In what may be the ultimate clawback for a bank boss in the wake of the financial crisis, a U.K. government panel has stripped the knighthood of former Royal Bank of Scotland Group CEO Fred Goodwin.
2012年1月31日 星期二
The Environment Since the Industrial Revolution 工业革命以来的英国环境史
The Environment Since the Industrial Revolution 工业革命以来的英国环境史
The Environment Since the Industrial Revolution by Harry Lee Smith, September 1993 書介: The Environment Since the Industrial Revolution |
工业革命以来的英国环境史
（国际环境译丛.第二辑）
作 者：（英）克拉普 著，王黎 译
出 版 社：中国环境科学出版社
出版时间：2011
本书将以历史学的分支——环境史问世，然而，在英国对环境史的研究及其成果却乏善可陈。的确，环境史所涉及的内容在理论与写作上至今仍有争议。因此，环 境史学者有机会，也有责任去阐述其研究领域到底应该包括哪些内容。如果断然认为自己的领域才是唯一值得研究的，这样的思维或做法未免过于轻率。不错，明确 著述的范围可能有利于保护自己，或至少可以让那些喜欢抱怨的人们不敢妄加评论。否则，他们会说此书若是由他们来写，就不会沦落到这般地步。那么环境史到底 应该论述哪些内容呢?
目录
第一章 绪论
第一部分 污染与宜人
第二章 弥漫着烟尘和异味的时代
第三章 从煤烟的减少到全球变暖
第四章 紧张的水源
第五章 土地的流失与开垦
第六章 迈向一个绿色与舒适的环境
第二部分 挥霍的经济体制及其可能的改革
第七章 能源
第八章 金属与矿产
第九章 是否还有旧金属
第十章 副产品
第十一章 结论：经济增长与环境保护
The present and future state of the environment give rise to ever increasing concern, and to an ever increasing body of scholarship, but much less is known as yet about the past the damage done to the environment in the past couple of centuries, how far our predecessors were aware of it, and the steps they took to help. This book makes a substantial contribution to our understanding of these things. Its first half examines the intellectual roots of the environmental movement, in its scientific, economic and aesthetic aspects. It traces the pollution that industry has caused to the air, water and land of Britain, and the remedies that have been taken to safeguard them from further damage. It examines the growing awareness of a heritage to be protected - whether it be ancient monuments or threatened landscapes. The second half considers the economic implications of using up exhaustible resources, and examines ways of economising on finite resources through recycling, the use of by-products and by varying the quality of goods. Finally, it discusses the feasibility of long-run growth in a finite world. These are all key questions for today and tomorrow; and Clapp sets them in perspective, against the background of the past.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
'Clearly written, and innocent of scientific jargon, both natural and social, it will provide a good basic text not only for students of history, but also for those of geography, ecology, planning, and (one would like to hope) business studies.' Business Studies --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Details
- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Longman Group United Kingdom (August 1994)
- Language: English
Norwich
Norwich - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwich - Cached
Norwich 1] is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in ...CNN好糗 報導竟把倫敦位置搞錯 【2012/1/31 18:25】
CNN搞烏龍被抓包，成為網友以及其他媒體的話題。（翻攝網路）
〔本報訊〕全球指標性媒體、美國有線電視新聞網CNN竟然出大包，在一則報導中竟然將地圖上英國倫敦的位置誤植，遭英國媒體嘲笑沒有地理常識！
這是CNN上週日報導一則竊案時發生的烏龍，錯把倫敦標在離原地相差200公里的地方，一個歷史古城諾里奇（Norwich）的所在地，被民眾發現後拍下，上傳社群網站引起熱烈討論。
有網友嘲笑CNN，說「難道美國人都去諾里奇找白金漢宮嗎」；媒體百年老店出錯，也成為其他同業報導的題材。
網友還另外舉例，芝加哥電視台WGN在先前南非世足賽時，也曾在報導中把南非（South Africa）誤植成南美洲（South America），引起熱烈討論。
這是CNN上週日報導一則竊案時發生的烏龍，錯把倫敦標在離原地相差200公里的地方，一個歷史古城諾里奇（Norwich）的所在地，被民眾發現後拍下，上傳社群網站引起熱烈討論。
有網友嘲笑CNN，說「難道美國人都去諾里奇找白金漢宮嗎」；媒體百年老店出錯，也成為其他同業報導的題材。
網友還另外舉例，芝加哥電視台WGN在先前南非世足賽時，也曾在報導中把南非（South Africa）誤植成南美洲（South America），引起熱烈討論。
2012年1月30日 星期一
cut the value of more than 3,100 vocational qualifications in England's school league tables
Most GCSE equivalents axed from school league tables
Vocational courses can be good at engaging disinterested youngsters Ministers have cut the value of more than 3,100 vocational qualifications, ending their recognition in England's school league tables.
Known as "equivalents", from 2014 only 70 will count in the tables' headline GCSE measure and on a like-for-like basis with GCSEs.
Currently some count for as much as six GCSEs.
The government says this has created "perverse incentives" for schools to offer them and boost their position.
The move is a clear disincentive for schools to continue offer such qualifications, and the government had instructed them to wait for its final list before changing their timetables for September 2012.
Education Secretary Michael Gove said the changes would extend opportunity because only qualifications which had demonstrated rigour, and had track records of taking young people into good jobs or university would count in the future.
Continue reading the main story
RECOGNISED QUALIFICATIONS
- The size of a GCSE or bigger
- Externally assessed - at least partly
- Include grades, rather than just pass or fail
- Offer progression to further qualifications and careers
- Have good take-up levels among 14- to 16-year-olds
The shake-up comes after a review of vocational qualifications for the government by Prof Alison Wolf suggested schools had been tempted to teach qualifications that attract the most points in school performance tables.
This had meant students had been steered into notching up qualifications which may not help them into work or higher education, she suggested.
Mr Gove said: "The weaknesses in our current system were laid bare by Prof Wolf's incisive and far-reaching review. The changes we are making will take time, but will transform the lives of young people.
"For too long the system has been devalued by attempts to pretend that all qualifications are intrinsically the same. Young people have taken courses that have led nowhere."
'Stimulating'But many who took part in the consultation on the issue feared the new measures may lead schools to only offer qualifications that could be included in performance tables.
Others feared the move might undervalue vocational qualifications altogether and have a negative impact upon disengaged young people who are often encouraged by such courses.
But Prof Wolf said: "Vocational studies can form a stimulating and demanding part of the curriculum. But pretending that all vocational qualifications are equally valuable does not bring them respect."
As well as the 70 equivalents that will count towards the school's five good GCSE grades including English and maths, a further 55 will be valid for other league table measures.
However, the DfE will be reviewing the majority of qualifications to ensure they meet the new standards after 2014.
2012年1月29日 星期日
The Iron Lady, Again.
The Iron Lady heads to America
Why has the British government pressed ahead with a programme to tackle its national debt, while America continues to procrastinate? It is a question that often crops up in conversations with British visitors to Washington, given the current US policy gridlock.
