WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.340 Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you here this morning. 2 00:00:02.520 --> 00:00:05.420 I'm Karen Grogan, I'm from the South Australian Council of Social Service, 3 00:00:05.540 --> 00:00:08.740 and I have the great pleasure this morning in introducing you to Jenny Shale, 4 00:00:09.600 --> 00:00:11.580 and dropping things on the floor at the same time. 5 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:17.380 Jenny is here from Queensland. 6 00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:23.580 She's the head of the social justice department in Loganley State High School in southeast Queensland, 7 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:26.680 and is an inordinately passionate and intelligent woman 8 00:00:26.680 --> 00:00:30.540 with some very strong beliefs about education and our education system in Australia. 9 00:00:33.100 --> 00:00:37.980 Jenny was named the Australian Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2004, 10 00:00:38.360 --> 00:00:44.120 and is going to delight us this morning with her view and her vision on education. 11 00:00:45.140 --> 00:00:50.340 So I would like to encourage you to take your feet from the stirrups of the said dead horse, 12 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:53.120 and welcome Jenny Shale. 13 00:01:01.040 --> 00:01:01.920 Thank you. 14 00:01:02.280 --> 00:01:04.240 It's good to see so many people here. 15 00:01:04.940 --> 00:01:08.040 Sometimes when you're on the fringe of an education department, 16 00:01:08.220 --> 00:01:10.380 you tend to consider yourself a lone reed, 17 00:01:10.920 --> 00:01:13.080 and you're not used to having company. 18 00:01:13.260 --> 00:01:15.320 So it's good to see that I've got company here today. 19 00:01:16.580 --> 00:01:20.320 I wanted to tell you the story about Loganley, 20 00:01:20.420 --> 00:01:24.820 because to tell you everything that's wrong with the horse is just going to take too long. 21 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:26.080 So I thought, 22 00:01:26.140 --> 00:01:26.660 if I told you the story, 23 00:01:26.660 --> 00:01:31.840 you could pick bits from that that you wanted to hear more about. 24 00:01:32.820 --> 00:01:34.500 So I'll set the context. 25 00:01:35.360 --> 00:01:41.160 Loganley is a relatively average low socioeconomic area, 26 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:43.400 public school in Queensland, southeast Queensland, 27 00:01:43.600 --> 00:01:47.280 stuck between the cultural magnets of Brisbane and the Gold Coast. 28 00:01:47.720 --> 00:01:50.320 It has very little social infrastructure, 29 00:01:50.600 --> 00:01:52.400 even less economic infrastructure. 30 00:01:53.360 --> 00:01:56.300 It boundaries urban, suburban, 31 00:01:56.660 --> 00:01:58.500 and rural areas. 32 00:01:58.840 --> 00:02:02.380 So the students come from a range of backgrounds. 33 00:02:03.740 --> 00:02:10.160 Loganley itself is almost isolated from its surrounding communities 34 00:02:10.160 --> 00:02:12.600 by major arteries. 35 00:02:13.680 --> 00:02:17.300 A river that separates it from fairly affluent community, 36 00:02:18.300 --> 00:02:24.760 a railway line that separates it from most of the commercial infrastructure in the community, 37 00:02:24.940 --> 00:02:26.640 and a forest. 38 00:02:26.660 --> 00:02:31.300 It's a freeway that separates it from a lot of the educational capital around the place, 39 00:02:31.360 --> 00:02:32.780 that's the university and the TAFE. 40 00:02:32.940 --> 00:02:35.940 So even though the community is an urban community, 41 00:02:36.220 --> 00:02:37.300 or suburban community, 42 00:02:37.640 --> 00:02:43.140 it suffers a lot of the social maladies that you'd expect to find in an isolated rural community. 43 00:02:43.720 --> 00:02:48.460 Purely because the kids in that particular little quadrant of land 44 00:02:49.100 --> 00:02:52.420 come from very low socioeconomic backgrounds. 45 00:02:52.720 --> 00:02:56.100 It's got one of the highest incidents of domestic violence in the state. 46 00:02:56.740 --> 00:03:03.760 It's got all of the bad stuff that tracks a lot of public funding into the welfare sector. 47 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:08.960 Never enough, of course, because like most public monies going into welfare, 48 00:03:09.240 --> 00:03:12.180 it's about reaction, not pro-action. 49 00:03:14.040 --> 00:03:17.460 The community itself is a hurting community, 50 00:03:18.420 --> 00:03:23.360 which is probably why it's become such an innovative community, 51 00:03:23.580 --> 00:03:25.480 because those that, you know, if people are comfortable, 52 00:03:25.640 --> 00:03:26.080 then they're comfortable. 53 00:03:26.100 --> 00:03:27.420 And they're not being very inventive. 54 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:31.720 The more you hurt, the more inventive you become, 55 00:03:31.980 --> 00:03:33.800 purely because it's a matter of survival. 56 00:03:34.660 --> 00:03:37.680 And that is the context in which this high school began. 57 00:03:39.480 --> 00:03:42.220 It was only built 20 years ago, 58 00:03:42.940 --> 00:03:46.640 in response to that huge, enormous urban sprawl 59 00:03:46.640 --> 00:03:49.140 between Brisbane and the Gold Coast. 60 00:03:50.060 --> 00:03:54.800 It was originally built in 81, I think, 81 or 82, 61 00:03:54.800 --> 00:03:56.620 as a cluster school, 62 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:01.440 which was a school to attract or to meet the needs of children with disabilities. 63 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:05.520 Consequently, it doesn't have a dance hall, 64 00:04:06.360 --> 00:04:08.240 it doesn't have a performance facility, 65 00:04:08.520 --> 00:04:10.660 and it doesn't have very good sporting facilities. 66 00:04:11.980 --> 00:04:14.980 Because in our ignorance, back in 81, 82, 67 00:04:15.800 --> 00:04:18.220 we assumed that people with disabilities didn't need that stuff. 68 00:04:19.380 --> 00:04:19.920 Right? 69 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:22.660 So the school has very little 70 00:04:22.660 --> 00:04:27.280 dance hall in the way of infrastructure in buildings, 71 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:29.480 purely because of its history. 72 00:04:29.700 --> 00:04:36.840 Because it's in this non-developing, closeted urban setting, 73 00:04:36.980 --> 00:04:38.240 it doesn't grow much. 74 00:04:39.100 --> 00:04:42.100 Because our funding is a per capita basis, 75 00:04:42.420 --> 00:04:44.400 so it's bums on seats model, 76 00:04:44.680 --> 00:04:46.340 our population doesn't grow. 77 00:04:47.020 --> 00:04:49.480 Because people move in, people move out. 78 00:04:49.500 --> 00:04:51.640 It's public housing, there's no room to grow, 79 00:04:51.640 --> 00:04:53.380 because they've got the freeway, the river, and the... 80 00:04:54.040 --> 00:04:56.120 There's no extra growth in that area, 81 00:04:56.240 --> 00:04:58.160 so the population doesn't change. 82 00:04:58.260 --> 00:05:01.820 So our changing needs can't be met by our own department's funding. 83 00:05:02.500 --> 00:05:04.220 Because our numbers don't increase. 84 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:07.420 They roughly stay between 650 and 750. 85 00:05:08.340 --> 00:05:10.520 So we never have enough to get a new building. 86 00:05:12.100 --> 00:05:15.220 Anything that the school does, it has to do itself, 87 00:05:15.400 --> 00:05:17.260 and we learnt that very early in the piece. 88 00:05:19.100 --> 00:05:20.340 Why we became... 89 00:05:20.340 --> 00:05:21.400 Social justice itself, 90 00:05:21.760 --> 00:05:24.220 I don't know if any of you are connected with schools 91 00:05:24.220 --> 00:05:25.640 that have a social justice department. 92 00:05:27.400 --> 00:05:30.180 Social justice department grew at our school. 93 00:05:30.220 --> 00:05:32.920 It evolved out of response to student need. 94 00:05:34.020 --> 00:05:38.680 When it came time for the education department 95 00:05:38.680 --> 00:05:42.460 to decide to disband special schools at a secondary level, 96 00:05:43.340 --> 00:05:45.460 and asked for other schools, mainstream schools, 97 00:05:45.640 --> 00:05:49.280 to put their hand up, Logan Lee did put its hand up, 98 00:05:49.280 --> 00:05:51.660 and says, oh, yeah, we'll take a special education unit here. 99 00:05:52.780 --> 00:05:54.760 That was the beginning of the change, 100 00:05:54.900 --> 00:06:00.760 because it forced us to look at human difference seriously. 101 00:06:01.580 --> 00:06:05.260 Because all of a sudden, we didn't have mainstream children, 102 00:06:05.400 --> 00:06:07.940 and the principal before 1981 103 00:06:08.500 --> 00:06:10.760 was a principal who wanted it to be 104 00:06:10.760 --> 00:06:14.240 the exclusive private public school of the South East. 105 00:06:14.400 --> 00:06:16.640 That was his vision, to isolate it completely 106 00:06:17.280 --> 00:06:18.900 from those unsavoury elements. 107 00:06:19.280 --> 00:06:20.640 And to put it on the other side of the railway line, 108 00:06:20.740 --> 00:06:22.420 and keep it clean. 109 00:06:23.640 --> 00:06:25.160 That wasn't the response. 110 00:06:25.460 --> 00:06:27.380 That wasn't what was needed in our community, 111 00:06:27.540 --> 00:06:29.500 because that community was cheap real estate, 112 00:06:29.700 --> 00:06:31.820 high incidence of public housing. 113 00:06:31.960 --> 00:06:33.480 Structural poverty like that 114 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:36.280 meant that our client body isn't going to change. 