five days in may - a bolnisi portfolio

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    Carol Cecelia Smith

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    sed omnia praeclara tam difficilia quam rara sunt

    'but [as regards] everything [it] is as difficult

    [to bring it about] as it is rare [to find it]'

    SPINOZA (1632 - 1677)

    'He has obtained exactly what he deserves: no less; and

    certainly no more'

    (Andrew Crocker-Harris to Frank Hunter about Taplow)

    TERENCE RATTIGAN, The Browning Version(1948)

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    5thcentury carvings at Bolnisi Sioni (Mike Woodcock)

    To record some ongoing English educationdevelopments in a

    Georgian school, fluency in the maths of nor more dimensions is

    essential. The parameters are numerous and varied. All are in flux.

    Here are some of the variables:

    1.The school buildings and their fittings;

    2.Directions in education policy;

    3.Student learning: what has been accrued; what is being targeted;4.Timein relation to student learning especially;

    5.Emotions: the network of feelings and expectations students bring

    to lessons;

    6.Geographythe travels of the Volunteer;

    7.Materials;

    8.Ideas and strategies;

    9.Overall goals of the program.

    Being invited to write a portfolio about Bolnisi Third School is

    rather like an oceanographer being asked to comment on individual

    1This essay was written in response to a request by the Teach and Learn with Georgia

    Project (TLG) for portfolios of volunteers school teaching experiences.

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    waves; but I will do my best, and restrict my observations to a

    period of just a five days in May, 2012.

    *

    Nothing, Rilke said, is less likely to bring us near to a work of art

    than criticism. Unfortunately, the same can be said of education.

    Seen from a distance, it is - subjectively - a confused blur of good

    intentions, occasional success and, overall, a territory of ambiguous

    remembered feelings. These may vary with day-to-day, hands-on,

    experience; and in due course will acquire a patina whose quality

    will depend on learning achievement or its absence.

    That same emotional field can vary with our daily classroom

    experiences as a teacher too: a good day will provide a sense of

    uplift; a bad one something approaching the dark night of the

    soul.

    It is curious why this should be the case. My explanation is that our

    engagement happens at a deeper level than is obvious. Students in

    Georgia know deep down even if they if not of an age to understand

    the facts where available that their country, which both they and

    all visitors love unreservedly, has of late suffered greatly from the

    disintegration of the Communist system and the events that fall

    precipitated.

    Native teachers, too, are all too aware of the catastrophic collapse

    in educational activity and standards which went hand in hand with

    this political and social upheaval.2

    2cf Peter Nasmyth, Georgia: In the Mountains of Poetry, 3rd Edition (Taylor and Francis 2006) p 309. Available

    online athttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Georgia-Mountains-Poetry-Peter-

    Nasmyth/dp/0415396697#reader_0415396697

    http://www.amazon.co.uk/Georgia-Mountains-Poetry-Peter-Nasmyth/dp/0415396697#reader_0415396697http://www.amazon.co.uk/Georgia-Mountains-Poetry-Peter-Nasmyth/dp/0415396697#reader_0415396697http://www.amazon.co.uk/Georgia-Mountains-Poetry-Peter-Nasmyth/dp/0415396697#reader_0415396697http://www.amazon.co.uk/Georgia-Mountains-Poetry-Peter-Nasmyth/dp/0415396697#reader_0415396697http://www.amazon.co.uk/Georgia-Mountains-Poetry-Peter-Nasmyth/dp/0415396697#reader_0415396697
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    But Georgians know that their leaders have attempted to turn round

    the rhetorical question of a Russian in New York: Why, with a

    system of education five times better, do we have an economy five

    times worse?3

    The adventure TLG volunteers are part of is an attempt to address the

    paradox that now the social system is maybe twenty-five times better,

    but the education system has become five times as bad, Teacher-

    volunteers thus bear something of the mantle of Saint Nino...they are

    potentially saviours of Georgia...

    Class Eight gets under way

    My five days in May actually begin on 26 April the day of my

    return from England, a good day for taking the temperature of thewater.

    3Norman Stone, The Atlantic and Its Enemies:A History of the Cold War, Penguin 2011, p xiii

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    Before I left, I had arranged that all English classes should take

    place in our light-drenched, dedicated English room; equipped also

    with writing materials, blackboard, projection equipment and blackout

    curtains.

    Mari, a ninth-grader, assured me the evening of my return that the

    lessons were progressing well; and were quiet- but I was not sure

    that I could expect the same conditions in Class Eight. I was

    pleasantly surprised. In my absence, the pupils had acquired a habit

    of applying themselves; and for a golden moment there was actually

    spontaneously a moment of complete quiet, a rare thing duringEnglish lessons in Bolnisi.

    Ani is actually studying Georgian, but for a while the others are quiet...

    Class Three in the same setting seemed a challenge, as these children

    are wedded to their classroom. But after a little fun inspecting the

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    gaudy covers of the MacMillan books (This one is Level Three! Wow!)

    they settled down, if anything, better than the Eighth class.

    Ana (2ndleft) showing her usual diligence; the boys in deep involvement

    Teachers must circulate...

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    In invigilating self-paced learning, teachers must circulateas there

    are a variety of topics and levels all going on at once. I spent

    fifteen minutes with Stella (left of picture) studying words ending

    in double l. Wall, ball, shell. She shaded in the bricks of a wall,

    then wrote, wall.

    It was important to her to do the bricks in different colours. (Such

    an attention to sometimes needless detail is a very Georgian thing.)

    She then found it easy to complete the exercise in which she must

    write in the double ls. And she found it fun. I gave her a littlehelp on the scaling of the letters: three-quarter sized and half-

    sized and so on; although Stella insists of drawing the e from bottom

    to top perhaps influenced by her knowledge of the Georgian hard t.

    The last class of the day was Class Seven. This class has been

    subjected to a continuous program of behaviour management over the

    last two terms; and for a group of young people of extraordinary

    energy and diversity, they do pretty well these days. Here my

    strategy is to control by small acts of guidance.

    Little by little the children have come to trust the teachers and the

    teachers the children; and when this process reaches certain level of

    empathy, a new learning dimension is reached; and one can be a great

    deal more permissive and flexible than originally seemed possible.

    Classes 5 and 7 have ventured the furthest along this route; and

    getting to know the children as friendshas given us a new insight

    into their diverse personalities and learning styles. The message

    they need to receive is that we care deeply about them all.

    The picture below shows their obvious happiness and application.

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    Giorgi and Eka, apparently satisfied customers

    Albert Einstein lecturing in 1934

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    I am not in favour of using the term teaching because it has lost

    a precise sense due to over-employment. It should therefore be either

    avoided or very precisely defined.