And there are plenty of possible answers. Britain’s parliamentary system, for example, makes it easier for a government to impose unpopular policies (particularly since they only face voters every five years). The close proximity of crises in Greece and Ireland has concentrated politicians’ minds. Britain is also more debt-laden and lacks a reserve currency. Unlike Uncle Sam, it cannot simply print money and pray: there is more pressure to act.
But I suspect that there is another factor at work too, of which I was reminded last week when I saw The Iron Lady, the biopic about Margaret Thatcher, at a cinema in New York: the sad truth is that Britain, unlike America, has already experienced austerity within living memory. More specifically, as The Iron Lady shows, it was only four decades ago that Britain was grappling with an economic crisis, cutbacks, protests and endemic gloom. And while nobody under the age of 40 remembers those days, they are baked into folk memory. Thus, for better or worse, British voters and politicians recognise the smell of austerity – or, more accurately, nod with grim familiarity when it is presented on a cinema screen.
To be sure, this point is not spelled out explicitly in The Iron Lady: indeed, there is much that is (sadly) left unstated in this biopic. Meryl Streep does a brilliant and haunting job portraying a dementia-ridden Thatcher. But the film skips rather lightly through British history, assuming a high level of prior knowledge, which is irritating and baffling for non-Brits. My friends in New York, for example, were completely nonplussed by the poll tax references. They also found the emphasis on dementia an irritating distraction from the bigger historical tale. (It would be hard to imagine anyone making a film that focused so heavily on Ronald Reagan’s struggles with dementia. To American eyes, this seems disrespectful of high office.)
Notwithstanding these flaws, The Iron Lady has played to packed cinemas in New York, even before it opens elsewhere in the US. And although it is the tale of Thatcher herself that mesmerises most Americans, what I found equally striking were the jarring images of 1970s social strife and economic pain. After all, during the past three decades of economic boom in Britain, those memories have tended to be downplayed. But The Iron Lady is full of news reels of demonstrations, protests and power cuts. And there is a particularly memorable scene where Thatcher steps around stinking rubbish bags (or garbage cans) when the disposal men are all on strike: a potent – and pungent – symbol of a nation overwhelmed by fiscal woes.
Of course, such images are not unique to Britain: films about 1960s and 1970s America also feature plenty of clips of political protest. But the demonstrations that occurred in the US four decades ago tended to focus on issues such as the Vietnam war or civil rights. And while there was real economic pain aplenty, the flashpoints tended to be regional, not federal. In New York there was a debt crisis (and piles of uncollected garbage), but the nation as a whole did not experience a comparable level of angst to the UK and Ronald Reagan never had to dodge piles of uncollected rubbish. Instead, you have to return to the 1930s to find a time when the entire American nation suffered similar woes and collective belt-tightening.
This timeline matters. Today, there are relatively few Americans alive who remember the 1930s clearly. Thus, for most people, the idea that America may face a long bout of austerity and stagnation – if not national decline – has come as something of an existential shock. In Britain, by contrast, there are plenty of people who have seen this austerity script before. The prospect invokes a weary sense of grim resignation. Yes, voters are angry about the prospect of protracted stagnation; some have gone on strike. But instead of ideological fervour or political fracture, the dominant mood is downbeat, cynical pragmatism – and a sense of déjà vu.
So I hope that this Thatcher film ends up being widely screened in the US. That is not because I necessarily consider Thatcher to be the perfect solution to the current woes in Britain or America (never mind that politician Michele Bachmann, the Tea Party darling and former Republican presidential candidate, recently aired commercials likening herself to the Iron Lady). Thatcher’s leadership style was flawed and some of her policies were misguided. But, if nothing else, The Iron Lady helps to demystify the idea of austerity and shows that it is possible for a nation to travel through that painful tunnel and (eventually) emerge at the other side. And that is a crumb of comfort indeed – no matter what side of the Atlantic, or political spectrum, you sit.
《铁娘子》让美国人了解紧缩
为何英国政府已开始积极推进一项应对国家债务的计划，而美国政府却一拖再拖呢？考虑到当前美国的政策僵局，在和到访华盛顿的英国人聊天时，我经常会提出这个问题。
这个问题有很多可能的答案。比如说，英国的议会制度使之更容易强推不受欢迎的政策（尤其是因为议员们每5年才需面对选民一次）。英国的危机与希腊和 爱尔兰极为相似，让政客们不得不全力以赴。此外，英国的债务负担也比美国更重，而且没有像美元那样的储备货币。与“山姆大叔”不同的是，英国不能一边印钞 票一边祈祷——英国面临着更大的压力，不得不采取行动。
但我怀疑还有一个因素也在起作用。前些日子，我在纽约一家电影院观看关于玛格丽特•撒切尔(Margaret Thatcher)的传记片《铁娘子》(Iron Lady)，正是那部影片让我想到了这一点：一个令人遗憾的事实是，和美国不一样，英国人经历过紧缩，那些感受还历历在目。说得更具体一些，正如《铁娘 子》一片所展示的那样，英国与金融危机、缩减开支、民众抗议和普遍的悲观情绪做斗争的日子，距今仅仅过了40年。尽管不到40岁的人都不记得了，但那段岁 月已经刻入了人们的记忆。因此，无论是好是坏，英国选民和政客都清楚紧缩的滋味——或更确切地说，当那段历史被搬上电影荧屏，他们都会因为苦涩的熟悉场景 而产生认同感。
必须承认，《铁娘子》没有明确地传达出这一点：确实，这部传记片（令人遗憾地）未能阐明许多东西。梅丽尔•斯特里普(Meryl Streep)极为出色地刻画了一个患有痴呆症的撒切尔夫人，给人留下了至深印象。但影片假定观众已相当了解英国历史，因此对很多背景都一带而过，这令英 国以外的观众感到恼火和困惑。比如，对于电影里提到的人头税，我在纽约的朋友们就感到一头雾水。他们还认为，影片过于把重点放在痴呆症上，未能讲出更宏大 的历史故事，这令人感觉很不舒服。（很难想象，会有哪位导演肯拍摄一部电影，极力渲染罗纳德•里根(Ronald Reagan)与痴呆症作斗争的故事。在美国人看来，这么做似乎体现了对政府高官的不恭敬。）
尽 管存在这些瑕疵，《铁娘子》在纽约上映时仍场场爆满，哪怕美国其他地方还都没有上映。虽然撒切尔本人的故事令大多数美国人着迷，但我发现，给观众留下同等 深刻印象的是上世纪70年代英国经历社会矛盾和经济困难的震撼场景。毕竟，在英国经历了过去30年的经济繁荣之后，上述记忆已渐渐被人们所淡忘。但是， 《铁娘子》中出现了大量游行、抗议和停电的新闻影像资料。尤其令人难忘的一幕是，由于所有环卫工人都参与了罢工，撒切尔只好绕着经过许多恶臭的垃圾袋（或 垃圾箱）：这是一个国家深陷财政危机不能自拔的有力而尖锐的象征。
当然了，这些场景并非英国所独有：那些以20世纪六七十年代的美国为背景的电影中，也常常出现大量政治抗议的镜头。但40年前发生在美国的游行示 威，针对的多是越南战争和公民权利等问题。尽管美国也经历过许多实实在在的经济困难，但引爆点多是地区性而非整个联邦范围的事件。纽约发生过一次债务危机 （未清理的垃圾也堆积如山），但全美国没有经历像英国那样的不安，而罗纳德•里根也从未被迫绕开未清理的垃圾堆。实际上，只有回到20世纪30年代，才能 看到整个美国都遭受类似危机和全民勒紧裤腰带的情形。
时间很能说明问题。在如今健在的美国人当中，能清楚地记起 上世纪30年情形的人已经很少了。因此，对大多数人而言，美国可能面临长期紧缩和停滞（甚至可能是全国性衰退）的想法，多少有点儿生死存亡的意味了。相比 之下，英国有很多人都亲身经历过这种紧缩局面。这一前景会让人因为厌倦而产生消沉的顺从想法。是的，选民们对经济长期停滞的前景感到愤怒；有些人已经开始 罢工了。但主流心态并不是意识形态上的狂热或政治上的分裂，而是悲观和愤世嫉俗的务实政策，以及一种似曾相识感。
