Digital Communication

Life and the quality of life are the driving force

Travelling in the early morning rush hour traffic in a black London taxi gazing at life.

The miasma, vibrations, noise, and the chaos of this speeding metropolis is delivering a profound sense of urgency and energy.

The sound of roaring engines in the traffic and rubber burning on the hot tarmac is creating a toxic haze.

Commercial, businesses, and bureaucracies are powering the nation going work in the city.

What is happening here? Where are all these people going?

Vehicles, cycles, and pedestrians are displaying codes, signs, and symbols showing status, wealth, and cultures.

City stockbrokers are revving their red Ferraris making their exhaust roar with delivery drivers in their white Sprinter vans dangerously tailgating.  Fuming, polluting diesel logistic lorries are dashing goods to warehouses. They are ferocious, jealousy competing for precious road space.

Gangs of school children laden with their bags are waiting for red buses and mothers are pushing prams guiding infants going to nurseries.

Leaving the semi-detached suburban houses and driving North on the A3 passing prosperous commuter towns into the south London suburbs towards River Thames we are making a historical journey along a route displaying the history of England.

Suddenly flying past Nelson's Column driving into the money and wealth of Pall Mall we are arriving.

At Buckingham Palace checking in with the police, we are here. Guardsmen and Gurkha soldiers are greeting guests and after climbing from the courtyard passing galleries of Rembrandt's and into stunning dining rooms thinking about the presidents, royalty and the elite diplomatic banquets with the King and Queen, destinations end.

Feeling at ease with these people and what they stand for. That is my lives work; making things happen, having a positive impact through outcomes making the world a better place.

Being directed left into the award chambers, my family disappear. With some of the world's best classic paintings, bankers, industrialists, inventors, actors, and athletes, there is a drinks reception.

With military precision and gravitas, the duty officer is delivering a briefing with stunning clarity on what to expect during the investiture. Surprise murmuring breaks out while announcing the future King of England is presenting the honours.

I take it, smiling, enjoying the moment. How have I managed this?

But then, thinking of those incredible people, exceptional teams, and outstanding organisations, their precious work deserving recognition, it is their achievement. Life and the quality of life are the driving force.

Good Friday's Blizzard

Birth

I am growing safely in my young mother's womb, the pulsating boom, boom, boom, boom of gushing arteries nurturing me, the firstborn is now ready for redemption.

Outside a nurse's hand is holding the gasping, screaming, labouring, and writhing body.

I am starting my life's journey.

The warmth of the blazing coal fire in the austere bedroom is giving respite from the freezing Siberian blizzard. A roaring wind is driving eddies of snow. Drifts are covering hedges, lanes, and the frozen fields of winter wheat around the barren hamlet.

Did you hear the barn owl hooting from the barn down the lane outside my grandparent's house?

My first memories are of a dishevelled young woman screaming, cursing, and hurling abuse at my distant father. He was always missing.

At that time, it was a long-forgotten Asiatic war against the communists. I do not think they were married then.

Being hungry and howling with a baby’s angst did not help. The nurse's expert hands, skilfully latching me onto a nipple quickly delivered a blissful respite.

My mother was always kind and gentle. She was the foundation, the rock, and moral compass for doing the right thing. Together with my grandparents George and Grace, they raised me as a baby and infant. I think it may be as near heaven as I will achieve. Learning to walk and play in my Camelot gardens on hot summers day seemed to be endless. Time did not move. Picking tomatoes in the allotment, looking for fallen fruit in the orchard, tasting strawberries, feeding chickens, watching farmers harvesting wheat, and loading pigs up to go market was the routine.

The early narrative here is not about complacency, contentment, and happiness, no, it is about redemption from angst, pain, evil, and suffering in our lives. Reader, in these pages no one is born with a silver spoon in their mouth

Sheltering in a foxhole raked by heavy machine-gun fire and heavy artillery bombardment on top of a famous hill, my teenage father is fighting a distant Asiatic war on my birth. As I was screaming for air, he and his friends are screaming while being butchered, blown apart, shot and maimed. That is Harry's story. Shot in the elbow, wounded, injured, and scarred mentally, his short life descended into hell.

My birth and his relationship with my mother hastened the downward spiral.

Spoiler read on to learn about the Good Friday redemption from this traumatic opening.

In the bigger picture, Harry's infantry regiment, the Glorious Glosters, and the 29th Brigade were defending democracy and freedom against the brutal tyranny of the communist state.

Believing in a just cause is vital for some people. Values, beliefs, rights, ethics, and law, whose side are they on?

Now, you will not easily find accounts, records, or commemorations. Those fighting and dying paid a terrible toll with horrendous wounds, mental scars, and unimaginable horrors. Their unsung heroic efforts created and saved Far East democracies from being overrun.