    While at first it would seem to suggest that there may be an

    identifiable activity to which it refers (i.e. something which can

    easily be undertaken by a teacher if the teacher so desires) this is

    at best a top-down, outwards-in approach which bears little

    authentic relationship to what one might callsubjective process:

    which is at the heart of our psychological and sensory life.

    Teaching of course lives cheek-by-jowl with another processwhich it implies namely, learning (in the sense of a learning

    process). The interaction of these two dynamics, teaching and

    learning, equates to quite a sophisticated psychological event, or

    series of events.

    It also seems to me that students bring to the lesson both their

    emotional selves and their so-far-formed mind and an attendant desire

    to learn. In Georgia the last seems sometimes absent.

    To make the argument clearer, it is perhaps useful to compare the

    overall classroom teaching-learning process to that of the

    conquest of a difficult peak by a mountaineering team.

    The teacher is clearly the lead mountaineer, the Hillary or the Doug

    Scott of the occasion, The various outcrops, overhangs and peaks of

    the mountain may be taken to represent the (actually infinite)

    English matter which should eventually, at least in some way, be

    encountered, grappled with and even in rare cases mastered.

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    Doug Scott on the South-West face of Everest

    But it is not an exhaustive clambering over every inch of a

    mountains extent which constitutes conquest, rather a light

    skipping over the surface, in the process visiting many places

    implicated in the peaks geographical and geological description.

    Although the ultimate goal is mastery, to travel is more important

    than to arrive.

    Can students be mountaineers in this scenario? I think when fully

    motivated, yes. They are colleagues in a collective task, co-

    operation in the doing of which (it is hoped) will confer upon the

    teacher the accolade of having successfully taught the student

    English; and upon the student the laurel wreath of having

    successfully studied it. These outcomes the implicit everyday

    outcomes of EFL orthodoxy are in reality far rarer than the

    confident tone of language textbooks would suggest.

    More often students are Sherpas: essential facilitators of the task;occasional summiteers; and bearers of various burdens. Most obviously

    they bear the emotional burdens of having been born during the

    historical period in Georgia of a collapsing infrastructure,

    declining national confidence, and a decayed political culture. Or

    else they will be beneficiaries of the phoenix-like aftermath of all

    http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=en&biw=1024&bih=483&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=U5ivmyY_DLfXiM:&imgrefurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/witness/september/24/newsid_4185000/4185568.stm&docid=THH2VB9D6oxO6M&imgurl=http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40795000/jpg/_40795262_scott_scottkelly_238.jpg&w=238&h=178&ei=KWudT4PMHY6ZOrzU5fsB&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=787&vpy=72&dur=4168&hovh=142&hovw=190&tx=73&ty=107&sig=114379630515732151973&page=2&tbnh=141&tbnw=189&start=11&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:11,i:115
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    that; with the many difficult questions that new-found freedom has

    raised.

    Red Army in Tbilisi, 25 February 1921

    On occasion they can bear, too, the burdens of a teachers

    miscalculations. Pitch a lesson at too high an intellectual level,

    and it is like asking them to bear packs too heavy to carry. Keep

    them waiting when they are ready for the trek - as may happen if one

    chooses material insufficiently novel or challenging - and what you

    get is a pack of restive, discontented Sherpas. If the teaching teamis not entirely harmonious in its aim, too, the children will suffer,

    and the wrong peak will be ascended; and what price planting the flag

    of victory then?

    Good teaching which always involves the utmost humility - will

    meld the teacher and the taught, the Hillary and the Tensing, into

    one penetrative energy - whose summit successes will then see theblurring of all distinctions; and whose conviction may also echo

    in some small way the miracle of May, 1953.

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    The Browning Version

    1994 Film: Opening Scene

    MR CROCKER-HARRIS-THE TAXI-BOYS-MR GILBERT-THEPORTER-WILSON-THE PREFECT-THE HEADMASTER-MR

    FLETCHER

    Hurry upwere late --

    words with up

    get up show up come up go up pick up look up hurry up

    the wordsget/show/come/go/pick/lookare all fine but here are used ALONE - when

    there is a 50-50 relationship between the meaning-value of the VERB - these are allverbs - and the thing which we are using it for.

    Example: Please get me the newspaper. Until we reach me the meaning is unclear, so

    there is a 50-50 spread of meaning between the two halves,getme and newspaper.

    But the words using up orsimilar short words of direction (e.g. out) AFTER aregular and normal VERB (e.g.get/show/come/go/pick/look) are used when there is

    not much extra meaning coming from the thing we are talking about (I mean inthe CONTEXT) because the meaning is all in the VERB with its following POST-

    POSITION (yes, post-positionsuch as you have in Georgian).

    Up and down in the sentences below are post-positions.

    He showed up at 10 o'clock SHOWED UP =100%; nothing else

    Shegot up at 7 o'clock=100%; nothing elseCome up! I am in Flat 10 - on the third floor. (Sameclarification follows)

    Go up to Tbilisi and meet her at the airport= maybe(100-70)Gamsakhurdia's car drove UP to the spot where the bomb was.The bomb did not explode. He drove DOWN to Batumi without incident.

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    Milton Abbey School, Dorset, which was used for the school in the film, The Browning Version

    Mr Gilbert?

    Yes Good Morning

    We thought you might have caught the earlier train, sir

    Think thought. Catch caught, Early, earlier. Easy, easier

    Yes well I did, but it was late, and getting a taxi wasnt easy

    The gateway used in the film at Sherbourne School, Dorset, England

    I did Did you do your homework? I did.

    Do you like English? I do.

    Can you speak Georgian? I can.

    Could you open the window? I could.

    http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=en&biw=1024&bih=483&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=9Tq3ps9vR7TLRM:&imgrefurl=http://getahundred.com/blog/archives/299&docid=sRyfp49ASHnogM&imgurl=http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1175/557450263_c162524fb7.jpg&w=500&h=376&ei=Db6eT-SVCoGs-gaywumDDw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=95&vpy=159&dur=446&hovh=195&hovw=259&tx=164&ty=151&sig=114379630515732151973&page=1&tbnh=119&tbnw=173&start=0&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0,i:81
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    May I go out? You may.

    I might have caught the earlier train but I lost my keys.

    Allow me

    Allow me to teach you. I need quiet.

    Allow me to take your bags, they are heavy.

    I will not allow you to stand up during the lesson.

    The Historic Hall Built 1550 Destroyed by fire, rebuilt 1732 Restored 1874

    Its very beautiful

    Great Chapel Built in the Year 13-

    Sorry

    Who says this?

    Wilson youre late

    Yeah but Im not really late

    I'm late, you're late, she's late, the President's late.

    My cat was late for a meeting of Bolnisi cats.

    We are very late celebrating Christmas in Georgia.

    They were late and were not admitted to the concert.

    I dont care. Three minutes late Wilson. Cromwells. Write it down, tomorrow.

    Who says this?

    - Today.

    Who says this?