所以，我希望这部关于撒切尔的影片能在美国大范围放映。这并非因为我认为撒切尔能为英国或美国当前的危机提供完美的解决方案（虽然茶党宠儿、前共和 党总统候选人、政客米歇尔•巴赫曼(Michele Bachmann)近来在宣传广告中把自己比作“铁娘子”）。撒切尔的领导风格并非完美无缺，她的某些政策也颇具误导性。但是，先不说别的，《铁娘子》有 助于澄清紧缩的理念，让观众看到一个国家是有可能穿过这个痛苦的隧道，（最终）抵达另一端的。而无论你身处大西洋的哪一侧，或是哪个政治阵营，这肯定能带 给你些许安慰。
译者/邢嵬
2012年1月26日 星期四
Struggling pupils don't catch up, data shows
Struggling pupils don't catch up, data shows
This year's tables feature far more data than in previous years Just one in 15 (6.5%) pupils starting secondary school in England "behind" for their age goes on to get five good GCSEs including English and maths, official data shows.
The government data published as part of secondary school league tables suggests the majority of schools are failing struggling pupils.
Nationally 58.2% of pupils reach the five good GCSEs benchmark.
Minister Nick Gibb said schools which let pupils down would be tackled.
The Department for Education data covers England's more than 5,000 secondary schools with more than 200 pieces of information being published for each one - almost four times as much as last year.
Much of the information is broken down by pupil type, with scores offered for low, medium and high-attaining pupils, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds as well as non-disadvantaged.
As expected, those from disadvantaged backgrounds (classed as those on free school meals or in local authority care) do less well.
Continue reading the main storyOnly a third (34%) of these children achieve the government's benchmark of five GCSEs - or equivalent qualifications - graded A* to C, including English and maths.
In 909 schools, not one low-attaining pupil (those who did not reach Level 4 at the end of primary school) reached this threshold.
At the other end of the spectrum, 95% of pupils who started school "ahead" for their age (achieving Level 5 at the end of primary school) got five good GCSEs, including English and maths.
And of those who started school at the expected level for their age, (Level 4 at the end of primary school) some 45.6% failed to progress to five good GCSEs.
Overall, 58.2% of pupils in England's state schools got five good GCSEs including English and maths (including equivalent qualifications).
'One chance'When these qualifications, such as BTecs and NVQs, are excluded, 52.4% of pupils gained five good GCSEs.
The performance data also shows what proportion of pupils get the English Baccalaureate.
This new measure, introduced in 2010, is the proportion of pupils achieving A*-C passes in English, maths, two science subjects, a modern or ancient language, and either history or geography.
Nationally across all pupils, just 15.4% got the wrap-around qualification, but most pupils would have made their GCSE choices before Education Secretary Michael Gove announced he was introducing this certificate of achievement.
Pupils with low prior attainment also performed poorly in the English Bacc, with just 0.3% gaining the wrap-around qualification.
Sevenoaks School, a private school in Kent, tops the English Bacc tables, with 99% of pupils meeting this benchmark.
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Brian Lightman: "Government needs to spend less time blaming schools"
Schools Minister Nick Gibb said: "Today's figures reveal a shocking waste of talent in many schools across the country. All too often, pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds aren't given the same opportunities as their peers.
"But there are great examples of schools achieving the best for their disadvantaged pupils. If they can get it right, then so can all schools."
The government says its data shows there are 107 secondary schools below the floor standard of 35% of pupils getting five good GCSEs, including English and maths.
Top performersMr Gibb added: "Children only have one chance at education. These tables show which schools are letting children down. We will not hesitate to tackle underperformance in any school, including academies.
"Heads should be striving to make improvements year on year, and we will not let schools coast with mediocre performance."
Shadow education secretary Stephen Twigg said that while many pupils, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds are not achieving their potential, the government is promoting pet projects over real need.
"The government needs to focus on the 3Rs as well," he added.
Continue reading the main story
HEADLINE SCORES
- National average for five good GCSEs: 58.2% of pupils
- National average for English Baccalaureate: 15.4%
- Best GCSE performance: Lawrence Sheriff Grammar School, Rugby
- Worst GCSE performance: St Aldhelm's Academy, Poole
- Best A-level performance: Colchester Royal Grammar School, Essex
- Best performing local authority: Sutton, London
- Worst performing local authority: Knowsley, Merseyside
NUT general secretary Christine Blower said the social inequalities with which children start school, widen as they progress through their education.
"Instead of focusing on changing school structures and on the pointless naming and shaming of schools, the Government should be ensuring that all schools have the resources and support they need for all pupils to reach their full potential."
In total, 158 schools see 100% of pupils getting five GCSEs A*-C or equivalent, including maths and English.
When the average point score per pupil is used to rank these top performers schools, Lawrence Sheriff Grammar School in Rugby comes top.
Head teacher Dr Peter Kent said much of the school's success was down to Key Stage 4 being spread over three years rather than the traditional two.
"This gives departments a chance to deliver a very personalised curriculum and we all respond well to something that's been tailored to our individual needs," he said.
The poorest performing school was St Aldhelm's Academy in Poole, Dorset, where just 3% of pupils got five GCSEs A*-C or equivalent, including maths and English.
Principal Cheryl Heron, who took over in September 2010, said the results were "disappointing but not unexpected". It would take time to change and transform pupils' learning experiences, she added.
'Focus'At sixth form level, the Colchester Royal Grammar School in Essex comes out as the best performer, with an average point score per pupil of over 1,477 - this is the equivalent of over four A*s and one A grade at A-level.