115 00:06:36.900 --> 00:06:39.500 While that public housing is there, 116 00:06:39.580 --> 00:06:41.100 and while the cheap real estate is there, 117 00:06:41.240 --> 00:06:45.300 and where all of the services for people with disabilities 118 00:06:45.300 --> 00:06:46.240 are concentrated, 119 00:06:47.460 --> 00:06:49.260 our client body isn't going to change. 120 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:53.340 We're going to meet the needs of a diverse community, 121 00:06:53.620 --> 00:06:54.940 whether we like it or not. 122 00:06:55.180 --> 00:06:56.880 The school had to make a choice. 123 00:06:57.100 --> 00:07:00.480 Do we respond directly to the needs of our community, 124 00:07:00.660 --> 00:07:04.540 regardless of any arbitrary barriers or arbitrary policies, 125 00:07:04.740 --> 00:07:06.720 or do we ignore them? 126 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:09.880 The school chose to meet their needs. 127 00:07:10.100 --> 00:07:13.800 Now, if a school chooses equity, 128 00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:15.320 chooses it, 129 00:07:15.400 --> 00:07:17.680 then it has to make three realisations 130 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:19.260 that have profound impact 131 00:07:19.280 --> 00:07:20.760 on its structure. 132 00:07:21.160 --> 00:07:23.460 One, all humans are different. 133 00:07:25.320 --> 00:07:28.260 That you can't have one-size-fits-all curriculum, 134 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:33.400 that you can't have one-size-fits-all structures 135 00:07:33.400 --> 00:07:34.660 in your school at all, 136 00:07:34.780 --> 00:07:37.660 that you can't have one-size-fits-all programming. 137 00:07:38.620 --> 00:07:42.120 You have got to recognise human difference as it is, 138 00:07:42.160 --> 00:07:44.040 and that's complex and multiple, 139 00:07:44.320 --> 00:07:46.300 not simple and singular. 140 00:07:46.900 --> 00:07:48.720 Meeting the needs of students, 141 00:07:49.280 --> 00:07:49.880 as individuals, 142 00:07:50.080 --> 00:07:53.120 then creates an environment in which 143 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:55.220 you've got to be able to provide 144 00:07:57.240 --> 00:07:59.440 diverse responses to their needs. 145 00:08:00.080 --> 00:08:03.820 And those responses can be changing from day to day. 146 00:08:03.980 --> 00:08:05.380 We're dealing with adolescents. 147 00:08:06.060 --> 00:08:08.980 They change their mind 50 times in a day. 148 00:08:09.920 --> 00:08:12.120 If anybody's got them, they know that. 149 00:08:12.980 --> 00:08:14.100 Adolescents change. 150 00:08:14.460 --> 00:08:16.120 That, we've got to accept that, 151 00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:17.620 that adolescents change. 152 00:08:19.280 --> 00:08:20.060 They change. 153 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:21.520 They change what they want to do. 154 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:22.960 They change their attitude. 155 00:08:23.160 --> 00:08:24.200 They change their mood. 156 00:08:24.360 --> 00:08:26.800 They're constantly in a state of change. 157 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:29.300 To be able to respond to that 158 00:08:29.300 --> 00:08:31.780 requires flexibility of system. 159 00:08:32.840 --> 00:08:34.860 In a community like ours, 160 00:08:35.020 --> 00:08:38.260 where some of our students are the primary income earners 161 00:08:38.260 --> 00:08:39.440 for their families, 162 00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:42.820 we've got to be flexible in our programming. 163 00:08:43.800 --> 00:08:45.100 We've got to be flexible. 164 00:08:45.240 --> 00:08:47.380 Some kids can't come to school in the morning 165 00:08:48.080 --> 00:08:49.260 because their work is done. 166 00:08:49.280 --> 00:08:51.100 They can't work till 10.30, 11 o'clock at night. 167 00:08:51.280 --> 00:08:52.460 They're typical adolescents. 168 00:08:52.620 --> 00:08:53.820 They're up at the crack of noon. 169 00:08:54.780 --> 00:08:56.000 They don't think. 170 00:08:56.000 --> 00:08:58.500 The brain doesn't engage before midday. 171 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:01.200 So we've extended our school day 172 00:09:01.200 --> 00:09:02.340 till 7 o'clock at night. 173 00:09:04.420 --> 00:09:08.000 No point having kids who can't see a vision for themselves, 174 00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:10.720 who have long-term disenchantment with education. 175 00:09:10.800 --> 00:09:14.900 You can't engage them by herding them up into groups of 30 176 00:09:14.900 --> 00:09:17.300 and forcing them to sit in obedient rows. 177 00:09:17.480 --> 00:09:18.640 It doesn't work. 178 00:09:19.600 --> 00:09:21.840 It does not work. 179 00:09:22.360 --> 00:09:24.060 If you add to that 180 00:09:24.720 --> 00:09:26.960 other facets of human differentiation 181 00:09:26.960 --> 00:09:29.760 like autism spectrum disorder, speech language impairment, 182 00:09:30.060 --> 00:09:31.880 learning disability, intellectual impairment, 183 00:09:32.280 --> 00:09:34.760 all sorts of manner of human difference 184 00:09:34.760 --> 00:09:36.320 and we're coded for all of them, 185 00:09:37.820 --> 00:09:40.260 then you've got even more complex. 186 00:09:40.400 --> 00:09:42.640 Social Justice Department was literally... 187 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:46.640 I'm an English teacher in another life, English Art. 188 00:09:46.640 --> 00:09:50.120 Social Justice Department grew in the school 189 00:09:50.120 --> 00:09:53.260 because we needed somebody 190 00:09:53.260 --> 00:09:57.460 who could manage the complexity of programs 191 00:09:57.460 --> 00:10:01.440 that were a result of our response to equity. 192 00:10:02.100 --> 00:10:07.520 You can't have nice, compartmentalised departments 193 00:10:07.520 --> 00:10:11.080 in a school where you're responding to individual student need. 194 00:10:11.380 --> 00:10:13.880 Now, that happened... 195 00:10:13.880 --> 00:10:16.600 I've been Head of Department of Social Justice for three years now. 196 00:10:17.340 --> 00:10:19.500 Before that, I was Acting Head of Department. 197 00:10:19.660 --> 00:10:21.720 Before that, I was Community Access Coordinator 198 00:10:21.720 --> 00:10:23.260 and before that, I was a teacher. 199 00:10:23.860 --> 00:10:26.040 So it's been an evolutionary change. 200 00:10:27.680 --> 00:10:31.240 There are now seven Heads of Department of Social Justice in Queensland. 201 00:10:33.140 --> 00:10:34.920 So change is afoot. 202 00:10:35.120 --> 00:10:36.940 But guess where they're all popping up 203 00:10:36.940 --> 00:10:38.500 in really disadvantaged areas? 204 00:10:38.580 --> 00:10:40.300 Because that's where they're hurting the most. 205 00:10:40.640 --> 00:10:44.060 That's where the one-size-fits-all system doesn't function. 206 00:10:44.260 --> 00:10:45.660 It just doesn't. 207 00:10:45.660 --> 00:10:46.320 It's all right. 208 00:10:46.640 --> 00:10:47.840 It's all right if you're in a school 209 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:51.000 where everybody does do that. 210 00:10:51.100 --> 00:10:53.700 I love it when we have our Chinese students come. 211 00:10:53.880 --> 00:10:57.160 We have a sister school in China 212 00:10:57.160 --> 00:11:00.040 and every year we swap students. 213 00:11:00.300 --> 00:11:02.520 And they come and they sit all nicely in rows 214 00:11:02.520 --> 00:11:04.020 and they say, yes. 215 00:11:06.060 --> 00:11:08.480 But that doesn't happen in my community. 216 00:11:08.740 --> 00:11:10.620 You know, that just doesn't happen normally. 217 00:11:10.980 --> 00:11:13.100 So we've got to respond. 218 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:15.260 Some schools are academic 219 00:11:15.260 --> 00:11:17.140 and if that's the way they want to specialise, 220 00:11:17.140 --> 00:11:18.000 then that's great. 221 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:18.860 That's choice. 222 00:11:19.660 --> 00:11:20.500 That's choice. 223 00:11:21.400 --> 00:11:24.200 But if you've got communities that aren't like that, 224 00:11:24.320 --> 00:11:26.140 then they shouldn't be forced into that. 225 00:11:26.660 --> 00:11:28.780 You shouldn't force people to learn. 226 00:11:28.820 --> 00:11:30.220 Children learn in different ways. 227 00:11:31.160 --> 00:11:32.320 We would rather... 228 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:34.400 We want our kids to learn to do things 229 00:11:34.400 --> 00:11:36.200 other than get bored and steal cars. 230 00:11:36.900 --> 00:11:40.300 We want them to learn to be productive people 231 00:11:40.300 --> 00:11:41.220 in their communities. 232 00:11:41.880 --> 00:11:45.060 I'm going to tell you stories about three particular kids. 233 00:11:45.060 --> 00:11:48.480 Just to give you an example of what we do. 234 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:53.240 Some of the elderly people in my community 235 00:11:53.240 --> 00:11:55.520 came to me and said, 236 00:11:55.640 --> 00:11:57.520 we want to learn computers. 237 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:02.800 Because I've got my daughter in England 238 00:12:02.800 --> 00:12:04.180 and I want to send pictures 239 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:06.960 and I want to get pictures of my grandchildren. 