REFLECTIONS AND NOTES
Winter 2006
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Teacher notes page 1
Teacher notes page 2-3
Teacher notes page 4
Principal reflection
Spirit Songs
Shellie Morris is a Darwin based indigenous songwriter who was adopted by a white
family that cared for her and fostered her musical talent. She says she came
to Darwin in search of warm weather not her family. However, she did find her family
and the formerly committed ‘city chick’ can now appreciate the
delights of country especially in the company of her sister. A successful,
singer, composer and musician, she now spends her life helping indigenous children
to master basic literacy skills through music which they find delightful and
empowering. A storyteller herself, she teaches her pupils to tell their own
stories and thus make sense of the worlds in which they live.
Questions for students
1. In what ways has Shellie used her musical
gifts to help indigenous students?
2. Did Shellie plan to spend her life in her present role or
was it thrust upon her by accident?
3. What does she mean when she says ‘my footsteps are not my
own’?
4. Why do many indigenous children find learning to read so difficult?
Being able to tell one’s story is very important for all of us, some more than others. Read through the article in the Explorations series Addictions and see what the authors have to say about telling and listening to each other’s stories. Are you a good listener? Do you find it difficult to tell your story?
Activity
Make a list of all the storytelling songs you can remember.
Teacher notes pages 2 and 3
Meeting life's challenges
The four stories that we will consider in this section are Kent Rosenthal’s
story Marathon mum, about Kerryn McCann; Fighting spirit by the senior
winner in the Young Journalist Award, Hendrika Duivenvoorden, about a
woman fighting cancer; Beth Doherty’s Defiant love, about a writer
and political activist’s efforts to support women who refused to
abort their disabled babies in spite of doctor’s advice; and Michael
McVeigh’s Inspirational spirit, which focuses on the courageous
return of Jason McCartney to AFL football after being badly burnt in
the Bali bombing.
All of the people in these stories faced daunting and life-threatening
challenges but by a combination of hope and courage fought their way through
to victory.
You might like to begin with a discussion on the question ‘Who are your
heroes?’ Write some of the names up on the board. Each student
could then be asked to jot down the three essential characteristics that
he or she believes a hero should possess.
The class might then be directed to read the articles on Jason McCartney,
Melinda Tankard-Reist, Pamela Summers and Kerryn McCann.
Questions for students
1. ’Determination and courage in the face
of adversity’ are
the characteristics shown by Australian war heroes, according to
student Nadia Vittoria. In what ways did Jason McCartney demonstrate
these virtues?
2. How can hearing about another’s struggle help you
overcome your own difficulties?
3. Why did being an elite athlete help Jason put his horrific
injuries into a manageable perspective?
4. Is it sometimes hard to admit your vulnerability and to
ask for help?
5. What is meant by the term ‘secular saint’?
How does contact with someone described in this way invite us to examine
our own life?
6. Kerryn McCann is also an athlete. How did support from
other people help her to achieve her goals?
7. What obstacles did she have to overcome in order to continue
as a marathon runner?
8. ‘Never quit. Be patient’. Why is this advice
important in all difficult enterprises?
9. To many, receiving the news that they have contracted
cancer seems like a death sentence. How did Pamela Summers react?
10. Given the progress of medical science, do you think this was a sensible
decision?
11. How did she go about combating the threat to her life and happiness?
12. How did she put her belief that ‘cancer is a life sentence, not a death
sentence’ into action?
Activity
Students might consider the heroes they suggested at the beginning of the lesson and, using the internet, research and write up a short biography of one of their heroes.
Cross cultural connections
‘Australia with its diverse population enjoys a richness that mono-cultural countries do not have. ‘I don’t just enjoy the diversity. It’s what I believe in. Diversity helps to create tolerance, acceptance and harmony.’ These words were spoken by a Muslim, Yusuf Omar, who fled from his own country, Somalia, in order to escape political persecution. Students might like to begin by reading his story in the article Cross-cultural connections (page 14).
Questions for students
1. How would you describe Yusuf’s
attitude to life?
2. He tells us that his mother had a profound influence on the person
he has become. What are some of the effects of her teaching on her son?
3. Explain ‘the interconnectedness of all living things’.
4. Do we respect the poets in our country? What difference would it make
if we did?
5. Yusuf was prepared to speak out against injustice in his country
even though these protests might mean imprisonment and worse. In Australia, where
we enjoy freedom of speech, do we bother to speak out against injustice?
6. What does he mean when he says, ‘pain creates people’?
7. Comment on Yusuf’s ability to keep smiling and continue
appreciating the beauty of the earth in spite of all that he has suffered.
In Our country (page 25), a runner-up in the Young Journalist Award, Daniel Dolatowski, writes about his school friend, Yel Dut, a Sudanese migrant who speaks with delight that he is now woken up by an alarm clock instead of the sound of gunfire as happened in his own country. Students can begin by reading the article, thinking about whether they know anyone with a similar story.
Questions for students
1. Why did Yel and his mother decide
to migrate? What was happening in Sudan when they decided to come here?
2. What does he feel about Australia and Australians?
3. How does he hope to share his good fortune with the people
he has left behind in Sudan?
