-A6 - Sunday News, November 1, 1981 CHRISTIAN ANGLE By JAMES A. TAYLOR: siraply ‘because“they happen just like some to be i inconvenient to us? mothers I know. We sympathize with her Each year. when winter approaches, we store our Perhaps it’ san n indication that everything is _ St n some a (Jamest A “Taylor is a syn- . as. ell: as. could: be on North Van: School two kayaks by slinging them of indecision. : dicated ‘columnist for the | Board*— ‘that’ the public. ‘feels there is no up under the carport roof. And a few nights _ News Services-of the United It's a-nice.safe place, -we thonght. They're out of the way. No one can get at them. room for improvement in a school system that, we were peering, out which takes 63 cents of every dollar paid in the same window, Church: Observer; ‘published . in Toronto.) the \ property taxes. With. all due respect to the board's newcomer trustee, Rev. Roy Dungey, it is ‘hardly bécause he'is a household-name with proven performance that he was unopposed when five vacant seats were filled by . acclamation at the time nominations closed Monday. ‘ Indeed, it is doubtful how many electors ‘had even heard ‘of the. Anglican priest who | works as-a ‘parole analyst. . All the News _ knows of him is that he was one of the prime ‘movers ‘of a proposal ‘by the St. Leonards Society to open a-half-way house for former prison inmates, which was soundly defeated by neighbors two years ago. - ‘Rev. Dungey himself is certainly under no ‘fllusion as'to why he is now a trustee without | a. single; vote. shaving heen. cast for him. He states, with a hint.of embarrassment, that the situation occured -merely through the nd disinterest of the public — the lic that. whines about the taxes paid ‘North Vancouver that whereas emocratic system offers people the t ‘do something about their it-can’t MAKE them care. wish Rev. Dungey well in his inaugural ° ffice, serving a public that may or “may. not deserve to be served. ‘ The constitution, in whatever form it eventually takes, will, acccording to all politicians regardless of persuasion, be the panacea of all our ills. But if this is so, why are we left with the feeling that inflation, mortgage rates atid mafia-like interest will continue to do more hatm to ordinary Canadians than can be cured by waving any piece of paper? mand ay naws. narth shore news 1139 Lonsdale Ave. North Vancouver, B.C. V7M 2H4 (604) 985-2131 ADVERTISING NEWS 980-0511 CLASSIFIED 1 986-6222 965-213 CIRCULATION 986-1337 Publisher Peter Speck Associate Publisher Editor-in-Chief Advertising Olrector Robert Graham Noel Wright Eric Cardwell Managing Editor News Editor Andy Fraser Chirts Woyd General Manager Creative Administration Director Bern Hillard Production Director Rick Stonehouse Tim Francis Photography Ettsworth Oickson Accounting Supervisor Circulation Director Purchaser Barbara Keen Bnan A Elis F aye McCrae North Shore Newe. founded in 1 YOU as an mdapendoent Community Nowspaper and qualited under Schedule Il Part il Paragraph IN of the Excise tax Act is pubhshed each Wednesday and Sunday by North Shore tree Press Lid and distributed to every doar on the North Shore Second Clans Mat Regitraton Number 3885 Subscriptions $20 per year. Entire contents All rights reserved 1961 North Shore Free Presse Lid No responatbtlity a: mater one hading manuncapts and orc tures with should be acc ompamad by a stamped addressed envetope eagpted lor catetse din Meee) VERIFIED CIRCULATION 63,349 Wednesday 52.546 Sunday SN G THIS PAPER IS REC YC1 ABLE They're .safe from rain and wind and snow. . Someone. else came to the same conclusion: The other day, we discovered we have a family of raccoons inside one of :the ka —- warm, » . Safe, dry, out of the wind, the rain, the snow, and also out of the. way of most people. As ah added benefit, they found the flotation material we had packed into the bow and stern, and shredded it to make a fully insulated nest. Our first reaction was to get rid of them. Dump the kayak on the ground. Pour in moth crystals. Or smoke. Or a spray bomb of some kind. Then the other night we glanced out the window just as Mama was coming down from the rafters for her nightly adventure among the garbage cans. And she saw us looking out, too. She couldn't. make up her mind, whether to stay and guard her babies, or whether to 1 ing : side door. couldn't see Mama ‘Co anywhere. Bored, I stepped back, and glanced up. ~ There’s a transom win- dow, above the door, the same height as the carport roof. And there, peering in at us, as we tried to peer out at her, was the furry masked- bandit face of the raccoon. How can you gat mad at something that acts like you do? I think we're stuck with those raccoons until they decide to move on, on their own. And not just because we happen to be soft-hearted and sentimental. More, because, I think, in those flashes of recognition of our similarity, we realize that both of us are part of God's creation. God made raccoons as well as humans! We are all, to some extent, created in God's image. Raccoons may be in- convenient. They may make a ghastly mess in our kayak. But the world wasn't created But “ : ~ , — Te -?, “I miss the dial. Somehow it doesn't seem proper to - ‘punch a prayer’. By JIM McDOWELL As the cost of running our top-heavy school