School Life
As the end of the school year approaches in Australia,
schools (especially secondary schools) and all those who
are involved in school life (students, teachers, parents and
support services), are in the midst of winding down the
educational year. There are tests, assignments, work
requirements, examinations and an array (both subjective
and objective) of assessments which lead to reports,
certificates, profiles, end of year activities and the
holidays!
The intensity of this period of school fervour is made easier
only by the thought that the days are longer, the year's
work is almost over and the festive season is around the
corner!
"In lieu" is a phrase used in school circles to mean that a
teacher has to take another class when her/his senior
students have gone... to sit for examination or to go into
the workforce! Theoretically that time should be reserved
for this year's evaluation or next year's planning and
organisation.
"Ethos of exams" reminds us that the technique for
assessing a students' acquired knowledge or skills during
the year creates an "ambience" all of its own!
Since I have spent most of my life at school (first as a
student, then as a teacher), it is only fitting that I should
have a number of poems relating to school, education,
children, colleagues, feelings, failures and successes ...
and much more!
School is a village of activity within society - it is a place
where parents entrust their offsprings to professional
educators ... in a sense it is the place where learning
occurs continually and in the most formative years of
a person's life.
The basic requirements for a student are his/her curiosity
for learning and for relating with others.
It is the school's task to ensure that everyone involved
provides a safe and secure environment for learning and
interacting.
Of course, the ideals are not always met, and school can
be a very trying place for whoever finds it difficult to
manage all the situations and demands within this
microcosmic community. 'School Bell' recalls the military
type precision adopted in schools in order to have this
place running on schedule; 'New school' and 'In class'
demonstrate some of the difficulties that a teacher could
face when first beginning in a secondary school; 'A sweet
afternoon' and 'Glimmer of Hope' touch on some of the
positives found in the day to day life in a school
environment.
The Pedantic professor
My little professor
you're a parrot.
You're a dove
which flies in the world.
You're a stork
which brings its young
on a pedantic road
that leads to the pigs
of father laziness.
What’s the use
What's the use
to remain here in silence
to stupidly look at
a man who speaks
and who says nothing.
I don't listen to him,
I don't understand him.
Then, why remain here?
I don't know,
I'll never know.
One day I'll understand
that that man there
earns his keep speaking
of irrelevant things
to every day living.
But men like that one
have made of me
what I am today.
They have taught me
to look beyond them:
to look at the brilliant stars
of my youthful dreams.
One day he'll be nothing
like me and you.
One day he'll be a solitary
soul who will not have to
speak whilst looking at silence.
What is the use of this stupid cycle
which allows this useless, futile
life to continue?
In the meantime there will always be
men who will speak up
and those who will listen to them.
But what's the use to remain here
with these mute people,
with people who would like
to be outside
to breathe the natural air
of this autumn day.
Then... and now
Years, changes, caf, campus,
strangers, lectures, friends and you
is all I have in my room
when, together with myself and
reading Farrago* on the carpet,
I see ambition, wars and apathy.
Nice Farrago! Strange bullshit!
Few letters, bitter and sweet,
plenty of politics, slight mentions
of sex, sport and religion!
Look! Think! Judge!
Above all, love thyself.
Be in peace... with apathy!
* Student Newspaper at
the University of Melbourne
Apathy, silent eloquence,
you have grown wise and old with me.
Now a desk, paper, bic... and memories!
Every time my mind runs away from me,
I see the lot of you in front of
a pie and chips... a chick,
a knife... a chick, a fork... a chick,
a paper dart, multi coloured letters
and coffee.
Oh no, my friends, love the moment!
Love the present, 'cause you see,
tomorrow... tomorrow you'll be me!
New school
Do you have a biro?
I have no paper.
Where is the ruler?
I've lost my exercise book!
My books are at home.
My bag was stolen.
You say these endlessly
student.
When will you grow up?
Learn to do what everyone
must do...
be independent.
Free yourself from excuses
and join the real world,
the world of adults
where excuses cost a lot
and ignorance is no excuse.
Grow up quickly... learn how
to learn... listen... listen...
sit... sit... studyyy...
Ah, what a bore...
to be an adult!
In class
My class is noisy
the students are rude
you could say they are crude.
What should I do?
Let them grow wild,
show no respect
to anyone close to me?
