Like quite a few youth workers I didn't do that well in education, in fact I did quite badly. I have to take some of the responsibility for that, however experiences like your teacher calling you "McDafty" were not what you'd call Pupil focused, at least not in a positive sense.
I guess my own experiences of school are a huge motivator for me as an informal-educator, I love an approach that starts where young people are. One that doesn't rubbish them because they're not where tables and targets says they should be starting!
I love the fact that we get to recognise achievment based on knowing the young person, recognising individual achievment which may or may not be straight "A's" in exams. I love the fact that everyone is of unique value to God, that ministry starts from this premise. I love the fact that a lived out faith enables a person to grow and develop as a human person!
I was reflecting on all this as a result of some study time this week. As I'm studying at Ruskin College, I get a Readers card for the Bodleian Library, which is so unbelievably cool! (you'd have to see it to believe it).
So, there's me, the Pupil who was told, "you haven't got a snowballs chance in hell of passing Physics" (I concede, Dr Rowe, that you were in fact right) sitting at a desk in a worldwide epi-centre of learning, reading a book on Developmental Psychology ....... and even understanding it (mostly).
When I get my degree, I will be able to say a huge thank you to the youth leaders who started from where I was. I would also love to show my teachers and say, "You see, you never know!"
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