Now its just “transforming” … the rest is up to your imagination.
A great video from FIRIS parents and friends:
please forward to your schools and friends
The president of the Humanist Society of Victoria (HSV), Stephen Stuart, has misstated the of views of Catherine Byrne, a leading advocate for reform of religious education in Australia. Ms. Byrne maintains the website http://www.religioneducation.org.au/ and is a PhD. candidate at Macquarie University’s Centre for Research on Social Inclusion, studying under Marion Maddox.
In the December 2011 HSV Newsletter, Stuart, quoted Byrne as saying:
She saw GRE (general religious education) as learning about religions and ethics as learning from religions. (italics in the original)
Stuart then wrote that, “Humanists might well jib at having ethics taught from religions”.
FIRIS asked Byrne if she said what Stuart attributed to her. Byrne replied, ”No, that is not what I said. I said that learning from religions includes an ethical component – in reflexive critical analysis. I did not and would not reduce ethics to a mere religious domain. I teach ethics and do not bring religion into it at all”.
Scott Hedges, a FIRIS parent who has worked with Byrne on the issue of SRI and schools, was flabbergasted, “Why they would misquote one of the leading thinkers in Australia on this subject or for that matter publish her views without fact checking them with her, is hard to fathom”.
Hedges added, “Cathy Byrne has been a champion for parents who see this system as abusive, and seeing her misquoted gives me the impression that the leaders of the Humanist Society are just looking to be argumentative. Cathy is really good on this issue and in addition to her scholarly work, has published several essays in the popular media“.
Hedges went on to clarify that, “FIRIS has a specific set of policy objectives whereas the Humanist Society seems to be most interested in using this issue as a vehicle for promoting itself and its particular world view, which it calls ‘Humanism’.
Hedges said that it was his opinion that “from the perspective of most parents, Humanism is just another special interest, and an esoteric philosophical one at that”, Hedges added, “it is undeniable that ACCESS ministry is going out of its way to paint the controversy over SRI as something being pursued by some nefarious group it calls ‘Humanists’ – which diminishes the fact that this issue is a mainstream concern of parents, and not a program run by a small self interested philosophical debate club”.
Hedges said that it was impossible to pigeon hole FIRIS as belonging to any one philosophical movement”, and added that he thought this was why ACCESS’s CEO publicly talks about the “the Humanists” so often as the source of the opposition to SRI.
Not long after the FIRIS launched its campaign, we learned of a young woman studying to be a teacher in Melbourne who had seen first hand what a travesty SRI was in the classroom, and how glaringly it contrasted with what she’d learned in “teacher school”. Tal was not alone in responding to the FIRIS campaign, thousands of people also nodded and said, “about time” in various ways.
Tal however, stood out for several reasons, her personal experiences and observations, her authoritative command of big picture, and her fearless use of her liberties to publish these opinions, without fear of them being held against her professional aspirations. Indeed it was BECAUSE of her professional aspirations that she was motivated to speak.
We enthusiastically commended her essay to the FIRIS community – and of course hoped for more like minded teachers to rise up and join her in publicly declaring it was long overdue to revoke the franchise that ACCESS Ministry operates under.
It was especially gratifying that the AEU unanimously passed a motion, more or less making Tal’s views the official policy of the AEU .
Tal has now completed her degree, and accepted a teaching job in Victoria. She is an inspiring young woman with a great spirit and gift of leadership. She has also decided to continue to set an example writing about her experience at a new blog she calls “Slome-Schooled” and it is unquestionable that the lives of many young Victorians will be impacted by this talented, newly minted educator with such a strong sense of professional mission.
We look forward to Tal’s continued support for the FIRIS campaign as the legal case against her Department in February, promises to make blog fodder across the State and indeed the world – with ACCESS Ministry hiring a full time PR firm, and girding its loins for misdirection and spin to cover up its “mission”. Sadly, no matter how much of your tax money ACCESS tosses at this, they will never buy the kind of Tal-ent, that FIRIS gets for free, from brilliant people like Tal!
Tal is unquestionably an exemplar of the best that Victoria has to offer, a poster girl for the value of “secular principle” in education and a we might add, a mensch. We wish her well in her new job – and encourage all you FIRIS-ians and denizens of the internets to follow her
Here is a re-run of her SRI post, in on her new, whiter, brighter site. So go drive some page views and a good ‘come on Aussie, come on.
http://slome-schooled.blogspot.com/2012/01/sri-segregated-religious-instruction.html