Even the clearest instruction loses clarity when it engages with the human beings it is intended for. As someone may have said before, if you make a plan be assured that once human beings are asked to implement it, it will go wrong.
I am reminded of a time in the early 1970s when I was teaching in a boarding school for boys between the age of 8 and 13 years. The school was situated by the North Sea on the east coast of Scotland between Dundee and Aberdeen.
On the occasion I am recollecting the weather had been for some time very wet and the sports grounds were so waterlogged it was deemed impossible to play rugby or any kind of game on them. After a couple days of this the younger boys, lacking any exercise, were becoming restive. This perturbed the headmaster and his wife to the extent that they asked the boys if they had any ideas of their own for outdoor activity. The boys said that they would like to go down to beach to play in the rock pools. The beach adjacent to the school was rocky and slippery and the headmaster was anxious about this but tended to want go along with the boys' wishes while his wife was anxious for the boys' safety and concerned that they would be soaked and catch a cold or worse.
As well as her sincere concern for the boys she worried that news of such an informal escapade would get back to the boys' parents and that in consequence the school's reputation might suffer. Her anxiety was heightened because the boys insisted that they be allowed to paddle in the sea. What, they protested, would be the fun of going down to the sea and not being able to paddle? An impasse had been reached and the headmaster and his wife asked the deputy headmaster to join them and after the three had huddled together for about half an hour they hatched a plan.
The three junior teachers who had been charged with the responsibility of supervising the expedition were called together for a briefing. I was one of those teachers. The deputy headmaster was entrusted to deliver this briefing. He informed us the boys had been told they could paddle in the sea and that they were somewhat over-excited about it. No such expedition had ever previously been ventured and we were informed some very strict rules would be laid down. It was explained that in order to keep them warm the boys would wear their full school uniforms as well as their belted raincoats. We were told too they would wear wellington boots and be allowed to paddle into the sea to the depth of three inches but that under no circumstances were they to allow sea water to enter the inside of their Wellington boots. This rule was reinforced to the boys by the headmaster and we three teachers were ordered to ensure that our charges complied.
On some days the sea in those parts can be rough and at other times still and calm. On this occasion it was neither. I estimated the height of waves to be between a foot and eighteen inches high. We were with a group of about 40 boys between the ages of 8 and 10 years. I leave it to your imagination how the expedition fared.
The boys enjoyed their afternoon but the headmaster's wife was apoplectic with rage when we returned with 40 saturated boys. It was made quite clear to my two colleagues and I that we had been 'entirely responsible for the afternoon's catastrophe' and thought of any future littoral outings must be banished from our minds.
I am reminded of a time in the early 1970s when I was teaching in a boarding school for boys between the age of 8 and 13 years. The school was situated by the North Sea on the east coast of Scotland between Dundee and Aberdeen.
On the occasion I am recollecting the weather had been for some time very wet and the sports grounds were so waterlogged it was deemed impossible to play rugby or any kind of game on them. After a couple days of this the younger boys, lacking any exercise, were becoming restive. This perturbed the headmaster and his wife to the extent that they asked the boys if they had any ideas of their own for outdoor activity. The boys said that they would like to go down to beach to play in the rock pools. The beach adjacent to the school was rocky and slippery and the headmaster was anxious about this but tended to want go along with the boys' wishes while his wife was anxious for the boys' safety and concerned that they would be soaked and catch a cold or worse.
As well as her sincere concern for the boys she worried that news of such an informal escapade would get back to the boys' parents and that in consequence the school's reputation might suffer. Her anxiety was heightened because the boys insisted that they be allowed to paddle in the sea. What, they protested, would be the fun of going down to the sea and not being able to paddle? An impasse had been reached and the headmaster and his wife asked the deputy headmaster to join them and after the three had huddled together for about half an hour they hatched a plan.
The three junior teachers who had been charged with the responsibility of supervising the expedition were called together for a briefing. I was one of those teachers. The deputy headmaster was entrusted to deliver this briefing. He informed us the boys had been told they could paddle in the sea and that they were somewhat over-excited about it. No such expedition had ever previously been ventured and we were informed some very strict rules would be laid down. It was explained that in order to keep them warm the boys would wear their full school uniforms as well as their belted raincoats. We were told too they would wear wellington boots and be allowed to paddle into the sea to the depth of three inches but that under no circumstances were they to allow sea water to enter the inside of their Wellington boots. This rule was reinforced to the boys by the headmaster and we three teachers were ordered to ensure that our charges complied.
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| The scene of the maritime catastrophe on a fine day |
On some days the sea in those parts can be rough and at other times still and calm. On this occasion it was neither. I estimated the height of waves to be between a foot and eighteen inches high. We were with a group of about 40 boys between the ages of 8 and 10 years. I leave it to your imagination how the expedition fared.
The boys enjoyed their afternoon but the headmaster's wife was apoplectic with rage when we returned with 40 saturated boys. It was made quite clear to my two colleagues and I that we had been 'entirely responsible for the afternoon's catastrophe' and thought of any future littoral outings must be banished from our minds.
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