Higher Education… self-evaluation form
I was fortunate as a Research Fellow of IUC to spend time at several UK Universities including the University of Manchester where instead of the PGCE I did a postgraduate diploma in training which has a slightly different focus, the University of London (LSE), IDS Sussex.
I wish to share an interesting experience at Oxford University where I resided at Queen Elizabeth House:
At Oxford University, of course I benefited from substantive knowledge including curriculum design considering the job I was being prepared for. But I also learned a lot otherwise: We are twelve scholars residing at Queen Elizabeth House. Every morning at breakfast, one of us took the head chair. As we did so, we launched a discussion on a subject. Of course everyone participated. When I reflected upon the process, I concluded that the idea was to get the intellect going; it as like mental jogging. Lunch was with a group of professors. Of course the food was great with high quality nutrients and evrryone drank beer. Tthe process was to get good nutrients and energy but there were two other reasons; an English professor explained to me that beer drinking had two beneficial effects, one was to go to the bathroom and rid our body of impurities, the second was to make us more mentally relaxed; of course the other important point was to know one’s limits and never to go there; afternoon lectures flowed more creatively.
In the evening, we played bridge for couple of hours and whoever won paid a round of dry sherry which made the game more interesting and also more intellectually stimulating yet prepared us for a good night’s sleep. This is an interesting chapter of my mental growth.
