Arbeit macht frei: - Fredrick Töben

Professor Lauchlan Chipman, remarked: ‘The result of this clash is
inevitably an averaging down of the standards.’
But while the debate continues on whether education should exploit each
student’s full potential, or whether it should be the great leveller, Dr
Toben remains in limbo, still labelled ‘incompetent’ and unable to get a
teaching job.
On the evidence, it seems unjust he should continue to suffer; the
standards he values might just be what we need to make this the clever
country.
It was gratifying to have strangers respond to these articles. One lady from
Noosa, Queensland offered me her home for a well-deserved holiday.
Others told me their own personal problems with education bureaucrats,
something that contextualised my battle. Still others sent me stamps so that
I could continue to write to the newspapers and plague them with my
concerns about the direction Australian education was taking.
One of my last long letters to the Mail-Times was published on 25
September 1992. Sometimes I wondered whether the editor was short of
copy whenever he gave me so much space!
School Discipline
School discipline, the final word on this timeless problem. Concerned,
Mail-Times, August 26, and Valerie Webb, September 2, highlight a
problem which has, and always will be, with us - undisciplined children.
What is new is the degree of violence we now see in our schools. In recent
years some Australian schools have seen a whole range of violence, from
student-student and student-teacher bashing to outright murder in the
classroom.
Society at large also reflects this rise in violence. That’s why it’s heartening
to see Victorian Secondary Teachers Association assistant secretary, Mary
Bluett publicly admit that our schools have a disciplinary problem. I
believe this is the first time the VSTA has admitted this.
But I find it disturbing that she blames the attack on the Northcote High
School deputy principal on economic hardship and frustrations caused by
the recession. Nothing excuses such uncivil behaviour and our society
must not tolerate it.
In any case, teachers at private schools must have laughed when they read
Mary Bluett’s explanation.
Twaddle
A review of aspects of the school discipline debate over the past decade
highlights interesting facts.
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