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    Oliver Cromwell, who ruled England very harshly from 1653-1658

    Any boy late for Morning Prayers is given Cromwells, which is the word here for

    punishment.

    Who says this?

    Why?

    Who says this?

    If you ask me why its called Cromwells Ill say Y is a crooked letter and you cant

    make it straight.

    (The new American master is really asking why the boys must be punished.)

    Quite

    'Quite' means 'I see', like Georgiangaseghebia

    But you also have: 'she is quite nice. Mari is quite musical. I quite like it'

    Dont worry sir, Youll soon get the hang of it.

    Don't worry - be happy

    Old and traditional English paying schools (especially Eton and Harrow, which was

    the model for the Browning Version school) use special words like 'Cromwell's',

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    which only the boys in these schools understand. In the same way special words are

    used at Oxford and Cambridge universities.

    For example a lady who cleans the room and makes the bed is called a 'bedder'. The

    man at the gate is called a Porter. But porters are originally people who carry things.

    It is a Latin word. Remember the word for a place like Poti or Sydney, Australia. Theyare ports. Places where things are carried from by sea.

    Get the hang of = get used to

    The unpleasant man (maybe he is the Porter!) is trying to suggest that Mr Gilbert will

    soon get used to the special language in the school

    Mr Gilbert new master for next term. Show him in please.

    Who says this?

    Whom is he speaking to?

    Where does this take place?

    Mr Foster, trouble with the alarm clock again, sir?

    Who says this?

    What is he trying to say?

    What ONE THING have you noticed about this school so far?

    They are all very interested in _ _ _ _

    What is that word?

    Morning boys!

    Who says this?

    Morning, sir!

    Who says this?

    Announcements.

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    The inter-house boat race was won by Ironsides. And we have to thank, for the

    excellent organization, Mr Hunter.

    Who are Ironsides?

    There is a hidden meaning here. It relates to 'Cromwell's' (see above).

    Ironsideswas the name for Cromwells horsemen (cf Georgian Mkhedrioni)

    During the period of Cromwell there was no king. Our Soviet period

    Notice the word order of this sentence. Can you say the sentence a different way?

    English can be like Georgian when you can say something in two directions, and it is

    still OK. Me var Martin. Martini var.

    Tomorrow 2pm cricket match. Scaeffernel boys versus First Eleven.

    There are eleven people in a cricket team, so it is called an 'Eleven'.

    Everything in England is graded and in classes, first, second, third etc.

    First Eleven = the best people at cricket. Second Eleven = the next best etc

    And tomorrow evening at 8:30 pm concert by Small Choir from Library Steps. Now,

    Prize Giving will be at the earlier time of 9:00 am. This is to enable Mr Fletcher time

    to reach the MCC squad in preparation for their match against the Australians at

    Lords.

    Mr Fletcher is a cricket player. The boys love him because he is famous.

    MCC is a special English organization for cricket. CCmeans 'cricket club'.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Oliver_Cromwell_by_Samuel_Cooper.jpg
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    M stands for Marylebone, a place in London named after a 'burn' or 'bourne' (later

    'bone') a small stream, that is protected by (Saint) Mary, where Lords a famous

    cricket ground is. Traditional opponents of England: Australia.

    Cricket at the time Terence Rattigan wrote The Browning Version (1948)

    *

    Yorker for the fielding side the most desired outcome in cricket;

    a metaphor for what we are aiming to achieve in all the arts we undertake...?

    http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1024&bih=483&tbm=isch&tbnid=uC_wCh5kiJjf2M:&imgrefurl=http://www.edgworthcc.co.uk/theclub.asp&docid=dP0aErkcpeBzEM&imgurl=http://www.edgworthcc.co.uk/images/cricket1948_b.jpg&w=320&h=235&ei=3s-eT5-gCIWF-wa44dWHDw&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=660&vpy=107&dur=5193&hovh=188&hovw=256&tx=131&ty=131&sig=114379630515732151973&page=4&tbnh=128&tbnw=158&start=40&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:40,i:179
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    Chapter Five: A Short Tour to Vardzia and Borjomi

    Vardzia

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    Jvari Monastery, seen from the road near Mtskheta

    Mtskheta

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    The wide open lands on the way to Gori

    More lush landscape further on

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    Teachers on the bus

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    Green Monastery (preceding page)

    Monastic residences at Green Monastery (above)

    Next pages:

    Icon of the Resurrection:

    (L to R) Adam, King David, Eve, Saint John The Baptist.

    Detail Eve

    Detail

    Saint John the Baptist

    Detail Adam, King David.

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    Surami Fortress

    View from the top of the fortress

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    Vardzia

    Sculpture at Vardzia

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    Vardzia: a city cut into the rock

    Candles at Vardzia

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    Icon of Mary in Vardzia chapel

    Q

    Queen Tamar wall painting in Vardzia chapel (source: tripadvisor.com)

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    Queen Tamar (detail)

    http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?hl=en&biw=1024&bih=483&gbv=2&tbm=isch&tbnid=Xq3or8Emn_bp0M:&imgrefurl=http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tamar_(Vardzia_fresco_detail).jpg&docid=4ShpJFQ9AM_d_M&imgurl=http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Tamar_(Vardzia_fresco_detail).jpg&w=600&h=759&ei=JO6jT4DnBIbm4QSlnODFCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=188&vpy=101&dur=1305&hovh=253&hovw=200&tx=93&ty=120&sig=114379630515732151973&page=1&tbnh=141&tbnw=102&start=0&ndsp=11&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0,i:74
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    Black Virgin

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    Cave stairs

    View from Vardzia

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    Borjomi

    Borjomi typical architecture

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    Yellow house

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    Stone steps

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    Yellow house another view

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    Borjomi River (above and below)

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    Composers House

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    View from the forest

    Composers House Gatehouse

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    Composers House Gateway; below, Restaurant

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    Old Kodak booth

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    Railway engineer sculpture awaiting unveiling.