What is the answer
when they are so nasty
and throw abuse
at each other
in front of me!
Should I punish?
Or shouldn't I even
ask myself this question?
The world is black or white.
There are no colours.
Students are disrespectful.
You must show your teeth,
the only way...
the only way..
A glimmer of hope
Finally a glimmer of hope.
Shining in my student's
workbook is the truth.
It's not my task to force learning
but only to monitor it!
To penetrate darkness
you need light... a light
that shines with warmth
from inside.
End the tyranny of ignorance.
Begin a world of peace...
a peace radiating from within
one's own positive experiences.
To share these with others
by realizing one's potential.
Through self fulfilment
there is no jealousy of others
but an appreciation of others'
contribution to the enrichment
of all in the community.
A sweet afternoon
On a sweet winter afternoon
we sat there in the teachers'
lounge room.
I bought some “cannoli”*
and some real italian cakes
and you all brought biscuits,
lollies and dried
chips.
We all sat together
around a small table on the couches
and Carolina was seated
there on the floor.
We made some conversation
whilst you were all there
a little ill at ease
in that somewhat
foreign atmosphere.
These are
the first experiences
of something new...
and there are so few
of these at school!
Perhaps it would be better to live
together for a few months,
to get to know each other better
in moments like this
sweet winter afternoon.
* Italian sweet
School bell
The bell rings,
another period begins.
We move to this sound.
Our time is spent
in an environmental warp.
There are times when
we want to fly away:
to break this monotony,
this life of rigidity.
To be travelling across
the Nullabor or is it maybe
the Savannah of Africa.
To watch the sky and the hills
from a mountain in Katmandu.
To drink fresh water
from a cascade in Queensland.
To travel the cities of USA
Or could there be a possibility
of working on an oil rig in WA.
Or be the manager of BHP
just for one week?
Or exchanging places with the PM?
Changing your routine, at will,
like switching the channels
of your TV set.
This bell continues to ring
every 50 minutes, precisely,
to draw us back to its fold.
*Western Australia
** Broken Hills Proprietary - Australian Company
The ethos of exams
From a quiet room I see
four flags flapping in the wind
from the Blues' scoreboard.
The top of the trees look like
green clouds in contrast to
the grey clouds of the sky above.
Here and there, tall gum trees
and the top floors of a skyscraper
(towards the Parkville side of Sydney Road)
intermingle with the rooftops
of those up market Victorian houses
amidst the light poles of the streets below.
The wind causes the flags to swing
just like it does with the waves of the sea;
but the only thing that breaks this silence
is the incessant noise of the ventilators.
Occasionally I meet the eyes
of those who may need something...
but it is quiet... like I've never
seen them altogether before;
they are preoccupied, keen to do well
in an atypical tense atmosphere.
It is that time of the year!
In lieu
In lieu
means "instead of",
it means another place.
It can be like a reward:
if you've taught HSC* all year
and your class has finished,
you get another class.
In lieu
keeps you in training,
it helps you meet new students.
So when you think you're free
in lieu gives you a chance
not to do what you've been
trying to do all year!
In lieu
keeps the Ministry's morale high.
It helps save money
and ensures that all teachers
are dutifully occupied!
In lieu
is like a "hello"!
It greets you in the morning.
It makes your day thinking !
"Gee! I'll meet some old faces today!"
or "How nice! Our wonderful
year 8 or 9 or 10"!
*The last two years of secondary education
In lieu
occurs during that peaceful time
of the year when the years 11 and 12
are doing their exans!
And all the other classes are quiet!
In lieu
is a small piece of paper
which is given to you nicely,
as a gift, to be cherished
for a few hours of the day!
Everyone likes in lieu.
It's a pleasure camouflaged
as a duty.
Voluntary service
In this bureaucracy
there is space for everyone.
You can do this
or that in every hour,
in every season.
There is always someone
who doesn't do anything
whilst there is someone else
who is ambitious
of entering the circle
of the priviliged ones. And for this
they make him work at his expense,
in his time.
It's all so very simple. If you want
to go on top of the pyramid,
you have to show
that doing things
doesn't tire you out...
that your loyalty
belongs to your work... and not
to your family or
to your recreation.
Your future is assured
if you don't mind voluntary service.
