Roads Less Travelled - Social Justice

Social Justice

After all is said and done, a lot more will be said than done.
Unknown

..our worst enemies are the intelligent and the corrupt.
Graham Greene, The Human Factor (1978)

Never do anything yourself that others can do for you.
Agatha Christie

Be careful in revising those immigration laws of yours. We got careless with ours.
advice given to Hubert Humphrey by an American Indian from New Mexico

Teach me to feel another's woe,
To hide the fault I see;
That mercy I to others show,
That mercy show to me. Alexander Pope (1688-1744)

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it. Abraham Lincoln

The LORD your God . . . . . loves the foreigners (refugees) who live with our people, and gives them food and clothes. So then, show love for those foreigners (refugees), because you were once foreigners (refugees) in Egypt.
Deuteronomy 10:17—19 (GNB)

All of us who are concerned for peace and triumph of reason and justice must be keenly aware how small an influence reason and honest good will exert upon events in the political field.
Albert Einstein

In some countries, deliberate attempts to dehumanise asylum seekers are continuing, always presenting them as menacing statistics, as criminals and bringers of disease, or as some other form of generalised abstract aberration that is easy to hate.
António Guterres UN High Commissioner for Refugees June 2006.

What country? - I'm standing in it!

Third World in Australia!?

Synopsis: School facilities on the Pitjantjatjara Aboriginal Lands in the far north-west corner of the state of South Australia have been neglected for many years.

At Pipalyatjara the main classroom block is cramped, lacks storage facilities so items of equipment are crammed into every corner and nook, has an extremely low ceiling and poor natural lighting. Ventilation is a problem. When it is hot the evaporative air conditioners make so much noise it is hard to hear even as children have ear infections and hearing loss. In winter the doors and windows are closed to heat the rooms adequately. Not a healthy environment.

Despite the conditions in these schools teachers are doing good work (see link below). However, if these schools were in Adelaide, or any where else in the state, there would be a public outcry.

To voice your concern post a hanwritten note to: Minister of Education, South Australian Parliament, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5000. (snail mail for most impact)

Please click here to go to the Pipalyatjara Anangu School site: http://www.pipalyatjara.sa.edu.au

Refugees Imprisoned!

Synopsis: Australia is the only country in the world (Dec 2002) that puts refugees in prison and then charges them rent for the priviledge. The only other country ever to do this was the "Third Reich"! (As at 28/8/2003) Peter Qasim owes an estimated $350,000 at the 5 year mark!!

Peter Qasim finally freed after 6 years and 10 months in detention!! Read more...
<-- Click to see a larger version of this image (32K).

Green paper Lost Their Way!

Rural Australians for Refugees: Country folk in Australia are doing something positive about our refugee crisis. Discover the real facts.
http://www.ruralaustraliansforrefugees.org
Rural Australians for Refugees - Port Augusta (for Baxter visitors): Site with up to date local knowledge for those intending to visit Baxter. Avoid the pitfalls - check out this site.
http://www.gulfviews.com/rar/

Self Sustainability Missing - Self Determination Lost!

Synopsis: It seems that Aboriginal communities in Central Australia are failing to provide hope for the future survival of cultural traditions and community that they were set up for. They remain mendicant to governments and seem unable to make the hard decisions needed for future development in the face of substance abuse, crime and nepotism.

Green paper

Links:

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC): ATSIC was abolished in 2005. This site is now archived - click here!
http://www.atsic.gov.au
Reconciliation Australia: Reconciliation Australia is an independent, not-for-profit organisation established in 2000 by the former Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation. They are the peak national organisation building and promoting reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians for the wellbeing of the nation.
www.reconciliation.org.au
Aboriginal Students Can Succeed: This research looks at the positive factors that enable Aboriginal students to succeed
at senior high school level and how to get there.
Click here
Teaching & Learning in a Desert Community: Some brief comments to guide piranpa (white) teachers newly arriving in a Desert School.
Click here
Why Warriors Lie Down and Die: Some answers to the crisis in health and education experienced by Aboriginal people in Arnhem Land. A must read.
http://www.ards.com.au/ww_fore.htm
"Self Determination" - a problem for Howard!: Australia is the sole remaining country opposed to the right of indigenous people having the right to "Self Determination" under a UN statement on Indigenous rights!
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/12/25/1040511090464.html
Time for a Reality Check: Caritas Australia does an update for National Reconciliation Week 2004. Comment and many good links.
http://ozspirit.info/2004/80bg.html
Countering Racism: In 2003 four Aboriginal girls from Year 7 at Flinders View Primary School in South Australia entered a web site competition and won. But it was not just the winning that had a profound result..... explore the site then go to the credits page.
http://www.multiwebsa.org.au/Flinders_View/noracism/index.htm
Social Justice report 2005: Tom Calma, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, has published his 2005 Report on the state of well-being of Australia's Indigenous people and the report is damning!
http://www.humanrights.gov.au/social_justice/sjreport05/
End the Denial. . . .: Former Prime Minister, Malcolm Fraser, calls upon governments to stop the blame game and suggests 8 steps to take to make a positive difference to the tragedy that is Indigenous Australia in 2006. In the present sea of controversy, here is one of the few non-indigenous commentators to make sense. (my comment)
http://www.theage.com.au/text/articles/2006/05/23/1148150251963.html
The Past We Need To Understand: Malcolm Fraser delivered the Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture in 2000. To read this again in 2007 and reflect on what has and hasn't changed is a telling indictment both on government and Australian society at large. (my comment)
www.abc.net.au/specials/lingiari/print.htm
'White Men Are Liars': Margaret S. Bain's book subtitled, "On another look at Aboriginal-Western Interactions" is the book I wished I could have read before working on the Pitjantjatjara Lands. It explains the cultural factors that lead to misunderstandings between people even when they believe they have command of the language. From the examples given it becomes clear why these misunderstandings persist and prevent good things from happening.(my comment)
Read more . . .

Class Size Matters!

Synopsis: Having small class sizes makes a big difference not only in student attainment, but a whole raft of issues ranging from health and safety to general wellness of both students and staff improves. Teachers have known this for years but only lately have the research results been coming in to show this is true. The US started to implement class size reforms but the Bush administration now want to haul back! Whether we ever get started in Australia will be problematic. It might be interesting to check out the class sizes in some of the rich private schools.

Note: Class size is NOT the same as teacher student ratio. The latter statistic is derived in a variety of ways and is a favourite way educational authorities confuse the issue. It does not indicate actual numbers of students sitting in front of the teacher in a classroom. Only the class size figure gives this precise information.

Green paper http://www.picket.com/class/Benefits.htm Cached version

Links:

Smaller Class Sizes: http://www.edpriorities.org/Info/info_SmallerCla.html
Class Sizes Grabs Boards' Attention - Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/schools97/vaschools.htm
West Ed - Lessons Learned from Experience: http://www.wested.org/pub/docs/policy/class_red.htm
More on Research Findings: The Effect of Class Size on Achievement: What the Research Says - Harold Wenglinsky, David C. Illig
http://www.ets.org/research/pic/memorandum.html
http://www.library.ca.gov/CRB/clssz/
Backing Off!: Some US states are getting cold feet
Class Sizes Grow as States confront Budget Woes.
Charles Achilles Seminar: Some brief notes and comments at a recent seminar by Charles Achilles at the AEU in South Australia - 9th July, 2002
Click here
Special Education: The Myth of Least Restrictive Environment: Mainstreaming has big implications for the class size debate. Unfortunately, general education teachers do not get reduced class sizes and support staff. But we keep asking them to teach multiple curriculums to different learning levels of huge numbers of students. It simply does not work. In this article, a practising teacher in the US, Dr Steven Simpson, discusses the implications of mainstreaming Special Education. It's much the same here... Click here