    The sculpture is by George Tsuladze and shows the Lithuanian railway engineer, Antanas Vikuraitis-

    Keturiakis ( 1864 - 1903 )

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    Plinth of Antanas Vikutaitis Keturakis sculpture by George Tsuladze; typical street (below)

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    Old wooden house; below, Old street

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    Much altered building

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    Street of dust and stones

    A glimpse of George Tsuladzes brother, Irakli, at work on the installation of Georges sculpture

    of Antanas Vikutaitis Keturakis (next page)

    Borjomi River and one of its many small bridges

    (next page)

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    Another view along the Borjomi river

    New apartments; below, Iranian House, both under construction

    (next page)

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    Plans of works; another view of Iranian House (below)

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    Construction works (above)

    Views near the park (below)

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    Buildings near the gates of the park (above, top and preceding page)

    In the park ( also following page)

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    First Blue House

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    Second Blue House

    Hotel Victoria, Borjomi

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    Icons on Hotel kitchen wall

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    Railway

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    Mtkvari River

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    Bridge over Mtkvari (previous page) - below, Promenade

    Colourful Soviet period tower block

    View of Mtskheta - on the way back to Tbilisi (following page)

    http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=Hotel+Victoria+Borjomi&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1024&bih=483&tbm=isch&tbnid=dkAiQa6Of2iE5M:&imgrefurl=http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-photo/chan_hc/1/1250341097/ugly-but-colorful.jpg/tpod.html&docid=6S6SSbLoQm6K4M&imgurl=http://images.travelpod.com/users/chan_hc/1.1250341097.ugly-but-colorful.jpg&w=550&h=413&ei=_WipT7HRNIzO4QSu9r2LAQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=119&vpy=89&dur=457&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=98&ty=119&sig=114379630515732151973&page=2&tbnh=147&tbnw=221&start=11&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:11,i:123
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    Michelangelo: Sistine Chapel Ceiling

    Concentration is at the heart of any teaching or learning process; and

    to understand it, a consideration of Mihly Csikszentmihlyis flow

    makes an excellent starting-point. Csikszentmihlyi is a positive

    psychologist, concerned with discovering what makes for optimum human

    mental functioning; in contrast to traditional psychologists, who are

    generally concerned with learning deficits and mental handicaps of

    various sorts.

    To analyze Georgian schools in terms of their potential and then

    to try to reach out to that potential is better than to lament

    what is not right about the situation: it is preferable to see thatthe glass is half-full than that it is half-empty. Csikszentmihlyi

    represents his findings graphically in this chart.

    Csiszentmihlyis Chart of Mental States and Flow (1997)

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    Colours code the degree of emotion present in the state indicated. The

    ideal state should be one of flow(maybe pale yellow) with supporting

    elements of relaxation and control. However, many people who have

    experienced this state, such as Ayrton Senna, claim that control

    actually passes to the subconscious mind during the process, a peak

    experience when sustained flow is obvious and all-pervasive.

    I was already on pole, [...] and I just kept going. Suddenly I was

    nearly two seconds faster than anybody else, including my team- mate with

    the same car. And suddenly I realized that I was no longer driving the car

    consciously. I was driving it by a kind of instinct, only I was in a

    different dimension. It was like I was in a tunnel. (Ayrton Senna

    describing the 1988 Monaco Grand Prix).

    In a flow state, there is a sense of mental stimulus and

    relaxation at the same time, and it can arise in many fields of activity.

    As a teenager I remember the first time I heard Stravinskys Symphony

    of Psalmsin a radio broadcast. When I finally stumbled down late for

    supper that summer evening in July 1973, I felt as if I had been absent for

    about a hundred years. In fact Stravinskys piece lasts a mere twenty

    minutes.

    The Wright Brothers (1903) an early example of flow?

    And Michelangelo is said to have worked on the Sistine Chapel ceiling

    for days at a time, so absorbed that he did not stop for food or sleep for

    several days in succession; whereupon he would collapse, wake up refreshed,

    and continue.

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    Csiszentmihlyi discovered that the optimum state of flow arises

    when there is a balanced challenge for the mind: difficult enough to be

    uncertain in its outcome; but easy enough toget into; also providing

    instantaneous feedback. Writing this portfolio, for example, has given me

    a typical sense of flow: the challenge is great, but the way to proceed

    seems at last clear to me, and the text as it assembles before my eyes

    provides continuous feedback and reassurance.

    What perhaps is more mysterious is that immersion long enough and deep

    enough in such a state ought to give rise to those miraculous brain-waves

    which make the process self-sustaining. This has a great deal of relevance

    to speaking a foreign language, since when it is mastered, one ultimately

    has no sense of speaking it. In years past, I experienced something like

    that with French. As with the Wright Brothers invention, it is a form offlight; only in this case, mental flight.

    3

    Igor Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms (1930)

    3This section draws on the Wikipedia article on Csiszentmihalyi's 'flow'. Retrieving the relevant musical reference from

    the mists of time, I see that the broadcast I heard was of the concert of the First Night of the Proms, on 20 July 1973,

    when Pierre Boulez conducted the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus in the following program: Brahms - Ein

    deutsches Requiem, Op 45; Stravinsky - Symphonie de Psaumes

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    Bolnisi Third School: Nana Pruidze tutoring in the Seventh Class

    How does such an approach using positive psychology to optimize the

    learning conditions for the pupils work out in the classroom?

    The lack at least in recent years of a culture of studyinGeorgian schools ( and, sadly. in the country itself, so far as I can

    see)implies that the negative states of the left side of the chart

    may be predominant in Georgia.

    (I remember that I came here expecting to find people perfecting their

    Beethoven Sonatas or the Reti Gambit; and imagining that taxi-drivers

    would quote Rustaveli to me...)

    But there is a difference with English schools learning culture.

    Whereas the negativemental states (on Csiszentmihlyis chart) which

    one is most likely to encounter in Georgian schoolchildren would be

    Apathy and Boredom (for the historical reasons alluded to: a break-

    down of the continuity of study in schools due to social upheavals, and

    a consequent loss of contact with metal stimuli at a receptive age, and

    so on) the English schoolchild is more likely to suffer from Anxiety and

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    Worry about tests.

    Now, Csiszentmihlyis thesis has a Mozartian beauty to it, in that it

    considers what happens in the free mindwhen it is placed under no

    external social or political pressure. Does this fact not recommend him

    most highly to the Georgians, those great intellectual independents of

    the Caucasus?

    By contrast, traditional educational systems are enslaving, in that

    children are required to garner knowledge in a certain pre-determined

    and obviously inadequate ways with a view, later, to their

    revising that knowledge in a mind-numbing fashion, in order to be

    able to function in a prescribed way in a test situation.

    English children preparing for a controversial new phonicstest for 6-year-olds

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    Eka in complete absorption in Class Seven. The others are concentrating too...

    Class Seven enjoying a small amount of flow. We must be doing something right!

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    The usually volcanic Class Nine awaiting a showing of The Browning Version

    Nana Pruidze: a classic study in traditional tutoring. Meanwhile Anuka helps

    two students in the traditional Victorian pyramid learning fashion.

    Next page: Time for relaxation: Khatia (Class Seven) spots a new challenge (top)

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    Meanwhile the class has spontaneously arrived at break-out time (middle)

    Class Nine (Nana, Eka, Natia) acting out The Browning Version(bottom)

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    When I started, the materials in use in the upper classes were textbooks

    by Tatiana Bukia. Luckily I soon discovered a website, Enchanted

    Learning, which had material better suited the simple and energetic

    tastes of my early-adolescent pupils, especially of Class Seven.

