The 1920s: 'Young women took the struggle for freedom into their personal lives

(1º§) Two years after the Representation of the People Act 1918, the Times published grave warnings against moves to extend voting rights to women under 30. Mature females might now engage with politics, but the "scantily clad, jazzing flapper to whom a dance, a new hat or a man with a car is of more importance than the fate of nations" must never be entrusted with a vote.

(2º§) The fast, frivolous flapper of the 20s was partially a cultural stereotype, but she was also a focus of serious debate. With her short skirts and cigarettes, her cocktails, sexiness and sass, she was not only offensive to the men at the Times, but also a concern to older feminists, who saw in her pleasure-seeking, taboo-breaking ways a younger generation's disregard of all for which the suffragettes had fought.

(3º§) But if the politics of feminism seemed less important to the "flapper generation", this was partly because young women were taking the struggle for freedom into their personal lives. Ideas of duty, sacrifice and the greater good had been debunked by the recent war; for this generation, morality resided in being true to one's self, not to a cause. Towards the end of the decade, some feminists would argue that women's great achievement in the 20s was learning to value their individuality.

(4º§) Personal freedoms remained dependent on public reform and active UK feminists such as the Six Point Group continued to campaign. Women were given electoral equality with men in 1928; legislation brought equality in inheritance rights and unemployment benefits; and women profited from the Sex Discrimination (Removal) Act, which, in 1919, had given them access to professions such as law.

(5º§) Changes in work patterns were dramatic, with a third of unmarried women moving into paid employment across an expanding range of jobs in medicine, education and industry. Mass employment also made women a consumer power. Fashion was one of several industries that expanded rapidly to meet their demands. While the Times considered clothes a frivolity, for women they were a daily marker of liberation: rising hemlines, sportswear and even trousers made their generation physically freer than any in modern history.

(6º§) Sexual mores were also changing. While double standards persisted, a significant number of women were beginning to claim the same licence as men. There were small steps of encouragement, too, with divorce made easier by the Matrimonial Causes Act 1923 and contraception made more readily available by the Marie Stopes mail-order service. The flapper generation may have been comparatively apolitical and self-absorbed, but, as they puzzled out what freedom meant and tested their personal limits, they were broaching issues that would be hotly debated during the 60s and 70s.

Judith Mackrell is the Guardian's dance critic and the author of books including Flappers: Six Women of a Dangerous Generation

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ENGLISH TEACHING AND LEARNING DURING THE COVID CRISIS: ONLINE CLASSES AND UPSKILLING TEACHERS

Since many countries have imposed a lockdown on movement, and many schools have subsequently closed their doors, vast numbers of previously tech-shy teachers are having to learn very quickly how to teach using online resources. This might be through delivering lessons using virtual classrooms or providing online self-study material for students, both of which may be new modes of lesson delivery for many.

Since the rise of the internet in the 1990s, English language (EL) teachers have had what might be described as a difficult relationship with technology. Initial teacher education has been slow to embrace digital ways of teaching and learning, meaning that many EL teachers feel that they have been poorly prepared to use technology in their teaching (Clark, 2018). Consequently, many EL teachers have been resistant to the digital wave which has revolutionised other areas of our lives. Understandably, there are a number of worries which teachers have regarding introducing technology into teaching. Three of the most common are:

• Technology is isolating – learner interaction is limited, and dissimilar to the kind of ways that they will be required to use language in the real world.

• Teachers are being deskilled, and the essence of teaching is being lost.

• The rise of technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence (AI), will soon mean that teachers are made redundant.

Is technology isolating for teachers?

In many situations, technology can actually facilitate interaction. We only need to think of how many of us now use our phones and social media such as WhatsApp or Facebook to communicate. This can be equally true of interaction in a virtual learning environment – if managed correctly, opportunities for language use can be optimised and students will have plenty of interaction with each other. And, whether we like it or not, these forms of interaction, mediated through digital channels, now account for a high percentage of interactions in the 'real world‘.

EL teaching has long since stopped being a static discipline, in which teachers are primarily conveyors of declarative knowledge, i.e. facts or information. Nowadays, English teachers are better conceptualised as facilitators of learning who provide learning opportunities for their students, and give feedback to support improvement. The essence of teaching is not therefore something fixed but rather dynamic, adapting to the context and situation in which each teacher finds themselves. The facilitation of learning through technology is a highly skilled endeavour, and in many contexts can offer a really useful support to the classroom, providing students with the chance to learn in new and interesting ways.

Artificial intelligence is a 21st century spectre which haunts many professions. However, a study into which jobs are likely to be replaced by AI in the future (Frey & Osborne, 2013) found that the chances of the profession of school teacher disappearing was around 0.007, i.e. very low indeed, especially when compared with jobs such as Library Assistants (0.95), Real Estate Brokers (0.97) and Telemarketers (0.99).

This is because teaching is a complex job, requiring a range of skills, such as subject knowledge, classroom management, motivational skills, delivering feedback, differentiating learning, problem solving, emotional intelligence, counselling, etc. – the list is almost endless.

This contrasts with the current state of AI, which can be described as 'domain specific‘, i.e. highly skilled but in one particular area, e.g. playing chess, driving a car, recognising human faces or speech. The 'domain general‘ skills which a teacher possesses, and the complex interaction between those, is not going to be matched by machines anytime soon.

Adapted from: https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/blog/english-teaching-and-learning-during-the-covid-crisis/ (Accessed on 01.23.2022)