240 00:12:08.020 --> 00:12:11.300 Another guy wanted to learn how to use Excel 241 00:12:11.300 --> 00:12:13.580 because he likes to keep the rain. 242 00:12:15.060 --> 00:12:18.600 So now Logan Lee High School's eldest student is 87, 243 00:12:19.800 --> 00:12:21.580 enrolled in Certificate II in IT. 244 00:12:21.720 --> 00:12:23.500 And this year, when Year 12 graduates, 245 00:12:24.040 --> 00:12:26.860 he will be up there getting his Certificate II in IT 246 00:12:26.860 --> 00:12:29.740 and he hasn't been to school since he was nine years old. 247 00:12:31.260 --> 00:12:36.980 There are 69 students over the age of 60 in our school. 248 00:12:38.620 --> 00:12:41.020 State orders has a lot of trouble with that. 249 00:12:42.580 --> 00:12:45.040 But when we investigated, we've learned that, 250 00:12:45.060 --> 00:12:47.500 one of the things we've learned, 251 00:12:47.600 --> 00:12:49.360 we made a commitment to our community. 252 00:12:50.300 --> 00:12:53.140 Our only loyalty lays with our community. 253 00:12:53.800 --> 00:12:57.500 Our only chance of helping the school do what it should do, 254 00:12:57.720 --> 00:13:00.700 and that is to contribute to the building of the social capital 255 00:13:00.700 --> 00:13:01.440 in its community, 256 00:13:02.140 --> 00:13:04.700 making the world a better place for its people, 257 00:13:04.860 --> 00:13:07.200 because that is the one watershed, 258 00:13:07.380 --> 00:13:09.320 that is the single biggest reproducer 259 00:13:09.320 --> 00:13:10.940 of our value systems and ideals. 260 00:13:11.140 --> 00:13:12.600 And if we can't make a difference, 261 00:13:13.500 --> 00:13:14.820 what are we doing there? 262 00:13:15.580 --> 00:13:17.800 If we're not making the world a better place, 263 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:19.040 what are we doing? 264 00:13:19.260 --> 00:13:20.760 What is education for? 265 00:13:21.080 --> 00:13:23.780 Is it merely to reproduce all of the inequities 266 00:13:23.780 --> 00:13:25.180 that existed last generation? 267 00:13:25.660 --> 00:13:26.660 I don't think so. 268 00:13:27.300 --> 00:13:28.720 It's to make it better. 269 00:13:29.020 --> 00:13:30.020 It's to learn. 270 00:13:30.180 --> 00:13:31.140 It's to gain knowledge. 271 00:13:31.360 --> 00:13:33.100 It's to do all of those things, 272 00:13:33.180 --> 00:13:34.500 but it is not to reproduce. 273 00:13:36.500 --> 00:13:37.620 That can't happen. 274 00:13:37.720 --> 00:13:38.700 It just can't happen. 275 00:13:38.860 --> 00:13:39.900 Not in Logan Lee. 276 00:13:40.660 --> 00:13:42.660 We have a very dedicated staff. 277 00:13:43.240 --> 00:13:45.040 We find that teachers find it 278 00:13:45.060 --> 00:13:46.600 a very challenging environment, 279 00:13:46.920 --> 00:13:47.560 and it is. 280 00:13:47.620 --> 00:13:49.480 It is a very challenging environment, 281 00:13:49.740 --> 00:13:52.080 but it's also a very rewarding environment. 282 00:13:53.500 --> 00:13:55.860 Teachers find that they either come in 283 00:13:55.860 --> 00:13:57.220 and just love the chaos, 284 00:13:58.220 --> 00:13:59.920 and they find it challenging, 285 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:01.240 and they find the freedom 286 00:14:01.240 --> 00:14:04.400 to be able to teach how they've always wanted to 287 00:14:04.400 --> 00:14:05.680 keeps them there. 288 00:14:07.060 --> 00:14:10.160 Or they can't stand that complete chaos 289 00:14:10.160 --> 00:14:11.680 and not knowing what's going to happen next 290 00:14:11.680 --> 00:14:12.300 when they leave. 291 00:14:12.700 --> 00:14:13.500 That's fine. 292 00:14:13.500 --> 00:14:16.700 That's why we only ever take teachers initially on contract. 293 00:14:16.940 --> 00:14:19.260 It's a try before you buy option on both parts. 294 00:14:20.460 --> 00:14:22.080 When we hire our staff, 295 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:24.000 we try to hire from our communities 296 00:14:24.620 --> 00:14:27.440 because we like high levels of personal investment. 297 00:14:28.120 --> 00:14:30.580 Our deputy lives three blocks from the school. 298 00:14:31.620 --> 00:14:34.260 Moved from a very affluent northern suburb 299 00:14:34.260 --> 00:14:35.940 to three blocks from the school 300 00:14:37.000 --> 00:14:39.380 so that she could get to know the community 301 00:14:39.380 --> 00:14:40.380 better than she did. 302 00:14:41.660 --> 00:14:43.360 We take our community 303 00:14:43.500 --> 00:14:45.180 seriously and we respect them. 304 00:14:46.400 --> 00:14:49.480 We try to demonstrate that in lots of ways. 305 00:14:49.580 --> 00:14:51.360 We work very closely with our community. 306 00:14:51.580 --> 00:14:54.440 We don't see ourselves, our business with our community 307 00:14:54.440 --> 00:14:56.920 beginning at nine o'clock and finishing at three. 308 00:14:57.340 --> 00:14:59.400 We see our business with the community 309 00:14:59.400 --> 00:15:02.020 being 24-7. 310 00:15:02.900 --> 00:15:03.980 That's what it is. 311 00:15:04.040 --> 00:15:05.580 Our business is this community. 312 00:15:06.520 --> 00:15:07.540 What we've done, 313 00:15:07.640 --> 00:15:09.160 we have early childhood students 314 00:15:09.740 --> 00:15:11.600 who are doing Certificate II in IT 315 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:12.980 at Year 11 and 12. 316 00:15:12.980 --> 00:15:16.020 They run a community playgroup 317 00:15:16.020 --> 00:15:18.000 in association with Playgroups Queensland. 318 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:21.980 Parenting and, well, 319 00:15:22.560 --> 00:15:24.460 domestic violence levels are really high. 320 00:15:27.660 --> 00:15:28.640 Disenfranchised families. 321 00:15:29.320 --> 00:15:31.840 It's a very, it has a lot of social problems. 322 00:15:32.620 --> 00:15:35.440 We found that a lot of kids just didn't know, 323 00:15:35.520 --> 00:15:37.580 a lot of our young mothers didn't know how to be mothers. 324 00:15:37.760 --> 00:15:40.760 So the early childhood students run a playgroup. 325 00:15:40.820 --> 00:15:41.760 At that playgroup, 326 00:15:41.760 --> 00:15:44.240 they not only learn to be good mothers themselves, 327 00:15:44.420 --> 00:15:46.680 but they teach 40 other young mothers in the community 328 00:15:46.680 --> 00:15:48.460 how to be good mothers, 329 00:15:48.580 --> 00:15:51.580 how to know about play and appropriate touch 330 00:15:51.580 --> 00:15:54.720 and nutrition and all of that thing. 331 00:15:54.840 --> 00:15:57.840 So the subjects then become real. 332 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:00.680 They become something that actively contributes. 333 00:16:01.180 --> 00:16:02.880 We have some kids, we've got a farm. 334 00:16:03.960 --> 00:16:05.740 We now have alpacas. 335 00:16:05.840 --> 00:16:06.560 They spit. 336 00:16:06.780 --> 00:16:09.100 They're not friendly alpacas. 337 00:16:10.240 --> 00:16:11.740 Not when you first get them. 338 00:16:11.740 --> 00:16:14.020 So we have a lot of animals at the farm 339 00:16:14.020 --> 00:16:16.440 because a lot of kids need that, 340 00:16:16.520 --> 00:16:18.120 especially boys, they need that, 341 00:16:18.160 --> 00:16:19.960 you know, they need the paddock to run across. 342 00:16:20.260 --> 00:16:21.580 They need activity. 343 00:16:21.780 --> 00:16:24.220 They need to feel like they're producing, creating, 344 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:26.280 that they're challenging their physical being. 345 00:16:27.060 --> 00:16:28.980 The kids run a travelling farm. 346 00:16:29.100 --> 00:16:30.320 They breed the animals, 347 00:16:30.400 --> 00:16:32.020 so you get used to goats and chickens 348 00:16:32.020 --> 00:16:33.700 and ducks and things in your classrooms. 349 00:16:34.740 --> 00:16:36.100 They breed the animals. 350 00:16:36.260 --> 00:16:37.180 They train them. 351 00:16:37.300 --> 00:16:38.420 They run a business. 352 00:16:38.500 --> 00:16:40.160 It's a cross-curricular activity. 353 00:16:40.460 --> 00:16:41.720 They take this travelling activity. 354 00:16:41.740 --> 00:16:42.180 They take the travelling farm. 355 00:16:42.440 --> 00:16:43.640 They do everything. 356 00:16:43.940 --> 00:16:45.260 They take the travelling farm 357 00:16:45.260 --> 00:16:47.640 and they take it around to preschools 358 00:16:47.640 --> 00:16:52.140 and community groups, crèches. 359 00:16:52.400 --> 00:16:53.480 They take it around. 360 00:16:53.780 --> 00:16:55.240 That is their schooling. 361 00:16:55.360 --> 00:16:56.800 Their whole schooling is wrapped around 362 00:16:56.800 --> 00:16:58.580 keeping the books for doing, 363 00:16:58.720 --> 00:17:03.540 the promotion for, advertising, running, auditing the animal farm. 364 00:17:04.340 --> 00:17:06.180 That's how they learn best. 365 00:17:06.420 --> 00:17:08.960 We have other kids who are part of a cattle show team, 366 00:17:09.140 --> 00:17:11.100 take cattle all over the state, 367 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:11.720 from as far as, 368 00:17:11.740 --> 00:17:12.800 as far north as Rockhampton, 369 00:17:13.320 --> 00:17:15.540 down to Grafton in New South Wales. 370 00:17:15.700 --> 00:17:16.920 They take them all over the place. 371 00:17:17.820 --> 00:17:21.240 We have another student. 372 00:17:21.660 --> 00:17:24.140 This was an example of how you work with your community. 373 00:17:24.280 --> 00:17:24.980 I'll tell you this one. 374 00:17:26.600 --> 00:17:27.860 Because we have a lot of kids, 375 00:17:27.940 --> 00:17:30.260 we've got the largest special education unit in the state, 376 00:17:31.060 --> 00:17:33.660 but the unit doesn't exist in physical form. 377 00:17:33.860 --> 00:17:35.200 It, it, it, it, 378 00:17:35.780 --> 00:17:37.280 because there are no borders. 