Support the strike: Teachers' Pension Blues (original song)

[jamesfdonaldson]

Good stuff Paddy , nothing wrong with a bit of 'social comment'....

Jim

[oldfolkiepad]

@jamesfdonaldson Thank you, Jim. This one was truly from the heart!

Best wishes,

Paddy

[HySipher]

I can't believe I cried after watching this...Peaceful and real, my heart sinks..The best song for the strike! Thank you Paddy!! :)

[oldfolkiepad]

@HySipher Thank you for your generous and enthusiastic comments - I'm touched that you so appreciated my song!

Every good wish,

Paddy

[RedShoesDuo]

All the best for todays strike and I've posted your song on our fb page, well done :-)

[oldfolkiepad]

@RedShoesDuo Thank you very much for your good wishes and kind support!

Regards,

Paddy

[Draedr]

"And real education was increasingly suppressed

As SATs and modules forced us into teaching to the test."

I wholeheartedly agree to that statement. I'm not that old so I don't know how it was taught back then before the 90's (I'm 20) ; However, I have always disagreed with the teaching methods practiced by all the schools I have gone to. They all teach by the book, and usually, only parts of it, just to get you by the test. I care little about the test, and more for the knowledge I need to know

[Draedr]

The new teaching methods do not learn you of how to better cope with your future as well as preparing you for your life as an adult. They teach by systematic formulas that will only stay briefly in your short-term memory bank for the most part. I don't care much for learning information that is planned to dissipate into nothing. I want someone to teach based on long-term knowledge, something that will help you post-school. And it is really say that teachers get paid less and less. Their jobs...

[Draedr]

are unrivaled when it comes to the importance of the future, and I believe teachers need to get paid more. They are meant to help out the future, the children of today, the power of tomorrow. And if they are raised on short-term knowledge, then what are we really learning? Teachers and professors are way underpaid, and politics need to stay out of education. I just hope that eventual schooling can return back to what it was. But I am afraid that it will continue to just get worse.

[oldfolkiepad]

@Draedr Many thanks for what are clearly heartfelt comments, expressing views with which I agree entirely. The best teachers I ever had were those who loved their subjects, approached teaching as an opportunity to share their enthusiasm, and encouraged me to think for myself. There are still lots who are like that, but they have many obstacles put in their way, and the job grows ever more demanding and exhausting. Decent pensions are the very least they deserve.

Very best wishes,

Paddy

[Draedr]

That is by far the very least, and it was a pleasure. Thank you for all of the nice videos. There are still some young adults who know what education should be, I just wish more people shared those beliefs. As much as it is common sense, many people tend to lack it.

[oldfolkiepad]

@Draedr Thank you once again. I'm glad you're enjoying some of my other songs, too.

Best wishes,

Paddy

[TheMakemFolksinger]

love the way you deliver a song, cheers Dave

[oldfolkiepad]

@TheMakemFolksinger Many thanks, Dave; glad you liked this. I haven't been around much lately, but will pay your channel a visit again soon. Hope you're well.

All the best,

Paddy

[Lowdenjim]

Strikes a chord with me Paddy - I never struck myself either (except by beating myself with the stick of going to bed at 3 sometimes after prepping for 9 next morning) and left the sinking ship of further & higher ed at age 50; "Je ne regret rien"

I warned my fellow teachers in Primary & Secondary that some serious nonsense was coming their way back in the 1990's - they didn't listen.....not that they could have done anything, except maybe preparing an exit strategy like I did.

[oldfolkiepad]

@Lowdenjim A number of my former colleagues took early retirement in the nineties and noughties and almost all are fit, very active and utterly without regret. Others, now in their late 40s or early 50s and still working, have every reason to feel bitter and resentful that such opportunities seem unlikely to come their way. I'm incredibly lucky to have got out when I did. Many thanks for your comments. Love your Bob Dylan covers, by the way - will comment on some of them soon.

Regards,

Paddy

[onewomanandsomesongs]

Hi, Paddy, I'm a bit late here 'coz I went on a camping trip, but I thought I'd check in now and see what's new on your channel. What a charming song! I think teachers deserve everything they get, they do a fantastic job. In the States, they are trying to do away with teacher's benefits in some of the states while powerful interests get richer and richer. Only bankers can retire now. It's ridiculous. Always enjoy the listens. :) Janet

[oldfolkiepad]

@onewomanandsomesongs Hi Janet, I hope you enjoyed your camping trip; saw in the paper that you've been suffering a heatwave - hope it didn't spoil your holiday! My apologies for a very late reply - I'm not getting onto YouTube so much these days and I'm still struggling to catch up after the long break I took in April. Many thanks for your comments; it sounds as if teachers have just as hard a time of it in the States as they do here. Will pay your channel a visit soon.