The best performing county was Sutton in London, where 74.7% of pupils got the government benchmark of five GCSEs, including maths and English. The worst was Knowsley, Merseyside, where 40.8% of pupils reached this level. A Knowsley spokesman said its schools were improving year after year.
R.B.S. Slashes Bonus for Chief Executive
R.B.S. Slashes Bonus for Chief Executive
Royal Bank of Scotland announced on Thursday that it would pay its chief executive, Stephen Hester, an all-stock bonus of £963,000, or $1.5 million, less than half what he received last year. The bank, which is 82 percent owned by British taxpayers, had come under pressure from the country's prime minister, David Cameron, to rein in bonuses for top executives.
Royal Bank of Scotland announced on Thursday that it would pay its chief executive, Stephen Hester, an all-stock bonus of £963,000, or $1.5 million, less than half what he received last year. The bank, which is 82 percent owned by British taxpayers, had come under pressure from the country's prime minister, David Cameron, to rein in bonuses for top executives.
2012年1月22日 星期日
Canterbury
Canterbury
(kăn'tər-bĕr'ē, -brē, -tə-)
A borough of southeast England on the Stour River east-southeast of London. Canterbury Cathedral (11th-16th century) is the seat of the archbishop and primate of the Anglican Communion. Built on the site of an abbey founded by Saint Augustine c. 600, it was the scene of the murder of Thomas à Becket (1170). Population: 43,500.
pri・mate
━━ n. 首席司教, 大主教; 【動】霊長類の動物.
Primate of All England Canterburyの大主教.
Primate of England Yorkの大主教.
Archbishop of Canterbury - Information from Answers.com
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the
Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion,
and ...
Primate of All England Canterburyの大主教. Primate of England Yorkの大主教.Archbishop of Canterbury - Information from Answers.com
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the
Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion,
and ...
This is London from dawn till night
This is London from dawn till night ( 1953photo books of the world)
A SHROPSHIRE LAD: LXII (Alfred Edward Housman )
This is London from dawn till night.
114 photos. by Cas Oorthuys. Text by Neville Braybrooke.
Published 1953 by B. Cassirer; distributed by Faber & Faber, London in Oxford .
Written in English.
2012年1月21日 星期六
Creativity Culture & Education
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We promote the value of the arts, creative learning and cultural opportunities by ... UK schoolchildren risks being stifled by the Government's education policies, ...二○一一年底，世界教育研究學會在台灣中山大學舉辦的年會論壇中，特別以創造力和想像力為主題，揭櫫未來學習最重要的兩個核心。論壇也特別邀請英國 創意、文化與教育中心（ＣＣＥ，Creativity Culture and Education）的執行長保羅．寇拉（Paul Collard），來分享英國正在進行的學習革命。
英國政府投入兩千九百萬英鎊的預算（約台幣十四億元），支持由ＣＣＥ主導的創造力教育計畫。目前為止，全英國已經有八千個該中心和學校合作的創造力教育計畫，涵蓋了近一百萬個英國青少年。
ＣＣＥ也和澳洲和韓國政府合作，提供創造力教育的經驗和顧問。
在台灣，創造力教育常常被當做是資優教育的一個重點；但在英國，卻是補救教學的新主流。
《親子天下》特別專訪寇拉，不僅是談「創造力」，而是重新檢視學習的內涵，與學校教育的優先順序。
保羅‧寇拉（Paul Collard）小檔案
現職：英國創意、文化與教育中心執行長
經歷：擅長透過文化和創意活動推動社會和經濟的變革。有25年在藝術領域相關工作經驗。曾任英國當代藝術中心總經理。
* * *
這一代的孩子和父母輩不同。他們的未來，沒有太多已經準備好的工作等著他們畢業後來應徵。他們必須在離開學校後，自己創造工作。更諷刺的是，很多父母和師長現在積極幫孩子準備的工作能力，可能等到他們二十五歲時，工作已經消失了。
這樣的轉變，讓教育系統變得很困難。因為工作根本還沒有被發明。老師和父母無從預測，更不知該如何幫孩子準備。
也因此我們應該重新思考教育的核心，也是最重要的目的，就是發展孩子創造的能力。讓他們未來有能力發明新工作，因為未來的世界不需要「找工作」的人，但需要「創造工作」的人。
ＣＣＥ 一直努力的方向就是希望，不管在校內或是校外的學習過程中，可以釋放孩子的創意，讓他們感受到成功的經驗。我們在各式各樣的計畫中看到，要激發孩子的學習 動機，有幾個非常重要的關鍵：讓孩子感受到知識和生活的關聯性、讓他們得以主導、參與學習的過程（engaged）、發現學習的樂趣、進而建立自信。
看看ＯＥＣＤ（經濟合作與發展組織）的國際學生評量計畫（ＰＩＳＡ）分析。學校花了很多的心力教科學，希望培育很多科學家。但是，從ＰＩＳＡ的研究中看到，很多科學成績很好的國家，學生對於科學知識的興趣卻很低。又日本和韓國的學生，科學能力排名不錯，但自信卻是倒數。
韓國和日本的學生覺得自己很笨，因為若不是這麼笨，就不必上這麼多課、補這麼多習。ＰＩＳＡ也做了科學評量成績和青少年自殺率的關聯分析，同樣看到日本、韓國和芬蘭這三個科學評量優等生，卻都是青少年高自殺率的國家。
看到這裡，做為父母的我們，是否應該思考：我們希望培養科學家，但是到頭來，卻是強迫孩子學習「過去」的知識。不但無法為未來做準備，而且還讓孩子不快樂、剝奪了他們的自信。
我相信，創造力的學習是一種真正的學習。舉例來說，當我們教科學的時候，常常是先跟孩子說明公式和原理是什麼。然後，做幾個實驗來證明這個公式和原理的正確性。想當然耳，孩子會覺得這樣的學習非常無聊。
但是，創意教學或是創造力的學習，則是反過來。先讓孩子做實驗，讓他們在實驗的過程中，「發現」、「歸納」出原則和原理，然後再讓他們印證標準答案。也就是說創造力教育的核心就是「讓學生主導」。
把「學」的責任交給孩子
要釋放創造力，關鍵就是父母和老師要把責任轉嫁給子女，不要把「教」的責任攬在身上；而應該把「學」的責任放給孩子。創造出一個空間，在這空間裡，孩子有自由學習和犯錯的機會。這樣孩子才可能釋放創造力。
ＣＣＥ的成立是為了解決孩子學習上的問題，但我們不是透過傳統的方式——把學校教過的，再教一遍的「補救教學」。我們採取的方式，是透過藝術的活動，把傳統學習轉化成以學生為主體的學習。
例 如，去年有一個在小學的補救教學計畫。這個小學位在經濟弱勢的地區，很多家庭都是隔代教養，學生普遍的學習動機低落。我們說服學校老師把預備興建教室的計 畫，整個交給學生主導。小學生的思考很天馬行空、很抽象。一開始，他們希望新的教室是一座海灘或是城堡……後來的共識是決定買一台小飛機改造成教室。分配 下去，不同年級的學生有不同的責任，高年級要負責跟當地政府申請，讓飛機教室符合法規，他們要填寫很多的表格和撰寫公文。要買飛機時，大家上網搜尋，最後 在eBay買了一台小飛機。
飛機買來以後，需要重新裝潢，飛機的裝潢非常專業，小朋友也在網路上找到一位專業設計師。他們寫信給設計師，說 明自己是一群小學生，正在設計新的學校教室。後來這位設計師願意免費幫他們設計。這間小飛機教室，最後成為地理教室，因為可以隨時「飛到」他們上課的地 點，下課時再飛回家。
這個新教室計畫的起點，是識字計畫，目的是要改善學生低落的識字能力。
父母需要觀念革命
過程中，學生必須填很多的計畫表格。但是他們一點也不以為苦。而且你會發現，平常學校的學習，孩子回家根本不會告訴父母。但是當學習變有趣的時候，他們回家就會滔滔不絕。
這個計畫的第二個重要目的，是讓孩子有夢想的勇氣。我們看到許多創業家，他們的成功不在於有很棒的點子，而在於有信心把狂野想法付之實踐的勇氣。這些孩子在過程中，肯定了自己有能力實踐想法，他們永遠不會忘記這樣的經驗。
我 們的做法不是增加學校的授課時數，或是改變課程，重點在於改變教法。譬如，有一所中學的學生，科學成績非常糟糕。我們協助學生把學習的課題，編寫成一個劇 本。學生在過程中，討論基因問題的種種道德和價值選擇的不同觀點。他們發現這不僅是科學問題，更是道德和法律交織的複雜議題。課程中，各種角度反覆思辯， 這群放牛班學生，有了機會理解科學和生活的關聯，更啟發了好奇心。後來學生學力測驗，在全國有非常優異的表現，證明了一旦孩子吸收知識，就可以學得更快。
許多亞洲國家的父母都是在考試制度中長大。但是，若我們誠實面對自己，問自己，求學過程中哪些課堂學習讓你印象深刻，甚至對現在的自己有很大的幫助？大概很少。而且成年後，回頭去看，很多學習根本只是浪費時間。
這一代父母和子女的鴻溝會愈來愈大。其實，我們需要針對父母推動一個很大的觀念革命運動。讓父母和教師理解，我們幫孩子準備的可能是一個即將結束的時代。我們必須重新思考，學習的意義和內涵。
2012年1月20日 星期五
The Workers’ Educational Association (WEA)
Workers' Educational Association (WEA). Founded in 1903 by Albert Mansbridge (1876-1952), a cashier at the Cooperative Permanent Building Society, whose own formal education had ended at the age of 14. Mansbridge considered that the University Extension movement, established in 1878, had been largely taken over by the middle classes. To remedy this, Mansbridge launched an Association to Promote the Higher Education of Working Men, changing its name to the Workers' Educational Association two years later. By the outbreak of the First World War the movement had proved a success, with every university providing tutors. But infiltration by the middle class persisted.