379 00:17:38.340 --> 00:17:41.200 What we do is we use that number, 380 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:44.460 to team teach with our mainstream teachers. 381 00:17:45.500 --> 00:17:47.840 So that our special education teachers, 382 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:49.260 teach our mainstream teachers, 383 00:17:49.400 --> 00:17:51.740 how to work with kids with special needs. 384 00:17:52.600 --> 00:17:54.560 How to modify curriculum. 385 00:17:54.980 --> 00:17:56.760 How to look at the child first. 386 00:17:56.980 --> 00:17:58.900 In my department, in learning support, 387 00:17:59.020 --> 00:18:00.540 I don't hire secondary teachers. 388 00:18:02.260 --> 00:18:03.540 I won't hire them. 389 00:18:03.600 --> 00:18:05.680 Because they're too curriculum driven. 390 00:18:05.780 --> 00:18:06.960 Because university, 391 00:18:08.320 --> 00:18:10.660 teaches them to be curriculum and outcome. 392 00:18:11.360 --> 00:18:11.840 Driven. 393 00:18:12.580 --> 00:18:13.840 We don't need that. 394 00:18:13.900 --> 00:18:15.960 In learning support, we need people driven. 395 00:18:16.740 --> 00:18:19.180 We need them to be looking at the whole child. 396 00:18:19.680 --> 00:18:22.740 My hardest job is to convince primary school teachers 397 00:18:22.740 --> 00:18:25.240 that they'll survive in a secondary setting. 398 00:18:26.380 --> 00:18:28.180 Believe me, we'll look after you. 399 00:18:29.560 --> 00:18:32.320 That, that to us is what I mean is, 400 00:18:32.360 --> 00:18:33.400 we have to be reactive. 401 00:18:33.640 --> 00:18:35.920 You need to be reactive to meet the immediate need, 402 00:18:36.040 --> 00:18:38.180 but you've got to be proactive as well. 403 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:40.640 You've got to look at what it is about yourself, 404 00:18:40.660 --> 00:18:41.060 about your structures, 405 00:18:41.300 --> 00:18:43.820 what it is about the way you function and operate 406 00:18:43.820 --> 00:18:45.700 that is prohibiting learning. 407 00:18:47.160 --> 00:18:50.880 Regardless of the fact that we've got 48% special needs in the school, 408 00:18:51.060 --> 00:18:54.760 regardless of the fact that we've got the largest special education unit, 409 00:18:54.940 --> 00:19:00.360 regardless of the fact that we're in such a dreadfully low socio-economic area, 410 00:19:00.560 --> 00:19:02.100 contrary to all belief, 411 00:19:02.320 --> 00:19:06.780 we've got the best destination data in the state. 412 00:19:07.620 --> 00:19:09.400 That means we do our job well. 413 00:19:09.400 --> 00:19:12.120 The reason I say destination and not retention 414 00:19:12.120 --> 00:19:16.680 is because the true measure of whether you've done your job well as an educator 415 00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:19.340 is not what happens at the end result of year 12. 416 00:19:19.940 --> 00:19:21.940 It's where the kid is two years later. 417 00:19:23.320 --> 00:19:26.260 Two years after they've left your school, what are they doing? 418 00:19:27.180 --> 00:19:29.380 Are they still happy? Are they still engaged? 419 00:19:29.780 --> 00:19:31.100 Are they where they wanted to be? 420 00:19:32.100 --> 00:19:33.860 98% of ours are. 421 00:19:35.020 --> 00:19:38.680 Regardless of whether they are in the special education unit, 422 00:19:38.680 --> 00:19:40.080 in inverted commas, 423 00:19:40.180 --> 00:19:42.480 or they're in mainstream or they're in learning support, 424 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:44.420 or they're accessing special services 425 00:19:44.420 --> 00:19:46.680 or they're doing a biomedical degree at university, 426 00:19:47.040 --> 00:19:49.140 but they are where they wanted to be. 427 00:19:50.440 --> 00:19:52.700 And that is different for every child. 428 00:19:52.940 --> 00:19:54.300 We let that... 429 00:19:54.300 --> 00:19:56.840 We gave up retention data, because it's abysmal, 430 00:19:58.700 --> 00:20:00.820 because in meeting the needs, you know, 431 00:20:00.860 --> 00:20:03.380 the better we get at our job, the worse our data looks. 432 00:20:03.640 --> 00:20:07.820 That's because the data tools, the measuring sticks 433 00:20:07.820 --> 00:20:11.120 that they've used for the old system of education 434 00:20:11.120 --> 00:20:13.740 just aren't appropriate for this new one. 435 00:20:14.020 --> 00:20:15.680 They're not flexible enough. 436 00:20:16.380 --> 00:20:18.940 You know, all of our retention data is terrible. 437 00:20:19.080 --> 00:20:22.020 Like, our progression data, if you look at that... 438 00:20:22.020 --> 00:20:24.720 So if you look at who's going from year 10 to year 11, 439 00:20:24.900 --> 00:20:28.200 it increases, like, 285%, 440 00:20:28.200 --> 00:20:31.440 because kids from other schools come to our school 441 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:33.880 to access the VET options, right? 442 00:20:34.020 --> 00:20:36.900 But because we start our senior a year earlier, 443 00:20:36.900 --> 00:20:39.460 because we want to catch them before they drop off, 444 00:20:39.640 --> 00:20:43.700 so our senior isn't 11 and 12, it's 10, 11 and 12, 445 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:46.600 because they're turning 15 in year 10. 446 00:20:46.980 --> 00:20:48.840 We don't engage them in something, 447 00:20:48.920 --> 00:20:51.220 because we have really strong links with industry, 448 00:20:51.900 --> 00:20:54.200 and they might start a traineeship in year 10 449 00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:58.620 and then progress onto a part-time apprenticeship in year 11. 450 00:20:58.780 --> 00:21:01.140 Year 12, the employer loves them to death, 451 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:03.480 they're in a trade they want, and the employer says, 452 00:21:03.600 --> 00:21:06.380 can we roll you over into a full-time apprenticeship? 453 00:21:06.900 --> 00:21:07.520 We're not going to say, 454 00:21:07.580 --> 00:21:10.020 uh-uh-uh, our data is going to look crappy, 455 00:21:10.660 --> 00:21:12.100 stay for another year. 456 00:21:12.260 --> 00:21:13.180 We say, go. 457 00:21:14.140 --> 00:21:15.440 That's where you need to be. 458 00:21:15.560 --> 00:21:18.240 So consequently, because we're getting much better 459 00:21:18.240 --> 00:21:22.520 at matching our education and our life outcome, 460 00:21:22.940 --> 00:21:26.080 our data's just getting worse and worse, you know? 461 00:21:27.120 --> 00:21:28.720 And it's very hard to... 462 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:29.860 Because it's quantitative, 463 00:21:30.460 --> 00:21:34.680 and you can't use quantitative data for qualitative service, 464 00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:36.880 and anybody in a service industry 465 00:21:36.900 --> 00:21:37.960 knows that. 466 00:21:38.260 --> 00:21:40.040 The data lies. 467 00:21:40.900 --> 00:21:43.600 It's a disgusting way to measure human capital. 468 00:21:44.020 --> 00:21:46.100 And that's what we are as educators. 469 00:21:46.340 --> 00:21:47.980 We're dealers in human capital. 470 00:21:49.560 --> 00:21:49.920 Um... 471 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:51.700 What am I going to say here? 472 00:21:52.100 --> 00:21:54.800 In the special education unit, 473 00:21:55.460 --> 00:21:57.760 one of the things that that taught us 474 00:21:58.700 --> 00:22:03.860 was that our view was not always the view of everybody else. 475 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:06.260 As educators, 476 00:22:06.260 --> 00:22:07.880 we tend to make a lot of assumptions 477 00:22:07.880 --> 00:22:10.340 about what is right and what is wrong. 478 00:22:10.980 --> 00:22:13.460 That isn't helped by that really strict, 479 00:22:13.580 --> 00:22:15.880 rigid, outcome-based philosophy 480 00:22:15.880 --> 00:22:18.160 that underpins our university sector. 481 00:22:19.100 --> 00:22:21.740 What's missing in teaching, 482 00:22:23.260 --> 00:22:24.560 in my own personal belief, 483 00:22:24.800 --> 00:22:26.800 is that human element. 484 00:22:27.280 --> 00:22:29.800 If we're going to be training secondary teachers, 485 00:22:29.880 --> 00:22:32.720 especially to work in impoverished areas, 486 00:22:32.780 --> 00:22:36.100 which is where most of our secondary teachers 487 00:22:36.260 --> 00:22:36.780 end up, 488 00:22:37.920 --> 00:22:39.860 it's very sad to me 489 00:22:39.860 --> 00:22:44.940 that the top 10% of the linguistically strong 490 00:22:44.940 --> 00:22:46.260 in the dominant language 491 00:22:47.260 --> 00:22:49.540 inflict themselves unfeelingly 492 00:22:50.260 --> 00:22:52.900 to the vast majority of linguistically weak 493 00:22:52.900 --> 00:22:54.920 in the public schools, 494 00:22:55.100 --> 00:22:58.420 with very little mutual respect happening, 495 00:22:58.520 --> 00:22:59.900 very little understanding 496 00:22:59.900 --> 00:23:03.160 of linguistic and dialectical diversity. 497 00:23:04.700 --> 00:23:06.180 That is sad. 498 00:23:06.260 --> 00:23:08.560 Because it instantly assumes 499 00:23:08.560 --> 00:23:10.180 we will fail them. 500 00:23:10.280 --> 00:23:12.400 That bell curve needs a hammer. 501 00:23:13.600 --> 00:23:15.900 Because all that guarantees us 502 00:23:15.900 --> 00:23:18.080 is that 50% won't make it. 503 00:23:19.180 --> 00:23:20.840 I mean, who would do that? 504 00:23:20.900 --> 00:23:22.700 Can you imagine an industry saying, 505 00:23:23.040 --> 00:23:24.420 oh yeah, we'll do that, 506 00:23:24.560 --> 00:23:26.060 we'll keep that nice bell curve. 507 00:23:26.120 --> 00:23:27.180 They're not after a bell curve, 508 00:23:27.260 --> 00:23:28.400 they want to keep going up. 509 00:23:29.380 --> 00:23:30.100 Don't they? 510 00:23:30.300 --> 00:23:32.120 Why are we chasing a bell curve? 