Chris Richards

Criticism

Why is criticism (n.) associated with such negativity? The etymology of criticism couldn’t be clearer. Since 1600 it has had the meaning of ‘discussion of merit, character or quality’ (etymonline). Criticism meant to talk about how good something is. It retains that definition, to this day, in academia where we talk about ‘Literary Criticism’, forContinue reading “Criticism”

Pace

While not being a fan of playing team sports like football, I’ve always enjoyed running: the chill of the morning air against the skin, the rhythm of trainer-clad feet hitting the pavement, the smell of autumnal, fresh air and the chance to be alone with my thoughts, peacefully for a few kilometres. These days, IContinue reading “Pace”

Who Have I Taught and What Have I Learned?

I drew inspiration for this from a post Rachel Tsateri published last week. Writing this has been an interesting reflection on my career so far, where it has led me and what it has made me realise. When I started teaching in Birmingham (England), I was working in a school where 28% of the pupilsContinue reading “Who Have I Taught and What Have I Learned?”

Awareness

I used lines from Joni Mitchell’s ‘Big Yellow Taxi’ when I wrote about ‘Togetherness‘ a few months ago, but they seem relevant again. Change seems to beget awareness. Just over a week ago, I was excitedly preparing to travel to see family and friends in Wales for the first time since Christmas 2019 and asContinue reading “Awareness”

Affirmation

In this post, I’m going to dive into etymology and a little bit of comparative linguistics, but I assure you that it will be interesting! Then, I’m going to consider what this etymological safari can tell us about being affirmed. Etymonline tells us that the roots of our modern English word affirmationn are in Latin.Continue reading “Affirmation”

Expectations

I started drafting this entry thinking about everything I had been told during my initial training and early career about the necessity of having high expectations of my pupils and how I had tried to put it into practice: the ways I had succeeded, and the ways those early attempts didn’t quite work. Then, IContinue reading “Expectations”

Togetherness

Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t what you’ve got Till it’s gone Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi They may not have ‘paved paradise’ in order to ‘put up a parking lot’, but we’ve been given the opportunity over the last couple of years to think about what we didn’t realise we had.Continue reading “Togetherness”

Impact

I was thinking about the people who have had an impact on me and on my teaching. I was thinking about how I could write an entire book about all those influences. So instead I’m going to focus on just four people who have had an impact; not necessarily the biggest nor the best impact.Continue reading “Impact”

Why teach?

‘Don’t be a teacher’. The advice of my A-level English teacher couldn’t have been clearer. ‘It’s the only profession’, he counselled, ‘where everyone knows how to do it better than you do’. This post could be a charge sheet of examples of people with no pedagogical training, and not a second of classroom experience, proving thatContinue reading “Why teach?”

Pride

My grandma will often quote the aphorism that “pride cometh before a fall”. Culturally, we’re encouraged to avoid being too proud. We call a group of lions “a pride”. LGBT Pride is celebrated in many countries around the world and can be an important part of the calendar for queer people. We also encourage ourContinue reading “Pride”