids/teens are getting to school via their parents or someone else driving them or hell the school bus which is also driven by an adult. So when a kid arrives late and gets punished for it, all that’s happening is a child getting punished because the adult responsible for getting them there on time wasn’t successful. That’s not teaching the kid anything, that’s just annoying. Especially when, as a kid I was always ready on time and it was my parents I was waiting on and then in detention I’d be expected to write down a “what will I do better” that didn’t apply to me because I didn’t do anything wrong

I get that sometimes it will be the kids fault but I feel like those cases are few and far between and punishing a kid for the adults in their life is just counterproductive

[arc-hus]

Magdalene College Library, Cambridge - Níall McLaughlin Architects

[reality-detective]

British Columbia, Canada is Forcing Dangerous Drug Trials On People.

Interview with BC, Canada's Dr. Ana Sylwestrowicz. The Marxist NDP BC Government has gone full on insane and residents are being put through Orwellian hell. This drug has lawsuits against it and the NDP Government in BC does not care. Deaths, body pain, uncontrollable gambling....people are begging to make it stop.

Löök it up 🤔

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

i need to stop crying about this election result [x]