511 00:23:32.460 --> 00:23:35.820 Why are we already failing 50% of our kids? 512 00:23:38.180 --> 00:23:40.140 That is just ludicrous. 513 00:23:41.000 --> 00:23:43.180 It is ludicrous that we do that. 514 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:45.860 One of the problems with changing education 515 00:23:45.860 --> 00:23:49.420 is that it is a self-perpetuating system. 516 00:23:49.860 --> 00:23:52.580 It takes from the top and puts to the top. 517 00:23:53.180 --> 00:23:54.460 Very little chance 518 00:23:55.020 --> 00:23:57.620 for people from the bottom to get up there and say, 519 00:23:57.700 --> 00:23:58.420 but hang on, 520 00:23:59.880 --> 00:24:01.660 that's not the way it is for me. 521 00:24:03.600 --> 00:24:05.120 I didn't go into teaching 522 00:24:05.120 --> 00:24:06.440 until very late. 523 00:24:06.600 --> 00:24:08.940 Matter of fact, only six years ago. 524 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:12.060 I have gone from a first year teacher 525 00:24:12.060 --> 00:24:13.580 to a head of department in six years. 526 00:24:14.080 --> 00:24:15.820 The only reason I did that, 527 00:24:16.740 --> 00:24:19.120 I had a son who had a disability. 528 00:24:19.420 --> 00:24:21.560 So I was used to being a fringe dweller. 529 00:24:22.400 --> 00:24:24.320 And I was used to fighting a system 530 00:24:24.320 --> 00:24:26.320 that was sometimes very unrelenting. 531 00:24:26.940 --> 00:24:29.820 Since I spent most of the time at my son's school anyway, 532 00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:31.800 I decided I may as well get my degree 533 00:24:32.380 --> 00:24:33.400 and be paid 534 00:24:33.400 --> 00:24:35.260 for being at the school. 535 00:24:35.740 --> 00:24:38.440 So my view of education is different. 536 00:24:38.560 --> 00:24:41.320 I know it is different from a lot of people. 537 00:24:41.380 --> 00:24:44.100 And my experience of education is different. 538 00:24:44.300 --> 00:24:47.060 I've experienced it as a consumer 539 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:50.400 and as a deliverer. 540 00:24:50.980 --> 00:24:53.960 What always guides me 541 00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:55.400 in what I do in school 542 00:24:55.400 --> 00:24:58.880 and what I like to think everybody does in school 543 00:24:58.880 --> 00:25:01.200 is the welfare of each of those children 544 00:25:01.200 --> 00:25:02.440 and recognising 545 00:25:02.440 --> 00:25:05.620 that if I take my role seriously as an educator, 546 00:25:05.940 --> 00:25:06.600 and I do, 547 00:25:07.580 --> 00:25:09.340 then I want that child 548 00:25:09.900 --> 00:25:11.020 leaving the school 549 00:25:11.660 --> 00:25:12.620 knowing more, 550 00:25:12.800 --> 00:25:14.000 being stronger, 551 00:25:14.180 --> 00:25:15.680 being more focused 552 00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:18.100 and being somewhere where they want to be. 553 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:19.300 That's what I want. 554 00:25:19.700 --> 00:25:20.980 Not just for some, 555 00:25:21.160 --> 00:25:22.720 but for all of them. 556 00:25:22.900 --> 00:25:25.060 Or for as many as I can possibly get. 557 00:25:25.320 --> 00:25:27.140 Because that's what I took the job for. 558 00:25:27.780 --> 00:25:30.620 I didn't take it for any other reason. 559 00:25:30.660 --> 00:25:31.620 I didn't take it for the holidays. 560 00:25:33.780 --> 00:25:34.580 I didn't. 561 00:25:35.640 --> 00:25:37.920 I certainly didn't take it for the pay. 562 00:25:40.060 --> 00:25:42.820 Was it Queensland educators are the worst paid in the country? 563 00:25:44.500 --> 00:25:46.840 I didn't take it for the social accolades. 564 00:25:48.040 --> 00:25:50.880 Anybody ever seen the school bashing that goes on in papers? 565 00:25:51.060 --> 00:25:52.500 Especially public school bashing. 566 00:25:54.180 --> 00:25:56.020 I didn't take it for any of those reasons. 567 00:25:56.080 --> 00:25:57.920 I took it because I wanted to make a difference. 568 00:25:59.060 --> 00:26:01.640 Because if I was going to be employed in any field, 569 00:26:01.700 --> 00:26:02.420 I wanted it to be a job. 570 00:26:02.420 --> 00:26:05.320 I wanted it to be somewhere where I could help change things. 571 00:26:06.560 --> 00:26:10.240 Probably being head of social justice was an opportunity 572 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:12.120 and I was lucky to get that opportunity. 573 00:26:12.500 --> 00:26:15.220 It was an opportunity to do things like that. 574 00:26:16.540 --> 00:26:18.640 I was trying to think of another funny story. 575 00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:20.300 What's another funny story, Ruth? 576 00:26:20.560 --> 00:26:21.460 That's my sister. 577 00:26:24.900 --> 00:26:25.380 Righto. 578 00:26:26.280 --> 00:26:27.800 I'm trying to think of a good one. 579 00:26:28.080 --> 00:26:31.460 Okay, this is an example of what a really good day is for me. 580 00:26:32.880 --> 00:26:39.560 Last year I decided I was worried about our Indigenous kids. 581 00:26:39.700 --> 00:26:41.560 This is just an example of how things happen. 582 00:26:42.420 --> 00:26:45.320 I was worried about our retention rates for Indigenous students. 583 00:26:45.460 --> 00:26:48.520 Retention was excellent, but that was because of the pay packet. 584 00:26:48.780 --> 00:26:50.600 Not because they really loved being at school. 585 00:26:51.160 --> 00:26:54.940 It's because that pay packet was what was keeping the family afloat 586 00:26:54.940 --> 00:26:56.460 in a lot of cases, right? 587 00:26:57.660 --> 00:26:59.240 But they weren't being successful. 588 00:26:59.880 --> 00:27:00.820 They were failing. 589 00:27:00.960 --> 00:27:02.040 What's the point of failing? 590 00:27:02.040 --> 00:27:03.580 Year 10, year 11, year 12. 591 00:27:03.740 --> 00:27:05.280 There until year 12, but you're failing. 592 00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:06.080 What's the point of that? 593 00:27:06.160 --> 00:27:06.700 You're not doing anything. 594 00:27:07.460 --> 00:27:11.540 So I did some research into the sorts of strategies 595 00:27:11.540 --> 00:27:13.380 that were working for Indigenous students. 596 00:27:14.160 --> 00:27:17.560 One of them was what was called a bi-dialectical approach. 597 00:27:17.800 --> 00:27:20.420 That was using the strengths in their own dialect 598 00:27:21.040 --> 00:27:23.220 to scaffold learning in the dominant language. 599 00:27:23.760 --> 00:27:25.280 We did that through... 600 00:27:25.280 --> 00:27:27.240 So I made a partnership with a friend of mine 601 00:27:27.240 --> 00:27:28.580 who was an Indigenous man. 602 00:27:28.780 --> 00:27:30.600 He was a Yugambee man 603 00:27:31.180 --> 00:27:33.720 who'd just finished his Masters in script writing 604 00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:36.300 at AFTRS, the Australian Film and Television School. 605 00:27:36.380 --> 00:27:37.260 He had a bit of spare time. 606 00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:39.120 So I said, come into the school, 607 00:27:40.300 --> 00:27:41.760 work with the kids for me. 608 00:27:41.780 --> 00:27:44.860 We'll do a little bit of this stuff. 609 00:27:45.300 --> 00:27:46.780 Can't hurt. 610 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:48.560 Nothing else we're doing is working. 611 00:27:49.340 --> 00:27:51.440 Those kids have written two movie scripts. 612 00:27:51.740 --> 00:27:53.360 There's a class of 25 of them. 613 00:27:53.460 --> 00:27:54.840 They've written two movie scripts 614 00:27:54.840 --> 00:27:57.120 and one has been picked up by a production company. 615 00:27:58.940 --> 00:28:00.580 They are exceptional. 616 00:28:00.600 --> 00:28:01.540 They're experiencing success. 617 00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:06.780 It's a matter of trying something out, 618 00:28:07.400 --> 00:28:08.640 taking the risk. 619 00:28:09.500 --> 00:28:12.300 Educators have got to be good at taking risks. 620 00:28:12.640 --> 00:28:13.980 That's one thing... 621 00:28:13.980 --> 00:28:16.440 If they don't take risks, 622 00:28:16.720 --> 00:28:18.340 nothing moves forward. 623 00:28:19.600 --> 00:28:21.540 And does that make sense to you people? 624 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:22.920 You've got to take a risk. 625 00:28:23.180 --> 00:28:25.560 You have to be brave enough to take the risk. 626 00:28:25.940 --> 00:28:27.780 I'm not talking about, you know, 627 00:28:27.780 --> 00:28:30.420 taking a whole class of year eights 628 00:28:30.420 --> 00:28:31.120 bungee jumping. 629 00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:35.420 What I'm talking about is taking that theoretical risk, 630 00:28:36.060 --> 00:28:37.760 taking that philosophical risk. 631 00:28:38.020 --> 00:28:40.740 The other thing is believing in what you're doing, 632 00:28:40.820 --> 00:28:41.620 having a vision. 633 00:28:42.620 --> 00:28:44.740 The vision may or may not be the same 634 00:28:44.740 --> 00:28:45.980 as the person next to you, 635 00:28:46.020 --> 00:28:47.160 but you've got to have something 636 00:28:47.160 --> 00:28:49.200 that underpins why you're there 637 00:28:50.740 --> 00:28:53.860 and that informs all of the decisions that you make. 638 00:28:54.060 --> 00:28:56.160 In my instance, why I'm there 639 00:28:56.160 --> 00:28:58.360 is because I want to make a difference. 640 00:28:58.680 --> 00:29:00.400 I want to make things happen. 