Dear Mr. President, can I ask you one question? (John Mellencamp)

The United States election captured students' and staff' attention to an extraordinary degree last week.

It would be fair to say that talk in the staff room was centred around how Trump was going to lose and, therefore, it would be the end of his divisive rhetoric. And outright lies.

It hasn't turned out to be as clear cut as hoped, with a huge number of Americans voting for the Donald.

One of his supporters, when asked why she voted for him even though she knew he often had his foot in his mouth, shrugged and simply stated, "He's not a politician".

Which I guess points to a huge, tremendous distrust of politicians in America.

Watching on from New Zealand, it baffles the mind why it's taken so long to count votes and declare a winner. 

In a democracy, it's an incredible thing for the President to ask that counting votes should stop. I guess that would certainly speed things up though. Democracy is such a messy thing - all those bothersome people who vote for the other guy.

I kind of get that though - when Arsenal were winning the Premier League after one game this year (thanks to the alphabet) I thought they should have stopped the season right there - no need to play any more games. Just crown us Champions and move along. Nothing to see here.

Meanwhile we have the undignified incumbent and his family stirring up rebellion over alleged cheating without any proof. It's just unfair! 

Incredible. 

Every little thing she does is magic magic magic (The Police)

Photo by Matteo Vistocco on Unsplash

Every one rowing together in a co-ordinated way can be a powerful force.

It's something greatly to be admired, and aimed for because it gives a concerted effort towards a common purpose..

Some, but not all, All Black teams have had it. The last notable time was in 2015 during the world cup under Richie McCaw's awesome leadership.

Some Arsenal teams have had it - the 2003-2004 'Invincibles' team was the clear example, but too often they have not even been all in the same boat.

Some schools have it, but this is an even rarer situation, in my experience. All it takes is a couple of staff either not contributing or worse, facing the opposite direction, and the boat feels like it's caught a crab.

Personally I've only experienced true alignment twice. Once at Macleans College under the headship of Colin Prentice. 

And now.

This is just a wild guess, Chief, right off the top of my head (Maxwell Smart)

Past colleagues and students know my cultural markers (touchstones if you prefer) well. I am now teaching at Westmount's Kaipara campus, where the students are all from the Christian Brethren Church. 

Lately, it slowly dawned on me that the students and I don't share all of the same cultural markers.

Music, and the Beatles' ties I wear? Tick. Positive comments, of the 'I like your tie' variety!

Sport and the Arsenal jackets and ties I wear? Tick. Already there has been some good natured ribbing from the boys, in particular.

Star Wars quotes, the Jedi references? My Arnold Schwarzenegger impressions? TV references such as 'Good thinking 99'?

All have been met with a kind of quizzical expression and a polite smile.

One of my students looking at my Twitter profile said, "What is gee-day?"

The light bulb in my brain went from dim to bright at that point.

Although our students can watch films and videos in class (I saw a really old video showing Vietnam War footage in a history Video Conference recently), they don't watch TV at home. Nor do they go to the movies, and even if they did, cosmic space dramas like Star Wars wouldn't be on their radar.

During our recent educational conference (much more coming in the next few weeks), a call came from Frances Valintine to allow students to use their phones at school and from others about the value of YouTube and using the internet during exams.

These things, like my other cultural touchstones, are simple not possible in my new context.

So, as we pilot our way into the future, we will need to consider all of that along with what is possible, so that our students can embrace the many changes to learning that are coming, and keep their way of life intact.