2012年1月19日 星期四
To Sir, With Regret/Occupy London to Appeal Ruling Against Campsite
To Sir, With Regret
The British government may strip Frederick A. Goodwin of his knighthood because of his role as chief executive in the failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which had to be bailed out by the government.
Occupy London to Appeal Ruling Against Campsite
The move comes after a court sided with city authorities, who had called on the protestors to leave the colorful campsite that encircles the entrance to St. Paul's Cathedral, located in the heart of London's financial district.
The British government may strip Frederick A. Goodwin of his knighthood because of his role as chief executive in the failure of the Royal Bank of Scotland, which had to be bailed out by the government.
Occupy London to Appeal Ruling Against Campsite
The move comes after a court sided with city authorities, who had called on the protestors to leave the colorful campsite that encircles the entrance to St. Paul's Cathedral, located in the heart of London's financial district.
Out of the crisis - lessons from British car manufacturing
Out of the crisis - lessons from British car manufacturing
The Birmingham Post
... were taught by two American statisticians who went there to assist in post-war development of industry Dr. W. Edwards Deming and Dr. Joseph Juran. ...
The Birmingham Post
... were taught by two American statisticians who went there to assist in post-war development of industry Dr. W. Edwards Deming and Dr. Joseph Juran. ...
Out of the crisis - lessons from British car manufacturing
Today's unemployment figures give us all cause for concern and there is certainly little to be currently optimistic about. For those of us who have been around for a while and can remember the 1970s we know that even in the bleakest of times there is always hope of change. The trouble is, there is a great deal to fear. Our economy is 'flat-lining' and the historically low period of phenomenally low interest rates has simply kept things from getting worse. We can only hope that events in Greece do not lead to another spectacular crisis of finance which will impact on all of us and, of course, make recovery even harder.
So, what can realistically be done to create the success our economy desperately needs to achieve an export-led recovery? Surprisingly we can look for inspiration to a sector once written off as displaying all of the characteristics that seemed to epitomise everything that was wrong with British industry. Once again we are back to the 1970s when car manufacturing, or the frequent lack of, regularly made the news headlines.
British car manufacturing has a rich tradition. When I was a child in the 1970s every household in Birmingham knew or was related to someone who worked at factories making components or in the huge assembly plants such as at the Austin plant in Longbridge where my dad worked in the foundry. For many of my class mates working in the car industry was a reasonable, if somewhat unexciting, prospect. Sadly, though, it was not a sector that inspired pride. Indeed, for a great many it generated feelings of contempt at what many saw as the worst of industrial relations. For others it was like witnessing the protracted illness of a once-loved relative. Longbridge was symbolic of just how bad things had become; lack of investment made the factory look archaic and the ability of management and workers to see eye-to-eye was, at best, difficult because of shop stewards whose objective seemed to be anarchy. Longbridge seemed to be a factory that was literally 'out of control'.
As history was to demonstrate, despite the valiant efforts of workers and some management (but certainly not the "Phoenix Four"), it was not possible to ensure that mass car production could continue at Longbridge. Nonetheless, there was a recognition that if you wish to remain successful as a car producer you need to learn what the Japanese had shown was possible; that you can make cars which customers perceive to have 'quality' and will perform to extremely high standards.
Everyone who has studied Japanese production learned that they place great importance on constant innovation and development, obsession with quality control and, crucially, the value of putting people at the heart of the production system. Every student who learns the history of how Japanese car producers achieved pre-eminence will discover the irony that these principles were taught by two American statisticians who went there to assist in post-war development of industry Dr. W. Edwards Deming and Dr. Joseph Juran. The title of this blog is in homage to Deming whose seminal book Out of the Crisis, published in 1982, stressed the need for America industry to learn what he had taught the Japanese thirty five years earlier.
The fact that domestic car sales are declining is no surprise. The current climate makes us fearful of what the immediate future holds. However, other economies are doing much better. The 'BRIC' economies are well known (Brazil, Russia, India and China). More recently there is the emergence of what are referred to as the 'CIVETS' (Columbia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Egypt, Turkey and South Africa). These provide opportunities for those manufacturers able to produce goods, such as cars, which are seen to be high value and data shows that this is the case for large volume producers and the luxury marques such as Bentley and Jaguar.