    I have described elsewhere how, in the Autumn of 2011, Nana Pruidze and

    I solved the problem of the endemic disorder of this class - pupils of

    twelve to thirteen - by giving very careful attention to the signals we

    communicated, the timing and degree of forcefulness of our actions, and

    the degree to which we presented an open and frank teaching presence.4

    This was in the childrens best interests. Regarding subliminalsignals, it became apparent that should Nana appear too absorbed in the

    act of class registration, and remain seated right at the start while

    doing this, there would be a series of disruptions, obfuscations and

    distractions from the children, whose prime aim would be that of

    frustrating our agenda for as long as they could get away with it.

    Instead, Nana took to compiling her statistical information later,

    during some longueur; and we concentrated our initial energies - alwaysusing eye contact - on establishing control, after first taking the

    emotional temperature of the water.

    According to our findings, we calibrated the choreography of our

    plunging into the situation, always passing the initiative to the

    children to make the first move in initiating the learning experience..

    To do this, we used the ploy of asking them to re-arrange desks and

    chairs into a different formation, ostensibly to allow pupils to be

    closer to the radiators.

    For quite a while, the pencils and crayons I provided had a way of going

    missing; but eventually we instituted foolproof and transparent ways

    for making sure that everything was present and correct. In time, we

    4See my article, 'Bolnisi Third School: The First Seventeen Months' (April 2012) which may be accessed on

    my website, martinenglish.co.uk

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    converted the students into being the prime movers in all this; and the

    result was that by around January of this year the classes almost ran

    themselves.

    But at the moment of fission, about seven minutes into the lesson, just

    beyond the desk re-arrangement, something decisive and appropriate has

    to happen from the teachers' side. This is really the main finding of my

    time so far in Bolnisi an insight which is to be found nowhere in

    conventional pedagogic methodology.

    That was where Enchanted Learning came in. The site has a large number

    of themes, from Art and Antarctica to Wales and the Weather, but what

    caught my attention was Alphabet Activities- and in particular the

    ten collections of pages giving words using the long and short vowels.

    This provided material for ten lessons straight away; and was repeated.

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    In this way the students regularly encountered around ten words a lesson

    (wed give them two double-sided A4 sheets) some of which like

    igloo- would be new to them; and thus little by little they became

    more confident with the look and feel (as well as sounds) of simple

    English words. The materials were always presented in an attractive and

    amusing way, and arranged according to their sonic characteristics.

    In early May, for the same class, I expanded my choices from this

    website, whose art filling-in exercises (of Hokusais wave, for

    example, or of friezes from the Parthenon) had already given the

    students some much-appreciated light relief from all the linguistic

    material.

    The creators of the website, Jeananda Col and Mitchell Spector, describetheir educational philosophy as follows:

    We have found that learning can be enjoyable and satisfying. Our

    company's mission is to produce educational materials that emphasize

    creativity and the pure enjoyment of learning. The underlying message of

    our materials is that curiosity and exploration lead to delightful

    learning experiences. We hope to maximize the student's creativity,learning, and enjoyment.

    We believe that people learn the most (and retain it the longest) when

    they are actively involved in educational pursuits that are clear,

    logical, stimulating, and fun.

    *

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    Enchanted Learning: Word grid. The student has not initially

    realized the need to highlight the secret word (here butterfly).

    Below: Khatias response: dragon/flysuccessfully discovered in the grid

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    Khatias witty reinterpretation. Below: joining the dots; she was at first

    puzzled by the dogs left fore-leg, coded (a,b,c...) to avoid ambiguity

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    The first view of Svetitshkoveli Cathedral from the expressway offers an

    interesting parallel to the experience of viewing Gothic or Romanesque

    churches in England or France from a distance, for example from the train.

    Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, Mtskheta

    Lincoln Cathedral, England

    Amiens Cathedral, France

    In each case we confront a huge medieval statement of faith which has

    defined and brought into existence a whole urban settlement. The impression

    is strengthened because although Svetitiskhoveli Cathedral follows the

    5This chapter makes use of interesting Wikipedia material relating to Queen Tamar of Georgia

    http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=amiens+cathedral&start=249&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1024&bih=483&addh=36&tbm=isch&tbnid=BS0RZfjPUC69qM:&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/mauricedb/4975874471/&docid=FNsCt4OpR2nTrM&imgurl=http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4105/4975874471_a02bab6fcb_z.jpg&w=640&h=426&ei=FTCmT6ieEaLg4QSuzsnQCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=631&vpy=51&dur=1297&hovh=183&hovw=275&tx=139&ty=147&sig=114379630515732151973&page=16&tbnh=130&tbnw=199&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:15,s:249,i:179http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=lincoln+cathedral&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1024&bih=483&tbm=isch&tbnid=Hz6bsoxm_9D2OM:&imgrefurl=http://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotos-g186336-Lincoln_Lincolnshire_England.html&docid=IT0jRwXqwVjHyM&imgurl=http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/01/8b/c9/32/lincoln-cathedral-from.jpg&w=550&h=412&ei=mi-mT43lBqLP4QSZhp3KCA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=99&vpy=118&dur=4530&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=135&ty=134&sig=114379630515732151973&page=4&tbnh=135&tbnw=180&start=41&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:41,i:243http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=mtskheta&um=1&hl=en&biw=1024&bih=483&tbm=isch&tbnid=d3X21Y1xhS-I_M:&imgrefurl=http://georgia.travel/travel2/?site-path=about/topdestinations/mtskheta/&site-lang=en&docid=PrhckJfAI6_XRM&imgurl=http://georgia.travel/travel2/storage/uploads/content/schema_a/gallery/images/e0b0ffe1b8d263a657fe7dbac082f3c3.jpg&w=520&h=340&ei=2C6mT4-EEOaP4gSj_N27CQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=301&vpy=148&dur=3391&hovh=181&hovw=278&tx=136&ty=91&sig=114379630515732151973&page=3&tbnh=137&tbnw=205&start=24&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:24,i:139
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    customary Georgian cross-plan design, there are spacious aisles and a

    narthex, giving the church huge mass; and the building is also of a great

    height 54 meters (Lincoln is 83 including towers and Amiens 43 without

    spire).

    Just prior to this, Jvari on a rocky outcrop sends out a resonance that

    here is a special ancient place in Georgias history. On this summit,

    Saint Nino erected a cross, while at Svetitskhoveli, Sidonia was interred

    clutching Christs robe, from which her grasp could not be separated.

    The landscape near here is wide and prairie-like, cut through by the

    Mtkvari River; before lusher, greener lands near Gori.

    Gori is heralded by a huge army base, and a little earlier there is an

    Abkhaz resettlement camp, resembling a more sombre version of a British

    mobile home holiday site.