Best wishes,

Paddy

[PatrickGMoran]

This is just magnificent Paddy....absolutely excellent in every sense of the word. Perfectly written and crafted to a rolling melody that kept my feet tappin the whole time. My hat is off to you my friend......

[oldfolkiepad]

@PatrickGMoran Hi Patrick, good to hear from you again, and please accept my apologies for taking so long to reply to such generous compliments. I'm delighted that you enjoyed the song and greatly appreciate your very kind remarks!

Every good wish,

Paddy

[sadia102]

Wonderful. Enjoyed it so much. A once upon a time teacher.

[oldfolkiepad]

@sadia102 Thank you very much - I'm glad this struck a chord with you. Please accept my apologies for taking so long to reply!

Best wishes,

Paddy

[raffaport]

Hi, Paddy. I hope you are keeping well. I really enjoyed this, thanks, and shall pass it on to others in education. Like you, I'm glad to be on the other side of the wire, now, and can't imagine the worry of those still working. Thumbs and regards, Graham.

[oldfolkiepad]

@raffaport Hi Graham; I do apologise for taking so long to reply! I'm fine, thanks - hope you are too. I recently spent a very enjoyable day with former colleagues on the last day of term - one was moving on to a new school and I'd written a song for his send-off. All were so looking forward to the summer break, yet already anxious that it would pass too quickly, a feeling I remember only too well. How lucky I am to be free from all that! Many thanks for your kind words.

Best wishes,

Paddy

[twillick]

Paddy I do not know how my computer works, but about 4 minutes ago until you get this message there was a song by you I haven't heard before (I could hear kids in the background). I wasn't on your channel or checking my subs, just listening to one of my uploads and then I could hear you singing, playing the guitar.

Weird, but I liked the song. Must have been one of yours because I've never heard it before, but it was you singing.

[oldfolkiepad]

@twillick Hi Tracey, some pretty peculiar things sometimes happen on YouTube, but that's one of the strangest. My grandsons helping me with "Vortex the Plug Monster" is what you could hear - it's the featured video on my channel page - but I can't begin to imagine why you heard it when you did. I'm glad you liked it, anyway, and it's good to hear from you, even in such weird circumstances!

Best wishes,

Paddy

[chuxtrux]

also.....(ran out of room).........i am really enjoying hearing your clean, crisp finger picking style and also the warm sounding tone of your guitar. very nice listening experience, chuck.

[chuxtrux]

hi Paddy. listening to you sing this one is like listening to a man of experience and years, ergo wisdom, stoicly explalining via conversation how things were, and how they have changed, not for the better. sadly, it also feels like there are no immediate sollutions to come. our children will never know the standards of living that we have enjoyed. this is the first generation to experience that. i appreciate your bringing this to our attentions. fate will tell. be well friend, chuck.

[oldfolkiepad]

@chuxtrux Hi Chuck, many thanks for what are always your very kind thoughts and generous comments. I agree with you entirely regarding our generation's failure to hand on to our children the advantages that we have enjoyed. I'm particularly pleased that you likened my approach in this song to 'conversation'; I do always try my best to use natural speech patterns when writing verse, though it's not always possible. I'm delighted you enjoyed the song.

Every good wish,

Paddy

[wooddragon45]

F- see me after class... >:- (

Couldn't resist that...only kidding... ;- )

it's an excellent composition...and I agree with you absolutely regarding the "dumbing down" of educational standards...

5/5* (gold stars of course)

[oldfolkiepad]

@wooddragon45 Gold stars, smiley faces, I'm delighted to accept all the currencies of approval, old or new! Thank you very much for your kind words - and I enjoyed the amusing introduction to them as well.

Best wishes,

Paddy

[TJJG76]

Excellent stuff Paddy. Always a pleasure to listen to your songs. I enjoyed the lyrics again on this one and I wish words would come to me as easily as they seem to come to you. Loved it! Well done, Tim ;)

[jorgecubria]

Which subjects did you teach?  And what level?

[oldfolkiepad]

@jorgecubria I taught English, in grammar schools, from age 12 up to A Level for many years, but gradually evolved into a teacher of GCSE and A Level Media Studies (mainly newspapers and TV), a subject politicians knew nothing about and with which they didn't at first interfere. For the last ten years of my career I took on managerial duties as an assistant headteacher, and to my great relief, dropped English, the testing and examination of which had become a travesty.

[jorgecubria]

I had also been a teacher, and yes, I'm happy I don't have to work any longer.

Enthusiam does wane through the years.

I plan to live another forty though, I got a lot of things to do.

Like you, You delight us with your great songs.

[oldfolkiepad]

@jorgecubria I've got lots of things to do too, but I don't want to live for another forty years unless I'm allowed to retain all my faculties. Another fifteen to twenty in good health would be just perfect, though! Many thanks, Jorge, for what are, as always, the kindest of comments; they are greatly appreciated.

