This week and next week are NAPLAN weeks at Eddies. As a part of a daily ramble, I recently wandered up the stairs of the Westcourt building to see how our young men were working through this bastion of standardised testing that is the National Assessment Program Literacy And Numeracy.
As luck would have it, when I arrived, testing for the day had finished — writing test I believe. Classrooms were quietly emptying themselves as a steady stream of blue funnelled out into the rather wet intervening space outside. Happy conversations abounded with various topics discussed. What time is it? What have we got next? What’s for lunch at the tuckshop? Unable to contain myself I had to interject – “The topic question, what did you think of that?” This brings me to today’s theme…pencils.
The word pencil is derived from — so I’m advised by Wikipedia – the Old French word pincel which in turn stemmed from the Latin word penicillius meaning “little tail”. Originally referring to an artist’s fine camel-hair brush, the label morphed over time to refer to the much beloved writing, colouring, and shading implement we now recognise as the modern pencil.
In 1560 (they’ve been around that long!) Indiana and Simonio Bernacotti, clever couple that they were, designed the seed that would become the modern carpenter’s pencil (you can pick one up from your local hardware store for around $1.45). Take a stick of juniper wood, split it in two and hollow out each half then fill generously with graphite (soft black carbon stuff), finish off by gluing the halves back together and voilà, medieval carpenter’s pencil.
Of course, this pales in comparison with the polychromatic 120-pack of Faber-Castell’s that you can pick up from your local Officeworks. Regardless, the father of the modern pencil is recognised as being Napoleonic mechanical genius Nicolas-Jacques Conté. This is the guy who allowed us to have pencil shades like purple and mauve and violet, maybe a bit of lavender and plum, perish the thought, aubergine! By recognising that a mixture of clay and graphite would make an excellent filler for pencils he paved the future of this handy graphic tool. Fully erase your Maths or English and start again. Fantastic! Doodle and sketch to your heart’s content with your favourite Staedtler 4B. Superb! Happily, grab a colouring book specifically designed for adults to engage in new age mindfulness. Really? Thank you, Nicolas.
Why this interest in pencils then? Remember the question at the end of the writing NAPLAN? “What did you think of that?” Well, the response “good” led to the next question. “What did you write about?” And “stuff” pointed to the obvious. “So did you do that on your laptop?” “Yep”. After which I regaled two young men (who rather politely indulged me) with stories of how much things have changed, the sorts of skills they will need today and how in my day we used these things called pencils to write things down, rather than type our answers on a keyboard.
This year — and from now on — our young men will complete their NAPLAN online, on laptops, on a locked, task specific NAPLAN browser. This standardised test is useful for us to see where we as educators may need to target learning. On the other hand, I am dubious of its use in “league tables” to rate schools. Reality is more nuanced and complicated.
The days of the pencil and eraser, are perhaps limited. There is no need to have a sharpener and a case full of spares as back-up. Today, it’s all laptops, earphones, and wireless access points. Where once teachers engaged in trouble-shooting broken HBs or paper response sheets, today our IT staff magnificently attack the oh so common issues and glitches that go with modern technology.
It shouldn’t be surprising that children of the 21st century “write” with keyboards and not pencils. Our young men have access to so much information, everything at the touch of a screen. Nevertheless, the human factor remains essential. Regardless of the tool used, pencil or pen, abacus or calculator, exercise pad or laptop, being able to appreciate and communicate, create and collaborate, evaluate and investigate, are the human essence of being successful in our technology driven society.
Year 12 Formal
Tonight, is the night where the young men of Year 12 swap their school shirts and blazers for the finery of formal attire. Commencing with a “pre-formal” here at the top of Mary Street, a chance for mums and dads, sons and partners to take photos and mingle, the event will move to the Civic Centre for dinner and dancing. I hope all enjoy the evening.