4. Why did Daniel Dolatowski call his article Our country?
In Michael McVeigh’s article Unity in diversity (page 26) we read about a parish that prides itself on the numerous nationalities that make up its community. Everyone is welcome and the people take great care of each other whenever sickness or other misfortunes arise.
Activity
Students could read the article and then, in small groups draw up a ten point plan for welcoming and caring for new school arrivals Write the rules up on a poster-sized sheet of paper and exhibit them around the classroom.
Community outreach
The Mini Vinnies is a group of primary school students over the age
of ten organised by the St Vincent de Paul Society to help out with the
with the mission of the Society to the poor and forgotten members of
our community. Students might like to begin by reading Sharing youth
(page 28) about students from Our Lady of the Rosary Catholic Primary
School in Caloundra who have undertaken to visit residents at an aged
care facility near their school.
Activity In small groups students might like to research the lives and work of
St Vincent de Paul and Frederic Ozanam and present the results of their research
on posters to be displayed in the classroom.
It was great to see some of the winners of the Young Journalist Award writing
about social justice projects. Louise Wruck’s article Simple plan, incredible
purpose focuses on not only the nitty gritty of the Eddies’s Van project
but also on the spiritual underpinning of the enterprise. Meanwhile, Pedal
for a purpose is one example of a successful charity ride.
Activity
Bike rides can be a fun way to raise money for a cause. Students might read the two articles and then discuss in small groups a suitable project they might choose to support. A general class discussion in order to select one of these projects could then, with the help of the Parents and Friends Committee, lead to the organisation of a ride to support the charity they have chosen.
Teacher notes pages 2 and 3
Women making a difference
Anne Rennie’s article Grace and gratitude (page 16) gives us some insight into the role significant women in her life have made to her faith development. From her grandmother she absorbed the iconography and the simple devotional practices of traditional Catholic lifelike statues and holy pictures and the quaint religious symbolism of flowers all of which made her faith present and active in her daily life. Her mother heard her prayers and made it possible for her to attend youth retreats and camps while the nuns taught her the fundamentals of her faith and continue to inspire her by their present activities in the mission fields and to the poor and uncared for in Australia.
Questions for students
1. Who are the people who taught you what it means
to be a Catholic?
2. What are the important elements you learnt from each of
these people?
3. How vital is it to continue to have someone with whom
you can share your beliefs ?
4. If you experience doubt about elements of the faith, do
you talk it over with anyone?
The article Changing the rules (page 30) tells the story of Carmen Lawrence, another Australian woman who made a difference. In her case it was through politics. Her commitment to social justice was fostered in her family and through her education at a Catholic school. She became incensed at the wishy-washy way her political party managed the Tampa affair and the treatment of refugees being meted out by the government, so she spoke out very strongly on this issue. In 2004 she was elected President of the Australian Labor Party. During her tenure of office she spoke out on the rights of refugees and asylum seekers and on other matters of principle. Her latest book deals with how fear is being used by politicians to cow Australians into accepting policies that are not at all in their long-term interest.
Activity
Carmen Lawrence’s book is based on a
series of lectures entitled: Fear and Politics; Fear of Strangers; Fear
of Crime; and Fear of Annihilation. In small groups prepare a presentation
to the class that demonstrates how inordinate concentration on fear can
cloud our judgement on the political decisions we must make in a
democratic society.
Prepared by Frances Brook
Principal reflection
Fr Andrew Hamilton sj
When we think of spring, we think about blossom, growth, nesting birds,
and the warming of the sun. In universities, it is the time when couples
return to the lawns and linger there. Spring is the time of youth. So
for older people, it can be a time of nostalgia. The first cricketers
seen in the parks have old men discussing the feats and the heroes of
their own younger days.
In this edition we tell the stories of strong women. In Australia, it may seem
odd to do this in the Spring edition. We associate strong women with endurance
rather than with green growth. A favourite poem of older generations of Australians
was Women of the West. It evoked the heat of summer.
The red sun robs their beauty and, in weariness and pain,
The slow years steal the nameless grace that never comes again;
And there are hours men cannot soothe, and words men cannot say—
The nearest woman’s face may be a hundred miles away.
The poem was actually written by a man, George Essex Evans, who knew something
about endurance. He emigrated from London as a young man, and became a land
registrar based in Toowoomba. He died in 1905 at the age of 46.
The stories we tell in this edition are in contemporary rather than pioneer mode.
They speak of Kerryn McCann, who won the Marathon gold medal at the Commonwealth
games, of indigenous singer Shellie Morris who has a special interest in young
people, Melissa Tankard Reist who has written a book on the experience of mothers
who give birth to handicapped children, of Ashlea Scicluna beginning university.
But in all these springtime stories, the endurance that is the Australian version
of strong womanhood is never far away. To train for marathons while caring for
your children needs endurance, as does the vocation of caring for your handicapped
children. Any indigenous woman who dedicates her gifts to her communities needs
great strength of spirit.
For Australians, the Easter liturgy is out of sync. Its imagery belongs to the
European spring, renewal, the natural lift of the heart. But at its heart is
the unbreakable link between the green dreaming of spring and the summer endurance
needed to keep dreams alive and make them flower. The flowering of Christ’s
rising comes out of the desolation on Calvary. Both these moments are present
in the stories we tell.
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