Since the beginning of time, violent battles, turmoil, and wars have been our legacy. Heroic legends and tales of boldness illustrate history books. But, let's stop and review the reality of what happens to people and communities in these conflicts. You hear and read about soldiers, sailors, and airmen, but what about the woman, families, and the children that are not part of the official story of a war. My account is about these people. It could be you. The names and places are changed, but the narrative represents a true story in a nation's heritage.

Have you something to share here? What about your love, aspirations, desire, hope, faith, deceit, angst, misery, pain or despair?

How Does It Feel Going Under Drowning?

Freeing minds exposing false narratives

In a time where radical manifestos are simply not credible, there is a need to, “Stop giving equal time to lies.” A great principle for 2020 states Gavin Esler.

Creating informing minds needs your attention to thrive.

Experimenting, playing with, and integrating language by using audio, printed, and visual media in the spirit of Bertolt Brecht’s pedagogy helps in creating reflective, thoughtful audience responses in stopping megaphone bullying and fake new.

Hey There Hateful Noisy Media Number 3 | Fake News & Propaganda Education

Hey there hateful noisy media Number 3 fake news propaganda education from Eddy Jackson on Vimeo.

Language has many functions. David Crystal's (2007) linguistics synopsis articulates these. They are reflected in the production of these word experiments and their associated multi-media productions.

All the written experimental content is framed by the work of eminent philosophers and by seeking spirituality to counter nihilism, alienation, ignorance, hatred, and division. 

The driver and catalyst for this approach are personal responses from the zeitgeist scenarios that are amplified by bots, fake news, propaganda, clickbait, the press, government, and PR agencies.

Production outcomes evolve from the fusion of language and thinking by integrating new ideas from across our linguistic heritage:

1. Expressing thought processes.
   
   
2.  Recording facts.
   
   
3.  Expressing emotions.
   
   
4.  Playing.
   
   
5.  Controlling reality.
   
   
6.  Expressing rapport.
   
   
7.  Expressing identity.
   
   
8.  Expressing sounds by
   
   
9. Experimenting with technology.

The deliberate fusion of these layers of communication aims to elicit responses from audiences. Unlike viewers in passivity watching cinema, television and, streaming service, the desired objective of this pedagogy is to deliberately encourage, provoke, ask difficult questions, and be a positive educational resource in facilitating new insights and solutions.

Check out other posts about fake news, propaganda, and harmful media.

Family | Families | Value & Beliefs

A nuclear family

Quote

“Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don't wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it's at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savoured.”

Earl Nightingale

Now is a good time to reflect and consider the importance of families. I’m sure that in our daily lives, we do not take time to consider their importance and value.

Let’s start by examining the variety of family life.

Have you the big picture?

Let’s start.

Families thrive and exist throughout the world in contrasting communities, cultures, and societies. In the ideal world, the glue that holds it together is based upon trust support, affection, intimacy, and support. The concept of family refers to a group who are related by emotional, strong psychological, adoptive, sexual, or biological bonds. From the birth of siblings and in the early years the family is the primary object of individuals orientation.

On the shadow side and in the reality of everyday life there may be tensions preventing the effective functioning of the family unit.

There are many variations of the family. Our self-selecting social groups may inhibit the awareness of the many types of families that make up society.

A newborn baby and mother

Different types of families exist in our communities. These may be the traditional nuclear family:
 

Wife and husband with biological or adoptive children.

A single parent and children.

Husband and wife without children.

Siblings without parents.

Other forms of a nuclear family may be based upon:

Children living with guardians.

Unmarried heterosexual couples living together.

Same sex couples living together.

So, there you are. That is a lot more than you may have considered.

How do we begin to provide structure, support, guidance, and education to develop or promote the well-being of the family?

Grandparents  are family and extended family

It’s taken me a long time to recognize this, but here is my starting point. It starts with a good early years education not only in a nursery but by the nuclear and extended family in the home providing a framework.

Different culture and religions provide guidance in the socialization of the family. Within the Christian doctrine a christening provides a pathway and direction to their values and beliefs.

Here, a child will be baptized with water to initiate the journey of faith. It’s the start of a process to help them make the right choices in life, both for themselves and others:

Providing support and sensitive guidance for making good choices.

Support and help through good and bad times.

Helping the child to talk about the big questions of life:

Hope

Faith

Love

Charity

Quote

“My parents were in the local church choir, and I used to go along and sing and play the organ at all the weddings and christenings.”

Dolores O’Riordan

Go your own way – via Europe 2 Paris

My reflections of a niece returning home to her birthplace and a family gathering.   

Last week thirty-two extended family members celebrated the return to the UK of one of its loved relations. Babies, great grandparents, proud parents, brothers, and sisters shared the jubilation and joy of seeing someone they love who emigrated to Queensland ten years ago. 

It was a poignant occasion. 

A mother, grandmother, aunty, and sister-in-law - The importance of family

Image - Cousins at family renuion

Everybody enjoyed the occasion.

They cared for these distant relatives. 

I think for many, it was a powerful and touching event. 

Families are important. 

After everyone left, I was left thinking, considering, and reviewing why people travelled hundreds and for some, tens of thousands of miles. 

