Read

Dark toast, marmalade and strong black tea make the day take shape.

These stories are inspired by a teaching experience of mine in a Further Education College in England. The experiences are fictionalised. Letting the writing flow, names and identifying details were anonymised. With the characters composed of multiple selves, these are the stories of lecturers and students everywhere, of teachers expected to teach in neurotypical ways, and of neurodiverse students expected to learn in conventional ways. These stories recognise that teaching and learning is not only about the humans in the classroom: all bodies (human, nonhuman and more-than-human) act in relationality. For ‘Jake’, like so many others, the noises of other students, of anxiety, of a beeping fire door, the heat, all combine to drive him from the classroom, potentially from the college. Simultaneously, these forces provoke the courage to ask for help. ‘Jake’s’ class is typical of those I have encountered in Further Education Colleges in England: Jake could be a student at any or all of them. These stories question and resist conventional teaching and learning practices, which so often fail students, in the hope of opening up possibilities for genuine second chances for all.

what did he mean by definetely dead? the plot thickens!

Kit studied the mob of angry elves gathered in front of him. “You want me to arrest Santa Claus?” he said. “Yes,” said the spokeself. “Why, what...

24/11/24 Alfred Muggins was feeling rather sad this morning. He was on his own at the moment. His wife hadn’t actually left him, but she almost might...

In spite of her cold, mum had rallied over Christmas and had been much more her old self. The warnings were never far away, though... The rest of...

It was Christmas Eve and Inspector Kit Handsome arrived at work to find desk sergeant Megson hanging tinsel around Boonhill Police Station. “Morning...

Then violence increased and their Maker few sought … that one day God’s Saviour would come, loving King with Light for all people, from sin to redeem …

The house is quiet tonight. Even the old grandfather clock seems hesitant to tick, as though it, too, has grown weary of the years it has been...