Comments on: Social Mobility: Time to Ditch the British love of Understatement? http://blog.positiveworks.com/2007/12/15/social-mobility-time-to-ditch-the-british-love-of-understatement/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=social-mobility-time-to-ditch-the-british-love-of-understatement Positive People = Positive Results Thu, 23 Dec 2010 10:37:48 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.4 By: Peter http://blog.positiveworks.com/2007/12/15/social-mobility-time-to-ditch-the-british-love-of-understatement/#comment-63 Peter Tue, 25 Dec 2007 00:02:37 +0000 http://blog.positiveworks.com/2007/12/15/social-mobility-time-to-ditch-the-british-love-of-understatement/#comment-63 <p>I tried self-deprecation but I wasn't very good at it....</p> <p>with apologies for stealing this from Jimmy Carr.</p> <p>Seasons Greetings </p> <p>Peter</p> I tried self-deprecation but I wasn’t very good at it….

with apologies for stealing this from Jimmy Carr.

Seasons Greetings

Peter

]]> By: Dominic Cavendish http://blog.positiveworks.com/2007/12/15/social-mobility-time-to-ditch-the-british-love-of-understatement/#comment-60 Dominic Cavendish Sat, 15 Dec 2007 20:02:36 +0000 http://blog.positiveworks.com/2007/12/15/social-mobility-time-to-ditch-the-british-love-of-understatement/#comment-60 <p>Very well put - and touches on something that is endemic in British society, from the most deprived inner city school environment to even supposedly privileged educational backgrounds: a lack of personal development training/career's advice at the key formative years of adolescence/ post-adolescence to help override the inevitable issues of peer pressure, inherited values of self-esteem and attainment etc. There is such an arbitrary, adhoc approach to self-realisation that effectively it amounts to a kind of achievement apartheid in this country - hence I suppose the reason why so many who are 'successful' are so modest/circumspect about their success; there's an embarrassment bordering on guilt at having made the right set of choices and not having succumbed to the laissez-faire approach to achievement that is oh-so-British. Having spoken to a number of people recently who are involved in the regeneration of Liverpool, it's clear that the issues of self-advancement locally are not just to do with economic opportunity but also with psychological perception; the potential local workforce has to be given encouragement and advice to chase new jobs that will otherwise fall to workers from outside the area and from overseas. That's one of the city's biggest challenges at the moment. So very pertinent comments - time for a national strategy that forces schools, universities and employment offices to provide crucial self-assessment/self-advancement training on top of their usual services? Back to you...</p> Very well put – and touches on something that is endemic in British society, from the most deprived inner city school environment to even supposedly privileged educational backgrounds: a lack of personal development training/career’s advice at the key formative years of adolescence/ post-adolescence to help override the inevitable issues of peer pressure, inherited values of self-esteem and attainment etc. There is such an arbitrary, adhoc approach to self-realisation that effectively it amounts to a kind of achievement apartheid in this country – hence I suppose the reason why so many who are ‘successful’ are so modest/circumspect about their success; there’s an embarrassment bordering on guilt at having made the right set of choices and not having succumbed to the laissez-faire approach to achievement that is oh-so-British. Having spoken to a number of people recently who are involved in the regeneration of Liverpool, it’s clear that the issues of self-advancement locally are not just to do with economic opportunity but also with psychological perception; the potential local workforce has to be given encouragement and advice to chase new jobs that will otherwise fall to workers from outside the area and from overseas. That’s one of the city’s biggest challenges at the moment. So very pertinent comments – time for a national strategy that forces schools, universities and employment offices to provide crucial self-assessment/self-advancement training on top of their usual services? Back to you…

]]>