What do you think?
Death of a Nightingale
A book for today and tomorrow About 100 special schools have been closed in the UK since 1997. Another, Brighouse School in Westborough, is threatened with closure. An international consensus that children with special educational needs have the right to be educated in mainstream schools drives this policy. But what if it is not such a good idea? What if it is just a flawed and expensive social experiment that is good for some children but bad for others, fine in the libraries of the mind, but not in the classrooms of the real world? What if lawyers asserting human rights enjoy the fruits of Utopia whereas everyone else has just a partial glimpse of it? What if academia is leading its students down a blind alley? And maybe the system of goverment is wanting, too. What if mistakes and misconceptions here help to explain what is wrong elsewhere and also threaten other things that we treasure? And what if the rising generation is illequiped to meet the new challenges of the twenty first century? No-one should ignore these questions.
216 pages, Paperback
First published January 9, 2008
About the author
Alan Share
16 books12 followersA LIFE LEARNING BY DOING
Educated at Bede Grammar School, Sunderland and at Merton College, Oxford, after which he qualified as a barrister. Then a full, varied and interesting career before he retired, journeying from law to politics, and then to running a successful retailing company. He describes himself as a hybrid.
For over 17 years a governor of a special school in NE England, and chairman of governors for most of that time. He assisted its parents in their campaign to keep the school open.
INVOLVED IN FURNITURE INDUSTRYTaking a view that life was always most interesting on the margins, he was active in his trade association, notably chairing an industry wide action group that introduced Qualitas Conciliation Service in the furniture and carpet industry.
RESIDENTIAL CARE HOME &c.He has been for many years chairman of a residential care home in Newcastle, chairman of the Newcastle branch of the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies, and a member of his local Rotary Club.
ENJOYING LIFE AND NEVER BORED
Travels widely, enjoys music, reading and the arts, and is never, ever bored.
His wife Ros also had an interest in helping the disabled. She assisted some of the pupils at the same special school with their reading. She also studied law at the then Newcastle Polytechnic, and used it to become a tribunal worker for a local CAB. Besides that she adjudicated at Social Security and Disability Appeal Tribunals in nearby towns.
WEBSITE
You can visit www.deathofanightingale.com and read his Blog for other thoughts from the outside, looking in.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 12, 2013
Why you shouldn't miss Death of a Nightingale
Former chair of governors of a special school turns whistleblower in a defiant play about the destruction of a safe heaven and political pressure in schools.
In his younger days, the writer Alan Share was immersed in politics. Today, as a sharp-eyed observer of the political scene, he gives us access behind the close doors of decision-making in a play against the idea of school inclusion, setting out to reveal that this is achieved at the expense of the pupils with special needs and of their teachers.
Tracy, a pupil of Brighouse School, shifts time back and forth to lay bare what happened to her, her parents, friends and to the staff, notably the head teacher and her partner, when her school, caught up in the good idea of inclusion now gone badly wrong, is marked down for closure.
The play is uncomfortable and moving. Share makes a point of highlighting that great hopes are betrayed and the future stolen by those who claim to be acting on our behalf when they are acting on political command. His timing is pertinent to current proposed changes to the educational policies. The message concealed in this play is that one must fight for what one has already won to keep it.
Death of a Nightingale will teach you about "another world, which can be cruel and cynical, warm-hearted and surprising", as the British born Australian actress, Miriam Margolyes, put it.
The play (and book) also reflects the journey of the author’s own life and experiences as chair of governors of a special school, itself under threat of closure. Share describes his book as a matryoshka doll. It is much more of a cluster bomb, using the play itself and the narrative behind it to explode the myth of academic prescience and political competence.
Death of a Nightingale captures the mood of the fraught times we are living through. A must-see for everyone worried that harmful policies endorsed by the political class are actively recycled, disregarding the human costs when lessons should have been learnt.
Former chair of governors of a special school turns whistleblower in a defiant play about the destruction of a safe heaven and political pressure in schools.
In his younger days, the writer Alan Share was immersed in politics. Today, as a sharp-eyed observer of the political scene, he gives us access behind the close doors of decision-making in a play against the idea of school inclusion, setting out to reveal that this is achieved at the expense of the pupils with special needs and of their teachers.
Tracy, a pupil of Brighouse School, shifts time back and forth to lay bare what happened to her, her parents, friends and to the staff, notably the head teacher and her partner, when her school, caught up in the good idea of inclusion now gone badly wrong, is marked down for closure.
The play is uncomfortable and moving. Share makes a point of highlighting that great hopes are betrayed and the future stolen by those who claim to be acting on our behalf when they are acting on political command. His timing is pertinent to current proposed changes to the educational policies. The message concealed in this play is that one must fight for what one has already won to keep it.
Death of a Nightingale will teach you about "another world, which can be cruel and cynical, warm-hearted and surprising", as the British born Australian actress, Miriam Margolyes, put it.
The play (and book) also reflects the journey of the author’s own life and experiences as chair of governors of a special school, itself under threat of closure. Share describes his book as a matryoshka doll. It is much more of a cluster bomb, using the play itself and the narrative behind it to explode the myth of academic prescience and political competence.
Death of a Nightingale captures the mood of the fraught times we are living through. A must-see for everyone worried that harmful policies endorsed by the political class are actively recycled, disregarding the human costs when lessons should have been learnt.
August 9, 2013
Death of a Nightingale 11 Oct 2013
By Adele C
By Adele C
I also saw a performance of Death of a Nightingale at the New End Theatre in London. A great play. I can still remember one moment. Max Lewis, a boy with Downs in the role of Terry, telling the Caribbean music teacher that her views on God were "Bonkers". Emma, "Caribbean sunshine", didn't let him get away with it. God existed if you believe, did not exist if you didn't . She did.
The Book, like the play, made me think where Tracy would find a school to meet her needs today now that so many special schools have been closed. It goes well beyond that. In the section ispy edited by Jan Woolf it explores how and why this flawed policy came about.
And there's another startling bit of writing.. The Mad Hatter's Committee Meeting is different again. This will resonate with anyone who has had dealings with officialdom. No committee meeting will ever be the same for me again.
But then a lot of things will never look the same after the revelations in this book.
The only problem is taking it all in.
May 20, 2013
If you care about education, about the way our nation treats its young, you should read DEATH OF A NIGHTINGALE.Alan Share writes with passion & knowledge; it’s not a cosy story, it’s based on a real case of bureaucratic blindness in the North-East. I found it moving & enlightening. Miriam Margolyes
August 18, 2013
I was extremely impressed. I am not an educator but I am interested in the subject of special needs and all it's implications for parents , teachers and the child. All this is well presented by alan's book/play
I saw the play when it wsa showing in the theatre in London.
I had read the book /play prior to seeing the most wonderful production of it
I have since read it again. The latest edition is a masterpiece in my eyes
a must-read for teachers and especially those involved in special needs
The story-line rings true and of course it is based on a true situation.
I wish the new edition much success--Alan deserves a great deal of credit for this work--it rings of absolute sincerity
--it is coming from a sincere and devoted person
lionel burnley
I saw the play when it wsa showing in the theatre in London.
I had read the book /play prior to seeing the most wonderful production of it
I have since read it again. The latest edition is a masterpiece in my eyes
a must-read for teachers and especially those involved in special needs
The story-line rings true and of course it is based on a true situation.
I wish the new edition much success--Alan deserves a great deal of credit for this work--it rings of absolute sincerity
--it is coming from a sincere and devoted person
lionel burnley
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews