16th November 2013, 02:49 PM
Personally I knew nothing of archaeology when I was at school, so wasn't in a position to put it forward as a possible career or an option for studying at university. To my knowledge no-one at my school showed any interest and I know of no-one that even followed it as a hobby let alone as a career. It was after leaving school that I met people with archaeology connections that prompted me to get involved....
....mind you I don't think a lot of my teachers ever thought that any of their pupils would end up in a job that involved doing much more than stacking shelves or operating cash registers, so that wasn't the fault of archaeology per se, but more the fault of middle class 1970s teachers who thought that going to work in a large comprehensive was something akin to missionary work. Except they cared less for the souls of their pupils than they did on impressing their peer group that somehow they were 'living on the edge'.....I have never been convinced by those adverts that show one teacher making a difference. We had hundreds of teachers at my school and none would qualify for that honour.....We had a headmistress called Mrs Thatcher for heavens sake and as my old schoolfriend Mark Steel is fond of mentioning we went from a school run by Thatcher into a big old world run by Thatcher....
....mind you I don't think a lot of my teachers ever thought that any of their pupils would end up in a job that involved doing much more than stacking shelves or operating cash registers, so that wasn't the fault of archaeology per se, but more the fault of middle class 1970s teachers who thought that going to work in a large comprehensive was something akin to missionary work. Except they cared less for the souls of their pupils than they did on impressing their peer group that somehow they were 'living on the edge'.....I have never been convinced by those adverts that show one teacher making a difference. We had hundreds of teachers at my school and none would qualify for that honour.....We had a headmistress called Mrs Thatcher for heavens sake and as my old schoolfriend Mark Steel is fond of mentioning we went from a school run by Thatcher into a big old world run by Thatcher....
With peace and consolation hath dismist, And calm of mind all passion spent...