Every good wish,

Paddy

[Kittielips]

A Million Stars!!

Love.

Jennie. X.

[oldfolkiepad]

@Kittielips Thank you, Jennie; you know how much I love the old YouTube currency!

Love,

Paddy

[TheMakemFolksinger]

brillant Paddy, love your stories in your lyrics, cheers Dave

[oldfolkiepad]

@TheMakemFolksinger Glad you enjoyed it, Dave - thank you very much!

All the best,

Paddy

[BRACK3N]

Great stuff!

: )

[oldfolkiepad]

@BRACK3N Many thanks - and good luck with your video in the next up competition!

Best wishes,

Paddy

[blinddrunkal]

Excellent song Paddy

[oldfolkiepad]

@blinddrunkal Many thanks, Alan!

Best wishes,

Paddy

[ljped]

Being a retired teacher myself, I can certainly relate to these words :)

I love the posh politician's accent - I wonder who that reminds me of lol!

Well written, sung and performed Paddy!

[oldfolkiepad]

@ljped Many thanks for your kind words, Jack; I'm glad you can identify with it. As for the identity of the 'posh politician's accent': well, as the saying (almost) goes, you may care to wonder, but I couldn't possibly say!

Every good wish,

Paddy

[moran68]

training days,I know for a fact that the teachers finish lunch time! And i've got to book a days holiday or pay and put my children in holiday club! the teachers last week got very little support.

[oldfolkiepad]

@moran68 I sympathise with you re. training days, an unutterable waste of everyone's time. Having five every year is absurd. Teachers don't want them, and never have: they were imposed on the teaching profession by Kenneth Baker, as part of the Thatcher government's determination to stamp its authority on education. Teachers understandably try to make such days as short as they can legally get away with, while parents like yourself pay the price. Thank you for your comments.

Best wishes,

Paddy

[reliablebow]

Hi Paddy...What a great song! We have a daughter in 6th grade, and we wonder what the future holds with all these political games and the "standardized" tests. We have teacher friends who are frustrated with how things educational are going. What a Great Talkin' blues....sums it up very well:)

michael

[oldfolkiepad]

@reliablebow Thank you, Michael, I'm pleased to hear this resonated with you. Heaven knows where things will go next in education. Michael Gove sometimes makes sensible noises about removing unnecessary bureaucracy from education and trusting teachers' judgement, and it does look as if SATs will eventually be consigned to the dustbin of history where they belong, but I fear he will still want to exercise too much control, and teachers and students will be little better off.

Best wishes,

Paddy

[reliablebow]

@oldfolkiepad Hi Paddy...yes, it always seems that the pendulum swings from side to side..., but instead of letting it balance out, each new "side" wants to nail it so it can't swing, out of fear of course. I don't know Michael Gove, but I imagine he means well, but I see more and more "control" being "exercised" all in the name of "progress" and of course..."making it easy." This is wonderful song my Friend, and You tell the story well:)Blessings,

Michael

[oldfolkiepad]

@reliablebow It's very kind of you to come back and comment further, Michael - many thanks for your enthusiastic support! I think you're right about Michael Gove probably meaning well, but I believe he can only succeed in truly serving the interests of education by taking the government's hands off it completely. The likelihood that his party would allow him to do that seems very small to me. I hope I'm wrong, but I shan't be holding my breath....

Best wishes,

Paddy

[EmCSpiteri1]

Great song and the lyrics are so true.,and well sungif I may say so. ☺

[oldfolkiepad]

@EmCSpiteri1 That's very kind of you, and much appreciated. Thank you!

Best wishes,

Paddy

[Haycroft2]

Well said Paddy my friend.!! My youngest daughter is a Teacher and works very hard.

With this awful government it is virtually a crime to be over 50 nowadays. They don`t want to employ you, but expect you to work till you`r e at least 66. They want to steal what little pension you have already paid for, and tax you on what`s left.

People aren`t stupid though and they know that their money has been frittered away on the stock market and p***ed up against the wall of a Covent Garden Wine Bar

[oldfolkiepad]

@Haycroft2 Many thanks, Paul. I've particular sympathy for the youngest members of the teaching profession. It's a much harder job than it was when I started back in 1973, when I was given absolute freedom to teach in whatever way seemed most appropriate to the interests and needs of my students. A huge amount of the work teachers have to put in these days serves, in my opinion, purely bureaucratic purposes, and it hits the newcomers hardest.

Best wishes,

Paddy

[kidderminsterbro]

paddy your words are true through and through

chicago politicians will argue them but they have

pensions that prove your assessment to be correct.

peace,rich

[oldfolkiepad]

@kidderminsterbro Many thanks, Rich. I guess politiciians are the same the world over. Things it doesn't occur to them to interfere with often work just fine, but as soon as politicians start to imagine they might usefully get involved, those things will never work properly again.

Best wishes,

Paddy