641 00:29:00.420 --> 00:29:00.700 I want to make things better 642 00:29:00.700 --> 00:29:03.560 for those that are disenfranchised, 643 00:29:03.620 --> 00:29:04.960 for those fringe dwellers. 644 00:29:06.340 --> 00:29:08.480 One of the reasons I think 645 00:29:09.140 --> 00:29:11.420 I work fairly well in that environment 646 00:29:11.420 --> 00:29:13.740 is the view is very good from the fringe. 647 00:29:14.740 --> 00:29:17.620 There is nothing obstructing the view from the fringe. 648 00:29:17.760 --> 00:29:20.260 You get a really good look at the way things really function. 649 00:29:20.580 --> 00:29:22.060 You don't see that from the centre. 650 00:29:22.220 --> 00:29:24.140 It's like you can't see the forest for the trees. 651 00:29:24.440 --> 00:29:25.800 You're too crowded in. 652 00:29:26.420 --> 00:29:28.140 The fringe is a good viewpoint 653 00:29:28.140 --> 00:29:30.400 and I think more people need to be taken care of. 654 00:29:30.420 --> 00:29:31.260 They need to be taken to the fringe. 655 00:29:31.720 --> 00:29:34.080 They need to understand what it's all about. 656 00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:37.740 I'm going to tell you a story about a girl, 657 00:29:38.420 --> 00:29:41.220 one of my best, best, best stories. 658 00:29:41.740 --> 00:29:45.000 This girl had high-level autism. 659 00:29:46.260 --> 00:29:48.280 Her first few days in the school 660 00:29:48.280 --> 00:29:50.460 consisted of assaulting about nine people 661 00:29:51.300 --> 00:29:52.760 and enjoying it. 662 00:29:54.420 --> 00:29:59.380 We eventually got her to develop social skills 663 00:29:59.380 --> 00:30:01.780 in a way that she can actually stay in a room 664 00:30:01.780 --> 00:30:03.880 without abusing somebody for longer than three minutes. 665 00:30:04.600 --> 00:30:06.040 She's a very bright girl. 666 00:30:06.280 --> 00:30:10.420 She came up to me about two days before the end of last term. 667 00:30:10.700 --> 00:30:12.740 She sidled up beside me and she said, 668 00:30:13.340 --> 00:30:14.720 can I see you, miss? 669 00:30:14.820 --> 00:30:15.560 I said, yes. 670 00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:18.320 I said, you can walk to the car with me actually 671 00:30:18.320 --> 00:30:19.200 because I'm on my way out. 672 00:30:19.700 --> 00:30:21.280 So she walked beside me and she said, 673 00:30:23.040 --> 00:30:26.480 my uncle told me that if I got an A in my results, 674 00:30:28.180 --> 00:30:29.360 he would buy me a cigar. 675 00:30:29.380 --> 00:30:33.340 I said, I like your uncle. 676 00:30:33.800 --> 00:30:36.300 And she said, I got six A's. 677 00:30:37.520 --> 00:30:39.140 And I said, oh, does that mean, 678 00:30:39.240 --> 00:30:41.000 because I'm just being smart, 679 00:30:41.220 --> 00:30:43.320 kids with autism don't have senses of humour 680 00:30:43.320 --> 00:30:44.680 if anybody works with kids with autism. 681 00:30:45.600 --> 00:30:47.960 I said, oh, so does that mean your uncle's going to buy you 682 00:30:47.960 --> 00:30:49.140 six Sony Playstations? 683 00:30:49.240 --> 00:30:50.640 And she went, don't be silly. 684 00:30:53.180 --> 00:30:55.240 And then I said, I bet your mother was proud. 685 00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:57.400 And she says, oh, yes, she was very proud. 686 00:30:57.640 --> 00:30:58.520 She fell over. 687 00:30:58.960 --> 00:30:59.360 And I said, oh, I'm sorry. 688 00:30:59.380 --> 00:31:02.440 I said, oh, well, just imagine how proud she's going to be 689 00:31:02.440 --> 00:31:03.920 when you graduate year 12, 690 00:31:04.120 --> 00:31:06.460 when you get up on that day and you get your certificate 691 00:31:06.460 --> 00:31:06.980 and you graduate. 692 00:31:07.260 --> 00:31:09.300 She said, she sat there for a second in silence 693 00:31:09.300 --> 00:31:11.480 and then she said, they'll all fall over. 694 00:31:13.180 --> 00:31:15.220 And she said, have a good day, miss. 695 00:31:17.260 --> 00:31:20.580 It's those moments that make you realise 696 00:31:20.580 --> 00:31:24.180 that it's just terrific to be a teacher 697 00:31:24.180 --> 00:31:28.480 and it's terrific to work with kids who respond 698 00:31:28.480 --> 00:31:34.200 so much to, believe it or not, just mutual respect, 699 00:31:35.080 --> 00:31:39.240 respect for culture, respect for them as people. 700 00:31:39.520 --> 00:31:42.180 That's something that I think is missing from teaching 701 00:31:42.180 --> 00:31:47.340 is that we've lost that realisation that teaching 702 00:31:47.340 --> 00:31:48.720 and learning are relationships. 703 00:31:50.720 --> 00:31:52.720 They're not something we do to somebody. 704 00:31:52.840 --> 00:31:55.360 They're a relationship we have with somebody. 705 00:31:55.840 --> 00:31:58.460 And the stronger and deeper those relationships are, 706 00:31:58.480 --> 00:32:00.720 the more effective our teaching is. 707 00:32:02.080 --> 00:32:04.480 I would like my next really... 708 00:32:05.360 --> 00:32:08.560 What I'd like to try is just to chuck out that core curriculum, 709 00:32:10.060 --> 00:32:11.540 especially in grade eight. 710 00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:15.500 That's when they need that social development so much, don't they? 711 00:32:15.620 --> 00:32:18.720 They need that understanding of self. 712 00:32:18.800 --> 00:32:21.020 We need to build those protective factors in 713 00:32:21.020 --> 00:32:23.100 because the reality is in our society, 714 00:32:23.300 --> 00:32:26.580 there's not a lot of protective factor building happening out there 715 00:32:26.580 --> 00:32:27.540 for some of our kids. 716 00:32:29.800 --> 00:32:32.480 There's a lot of communities where there's none of that happening. 717 00:32:33.860 --> 00:32:35.120 We need to do that. 718 00:32:35.180 --> 00:32:37.580 If our schools don't pick it up, who's going to? 719 00:32:37.700 --> 00:32:40.060 I don't see anybody else hanging around with their hand up. 720 00:32:41.180 --> 00:32:43.900 If we don't invest in our children, 721 00:32:44.000 --> 00:32:45.940 if we don't convince our government 722 00:32:46.740 --> 00:32:50.300 that education is an investment, not a cost, 723 00:32:51.120 --> 00:32:53.360 if we do not change that mentality, 724 00:32:54.000 --> 00:32:58.320 we will constantly be fighting, fighting for space, 725 00:32:58.320 --> 00:32:59.320 fighting for funding. 726 00:33:00.440 --> 00:33:03.680 One of the great things, if they could do one thing for me, 727 00:33:03.780 --> 00:33:06.200 I'll tell you, one thing, not going to cost one more cent, 728 00:33:07.520 --> 00:33:09.520 no more money to Logan Lee High School, 729 00:33:09.580 --> 00:33:10.980 don't care if our numbers don't go up, 730 00:33:11.040 --> 00:33:13.480 if they gave me the flexibility of system enough 731 00:33:14.320 --> 00:33:18.080 to turn my funding dollar into how I wanted it in my community, 732 00:33:18.180 --> 00:33:20.220 if they gave me that much flexibility, 733 00:33:20.480 --> 00:33:22.860 I would solve half my staffing problems. 734 00:33:23.780 --> 00:33:27.340 If they could stop that targeting funding, 735 00:33:27.340 --> 00:33:30.120 if they could stop that you've got to use this bucket for that, 736 00:33:30.220 --> 00:33:31.460 if you've got to use this bucket for that, 737 00:33:31.540 --> 00:33:32.940 if they could do that one thing, 738 00:33:33.400 --> 00:33:36.520 it would make life for Logan Lee High School a lot easier. 739 00:33:37.440 --> 00:33:40.380 If they could just give us the flexibility of choice 740 00:33:41.540 --> 00:33:43.200 in what we do in our communities, 741 00:33:43.920 --> 00:33:47.060 so we could translate our funding dollar into what we needed. 742 00:33:49.040 --> 00:33:49.480 OK. 743 00:33:58.720 --> 00:33:59.180 APPLAUSE 744 00:34:03.860 --> 00:34:05.520 Thank you, Jenny, that was great. 745 00:34:05.960 --> 00:34:08.580 We're going to take some questions from the floor, 746 00:34:09.500 --> 00:34:11.620 but before we take any other questions, 747 00:34:11.660 --> 00:34:14.780 Jenny, maybe you could just answer one for us. 748 00:34:15.260 --> 00:34:18.980 In the theme of the Festival of Ideas is what is to be done, 749 00:34:19.660 --> 00:34:22.420 if you could give one message to the people in this room today 750 00:34:22.420 --> 00:34:24.920 of what we could actually do as individuals 751 00:34:25.620 --> 00:34:27.160 to improve our education, 752 00:34:27.340 --> 00:34:28.820 what would that one thing be? 753 00:34:29.140 --> 00:34:30.420 Get the dialogue going. 754 00:34:31.100 --> 00:34:32.480 Talk about it. 755 00:34:32.560 --> 00:34:35.240 Talk about education as a philosophy, 756 00:34:35.520 --> 00:34:36.640 not an outcome. 757 00:34:36.880 --> 00:34:38.880 Not literacy or numeracy, 758 00:34:38.960 --> 00:34:41.520 which are the biggest smoke screens ever invented, 759 00:34:42.340 --> 00:34:43.440 that can be waving... 760 00:34:44.340 --> 00:34:46.900 They wave them like political flags all the time. 761 00:34:47.620 --> 00:34:49.160 Get the dialogue going. 762 00:34:49.300 --> 00:34:50.760 Talk about education seriously. 763 00:34:51.020 --> 00:34:53.940 Talk about education as a generator of social capital. 764 00:34:54.160 --> 00:34:56.240 Talk about education as a philosophy. 765 00:34:56.240 --> 00:34:58.800 Talk about education as a vision for the future. 766 00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:00.660 Don't talk about it as outcomes. 767 00:35:02.060 --> 00:35:03.160 Because it isn't. 768 00:35:03.160 --> 00:35:04.640 It's more important than that. 769 00:35:05.060 --> 00:35:06.740 Much more important than that. 770 00:35:07.460 --> 00:35:09.400 So you think maybe we should talk about it, Jenny? 