From the Acting Head
As a Biologist, I am interested in the fact that, in purely evolutionary terms, animals with advantageous adaptations – be they faster, stronger, with sharper teeth or larger lung capacity than other members of the same species - maintain a position of power and inevitably gain and maintain better access to food, habitats, mating opportunities and other required resources.
As an educator, I am interested in understanding the behaviour of aggressors and in teaching our students how to recognise and address unreasonable behaviour – at school, at home, in the workplace, on the sports field and in any other space our students occupy.
This week, as part of our Year 9 program, students participated in an incursion hosted by Courage to Care. This non-profit organisation began in 1992 with a humble exhibition at the Jewish Museum of Australia. I was interested to discover that their workplace Upstander Program was launched in 2018 in response to an approach from Victoria Police to help them transform workplace culture.
Our Year 9 students heard about how to counter the dangers of racism, prejudice, discrimination and bullying. Much of the course content is refracted through the lens of Holocaust survivors who tell extraordinary and deeply personal stories about the citizens who risked their own lives to protect Jewish people during the second world war. These protectors, the students learn, had the ‘courage to care’, which is a moving and empowering refrain through which program facilitators encourage young people to take positive action.
One day, the values of the up-and-coming generations will shape our society, and their values will influence the world we live in. If young people come to understand that ordinary people have the power to make a positive difference to the lives of others by being upstanders, then the future is bright.
On the other side of the power equation is resilience. Our ability to withstand unreasonable behaviour or trying circumstances and find a way to carry on, even grow, has the effect of taking power back from those who seek to wield it blindly. Many experts would say that because our lives are materially easier than at any other time in human history, we suffer less pain and have become more sensitive to suffering. This idea makes for excellent classroom debate.
This Term, there have been many student displays of resilience. For some Senior School students, examinations represented a set of trying circumstances. Now those circumstances have been overcome, students have a better understanding of the passing nature of many of life’s challenges. Even if students did not achieve the results they had hoped for, I encourage families to help students to find and reflect on the positives that come from tackling challenges. The coming holidays are a good opportunity to support students in resetting their outlook for a fresh start in Term 3.
Our Senior School production, which will be staged next week, is as much a show of resilience as it will be of flamboyant, show-style dancing. The disruptions to rehearsals owing to cast and staff absences have been met with sheer determination that the show must go on. If rehearsal standards are anything to go by, it will be a terrific show that I urge our community to support.
In the Junior School, our Preparatory students are nearly halfway through their first year of school, having commenced their formal educational journey with disjointed opportunities to practise their social skills, at best. Their resilience is admirable, and they are making wonderful progress.
And today, I saw plenty of resilience at the ICCES Winter Tour, with 140 Senior School students giving their all for their team and representing their school with pride in netball, basketball, and soccer. Representative Sport gives students an opportunity to compete at the highest level with the aim of winning. I spoke with some students who were courtside, having graciously accepted the decision of their coach to put stronger players on the court. They were cheering for their teammates and entirely engaged in the outcome of the match. Strength of character allows young people to have this positive attitude from the sidelines of the sporting pitch.
And a happy consequence of all this resilience is that Girton won the ICCES Winter Tour today, with our Soccer, Netball and Basketball teams conducting themselves impeccably and all having wins at various points throughout the competition.
Abuse of power as experienced and shared by the Courage to Care facilitators, has always been with us, of course. But a generational shift appears to be taking place, whereby power imbalance is increasingly being called out. And in our students, we notice resilience gaining momentum, especially as the lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic settle and therefore serve to enlighten us, rather than blanketing us and reminding us of darker times from which we are now ready to grow.
Enjoy this edition of eLink, and as this is the final edition for this Term (with one week of school remaining), I wish all Girton families, students and staff a restful and enjoyable three-week break.
Dr Emma O’Rielly
ACTING HEAD