It is notable that all top five car producers in Britain have ownership outside of this country; BMW (who produce the Mini in Cowley), Land Rover, Honda, Nissan and Toyota. Significantly the owners of these companies, as well as the other smaller luxury produces, explicitly recognise that whilst they cannot compete in terms of unit costs, if the product is perceived to be superior by being designed and assembled by highly skilled and committed workers, it is perfectly possible to not just survive the current problems but to prosper.
So what is needed? As an academic based at Birmingham City University I make no apology for stressing the importance of education at every level. The children we are teaching today need the skills and confidence in their ability to be part of quest for innovation and creativity which will be essential in the future. We need our business and political leaders to continuously hammer home the message that our manufacturers can be the best in the world. But manufacturers must be supported in every way possible. If we can spend umpteen billions on a new railway line then we can surely invest in research and development and provide financial incentives to encourage the brightest and best to be part of the manufacturing revolution. This is what will get us out of recession; whatever happens elsewhere.
2012年1月15日 星期日
The Whirling Sound of Planet Dickens
Editorial | Sunday Observer
The Whirling Sound of Planet Dickens
By VERLYN KLINKENBORG
Published: January 14, 2012
In death, Charles Dickens still keeps his greatest secret to himself — the essence of his energy. None of the physical relics he left behind betray it. The manuscripts of his novels — like “Our Mutual Friend” at the Morgan Library — look no more fevered or hectic than the manuscripts left behind by other novelists.
Related
Times Topic: Charles Dickens
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Two memorable characters from Charles Dickens, Micawber and the young Copperfield.
The handwritten words on the page, round and legible in blue ink, are the marks of a mind that has already settled itself to composition.
Dickens, who was born 200 years ago, wrote a long shelf of novels, 14 in all, not counting “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” which lay half-finished at his death. They sit plump and bursting with life, spilling over with the chaos of existence itself. It’s easy to imagine writers working the way Dickens’s prolific contemporary, Anthony Trollope, did — steadily, routinely, knocking off his 2,000 words a day until, by the end of his life, he had written 47 novels. But this is not how Dickens wrote.
Find the tumultuous heart of your favorite Dickens novel, the place where 19th-century London seems to be seething, smoking, overcrowded, in a state of vulgar contradiction. Then imagine Dickens working in the midst of it — a small, brisk figure rushing past you on a dark and dirty street. He is lost in a kind of mental ventriloquism, calling up his emotions and studying them. Every night he walked a dozen miles, without which, he said, “I should just explode and perish.”
Under the pseudonym Boz, he wrote, “There is nothing we enjoy more than a little amateur vagrancy,” walking through London as though “the whole were an unknown region to our wandering mind.” Yet there was nothing remotely solitary about Dickens. One person who saw him in the highest spirits at a family party wrote that he “happily sang two or three songs, one the patter song, ‘The Dog’s Meat Man,’ and gave several successful imitations of the most distinguished actors of the day.”
It’s a wonder Dickens didn’t explode and perish long before his death in 1870, at age 58. Quite apart from the act of composing his novels, he was a whirlwind, living a life that is nearly unmatched in its vigor. He had one entire career as a magazine editor, another as an actor and manager of theatrical productions, still another as a philanthropist and social reformer. The record of his private engagements alone — dinners, outings, peregrinations with his entourage of family and friends — is exhausting to read. The novels stand out against the backdrop of hundreds of other compositions, all of them written against tight deadlines.
Dickens’s energy, which he made no effort to husband until he was nearly dead, was inexplicable. Call it metabolic if you like. Perhaps it was a reaction to the uncertainties of his childhood and the shame of his days as a child laborer, when he knew that as a precocious young entertainer he was already a spectacle well worth observing.
He was driven by gargantuan emotions, and the ferocious will needed to keep them in check, to release them in the creation of characters he loved more than some of his children. He could drive himself to anguished tears while writing the death of Little Nell, in “The Old Curiosity Shop.” And yet he could also coldly disown anyone who sided with his wife, Catherine, when they separated, including his namesake son.
Even Dickens didn’t understand his energy. He grasped that there was a wildness in him, and so did nearly everyone who knew him. When Dostoevsky met Dickens in 1862 — a meeting that is hard to imagine — Dickens explained that there were two people inside him, “one who feels as he ought to feel and one who feels the opposite.”
Out of these two people he constructed his universe of characters, good and evil. Dostoevsky’s comment is laconic and ambiguous. “Only two people?” he asked. Dickens’s public readings, which began in 1858, drew tens of thousands of people in England and America. They came not only to see the author himself but also the people who inhabited him — Scrooge and Pickwick, Micawber and Mrs. Gamp.
Those characters, and dozens more, still live with all their old vitality. And though we feel the unevenness of Dickens’s novels more plainly than when they were appearing in monthly parts, it’s easier now to see that the unevenness in most of them is symptomatic of his overpowering energy.
The man himself was uneven and could not be beaten into consistency any more than he could beat every one of his novels into perfection. The fact is that Charles Dickens was as Dickensian as the most outrageous of his characters, and he was happy to think so, too. Soon after the publication of “A Christmas Carol” in 1843, he wrote of himself to a close friend: “two and thirty years ago, the planet Dick appeared on the horizon. To the great admiration, wonder and delight of all who live, and the unspeakable happiness of mankind.” Planet Dickens feels as real as it does to us because he stalked the world around him.
And when he finally settled at his desk, he was still driving himself through a world of his own invention, peopled by characters waiting, as he said, to come “ready made to the point of the pen.”2012年1月14日 星期六
John Tillotson,
毛姆《觀點》(The Points of View by W. Somerset Maugham 1958) 夏菁譯，上海：上海譯文，2011
目錄
詩人(案：哥德)的三部小說
聖者
散文與神學家蒂樂生
短篇小說
三位 (案：法國)日記體作家
譯後記
讀者從我對目錄的兩處案語，可知作者的文字範圍包括英、法、德文。當時書有也有些拉丁文。
這本書翻譯上有些”疏忽” ，譬如說《散文與神學家蒂樂生》( pp. 83-123) ，傳主姓名的原文是 John Tillotson, 1630-1694。此君的講道文章以簡潔出名，一向是英國18世紀以前的文章範本。現在類似《牛津英國文學伴讀》只用數十字介紹他，而毛姆大發思古之幽情，介紹這英國文化史上常被忽略的人物之生平 (現在人對當初英國國教與天主教的衝突，可能已沒什麼興趣，不過這是16-17世紀英國人的第一要事)，相當有趣。
Quotes:
"Though all afflictions are evils in themselves, yet they are good for us, because they discover to us our disease and tend to our cure."
"The art of using deceit and cunning grow continually weaker and less effective to the user."
"The crafty person is always in danger; and when they think they walk in the dark, all their pretenses are transparent."