    One knows that at Gori, the ghost of Stalin still lives on; and one isanxious to pass this place of ill-repute as soon as possible. I think that

    I am very sensitive to such atmospheres; and remember from my childhood

    that when our route to a Scottish holiday house and passed a lowering

    prison-like Victorian mental hospital in Lanarkshire, I suffered nightmares

    for days after, and the start of the holiday was invariably ruined.

    At Surami is a well-preserved fortress, strategically situated between East

    and West Georgia, and known to Pliny the Elder as an important centre of

    power in ancient Colchis. Now it is a mere village, and when we were there,

    we were caught in a thunderstorm, which luckily I saw coming and thus

    managed to escape. The view from the fort on a clear day is quite

    different.

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    Surami Fortress, whose origins may be traced to the 12thcentury

    We had earlier visited the Green Monastery in the Borjomi National Park,

    which may have been founded by Saint Grigol Khandzteli, a kind of Georgian

    Saint Bernard, who lived from 759 to 861. The part of south-west Georgia in

    which he was active (after a monastic education in Klarjeti, Iberia) was

    strategically important in the days of the Silk Road.

    Saint Grigol Khandzteli

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Grigol_of_Khandzta.jpghttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c0/Surami.JPG
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    At Vardzia we heard a similar story about the international connections of

    Queen Tamar. She ruled a much larger territory than Georgia today; assisted

    in the foundation of the Black Sea kingdom of Trebizond; had important

    connections with Jerusalem, where she was much interested, like the

    Crusaders, in preserving Christian religious relics; she was the patron of

    Rustaveli; commissioned works of art; and sent off a military expedition

    into Turkey, much as Englands Queen Elizabeth had exhorted the sailors

    who fought the Spanish Armada at Tibury, on the River Thames near London.

    Extent of Georgia in the time of Queen Tamar (1160 1213)

    Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem, a Georgian foundation

    dating from the 11thcentury

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    Rustaveli presenting his work to Queen Tamar, by Mihly Zichy (1827-1906)

    Vani Gospels, now in Tbilisi (13thcentury)

    After ten minutes alone with Queen Tamars mural in the rock cave town at

    Vardzia I was able to take some photos which I later presented at

    school(see above, pp 21-34). On the return leg, I left the party at

    Borjomi in order to have a small adventure of my own, the photographic

    results of which I also showed to my students (see above, pp 35- 62).The

    material was well-received by the Eighth Class where Ani took the lead,

    reading out my captions but also shown to the Ninth. There was exactly

    enough material to fill a single lesson; and I think it was valuable to

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    remind my students although in less detail than here of the

    geography, history, heritage and culture of their country.

    Queen Tamar portrait (wall painting at Betania Monastery, near Tbilisi). This is one of five

    images of Tamar extant.

    Empire of Trebizond in 1300 (Pontic Greeks)

    At the time of this map, the Golden Horde the Mongol empire

    was the largest- ever empire on earth . It still holds that record.6

    6See Wikipedia article on 'The Golden Horde' and links

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    We have come to discover the primacy of learning over teaching; and

    gradually are trying to inculcate a taste for study and ultimately

    reading in our pupils.

    Even some of the youngest students (aged 8) have demonstrated an innate

    desire to learn and to communicate the results of that learning to their

    teachers.

    Spontaneous learning in Class Three

    The allotted material during on either side of Easter was textbook-based; but by requesting pieces of paper, students privileged the

    artistic aspect of things over that of words, thereby turning the

    occasion into a drawing lesson.

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    I redressed the balance by getting them to label the objects drawn; and

    the Azerbaijanian students in particular have adopted this procedure.

    Here, vividness of response and eagerness seem more important than finesse...

    Meanwhile, in Class Eight, some students have made an intelligent

    investigation of available resources and found something that interests

    them at a level they are comfortable with. This enthusiasm for the

    learning process can be capitalized on later.

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    Class 8: Ani,Mzeo

    The Azerbaijani students with their images of sun, tree and cloud have

    demonstrated that conceptsare primary. The way in which this image of

    the sun is drawn shows that a sense of the powerful heat of the sunis primary; next comes the imageof the sun; and finally the graphical

    sign associated with it.

    An Azerbaijanian students representation of the sun

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    At this point, from the teacher comes the sonic parameter, which

    the child will add to the nexus already built up.

    Thus the acts of identifying and associating the various nuclei

    which constitute the word that denotes a concept may be seen as the

    first steps on the road to reading.

    Since we are dealing with a foreignlanguage, that language presents

    itself to the mind of a child in a peculiar and different way; although

    we have, I think, no clear idea of quite this inner view may be

    different from that of the childs view of his ownlanguage.

    My guess is that Azerbaijanian students bring a particularly

    pure consciousness to the proto-reading act, since they are alreadydealing with another foreign language Georgian at school, and all

    around them.

    Another factor, seen in children in Class Seven is synesthesia.

    Colouring in the words known from Dolchs list of 110 words. A synesthetic response

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    I gave Class Seven a page from Enchanted Learning which lists some of

    the Dolch words. Dolch words are defined as follows:

    The is a list of frequently used words compiled by Edward William

    Dolch PhD. The list was prepared in 1936. It was originally published in his book

    Problems in Readingin 1948. Dolch compiled the list based on children's books of

    his era. The list contains 220 "service words" that have to be easily recognized

    in order to achieve reading fluency in English. The compilation excludes nouns,

    which comprise a separate 95-word list.7

    It is obvious that some of the students in Class Eight who attempted

    this task had strong associations with particular words and thus

    coloured them in different, and symbolic, colours.

    Students in Class Five, by contrast, have been given significant

    exposure to the dialogues in the MacMillan English Worldbook, Level

    One; and are slowly picking up the skills of reading spontaneously,

    apparently based on associations of context, as well as linking the

    visual aspects of words (the signs that make them up) to the drawings

    in the book alongside.

    7The quotation is taken from the Wikipedia article on educator Edward William Dolch and his 'Dolch Word Lists'

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    Sophiko (above) and Salome (below) in action reading dialogues (Class Five)

    Class Nine have become enthused with an English play which I have

    introduced them to, The Browning Version, in its 1994 film version.

    The story concerns an unfeeling Classics teacher who repents of his

    intellectual bullying of the pupils, after his heart is softened by

    a gift from one of the boys - of Robert Brownings version of

    The Agamemnonby Aeschylus. The play was written by Terence Rattigan

    in 1948, and is currently enjoying a revival in London.

    In the Spring Term pupils watched all the available material from

    this film on YouTube. Since they liked the subject-matter and

    enjoyed understanding and speaking out the dialogues - for example

    the young students hesitant gift (Well...Taplow ?) and the

    schoolmasters farewell speech (I am ... sorry!) I ordered

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    the complete film; and an excerpt, which we have begun to look at

    and try to perform, may be seen above, pp 10-16.

    In the first days of May, having seen the first fifteen minutes of

    the film earlier, we read the script (as it appears above) and

    although this was less well-received attempted to understand

    its linguistic content.

