Janet Baraclough wrote:
MMhm. I have the impression that DG is not much of a people person
and suspects he might not be able to get the group onside. However, he
would not be the first teacher to discover that (deliberately) playing
the outsider, can unite a disparate class into surprisingly effective
unity and self-determination. There were distinct signs of that
strategy being used to positive effect on the heavy dig :-)

This is the usual strategy one uses when one is a good teacher. If you
give all the responses and do all the work then no one learns.

I couldn't agree more, but I also think he sees that adaptability and
flexibility as the basic prerequisite for an adult's successful
career-change into that field. So, he's deliberately pushing them in
that direction, to winnow out the chaff at an early stage.
We'll see. I'm entertained to see who's a worker, and who isn't.

I wish you could see as much from the responses of your fellow posters
than you do from a bunch of individuals in a gardening television
programme. I'm not one to complain much, I'm determined, I've adapted,
I'm flexible, I'm career changing and I'm a hard worker, but I'm still
sore from your warm welcome into this forum. Are you a retired teacher?