Struan 1962 - Adm.monash.edu.au

work ed hard and generally with profit to themselves. Nevertheless, advancedplacement groups were a comparatively recent innovation at Medford andseemed to owe their genesis to the Russian sputnik. Indeed the charge isoften laid that such groups are "undemocratic" and inimical to the nobleideal of American education: 'that all men are created equ al.' Here, Isincerely applaud the noble idealism, but insist that 'some men are moreequal tban others.' This latter equotation from George Orw ell is perhaps thebest description of the abilities of my remaining classes, who were termed"College Preps." In these groups at the end of the academic year, it was clearthat both teach er and students had regarded each other as a challenge,because I was satisfied with the final work of a majority of my students. Itwas hard work, but it was worthwhile and most enjoyable . On the otherhand, success in the learning situation required concentrated effort and greatdetermination on the part of both student and teacher. My students wereeasily interested , but they were determined to force satisfactory grades fromme without their troubling to master the work. In simple terms, they wantedme to pick the fruit and hand it to them on an"A", "B" or "C" grade platter.I say firmly that nowhere else have I been subjected to so much sustainedpressure on students' grade s as I experienced in Oregon. In the case of afailing grade, I might add that the teacher was required to notify the parentabout one month in advance of the examination, when it seemed that thestudent was likely to fail. To this end a specially detailed printed form wassupplied for the use of the teacher and the edification of the parent. Theschool believed that failure in a subject implied a fault on the part of theteacher. What do you think?Yet teaching was only one part of my tour of duty as a Fulbright teacher.During our first visit to Washington, D.C., President John Fitzgerald Kennedyasked us to tell the people of the U.S.A . about our own countries. My familyand I tried hard to meet the President's request. With Mrs. Miller acting asmy booking agent, I spoke 160 times on stage, TV. and rad io. Mrs. Milleraddressed a State Conference of the H.E.U., something like our C.W.A. Mydaughter Elspeth and my son Hugh were able to give slide shows on Australiaat their respecti ve schools. As the number of our speaking engagementsincreased, I believe that we sensed the urgency of the President's request. Itseemed that Americans in Oregon were anxious to learn, but found it difficultto understand the viewpoints and problems of other nations.When we left Oregan for Europe, we found it hard to realize that we= 2 migh t-nevef"'again -see ~onl""'"friends-in-tha t"'b~autiful-Stat~:--We-Dope i"'th~Te" " ;fore, tp return there as visitors in five years' time . Sincefwe 'have this-firmintention, you can gauge our affection for those generous Oregonians, bothyoung-and old, whose friendships we shall always treasure. Floreat'Fulbright,- Ernest Miller.STRUAN, 1962Page " Twenty-One