771 00:35:09.620 --> 00:35:10.580 I think so. 772 00:35:12.160 --> 00:35:13.820 Just a suggestion, folks. 773 00:35:14.680 --> 00:35:16.480 Does anybody have a question for Jenny? 774 00:35:17.780 --> 00:35:18.820 We start down here. 775 00:35:19.160 --> 00:35:19.580 Um... 776 00:35:20.800 --> 00:35:22.600 First of all, thank you for coming to the conference. 777 00:35:23.280 --> 00:35:23.760 Um... 778 00:35:23.760 --> 00:35:24.540 That's all right. 779 00:35:24.540 --> 00:35:25.740 I didn't have to teach English today. 780 00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:26.240 Oh, yesterday. 781 00:35:27.100 --> 00:35:27.520 Um... 782 00:35:27.520 --> 00:35:29.100 I'm very interested in your ideas, 783 00:35:29.220 --> 00:35:31.600 and I've had some similar discussions at my children's school 784 00:35:31.600 --> 00:35:32.580 with the staff there. 785 00:35:32.720 --> 00:35:35.740 And what I come up against is, first of all, 786 00:35:35.760 --> 00:35:37.160 it's very scary what you're saying. 787 00:35:37.260 --> 00:35:38.080 It is scary. 788 00:35:38.220 --> 00:35:38.640 Why is that? 789 00:35:38.680 --> 00:35:41.540 And they will... 790 00:35:42.260 --> 00:35:45.420 My experience of it is they're very interested in holding the power. 791 00:35:45.600 --> 00:35:47.900 Because what you're talking about is you're asking people 792 00:35:47.900 --> 00:35:49.260 to let go of their power. 793 00:35:49.820 --> 00:35:52.120 How do you suggest that that happens in schools 794 00:35:52.120 --> 00:35:54.340 when you don't have that guidance from your top? 795 00:35:54.340 --> 00:35:57.840 It seems to me that schools are run by the philosophy of the principal. 796 00:35:58.560 --> 00:36:02.060 How do you work in a school where you don't have that principle at all? 797 00:36:02.340 --> 00:36:03.620 What options do you have? 798 00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:04.320 OK. 799 00:36:04.760 --> 00:36:06.280 One of the things that... 800 00:36:06.280 --> 00:36:07.160 Yes, you're right. 801 00:36:08.600 --> 00:36:12.440 Schools have got to learn to function in spite of principals 802 00:36:12.440 --> 00:36:14.000 instead of because of them. 803 00:36:14.200 --> 00:36:16.860 And I don't mean that in any derogatory sense, 804 00:36:17.200 --> 00:36:19.040 because our principal's very good. 805 00:36:19.740 --> 00:36:21.360 But she knows her place. 806 00:36:21.780 --> 00:36:24.320 She knows that she's coming in. 807 00:36:24.320 --> 00:36:26.500 And it's like all good companies. 808 00:36:26.680 --> 00:36:28.240 What do good companies rely on? 809 00:36:28.340 --> 00:36:32.340 They rely on the expertise and the advice of those who know the system. 810 00:36:32.600 --> 00:36:33.160 Don't they? 811 00:36:33.680 --> 00:36:35.860 They don't come in there pushing their own barrows. 812 00:36:35.920 --> 00:36:38.000 When you're on a good thing, you stick to it. 813 00:36:38.200 --> 00:36:40.840 If you've got a community that's working well as a school, 814 00:36:40.960 --> 00:36:42.880 the worst thing a principal can do is come in 815 00:36:42.880 --> 00:36:44.940 and try and unbalance that with their own agenda. 816 00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:48.120 We've got a principal who finally thinks that. 817 00:36:48.360 --> 00:36:50.060 And she's really good because she says, 818 00:36:50.120 --> 00:36:50.920 Do I need to know? 819 00:36:51.120 --> 00:36:52.420 And we say, No, you don't. 820 00:36:52.540 --> 00:36:53.700 She says, OK. 821 00:36:53.700 --> 00:36:58.380 But she has learned to trust. 822 00:36:59.080 --> 00:37:01.480 I wish there was an easy answer for you. 823 00:37:02.180 --> 00:37:03.360 But there isn't. 824 00:37:03.480 --> 00:37:07.020 Like I said, the story of our school has been an evolution. 825 00:37:07.260 --> 00:37:08.740 It hasn't been just like that. 826 00:37:08.840 --> 00:37:11.640 It's been an evolution and a very painstaking evolution. 827 00:37:12.140 --> 00:37:13.680 And we're still on the journey. 828 00:37:14.920 --> 00:37:19.240 We've still got to overcome those bastions of Western thought, maths and science. 829 00:37:20.560 --> 00:37:22.700 They're the ones that are hardest to change. 830 00:37:22.700 --> 00:37:29.740 All I can suggest is that you get your P&Cs active. 831 00:37:30.120 --> 00:37:33.800 P&Cs are much more powerful organisations than they realise. 832 00:37:34.240 --> 00:37:38.060 They're daunted by that very austere principal 833 00:37:38.700 --> 00:37:42.260 or administrative team of a high school that seems to know war. 834 00:37:42.400 --> 00:37:43.360 They don't. 835 00:37:44.720 --> 00:37:47.680 You've got to get a P&C together that's very strong. 836 00:37:49.060 --> 00:37:50.740 Parents and Citizens Association. 837 00:37:50.740 --> 00:37:52.340 I don't know what you call it here. 838 00:37:52.680 --> 00:37:55.160 They have really high powers. 839 00:37:55.360 --> 00:37:57.960 They have a lot of power in all states. 840 00:37:58.720 --> 00:38:00.240 You've got to get them active. 841 00:38:00.460 --> 00:38:04.520 If you can get your P&C active, you've really got a good wedge in. 842 00:38:04.760 --> 00:38:08.640 The other thing is isolate your drivers in the school. 843 00:38:08.920 --> 00:38:10.240 Your kids will tell you that. 844 00:38:11.280 --> 00:38:12.680 They're the teachers that kids say, 845 00:38:12.780 --> 00:38:14.420 Oh, I really like that Miss Smith. 846 00:38:15.660 --> 00:38:17.840 You know, Oh, I really like that Mr Jones. 847 00:38:18.400 --> 00:38:19.500 They're good people. 848 00:38:19.500 --> 00:38:20.960 They listen to me. 849 00:38:21.820 --> 00:38:22.920 Isolate your drivers. 850 00:38:23.200 --> 00:38:24.880 Get your P&C on side. 851 00:38:25.620 --> 00:38:27.220 That's where your real power lay. 852 00:38:28.780 --> 00:38:33.860 The principal has the, you know, he does. 853 00:38:34.040 --> 00:38:34.780 He or she does. 854 00:38:34.920 --> 00:38:35.520 Does have that. 855 00:38:35.640 --> 00:38:36.680 But not necessarily. 856 00:38:38.480 --> 00:38:40.260 The real, get your deputies. 857 00:38:42.240 --> 00:38:44.120 Your deputies and your heads of department. 858 00:38:45.060 --> 00:38:47.020 They're the real power base in a school. 859 00:38:48.040 --> 00:38:49.220 Get them on side. 860 00:38:49.280 --> 00:38:49.480 Get them on side. 861 00:38:49.500 --> 00:38:51.020 Get a couple of strong drivers there. 862 00:38:51.120 --> 00:38:52.460 Get them listening to you. 863 00:38:53.780 --> 00:38:54.920 That's my suggestion. 864 00:38:55.440 --> 00:38:56.980 Okay, we might take another question. 865 00:38:57.280 --> 00:38:59.020 Jenny, the gentleman in the middle up there. 866 00:38:59.160 --> 00:38:59.340 Yeah. 867 00:39:02.080 --> 00:39:02.520 Hi. 868 00:39:03.480 --> 00:39:05.000 You're talking with a friend of mine. 869 00:39:05.340 --> 00:39:09.220 And it's interesting that your type of teaching is coming from the bridge, 870 00:39:09.300 --> 00:39:10.420 which has to be for the mainstream. 871 00:39:10.620 --> 00:39:15.120 Because I don't believe that only disadvantaged students can get stuff to do. 872 00:39:15.240 --> 00:39:17.460 Your big student needs to be adopted. 873 00:39:17.860 --> 00:39:18.040 Yes. 874 00:39:18.040 --> 00:39:19.920 And I'm talking about different things. 875 00:39:20.040 --> 00:39:20.920 I'm coming from India. 876 00:39:21.220 --> 00:39:25.020 And we see in rural India that people don't want to get access to education because of 877 00:39:25.020 --> 00:39:25.720 the reasons we're talking. 878 00:39:26.000 --> 00:39:27.960 They're part of the owners of the family. 879 00:39:28.440 --> 00:39:30.360 People cannot afford education and all that. 880 00:39:30.620 --> 00:39:35.720 My question is, how do you replicate your system which you're still evolving, I'm sure. 881 00:39:35.760 --> 00:39:36.720 It's not coming together. 882 00:39:37.100 --> 00:39:39.580 But how do you replicate this? 883 00:39:39.620 --> 00:39:42.520 I don't think you replicate it. 884 00:39:42.860 --> 00:39:45.260 What I think you do is you believe it. 885 00:39:45.260 --> 00:39:53.940 The difference between, it's not like a system or a program that you can transplant into 886 00:39:53.940 --> 00:39:54.720 other communities. 887 00:39:54.980 --> 00:40:00.160 All we have done is listen to our community and respond to its needs. 888 00:40:01.200 --> 00:40:07.000 If we were five kilometres on the other side of the highway, we would be different. 889 00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:12.920 What I'm saying is schools need to listen to their communities. 890 00:40:12.920 --> 00:40:15.600 We can't change education. 891 00:40:16.080 --> 00:40:21.780 The chance of getting Mr Nelson to look at differential funding is a little bit slim. 892 00:40:22.100 --> 00:40:26.300 But what we can do is look after our own backyard. 893 00:40:26.700 --> 00:40:30.440 What we can do is look after what happens in our own school. 894 00:40:30.960 --> 00:40:32.380 That's what we can do. 895 00:40:32.880 --> 00:40:35.140 That in itself creates change. 896 00:40:35.480 --> 00:40:42.120 Because history tells us the only real change that ever happens in any society, where does 897 00:40:42.120 --> 00:40:42.800 it come from? 898 00:40:43.880 --> 00:40:44.320 Bottle. 899 00:40:44.420 --> 00:40:44.500 Bottle. 900 00:40:44.640 --> 00:40:45.620 On the ground. 901 00:40:45.860 --> 00:40:47.520 That's where real change happens. 902 00:40:48.100 --> 00:40:53.620 What I'm saying is, I suppose if you want to use a catchphrase, think globally, act 903 00:40:53.620 --> 00:40:53.980 locally. 