    Next, I blew up the words to be spoken and pasted them onto cards.

    We acted the film out, and it was clear that this was a great

    learning device, as it drew in quite a few students at once in different

    roles, and gave them a challenge of which Csikszentmihly wouldprobably approve.

    Albert Finney pacing the quadrangle in Mike Figgis1994 film, The Browning Version

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    A weary and sighing Mr Crocker-Harris regrets

    the imminent loss of his position in the school.

    Mari catches this perfectly.

    Following pages:

    Teona as Director;

    Teona, Natia, Mariami;

    Eka, Ana;

    Nana, Eka, Ana, Natia;

    Mari;Vali;

    Mari;

    Mari,Magda and Mariami playing the Chapel scene of the Porter, Wilson and the Prefect

    with obvious enjoyment.

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    PREFECT

    Wilson youre late!

    WILSON

    Yeah but Im not really late

    PREFECT

    I dont care. Three minutes late, Wilson. Cromwells. Write it down, tomorrow.

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    Our revels now are ended. These our actors,

    As I foretold you, were all spirits and

    Are melted into air, into thin air:

    And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,

    The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,

    The solemn temples, the great globe itself,

    Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve

    And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,

    Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuffAs dreams are made on, and our little life

    Is rounded with a sleep.

    William Shakespeare,The Tempest, Act 4 Scene 1

    7thMay: my five days in May are ended: and we must accept whatever

    floral revolution or newly-pacified territory which has come our way.

    7thMay: First job, to renew the flowers...

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    The time has come to retrieve the core sample from the bottom of the ocean

    and send the contents, with all their impurities, but possible mineral

    wealth, to the laboratories for analysis.

    I feel a huge sense of relief that I need no longer be the fly on the wall

    in my own documentary, and reach for that wonderful Georgian implement, the

    buzebis saklavi.

    Learning: a delicate combination of swatting and swotting, maybe?

    Freed from the need to observe and document, I immediately surge into some

    important new progress in reading and sounds with the Fifth Class.

    First I explain how they should look for vowels working together either side

    of a consonant, and that if they find this situation, they should then

    modify the two possible (adjacent but separated) sounds into a new single

    compromisesound, finishing it offwith the consonant sound which is counter-intuitive - andprecedingall that with any consonant sound

    coming right at the beginning of the word.

    Then I explain as I have done many times before that a languages words are

    made up not of letters but of two types of sign, representing the bricks

    and mortar of the wall an image which may be conjured up if you want

    to imagine the co-operation, in practice, of the two elements.

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    The Third Form also shine, since the course-correction I planned is spot-on:

    we had lingered a little too long on the MacMillan Workbook in the previous

    session; and the tonic of Enchanted Learning join-the-dots print-outs is

    just what the doctor ordered. I sense again a Csizszentmihlyian balance of

    challenge against skill; and the apparent disorder of the lesson as we pass

    Steve Jobs ten minute concentration barrieris no disorder but as my

    psychologically-sceptical younger sister once said about Obsessive-

    Compulsive Disorder, I think it is an order!8

    The atmosphere in the school is both peaceful and cheerful this morning and

    my amiable colleagues twice make me Turkish coffee, and as usual I chat,

    stumblingly, in my very inadequate Georgian about very obvious things...

    The Ninth Class watch The Browning Versionagain and seem to be settling

    down at last. I agree to twenty-five minutes without stopping for the next

    day, with twenty minutes of analysis to follow. There is a problem in that

    there is some spicy language about fourteen minutes into the film which can

    no longer be steered around. My solution will be make a transcript of the

    next section, presenting that first; but to leave out the offending

    sections. The students will then have to make their own deductions.

    I have been assisted in my work here by excellent support from the TLG team;

    and by Nana Pruidze, Nato Elikashvili, Mzia Danielia and all the other

    teachers in Bolnisi Third School. I have had important discussions with

    Professors Ian Press and Michael Gold about Georgia; and have been

    privileged to meet Peter Nasmyth, a leading British expert on the country,

    on two occasions. Tamar Nadiradze had cheerfully provided beautiful art work

    for my website9and Manana Gelashvili, a Professor at Tbilisi State

    University, has been a true Georgian aunt of great discretion whenever

    I have needed her. And although it has not impinged on this work, Vardi

    Tvaladze has given me a great insight into some elementary things in

    Georgian.

    8Steve Jobs' philosophy of presentations, which includes the idea of a ten-minute barrier for concentration in a typical

    audience, may be accessed athttp://www.smartdraw.com/Blog/archive/2012/04/12/want-to-give-a-presentation-like-

    steve-jobs.aspx9loc cit. where my first essay about Bolnisi Third School, 'One School in Georgia' and the television report about our

    summer school made by Bolneli Television in July 2011 may be accessed

    http://www.smartdraw.com/Blog/archive/2012/04/12/want-to-give-a-presentation-like-steve-jobs.aspxhttp://www.smartdraw.com/Blog/archive/2012/04/12/want-to-give-a-presentation-like-steve-jobs.aspxhttp://www.smartdraw.com/Blog/archive/2012/04/12/want-to-give-a-presentation-like-steve-jobs.aspxhttp://www.smartdraw.com/Blog/archive/2012/04/12/want-to-give-a-presentation-like-steve-jobs.aspxhttp://www.smartdraw.com/Blog/archive/2012/04/12/want-to-give-a-presentation-like-steve-jobs.aspxhttp://www.smartdraw.com/Blog/archive/2012/04/12/want-to-give-a-presentation-like-steve-jobs.aspx
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    My joyous, serene, enthusiastic students could only be found here in

    Georgia.

    *

    Brainstorming with the Fifth Class. They were able to follow

    the logic of these examples and pronounce almost all the words

    many of which they had not seen before correctly.

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    Zauri, school caretaker, takes down the flag on Friday afternoon

    Following page: Brainstorming, Part Two; and the vowel wall

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    1 Front cover: Evening Sky, Bolnisi, Kvemo-Kartli

    2 Title page: Landscape near Rachisubani, near Bolnisi, Kvemo-Kartli

    3 Title page: Eurasian Hoopoe4 Fifth century carvings at Bolnisi Sioni

    5 Class Eight gets under way

    6 Ani is actually studying Georgian,but for a while the others are quiet

    7 Ana (second left)shows her usual diligence; boys in deep involvement

    8 'Teachers must circulate'