system soars, few improvements in working or learning con- ditions are seen at the classroom level because we have buried the old fashioned concept of the master teacher. Our early schools were not always taught well, but resourceful, determined, courageous individuals with a burning desire to promote learning became competent, influential classroom teachers. They usually faced students of several ages in ungraded classes with no resources to depend on beyond their own imagination and know-how. The teacher was on his own. There was oo local superintendent, director of instruction, consultant, school psychologist, learning assistance teacher, aide or parent volunteer. He had to assume = personals respon- sibility for helping all of his charges learn. make decisions, and find = their place in a demanding world Knowing it was impossible to do everything alonc, he involved students as assistant teachers, coaches, coun- scllors and housckecpers. They tearned life skills along with their lesson Paced with (hen diverse abthtties. he wasted tthe tame trying to teach everyone in oa large group. He met wih small groups while the other children studitcd in dcpendently. ofter turning to more capencaced = studcat for tutoring Mas) classroom) = hummed with conversation. childrea moved around purposefully Self discapline was cssecntial for learning to take place Because mecting were held frequently to discuss problems and make agreements, the students developed a responsible, but questioning attitude about school rules. The master teacher tested his students constantly -- not to compare their per- formance or emphasize their mistakes, but to see where he needed to invest energy more wisely. Knowing that education is rooted in un- covering one’s own powers, he functioned as a true professional. Sunday Brunch back next week Although he was the exception, and still is, the one-room school gave him many opportunities to employ desirable learning practices that are seldom seen in our contemporary educational factories. Today this rare educator is buried under the massive pyramid of a largely uscless, obsolete, oppressive school sysiem As classroom teachers arc given more assistance and = supervision their self reliance enthusiasm = are ¢K- tinguished They rightly fecl patronized = cntcized, and demorahzed because ther competence is questioned constantly by their superors principals, admimstrators, and burcaucrats who have risen from the cranks to posivons of power over the former colleagues cach year, and When parents, frustrated by taking their concerns directly to the school, vent their con through other channels, hers react even more ; ively . So) m: ssroom teachers onvinced that tt eaching philosopi:, ud approach must conform to those favoured either by the powerful, more highly paid “experts” or by a “society.” Varied, innovative, challenging approaches to inquiry are steadily replace by static, lock-step, mediocre training and custodial care. Because such work grows increasingly stressful, teachers beg for more time to rest or prepare themselves for returning to the grind that burns them out relentlessly. Strangely, the better these classroom teachers perform, the sooner they can escape teaching entirely. Relieved of their classes. some of these so-called “master teachers” run around distributing instructional band-aids to troubled teachers. Others become consultants, coordinators, directors or = supervisors Some whiffle into the mini burcaucracy of the teacher's professional organization A select few rising to superintendent oversee a large hacrarchy and meet with other burcaucrats to devise clever ways of in creasing = distri “support services” Although — the pupil teacher ratio can be reduced so aruficially if all these redundant non teaching personnel are counted, actual class size remains dachanged for the lasteuctor who ts trapped in the ‘classroom with the kids. He doesn’t need “support” or supervision; he needs in- centives that enocourage, recognize and reward quality teaching. He also needs more colleagues who are willing to work where it counts (in the classroom) and develop enough collective clout (as trade unionists) to force fundamental changes in working and learning conditions. But schools have turned teachers into administrators ° of manpower programs that hook pupils into unending consumption and depen- dence and slot them into a stratified society. In our schooled society, knowledge is conceived as a commodity professionally packaged products, marketable subjects, and abstract values. We are losing touch with education as a_ self. directed, self-fulfilling act that occurs in the intimate interaction between pupil. teacher, parents and others Learning does not result from teaching, it comes from the curiosity and activity of the learner. “The global village will be a global = schoolhouse il teachers hold all the strings © warns iconoclastic cducator Ivan Hheh. “It will be distinguishable in name only trom a global madhouse run by social therapists or global pmson rcun by corporation wardens ” If classroom teachers continue to hide behind thet rather we “professionalism © than reform schooling should shut down the 1p stitution and revamp it This wasteful, destructive system tx collapsing under ts own weight