As I said I would, I've been reading the latest missive from UNECE on educator competences. The last time normative instruction of this portentousness came down from on high it was on a mountain in Sinai and there was an old man, a long beard, thunder, lightning, the clash of cymbals, and the harumph of trumpets — well, if Hollywood is to be believed. Fortunately, UNECE's resources only run to a web ink and a PDF, and their purchase in UK education policy circles is near nugatory, so we'll probably hear little more of this damp squib. However, if you decide to read it, and marvel, you might also remember what Boswell reports Dr Johnson as saying about women preaching:
Boswell: I told him I had been that morning at a meeting of the people called Quakers, where I had heard a woman preach.
Johnson: "Sir, a woman's preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all."
Quite so; and, as a bonus, a masterful use of the gerund.
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