During the darkness that night, I think I had a personal revelation, an epiphany, and redemption about the influence and power of blood ties and families. I may have neglected this in my earlier life. 

For some considerable time since urbanisation, the impact of work, careers, and jobs, lifestyle have disturbed and disrupted the concept of family. 

Roles and responsibilities have become more fluid. 

Yet, the nuclear family and through blood ties, the extended family still has significance.

Do you benefit from or support relations? 

A grand/great grandmother and mother on family relations.

Quote by a Mother, Grandmother, Aunty, and Sister-in-Law:

"I think family is very important. It is like the social glue that binds everybody together. I think the relationship you have with the different generations very important, especially as you get older it helps you stay young and in contact with new and up to date things. And I think when we have large family gatherings, it's good to see everybody that's related to you."

Are blood ties, across families important?

A grandson and lost grandfather

Learning Resource Videos

Here are free educational videos to support your lessons plans:

HD Education Vimeo Collections - Ad Free for Schools, Colleges, and home learning

Geography Portal Videos

Curriculum Learning Resources

School Assembly Videos

Education PR for Academies and Schools

Enquiry based student tasks using multimedia learning resources encouraging the use of encyclopaedias, textbooks, dictionaries, specialist Internet sites, CD-ROMs and a range of learning and teaching styles.

Designed and Produced by Eddy Jackson.

 PSHE RE Health Education Lesson Plan Learning Resources

Download LifeStyle WorkBook 2020

The contents of this media are licensed not sold to you.

Copyright 2020. All rights reserved.

Also available:

Healthy Living - How to survive sex, drugs and alcohol

Our World - racism and cultural diversity

Making Choices

LifeStyles

Careers Education - Key skills 

Citizenship - Minority Rights

PSE

Early Years 

Special Educational Needs

Specialist Internet sites, e-Bulletins and updates support all compact discs.

New media learning resources for Citizenship, Careers Education, PSE, Early Years and Personal and Social Education using key skills.

Download LifeStyle WorkBook 2020

Assembly and Circle Time  - Free SMSC PSHE Lesson Plans and Scheme of Work

Assembly Concept and Theme: Me

Start with the learner’s immediate needs and the environment. Present, discuss and highlight the importance of the family, the home, friendship, care, love, warmth and kindness to others, personal likes and dislikes in food, clothes and events

Free Lesson Plans and Scheme of Work

Download Digital Assembly Resources for Educators SMSC PSHE Learning Resources for Assemblies and Circle Time

Assembly Concept and Theme: Me

Links and Relationship Circle time, PSE, Citizenship, Health Education. Early Years Curriculum.

Key Words me, brother, sister, mum, dad, friend, care, kind, love, like, do not like

Activity Learning Objectives

Powerpoint Video and Poster Download

Download ME SMSC PSHE Learning resources Digital Assemblies for Educators

Vision

To respond to visual/ auditory/ tactile stimuli by eye/movement or vocalisation.

To focus/eye point visual stimuli

To focus on the video, big book, adult, photographs.

Taste and Smell

To respond to tastes and smells by eye/movement or vocalisation.

Touch

To respond to tactile stimuli by eye/movement or vocalisation. To reach for tactile stimuli.

To mouth and explore by hand tactile stimuli.

Kinesthetic

To be able to join in songs and rhymes. To join in actions/ PCS symbols.

To listen and join in the activities. To follow instructions

To eye point/point or vocalise family members.

To be able to act out stories with puppets or role- play.

To be aware of ‘me’ through feelings, emotions and reactions to events with parents, friends, class mates, favourite toys.

To be able to point to and/ or name body parts.

Resources and Development

Use structured activities from the communications, literacy, topic, art, music & movement lessons to provide familiar and practise skills to develop a better understanding of themselves, their body, their actions and emotions.

Develop concept of ‘Me’: my family, my friends, and my class. Who I am? Where I live.

Present a selection of choices such as food, clothes, toys, etc. compile an inventory of likes and dislikes.

Progress the theme by using images, symbols and text of the above, sort into sets

Articulate a range of emotions: happiness, sadness, pain, feeling good, and likes/dislikes, through reading and role- playing stories.

Bendrigg Trust Outdoor Adventure Education

Residential Activity Centre For Disabled People

Bendrigg Trust is a residential activity centre specialising in high quality courses for disabled and disadvantaged people, of any age or ability.

Showcase videos of the country's best special needs residential centre

About Bendrigg

https://www.communicationuk.com/2018/10/nick-lily-principal-bendrigg-trust-cumbria-introducing-acorn-house-.html

Angst and rage are a feature of the UK's welfare payments system.

A Salford resident, commentator, and writer, Gary Knapton, explores key issues on the impact of Universal Credit payments in videos showcasing key issues.

Taking an ethical viewpoint Knapton develops key themes and describes how citizens address the governments systemic failings.

https://garyknapton.wordpress.com/

Gary Knapton is a Salford author and commentator