"To be able to bear provocation is an argument of great reason, and to forgive it of a great mind."
"Men expect that religion should cost them no pains, that happiness should drop into their laps without any design and endeavor on their part, and that, after they have done what they please while they live, God should snatch them up to heaven when they die. But though the commandments of God be not grievous, yet it is fit to let men know that they are not thus easy."
"Ignorance and inconsideration are the two great causes of the ruin of mankind."
John Tillotson (October 1630 – 22 November 1694) was an Archbishop of Canterbury (1691–1694).
The Strand Magazine
董橋2000年前的書《跟中國的夢賽跑》等The Strand Magazine
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/strand-magazine#ixzz1jTayemlI
 Bound volume of The Strand Magazine for January–June 1894 featuring George Charles Haité's famous cover design | |
| Frequency | Monthly |
|---|---|
| First issue | January 1891 |
| Final issue — Number | March 1950 711 |
| Company | George Newnes Ltd |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
The Strand Magazine was a monthly magazine composed of fictional
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/strand-magazine#ixzz1jTayemlI
2012年1月13日 星期五
Nail your colours to the mast
Nail your colours to the mast
Meaning
To defiantly display one's opinions and beliefs. Also, to show one's intention to hold on to those beliefs until the end.
Origin
In 17th century nautical battles colours (flags) were struck (lowered) as a mark of submission. It was also the custom in naval warfare to direct one's cannon fire at the opponent's ship's mast, thus disabling it. If all of a ship's masts were broken the captain usually had no alternative but to surrender. If the captain decided to fight on this was marked by hoisting the colours on the remnants of the ship's rigging, i.e. by 'nailing his colours to the mast'.
It is correct to use the English spelling, rather the the US 'nail one's colors to the mast', as the phrase originated in England. It is generally agreed that the expression was coined in reference to the exploits of the crew of the Venerable, at the Battle of Camperdown, a naval engagement that was fought between English and Dutch ships as part of the French Revolutionary Wars, in 1797.
The English fleet was led by the Venerable, the flagship of Admiral Adam Duncan. The battle didn't initially go well for the English. The mainmast of Duncan's vessel was struck and the admiral's blue squadronal standard was brought down. This could have been interpreted by the rest of the fleet as meaning that Duncan had surrendered. Step forward, horny-handed son of the sea and subsequent national hero, Jack Crawford. Crawford climbed what was left of the mast with the standard and nailed it back where it was visible to the rest of the fleet. This act proved crucial in the battle and Duncan's forces were eventually victorious. Some historians believe that the victory at Camperdown proved to be the end of the dominance of the Dutch at sea and the beginning of the period in which 'Britannia ruled the waves'. Crawford returned home to Sunderland to a hero's welcome.
The stalwart reputation of English seamen soon became part of the national consciousness. An address to the House of Commons by the playwright Richard Sheridan was reported in The Edinburgh Advertiser in January 1801:
"I have no hesitation in saying that the Maritime Law is the charter of our existence, the banner under which we all should rally; it is the flag which, imitating the example of our gallant seamen, we should nail to the mast of the nation, and go down with the vessel rather than strike it!"
The first use of the precise expression 'nail your colours to the mast' that I have found is from the English newspaper The Hereford Journal, August 1807. This reported a naval engagement between British and American ships in which the US captain surrendered without a fight, much to the disgust of his military superiors:
"You [Commodore James Barron] ought to have nailed your colours to the mast, and have fought whilst a timber remained on your ship."
Whether or not Jack Crawford was the first to 'nail his colours to the mast' we can't be completely sure, but it does look highly likely. The phrase wasn't known before his exploit and was widely used soon afterwards. Despite his heroic status, Crawford died a pauper and a drunkard and was buried in an unmarked grave. The local community raised a fund to erect a gravestone and later a commemorative statue. If you do have any doubts about Jack's role in linguistic history, it might be wise not to mention it in Sunderland.
See also - 'Jack' phrases.
See also - join the colours.
2012年1月10日 星期二
The King's Speech/Sir John Milsom Rees
Amazon Properties房地產開發公司總經理查爾斯﹒古爾吉(Charles Gourgey)說，這棟住宅原是英國皇家歌劇院喉科醫師約翰﹒裡斯爵士(Sir John Milsom Rees)的住所和咨詢室。裡斯爵士曾為英國國王喬治六世的父親喬治五世進行過診治。喬治六世是電影《國王的演講》(The King’s Speech)中的主人公。
房產圖片：1.2億元的倫敦歷史宅邸
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1936年12月 邱吉爾 才是海軍部長
On Dec. 26, 1941, Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress.
12月12日 是大事日
《王者之聲：宣戰時刻》（The King's Speech，片名中speech既解作演講，也解作說話能力，是雙關語）是2010年由湯姆·霍伯執導的英國傳記片。男主角柯林·佛斯獲得了包括第68屆金球獎最佳劇情片男主角、第83屆奧斯卡金像獎最佳男主角在內的許多表演獎。影片還在第83屆奧斯卡金像獎中獲得12項提名，並勇奪最佳影片、最佳原創劇本、最佳導演及最佳男主角四項大獎。
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King%27s_Speech
Firth and Bonham Carter as the Duke and Duchess of York
房產圖片：1.2億元的倫敦歷史宅邸
這棟五居住宅位於倫敦市中心，附帶一套設備齊全的三居公寓，曾是英國國王喬治五世的喉科醫師的住宅，現經過現代化改造，要價折合人民幣約1.2億元。
1936年12月 邱吉爾 才是海軍部長
On Dec. 26, 1941, Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the United States Congress.
12月12日 是大事日
《王者之聲：宣戰時刻》（The King's Speech，片名中speech既解作演講，也解作說話能力，是雙關語）是2010年由湯姆·霍伯執導的英國傳記片。男主角柯林·佛斯獲得了包括第68屆金球獎最佳劇情片男主角、第83屆奧斯卡金像獎最佳男主角在內的許多表演獎。影片還在第83屆奧斯卡金像獎中獲得12項提名，並勇奪最佳影片、最佳原創劇本、最佳導演及最佳男主角四項大獎。
本片講述的是現任英國女王伊莉莎白二世的父親，喬治六世國王治療口吃的故事，根據英國歷史真實故事改編而成。
身為約克公爵的喬治，是英國王位第二繼承人，父親是國王喬治五世，兄長是王儲威爾斯親王愛德華。喬治從小有嚴重的口吃，為了應付演說而時有無力感，遂連同妻子尋找語言治療師來治療自己，最終找到了澳大利亞籍的萊恩尼爾·羅格（Lionel Logue），但卻又以齟齬與羅格決裂。
喬治五世去世後，王儲愛德華即位，但仍過著風花雪月的人生，不理睬因納粹德國崛起而岌岌可危的朝政，且堅持要與一個離過兩次婚的華麗思女士結婚，與離婚女子結婚，違背了英國國教與王室的繼承規定，首相鮑得溫於是令愛德華做出選擇，不願放棄美人的愛德華，選擇禪讓王位與喬治，退隱山林，稱「溫莎公爵」。
喬治本無心問鼎寶座，卻因兄長不負責任的退位，不得不加冕登基，是為喬治六世。喬治六世此時再次想到羅格，為了能順利發表各種演說，喬治六世辛苦經歷了一系列的語言訓練，不但與羅格成為好友，口吃也大為好轉。最後結局，是喬治六世向當時二次大戰中的英國人的一次著名戰時演說，其發表順利，聲調鏗鏘有力，鼓舞了全國軍民。
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King%27s_Speech
| The King's Speech | |
|---|---|
 Cinematic release poster | |
| Directed by | Tom Hooper |
| Produced by |
|
| Screenplay by | David Seidler |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Alexandre Desplat |
| Cinematography | Danny Cohen, BSC |
| Editing by | Tariq Anwar |
| Studio | |
| Distributed by | The Weinstein Company |
| Release date(s) | 6 September 2010 (Telluride Film Festival) 7 January 2011 (United Kingdom) |
| Running time | 118 minutes[1] |
| Country | United Kingdom[2] |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £8 million ($15 million)[3] |
| Box office | £250 million ($414,211,549)[4] |
The King's Speech is a 2010 British historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush. The men become friends as they work together, and after his brother abdicates the throne, the new King relies on Logue to help him make a radio broadcast on Britain's declaration of war on Germany in 1939.
Seidler read about George VI's life after overcoming a stuttering condition he endured during his youth. He started writing about the men's relationship as early as the 1980s, but postponed work, at the Queen Mother's wishes, until her death in 2002. He later rewrote his screenplay for the stage to focus on the essential relationship between the two protagonists. Nine weeks before filming began, Logue's notebooks were discovered and quotations from them were incorporated into the script.
Principal photography took place in London and around Britain from November 2009 to January 2010. The opening scenes were filmed in Elland Road, Leeds (for the since-demolished Wembley Stadium), Buckingham Palace interiors in Lancaster House, and Ely Cathedral stood in for Westminster Abbey. The cinematography differs from other historical dramas; hard light was used to give the story a greater resonance and wider than normal lenses were used to recreate the King's feelings of constriction. A third technique Hooper employed was the off-centre framing of characters: in his first consultation with Logue, George VI is captured hunched on the side of a couch at the edge of the frame.
Released in the United Kingdom on 7 January 2011, The King's Speech was a major box office and critical success. Censors initially gave it adult ratings due to profanity, though these were later revised downwards after criticism by the makers and distributors in the UK and some instances of swearing were muted in the US. On a budget of GB£8 million, it earned over US$400 million internationally (£250 million).[5] It was widely praised by film critics for its visual style, art direction, and acting. Other commentators discussed the film's representation of historical detail, especially the reversal of Winston Churchill's opposition to abdication. The film received many awards and nominations, particularly for Colin Firth's performance; his Golden Globe Award for Best Actor was the sole win at that ceremony from seven nominations. The King's Speech won seven British Academy Film Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Firth), Best Supporting Actor (Rush), and Best Supporting Actress (Bonham Carter). The film also won four Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director (Hooper), Best Actor (Firth), and Best Original Screenplay (Seidler).
The film opens with Prince Albert, Duke of York (played by Colin Firth), the second son of King George V, stammering through his closing speech at the 1925 British Empire Exhibition at Wembley Stadium, with his wife, Elizabeth, Duchess of York (Helena Bonham Carter), by his side. The Duke despairs after several unsuccessful treatments, until his wife persuades him to see Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush), an Australian speech therapist in London. During their first session, Logue requests that they address each other by their Christian names—a breach of royal etiquette—and proceeds to call the prince "Bertie". To persuade him to follow his treatment, Logue bets Prince Albert a shilling that he can read perfectly at that very moment, and gives him Hamlet's "To be, or not to be" soliloquy to read aloud, which he does while listening to loud music on headphones. Logue records Bertie's reading on a gramophone record; convinced he has stammered throughout, Bertie leaves in a huff, declaring his condition "hopeless." Logue offers him the recording as a keepsake.
After King George V (Michael Gambon) makes his 1934 Christmas address, he explains to his son how important broadcasting is to the modern monarchy. He declares that "David" (Edward, Prince of Wales, played by Guy Pearce), Prince Albert's older brother, will bring ruin to the family and the country as king. King George demands that Albert train himself, starting with a reading of his father's speech. After an agonising attempt to do so, Prince Albert plays Logue's recording and hears himself making an unbroken recitation of Shakespeare. He returns to Logue, and they work together on muscle relaxation and breath control, while Logue gently probes the psychological roots of his stuttering. The Duke soon reveals some of the pressures of his childhood: his strict father, the repression of his natural left-handedness, a painful treatment for knock-knees, a nanny who favoured his elder brother, and the early death of his younger brother, Prince John. As the treatment progresses, the two men become friends and confidants.
In January 1936, George V dies, and David accedes to the throne as King Edward VIII, still wanting to marry Mrs Wallis Simpson (Eve Best), a socialite American divorcée. At Christmas in Balmoral Castle, Prince Albert points out that Edward cannot marry a divorced woman and retain the throne; Edward accuses his brother of a medieval-style plot to usurp him, cites his speech lessons as an attempt to ready himself, and resurrects his childhood taunt of "B-B-B-Bertie".
At his next session, the Duke has not forgotten the incident. He is frustrated that his speech has improved while talking to most people—except his own brother. Logue, observing that when he curses he does not stutter, has him swear out loud. After doing so, Albert briefs him on the extent of David's folly with Mrs Simpson, and Logue insists that Albert could be king. Outraged, he accuses Logue of treason and, in his anger, mocks Logue's failed acting career and humble origins, causing a rift in their friendship. When King Edward VIII does abdicate to marry, Prince Albert becomes King George VI. The new King realises that he needs Logue's help; he and the Queen visit the Logues' home to apologise. When the King insists that Logue be seated in the King's box during his coronation in Westminster Abbey, the Archbishop of Canterbury (Derek Jacobi) questions Logue's qualifications. This prompts another confrontation between George VI and Logue, who explains he began by treating shell-shocked soldiers during the war. When the King remains unsure of himself, Logue sits in King Edward's Chair and dismisses the Stone of Scone as a trifle. George VI remonstrates Logue for his disrespect, surprising himself with his own sudden eloquence.
Upon the September 1939 declaration of war with Nazi Germany, George VI summons Logue to Buckingham Palace to assist him in preparing for his upcoming radio address to Britain and the Empire. As millions of people listen to their radios, the King delivers his speech as if to Logue, who guides him silently throughout. Afterwards, the King steps onto the balcony of the palace with his family, where thousands of Londoners have gathered to listen, cheer, and applaud.
A title card explains that Logue was always present at King George VI's speeches during World War II. It notes that in 1944 Logue was made a Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, in recognition of personal service to the Monarch. Also noted is the continuation of their friendship for the remainder of their lives.
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