Note to self: Never Assume…

BBC NEWS | England | Royal Engineers beat Atlantic

My student, Major Michael Forster, is recently back from the remote island of Tristan da Cunha where his Royal Engineers unit was busy saving the harbour there from battering by the South Atlantic. The BBC thought it newsworthy and so do I. We forget sometimes that the British Army plays a global role–and not just in Afghanistan and Iraq. Go watch the clip at the link.

There was a lesson here for me, however. Forster is a student on our on-line programme MA War in the Modern World. My interaction with these students is mediated entirely through the computer on a dedicated-platform, via email, or internet telephony. Generally speaking I have no idea where they are unless they tell me. They might be in Afghanistan in a slit trench. They might be manning a desk in Whitehall just down the road. It doesn’t make any difference from a pedagogical point of view although there are obvious practical considerations. For instance, ‘I’m sorry my essay is going to be late. I’m sending this email from [some place in Afghanistan] from the cab of a 4×4, engine running to keep warm (minus 6 or 7 here) as the Dutch armed forces cafe which has wi-fi, outside which I’m parked shuts at 2230′ is not an unusual communication.

But sometimes they tell me where they are and it just goes over my head. A couple of months ago I was badgering Mike about progress on his dissertation (which is shaping up nicely!) and I received this email in response:

David,
I have had a bit of a fast ball, I have been on the island of Tristan da Cunha for the last month - 6 days on a fishing boat to the place. However I have managed to get loads done and I want to run what I have done past you. Can I send you what I have done so you can give me a steer? I have to go back to Tristan on the 19th Feb for 6 weeks but I will have e-mail when I get there.
Mike

Now I’m not exactly your ivory tower academic type. I’m pretty practical and worldly as professional eggheads go. But when I read this the mental image I had was of something like this:

Not of a guy working away on his dissertation in the spare hours available to him while doing a tough job in one of the toughest and remotest places there is. Point in my favour: Tristan being in the southern hemisphere it would have been summer down there so maybe he did catch a few rays. Anyhow, the lesson being never assume (you’ll make an ass out of you and me). I really admire the dedication of my students. As teachers go I’m very lucky.