    9 Giorgi and Eka, apparently satisfied customers

    10 Albert Einstein lecturing in 1934

    11 Doug Scott on the South-West face of Everest

    12 Red Army in Tbilisi, 25 February 1921

    13 Milton Abbey School, Dorset, used for the film, The Browning Version

    14 The gateway used in the film: Sherbourne School, Dorset

    15 Oliver Cromwell, who ruled England very harshly from 1653-1658

    16 During the period of Cromwell there was no king. Our 'Soviet' period.

    17 Cricket at the time Terence Rattigan wrote The Browning Version

    18 'Yorker' - for the fielding side the most desired outcome in cricket

    19 Jvari Monastery, seen from the road near Mtskheta

    20 Mtskheta21 The wide open lands on the way to Gori

    22 More lush landscape further on

    23 Teachers on the bus

    24 Green Monastery

    25 Monastic Residences at Green Monastery

    26-29 Icon of the Resurrection

    30 Surami Fortress

    31 View from the top of the fortress

    32 Vardzia

    33 Scupture at Vardzia

    34:Vardzia: a city cut into the rock

    35:Candles at Vardzia

    36:Icon of Mary in Vardzia chapel

    37:Queen Tamar wall-painting in Vardzia chapel

    38:Queen Tamar (detail)

    39:Black Virgin

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    40:Cave stairs

    41:View from Vardzia

    42:Borjomi typical architecture

    43:Yellow house

    44:Stone steps

    45:Yellow house - another view

    46 -47: Borjomi River

    48:Composers'House

    49:View from the forest

    50:Composers' House - Gatehouse

    51:Composers' House - Gateway

    52:Restaurant

    53:Old Kodak booth

    54:Railway engineer sculpture awaiting unveiling55:Plinth of Antanas Vikuraitis-Keturiakis sculpture, by George Tsuladze

    56:Old wooden house

    57:Old street

    58:Much altered building

    59:Street of dust and stones

    60:A glimpse of Irakli Tsuladze at work on sculpture of Lithuanian

    railway engineer, Antanas Vikuraitis-Keturiakis

    61:Borjomi River and one of its bridges62:Another view along the Borjomi river

    63:New apartments (under construction)

    64:Iranian House (under construction)

    65-66:Plans of works

    67:Another view of Iranian House

    68:Construction works

    69-70:Views near park

    71-73:Buildings near the gates of the park

    74-76:In the park

    77:First Blue House

    78:Second Blue House

    79:Hotel Victoria, Borjomi

    80:Icons on Hotel kitchen wall

    81:Railway

    82:Mtkvari River

    83:Bridge over Mtkvari River

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    84:Promenade

    85:Colourful Soviet period tower block

    86:View of Mtskheta - on the way back to Tbilisi

    87:Michelangelo: Sistine Chapel Ceiling

    88:Csiszentmihlyis Chart of Mental States and Flow (1997)

    89:The Wright Brothers (1903) an early example of flow?

    90:Igor Stravinsky: Symphony of Psalms (1930)

    91:Bolnisi Third School: Nana Pruidze tutoring in the Seventh Class

    92:English children preparing for a new phonicstest for 6-year-olds

    93:Eka in complete absorption in Class Seven.

    94:Class Seven enjoying a small amount of flow'.

    95:Class Nine awaiting a showing of The Browning Version

    96:Nana Pruidze: a classic study in traditional tutoring.

    97:Time for relaxation: Khatia (Class Seven) spots a new challenge98:Meanwhile the class has spontaneously arrived at break-out time

    99:Class Nine (Nana, Eka, Natia) acting out The Browning Version

    100:Enchanted Learning: These pages proved a hit with the Seventh Class

    101:Enchanted Learning: Word grid.

    102:Khatias response

    103:Khatias witty reinterpretation of the word grid

    104:Joining the dots

    105:Svetitskhoveli Cathedral, Mtskheta106:Lincoln Cathedral, England

    107:Amiens Cathedral, France

    108:Surami Fortress

    109:Saint Grigol Khandzteli

    110:Extent of Georgia in the time of Queen Tamar (1160 1213)

    111:Monastery of the Cross in Jerusalem

    112:Rustaveli presenting his work to Queen Tamar

    113:The Vani Gospels

    114:Queen Tamar portrait at Betania Monastery, near Tbilisi

    115:Empire of Trebizond in 1300

    116-117: Spontaneous learning in Class Three

    118:Class 8 Ani,Mzeo

    119:An Azerbaijani students representation of the sun

    120:Colouring in the words from Dolchs list a synesthetic response

    121-122: Sophiko and Salome reading dialogues

    123: Albert Finney in The Browning Version

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    124:A weary and sighing Mr Crocker-Harris regrets the imminent loss of his

    position in the school(Mari)

    125:Teona as Director

    126:Teona, Natia, Mariami

    127:Eka,Ana

    128:Nana,Eka,Ana,Natia

    129:Mari

    130:Vali

    131:Mari

    132:Mari,Magda and Mariami playing the Porter,Wilson and the Prefect

    133:7thMay:First job,to renew the flowers...

    134:The buzebis vaglave

    135 and 137: Brainstorming with the Fifth Class.

    136:Zauri,school caretaker,takes down the flag on Friday afternoon136:TheVowel wall

    137:Inside Back Cover: Macmillan meets Harry Potter meets Ali Baba

    138:Back Cover: Bolnisi Third School

    *

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    Michelangelo:

    www.habeeb.com/sistine.chapel.vatican.html

    Eurasian Hoopoe: Rajiv Lather,www.birdform.net

    'Flow': Oliver Beatson, Wikimedia Commons

    Stravinsky:

    http://www.its.caltech.edu/~tan/Stravinsky/sop.html

    Phonics: Marc Hill/Alamy; guardian.co.uk; Monday 4 July 2011,"Now they want all primary pupils to take a

    phonics test"

    Enchanted Learning: enchanted learning.com (reproduced under 'fair use'[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use(para 2)]

    Illustrations 10-18: Wikimedia Commons

    [Doug Scott: dougscottmountaineer.co.uk]

    Chapter Five: Illustrations 30; 37-38: Wikimedia Commons; Illustration 85: HC Chan (blog.travelpod.com)

    Hotel Victoria:www.concordtravel.ge

    Chapter Six: Illustration 89: Wikimedia Commons

    Chapter Eight: Wikimedia Commons

    Browning Version film clip: still from my video copy (fair use)

    Illustrations 121-122; 157: author/www.macmillanenglish.com (fair use)

    Remaining illustrations either acknowledged locally or by the author

    http://www.habeeb.com/sistine.chapel.vatican.htmlhttp://www.habeeb.com/sistine.chapel.vatican.htmlhttp://www.birdform.net/http://www.birdform.net/http://www.birdform.net/http://www.its.caltech.edu/~tan/Stravinsky/sop.htmlhttp://www.its.caltech.edu/~tan/Stravinsky/sop.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_usehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_usehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_usehttp://www.concordtravel.ge/http://www.concordtravel.ge/http://www.concordtravel.ge/http://www.concordtravel.ge/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_usehttp://www.its.caltech.edu/~tan/Stravinsky/sop.htmlhttp://www.birdform.net/http://www.habeeb.com/sistine.chapel.vatican.html