When I was young my mother often declared she should have called me ‘Mary’ after Mary, Mary Quite Contrary. Melody the child had a self-determined attitude to do things her own way and from odd, colourful hairstyles down to the non-regulation school shoes, I’d concur that my behaviour may have been slightly challenging.
Even in my relative dotage, I’m still a little disruptive, I suppose Melody is more of a discord rather than a harmony for some. I don’t have a middle name, but if I did, it might well be ‘Trouble’ or ‘Inconvenient’.
Law breaking
Hubster will have words about me banging on again, and even I concede I’m a broken record, but we are in a climate emergency and the rapid and urgent action demanded by climate scientists and the United Nations has not been forthcoming. In the past, to reduce my own climate anxiety, I was part of the mass movement of protesters marching in the streets with Extinction Rebellion and with 100,000 like-minded folk at COP26 in Glasgow joining international calls for decarbonisation and Climate Justice. Based on the reactions to the Suffragette movement and the Greenham Peace Camp protests, I’m a great believer that a little disruption can precipitate change for the better.
According to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) everyone has the right to protest and to organise protests. I can hardly believe that in England we now need to be careful with Zoom calls, although the most excitement with the Bird family virtual get-togethers is when Aunty lets out an audible fart. But we are increasingly being prevented from being able to express ourselves freely.
Although I have never been arrested, it is now very likely that calling for environmental protection for people and planet whilst sitting in the street blocking traffic, locking on or using glue to make yourself difficult to be removed, could result in a lengthy prison sentence. We are living in a country where the police are empowered to intervene even before individuals cause serious disruption, for those who have previously committed protest-related offences or ignored court-imposed restrictions. Rebel Without a Cause? It seems you can’t even be a rebel with a cause anymore.
School sanctions
Last year I asked for a Subject Access Request (SAR) from the DfE and was not particularly surprised to find that they were keeping tabs on me. The returned report was only 4 sides of various screen grabs from social media, but it spooked me a little. I’m just a teacher wanting the best future for her pupils, I just have the audacity to believe that governments, old and new, don’t necessarily have the best interests of young or old people at heart. They do seem to rather like the rich but that’s simply not my cup of tea, I prefer to champion the underdog.
Back in 2019 we had School Strikes for Future and some of my students, supported by their parents, left school to go on a march or two. The government cracked down and sent a very strongly worded message to Headteachers informing them that permission to be absent for a protest was not to be given. Then came the pandemic and any hope young people had to be freely able to take to the streets evaporated.
There have been some youth events more recently, but they are swiftly squashed and underreported in the media. God forbid we’d allow youth voice to be heard, let alone raise it high. I am inspired by Students Organising for Sustainability and their different initiatives to promote awareness but, even when they play by political rules, the necessary action is so slow to transpire that Greta will be claiming her pension before we start to see the system change, they need.
Climate change
There is still a huge grey cloud around teaching about climate change or different models for economic systems even if they do not “constitute teaching about a political issue”. DfE recommends the topic should be taught in a balanced manner, with teachers not promoting any of the partisan political views covered to pupils, I read this as an anti-call to arms, charming eco clubs and litter picks are fine, encouraging any act of rebellion is obviously not to be tolerated.
Absenteeism and struggles with mental health have become an area of increasing concern in schools. It seems young people sense that their education is not fit for purpose. It’s unsurprising to me as we have a curriculum which largely ignores that climate change, biodiversity loss, air pollution and ecosystem degradation are already here and, although they might finally be banning the Cumbrian coal mine, politicians seem intent on making poor climate decisions such as opening more runways at airports.
War footing
I keep coming back to the question ‘How is a climate concerned teacher and mother supposed to act?’. I definitely don’t want to get arrested (or even called into the Headteacher’s office again), I’m just too busy and the prisons are so overcrowded.
I’m also far too keen on my food to go on hunger strike but hats off to anyone who tries. I’m starting to believe writing to most MPs is pointless as, having written to my old blue MP on around 50 different occasions, I can honestly say it was an utter waste of my time. I’ve already written to my new red MP on 5 occasions and haven’t yet got a reply, although maybe they are having teething problems.
Matthew Todd, who is well worth following on a social media platform that I’m no longer willing to endorse, recently posted, “We need a wartime-like effort instead of all the vague waffle and BS we get from the media. We all have everything to lose”. I’m old but I’m not old enough to be considered a boomer or even a war baby. Even so, I am well aware of the campaigns for ‘Make Do and Mend’ and Hubster is still digging for victory, alongside trying to save his squash from the early frosts.
Gentle Protest
Capitalism may still be king and disposable culture reigns supreme but mending stuff is part of our quiet rebellion on the smallholding. Hubster is possibly the best weapon I know against capitalism. He can fix almost anything meaning we don’t have to buy more stuff. When the offspring were young, we used to hear the yell of ‘Dada fix’ and the lifespan of toys would be extended time and time again.
We might not be able to clone Hubster, but my daughter seems to have inherited his perspicacity and is using her sewing machine to earn a few pennies over the holiday before departing again to university, that capitalist itch is difficult to scratch away entirely and, even in our increasingly cashless society, some money is still required. She has repaired rips in several pairs of trousers, although I’m really not convinced by the fox and robot fabrics, she has used for knee patches. Hubster now looks a little more Andy Pandy than Action Man.
Textiles
We haven’t quite got to the point where we are making homemade dyes for fabrics, but I have started bookmarking interesting articles on the topic. We darn socks, hem trousers and, inspired by the Craftivist Collective Handbook by Sarah Corbett, I’m starting to try my hand at embroidering flowers, stars, and radical slogans on an old denim jacket. The text ‘Act as if Your House is on Fire’ is pretty good but I’ve already unpicked the image of planet earth about eight times. I’m so rad.
My old textiles teacher would turn in her grave at the quality of my efforts, but mending and rejuvenating items of clothing is more than just a practical skill; it’s a mindset. It’s about valuing what we have and finding joy in the process of repair. It’s a small but powerful step towards a more sustainable lifestyle, gives the bird to the fast fashion industry and means I won’t end up in an over-crammed prison cell (although my Hubster really might appreciate the peace and quiet for a while).
Note to self: Talk to Miss M the new art teacher about embedding sustainability in the pupil’s practical projects by using craftivism – I can just see the face on unsuspecting parents and grandparents on Christmas day when they open handmade presents that declare ‘There is No Planet B’ or ‘Climate Change is Real, Denial is Deadly’.
