Some good news.....

and you will find it, if you follow this

And why do I find that good news? Well, it's like this. You know how you get TV or radio programs sometimes and they ask a celebrity about the outstanding teacher they had as a child; the one who enthused them with a passion for reading, or art, or playing a musical instrument? I'm always surprised that everyone seems to have had one, because I didn't.

I had good teachers (and bad ones), interesting teachers (and boring ones) , teachers who may have been interested in their subject, and some of them who patently weren't, but none of them stood out to me as exceptional. Even at Uni, none of the 'experts in their field' who taught me kindled in me any interest in their subject beyond what I already had. Admittedly that was at quite a high level before they ever opened their mouths, but it's still disappointing to think that they couldn't add anything extra.

 

In fact I had to wait until I was much older before I encountered a truly inspiring teacher in Meg Bateman. She taught a module on my UHI M Litt in Gaelic poetry, and I will not lie, I floundered for the first couple of sessions. Then I had a lightbulb moment, and fell in love with Gaelic poetry, even though I can only access it in translation. I suspect it's a bit of a marmite thing, but I  loved it.

 

But it wasn't just the poetry that Meg taught me. In fact the two most important things she taught me were

 

1    that you can learn from everyone if you are willing to open your ears and close your mouth

 

2    that 'glib' is not only not clever (even though it can sometimes sound it) but more than that, glib is, in an academic context, shameful. A true scholar is never glib.

 

I hasten to add that she never said these things in so many words. I learned them from observing her own academic openness and rigour and contrasting them with my own attitudes.

 

So I was delighted that such an inspiring, knowledgeable, hard working, sincere scholar got the recognition she deserves.

 

And she's also an acclaimed poet in her own right; her work is well worth seeking out if you're that way inclined.