904 00:40:55.300 --> 00:40:57.020 Concentrate on what you can do. 905 00:40:57.600 --> 00:41:00.540 And what you can do is make things better in your community. 906 00:41:01.960 --> 00:41:03.400 Did that answer your question? 907 00:41:04.260 --> 00:41:05.460 Okay, we'll take two more. 908 00:41:05.520 --> 00:41:06.960 The lady in the red up here and then... 909 00:41:06.960 --> 00:41:09.520 I was going to ask you about the composition of the P&C. 910 00:41:09.920 --> 00:41:11.500 Before that, that was my question. 911 00:41:11.620 --> 00:41:12.100 I know it was a bit of a long question. 912 00:41:21.740 --> 00:41:26.260 Go 913 00:41:36.940 --> 00:41:38.080 One of the things that's... 914 00:41:38.080 --> 00:41:41.160 It's what I come to about taking the risk. 915 00:41:41.800 --> 00:41:46.420 Is what you want important enough to take the risk? 916 00:41:47.180 --> 00:41:50.480 For instance, a lot of educators won't take the risk 917 00:41:50.480 --> 00:41:53.000 because there's no legislation, right? 918 00:41:53.060 --> 00:41:55.700 They'll say, oh, but there's no legislation covering that. 919 00:41:56.240 --> 00:41:57.940 We see that as a green light. 920 00:42:00.020 --> 00:42:01.660 We don't see that as a red light. 921 00:42:01.940 --> 00:42:04.160 If there's no legislation, do it. 922 00:42:08.240 --> 00:42:08.720 APPLAUSE 923 00:42:12.000 --> 00:42:13.900 Excellent. We'll take a question from the front. 924 00:42:15.820 --> 00:42:20.740 I was intrigued by your sister school for... 925 00:42:20.740 --> 00:42:21.320 In China. 926 00:42:21.540 --> 00:42:21.940 In China. 927 00:42:22.460 --> 00:42:24.600 You have Chinese students come in. 928 00:42:24.780 --> 00:42:25.100 Yep. 929 00:42:25.940 --> 00:42:27.260 Yeah, it's funny, isn't it? 930 00:42:27.340 --> 00:42:31.020 Yeah, what happens to the block of people that go to China? 931 00:42:31.120 --> 00:42:32.660 How do they get on in there? 932 00:42:32.800 --> 00:42:33.700 They learn a lot. 933 00:42:34.120 --> 00:42:35.600 How do the Chinese react? 934 00:42:36.540 --> 00:42:38.080 That's a good question. 935 00:42:39.120 --> 00:42:44.020 Because the difference in the cultures is just so enormous. 936 00:42:44.280 --> 00:42:46.940 But that makes the experience all the richer. 937 00:42:47.400 --> 00:42:48.580 It's certainly a risk. 938 00:42:48.980 --> 00:42:50.360 It is a risk. 939 00:42:50.540 --> 00:42:53.060 But the only reason we have the link with China 940 00:42:53.060 --> 00:42:55.980 is because the only language teacher we've got in ESL... 941 00:42:55.980 --> 00:42:58.380 that we've got in the school is Chinese. 942 00:42:59.440 --> 00:43:00.060 You see? 943 00:43:00.300 --> 00:43:02.740 We can only work with the resources we've got. 944 00:43:02.800 --> 00:43:03.480 We didn't choose. 945 00:43:04.220 --> 00:43:05.420 That was the language... 946 00:43:05.600 --> 00:43:06.940 that we had as our second language. 947 00:43:07.300 --> 00:43:08.360 So that was... 948 00:43:08.360 --> 00:43:10.240 And she just happened to be very, very active. 949 00:43:10.660 --> 00:43:13.680 And she decided that she could bring that cultural wealth. 950 00:43:13.780 --> 00:43:16.040 So we've got a Chinese band dance group. 951 00:43:16.340 --> 00:43:17.340 We've got... 952 00:43:18.140 --> 00:43:19.980 You know, we're in the cultural desert 953 00:43:19.980 --> 00:43:21.640 between Brisbane and the Gold Coast 954 00:43:21.640 --> 00:43:24.460 and we've got an extraordinarily rich Chinese culture. 955 00:43:25.560 --> 00:43:27.860 With hardly any Chinese students. 956 00:43:28.380 --> 00:43:32.240 But the thing is, that's what people bring to a community 957 00:43:32.240 --> 00:43:35.580 and those experiences help enrich the children's... 958 00:43:35.600 --> 00:43:36.040 the children's lives. 959 00:43:36.360 --> 00:43:39.260 One of the problems with really disadvantaged 960 00:43:39.260 --> 00:43:42.260 and isolated communities, and most communities, 961 00:43:43.100 --> 00:43:47.220 are that way we tend to closet our children into the known. 962 00:43:47.480 --> 00:43:49.960 They don't often get to reach into the unknown. 963 00:43:50.620 --> 00:43:53.100 Having those sorts of, you know, disparities 964 00:43:53.100 --> 00:43:55.240 help increase their knowledge, 965 00:43:55.500 --> 00:43:58.380 help increase their flexibility and their vision of the world. 966 00:43:58.660 --> 00:44:01.940 The more different it is, the more stimulating it is. 967 00:44:02.440 --> 00:44:03.040 They... 968 00:44:03.040 --> 00:44:04.900 We find those differences. 969 00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:05.480 For instance, 970 00:44:05.600 --> 00:44:06.680 this is a good example. 971 00:44:07.280 --> 00:44:08.180 Our kids. 972 00:44:08.840 --> 00:44:11.660 I'm very big on social development, in case you hadn't guessed. 973 00:44:12.600 --> 00:44:16.100 I really believe in that link between education and social capital. 974 00:44:16.220 --> 00:44:18.800 I don't believe that education is an arbitrary system. 975 00:44:18.900 --> 00:44:19.800 I believe that it's a... 976 00:44:19.800 --> 00:44:22.180 it's a social generation machine. 977 00:44:22.800 --> 00:44:25.900 And that it needs to be taken seriously for that role. 978 00:44:27.040 --> 00:44:30.440 What I try to do is instil that sense of empowerment 979 00:44:30.960 --> 00:44:33.260 into the community of children that work with me. 980 00:44:33.340 --> 00:44:35.580 And we've set up what's called a student reference group. 981 00:44:35.600 --> 00:44:37.720 They're not like a token student council. 982 00:44:39.240 --> 00:44:41.380 They do active things. 983 00:44:41.800 --> 00:44:42.920 They get involved. 984 00:44:43.500 --> 00:44:45.040 One of the things they had... 985 00:44:45.040 --> 00:44:48.800 Now these are kids that might have speech language impairment or autism. 986 00:44:48.900 --> 00:44:50.140 They may have all sorts of disabilities. 987 00:44:50.180 --> 00:44:51.080 They may not have. 988 00:44:51.520 --> 00:44:54.000 But they're a group of children with a common concern. 989 00:44:54.360 --> 00:44:57.860 Their common concern was that Logan's got such a bad name. 990 00:44:58.060 --> 00:45:02.700 And our local newspapers were always reporting the bad stuff. 991 00:45:02.900 --> 00:45:04.580 You know, who got beaten up at the railway station, 992 00:45:04.640 --> 00:45:05.500 where the graffiti was, 993 00:45:05.500 --> 00:45:10.280 there was never anything positive about kids in our local paper. 994 00:45:10.700 --> 00:45:11.220 Never. 995 00:45:11.840 --> 00:45:13.360 They thought that was terrible 996 00:45:13.360 --> 00:45:16.100 because they knew that there were good things happening with kids. 997 00:45:16.300 --> 00:45:20.140 But that was making fear rule our community. 998 00:45:20.680 --> 00:45:22.080 Elderly people were afraid. 999 00:45:22.120 --> 00:45:24.500 You got more than two young people standing in a group. 1000 00:45:24.580 --> 00:45:26.040 They were up to naughty things. 1001 00:45:27.060 --> 00:45:28.780 The kids had nowhere to meet. 1002 00:45:28.980 --> 00:45:32.020 They clustered around the railway station under a light. 1003 00:45:32.080 --> 00:45:32.920 They became a gang. 1004 00:45:32.920 --> 00:45:35.280 You know, there was just... 1005 00:45:35.280 --> 00:45:38.440 That distrust and fear in the community was really strong. 1006 00:45:38.540 --> 00:45:40.260 The kids wanted to do something about that. 1007 00:45:40.380 --> 00:45:43.100 So they wrote a letter to the Commissioner for Children. 1008 00:45:44.400 --> 00:45:45.420 She wrote back. 1009 00:45:46.380 --> 00:45:48.900 And then they went and knocked on the principal's door and said, 1010 00:45:49.000 --> 00:45:51.600 Guess who's coming to have morning tea with us tomorrow? 1011 00:45:54.840 --> 00:45:58.080 But the thing is, those kids knew, 1012 00:45:58.220 --> 00:46:00.320 we can do something about this. 1013 00:46:00.580 --> 00:46:02.640 Now with the help of the Commissioner for Children, 1014 00:46:02.640 --> 00:46:06.240 they now have a weekly article in the newspaper 1015 00:46:06.240 --> 00:46:09.560 that prints nothing but good stories about kids. 1016 00:46:10.060 --> 00:46:11.360 And they write them. 1017 00:46:11.600 --> 00:46:13.460 They source them, they write them, 1018 00:46:13.480 --> 00:46:14.880 and that's part of their English program. 1019 00:46:15.920 --> 00:46:18.900 You see, but that's an experience they would never have tried. 1020 00:46:19.520 --> 00:46:20.880 Would they, you know... 1021 00:46:20.880 --> 00:46:22.060 Let's ring up the Commissioner. 1022 00:46:23.120 --> 00:46:24.040 No problem. 1023 00:46:24.300 --> 00:46:25.700 The reason for my question is, 1024 00:46:26.560 --> 00:46:27.980 what's it doing to China? 1025 00:46:28.120 --> 00:46:28.800 Are they... 1026 00:46:29.500 --> 00:46:30.020 LAUGHTER 1027 00:46:30.020 --> 00:46:30.660 LAUGHTER 1028 00:46:32.640 --> 00:46:34.720 Maybe I can answer that one, just in wrapping up, 1029 00:46:34.800 --> 00:46:37.560 because we do have to finish to allow people to get on to the next session. 1030 00:46:38.240 --> 00:46:41.580 And maybe they will be actually enjoying the same sort of experience 1031 00:46:41.580 --> 00:46:44.360 that we had this morning in seeing the passion and innovation 1032 00:46:44.360 --> 00:46:47.120 and commitment to social justice and diversity 1033 00:46:47.640 --> 00:46:49.100 that Jenny has shown us this morning. 1034 00:46:49.380 --> 00:46:51.400 I'd like you to join with me in thanking Jenny Sharpe. 1035 00:46:52.600 --> 00:46:53.000 APPLAUSE 1036 00:47:02.640 --> 00:47:02.720 Thank you.