Harry Hartwell - An Appreciation
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Harry Hartwell on
the school photo in 1958 |
By Dave Littlewood
(alias ‘Forest’)
Harry Hartwell was one of the more colourful characters in the
staff room at Trinity. I did eleven years of teaching when I
left university, and although my subject was very different (physics
rather than history), it was Harry I used to try to emulate.
The very appearance of the man gave an impression of endearing
eccentricity. As mentioned in another memoir on this site,
Harry was definitely in the ‘Mr Chips’ mould.
His entry into the classroom would be announced by the door
crashing open and his briefcase sailing across the classroom to land
with a resounding thud on the air by the teachers’ desk. (This
was a trick I learned myself to deter naughty troublemakers.)
He was a remarkably good shot with his briefcase as he was when
giving out the books he had marked. These would come whizzing across
the room above our heads. Mind you, if anyone else tried to
throw a book, Harry would give him a right telling off – a case of
‘don’t do what I do……….’
It was the same when he came to school on his bike, which he
would do quite often. He told us he thought it was good for
his heart. Of course, there was a strict rule against pupils
riding bikes on school premises and prefects were on hand to catch
those who disobeyed. It was not unknown for kids to be taken
to Gunner for such an offence. But Harry would ride his bike
through the milling throng of kids, ringing his bell like mad and
expecting us to get out of the way.
He was a really good teacher. He made the subject – British and
Economic History – far more interesting than would be thought
possible and encouraged sensible discussion. I think my love
of history (it’s one of my options in the Masters degree I’m doing
at the moment) sprang from Harry’s teaching. One regret of his
life (thinly disguised) was that Buzzer insisted on the school
teaching Latin instead of economics.
Harry was a great laugh and was adept in dishing out insults (all
in good fun) just as the original Chips did in James Hilton’s famous
book. For example, in dictating to us those transported to
life in the colonies he would include, “Undesirables, such as G……..
[boy’s name], the persecuted, such as C……… and the disaffected, like
L…………….” Roars of laughter would come from the class (all boys
– I don’t know how girls would have taken it) who could totally
identify with his observations. If it was your turn to be
insulted then you took it in good part as you knew it would be
someone else’s next time. It is sadly a sign of how things
have changed that such humour would probably be deemed totally out
of place in today’s politically-correct classroom. What’s
more, I wonder whether today’s kids would even understand it!
I remember someone who taught at the school after it went
comprehensive said that Harry was not at all at ease with the
change.
Lack of interest in learning to him was the cardinal sin.
Learning was there as a banquet to be enjoyed not a dish to be
endured. He was one of the few teachers of the period who really did
encourage discussion and commended you for giving thought to your
homework. I remember a commendation off him as he read my
essay to the class. I can honestly say it made me prouder than
walking on to the stage at speech day.
Harry was, I believe, a Liberal in politics. He was,
however, not at all liberal when it came to bad behaviour and
wisecracks. He was known to give miscreants ‘the treatment’
which meant a scragging followed by a whack on the behind.
Some victims were known to have to stand in the waste-paper bin for
a ‘time out’ period. But it was all done with a certain humour that
was irresistible.
Harry Hartwell was a supreme exponent of the ‘Mr Chips’ style of
teaching. He loved his subject and he loved communicating it.
In fact, I think he unconsciously taught me more of the art of
teaching than all the theoreticians who inhabit the halls of
learning of universities and teaching colleges.
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