“You have probably heard the saying that you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Actually, there is another saying that is probably more accurate, but is not quite as well known: 'The quickest way to become an old dog is to quit learning new tricks.”
Kenneth Higbee
As I stepped out of my house and my comfort zone yesterday morning at 7am to drive to Paignton, Devon to complete my Level 1 Assistant Swimming Teacher qualification, and as I stepped into the first of five sessions of assessment, something really important came hurtling back to me: a bit of myself I had left behind years ago – the hands-on teacher.
I’ve been involved in education, participation, social engagement, learning or whatever you want to call it all of my professional life and as often happens, as I’ve gone up the management structure I’d more or less stopped doing the actual doing of it and spent more and more time talking, theorising, and organising other people to do the doing. Hanging around the coal face, yes, but not brandishing the axe.
And know what? I loved it! I absolutely loved it! And know what the assessor said when I’d finished my Level 1 training? “You loved that, didn’t you?’
And I loved it not just because I’m learning something new but because all the reasons I loved teaching drama way back in the beginning of time, suddenly exploded in my head and all those neurons re-connected with a rush of recognition. Old habit, new context.
So, as I continue to move into my new freelance mode, I also wanted to take time to tick a few other things off my list that matter to me: things I’ve thought about but shelved for somewhere down the line… and the first of these was to train to be a swimming teacher. Not a money spinner, but an important statement about who I am and what matters to me.
I’ve been very lucky with swimming and having time to learn (did you know learning to swim is compulsory in the National Curriculum but approx. 50% children leave primary school not being able to swim 25 metres – the statutory expectation.) My mother, probably using intelligence gathered as she swept the front yard, discovered that the railway men had rented Madeley Street baths on a Wednesday evenings and railway men’s children could go for virtually no money at all. We went. We were not railway men’s children, but no questions were asked. Madeley Street, in Hull, was an amazing old building, with two pools and slipper baths which totally fascinated me as a child. Did people not have baths? And like loads of old pools across the country it has been demolished but for the people of Hessle Road, nothing has replaced it. (https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/history/gallery/madeley-street-lost-estate-hull-3803261)
Anyway, we went every Wednesday, and I had excellent primary school teaching (we must have walked to Madeley Street, but I don’t remember the journey at all) and I was lucky enough to go to a secondary school that also had a pool (sadly also now demolished) which meant we were privileged to swim a lot.
Swimming has given me enormous pleasure throughout my life. From racing at secondary school to swimming loads of outdoor races as an adult, it has been a way to keep fit and keep sane.
Swimming, at its simplest, is meditative; up and down, laps, counting, and the rhythm of a well-balanced strong stroke. I can categorically state that swimming has improved my well-being. It’s brilliant for all ages, all abilities and is non-weightbearing, and exercises all of the body. And if you do it outdoors it is free!
So, I’m training to be a swimming teacher (of adults or children) so that everyone can have the same chance to enjoy this amazing activity.
And I’m also training because swimming is an essential life skill. I was brought up in Hull, a coastal, riverside city. It should be a fundamental right of all children, all people to be able to swim and be safe: we are an island nation. 1 in 5 children in the UK have never been to the beach. And 1 in 4 have never swum in the sea (a quarter!) I know there are issues with sewage in our seas, but many are clean, and fly a blue flag. 17% of children in Plymouth – a coastal city with a beach – have never been to it. Think about that for a minute. 1 in 5.
Like lots of things access to water and water safety is classed. Swimming lessons outside of school cost money that many people don’t have. Swimming lessons in school demand a swimming costume and kit. Learning to surf or play water polo or being part of an artistic swimming group or diving, all cost money.
And I’m going to do everything I can to level the playing field. You might be able to teach an old dog new tricks, but you can’t expect a woman who has spent her life trying to open up opportunities to suddenly become a completely different human being.
Onwards to Level Two…