I have no choice
In this class
that's not so big,
so quiet
when I am alone,
I have seen
so many faces
which now I don't
even remember.
There were the good
together with the bad.
Were are they now?
Have they changed?
Certainly. That's life.
But what am I still
doing here?
There is so much living
there outside past
that park of very
green grass.
Have I perhaps still
so much to do in this room?
Is this my work?
To remain here to supervise,
to help or to admonish,
to teach?
But if those who want
to really learn are
so few!
Outside there instead I could
direct, command,
make my way in society!
Or fail, try to find
the minimum of happiness!
Here I feel
like an acrobat
who walks on a tightrope
between two skyscrapers in the city.
I dare not look on either side,
but I walk straight ahead
and keep my balance.
Vocation
Everything appears noisy,
exciting...but boring.
Always the same with these
students who don’t want
to do anything of what I want.
Everyone wants their freedom
to act, to do, to chat
of other things and not of what
they should be doing.
I want that they speak
this other language,
that they read it often
and willingly, that they write it
almost daily,
that they love it!
But no! For them it is only
another subject amongst the many
that they have chosen, to avoid
other things that interest them
even less of this Italian language!
But the grain of hope
is always present. Because
the teacher knows that the seed
can flower again at other times,
in other Springs.
And even when I think
that I have failed, with the passing
of time, this experience
sometimes brings some really
unexpected fruits! So is the nature
of my profession,
of this, my vocation!
Farewell, Mr Hamer!
Alas!
The man is here
before his peers!
Looking back he can only see
the stream of students, colleagues,
parents, citizens and others
on whom he left his incredible mark!
Who would not remember Mr. Hamer
for the flourish of language,
the richness of expression and,
above all, the precision and the wit
with which he chisels every remark,
every speech, every letter!
It's not always what he says
that surprises you... it's the way
he comes across that astounds you.
When he stands in the tradition
of a "Churchill" or "Dante" or, perhaps,
"Homer"... (this last one must have
been a distant relative...).
At Princes Hill he has the reputation
of being a man of letters.
In the tradition of the "philosopher"
he is frank in his opinions...
he fears not the wrath of men
for they are mere mortals!
From the law he takes his stance:
at many a dinner party he has not
resisted the temptation of devouring
a fair quantity of strawberries
and ice cream sprinkled with
lawyers and lady friends.
For the last eighteen years at this school
he wore a robe of literature and history
whilst disguising his real self
as the man of languages and music.
He can put a tune or two together,
he can speak a few languages...
English, Dutch, French, German...
a little Italian, Spanish, Norwegian...
let's not forget his readings in
Latin and Ancient Greek.
Emile stands tall in his understanding
of the universal man towering above
the bigotry of chauvinism.
He deals with men and women without fear
or favour... he is not well known
for his humility, but then everyone
has a fault or two.
The itching mentality
Once upon a time there was a team of doves
which shook hands whilst holding their buttons.
One said: "tickle me here",
the other wanted his hand there.
They felt a sensation under their armpits,
sometimes they felt it even on their skin.
One day they went around with pen in hand
to hold a poll on a very strange phenomenon.
They had developed this very bad itch
which had to be healed at all cost.
They wanted all the hardened smokers transferred.
Those who continued had to be punished.
It still wasn't Carnival Time
but the itching had become almost general.
Then for democracy they formed a committee
to give the smokers the rabbit's hole.
That is that small office
next to the staffroom.
The moral is this: when
you don't like someone,
find an excuse to move him from there
The general itch
Do you remember that general itch
when they wanted to steal our little room
with the excuse of the smoking policy?
Now listen to this...
we no longer have that little room
and they have actually thrown out
of the school all the smokers!
We now go up and down
the stairs like angels.
And, the smokers, like lepers
gather together in small groups
in the laneways and in the streets
away from our neighbourhood.
You see them draw up smoke
from their mouth which breathes
the polluted air of the city.
The moral is this:
some go up
and some go down.
Thunder and lightening
On a calm lunchtime
when the school was at play
the weather felt warm
the rain was in the air.
Then suddenly a thunder
and lightening in the distance
shook the quiet of the day.
We settled to the drizzling rain
growing in intensity until
another huge thunder exploded
followed by whiplashes of lightening.
Amidst the core of our atmosphere,
our students yelled, screamed and shouted
as if judgement day was approaching!
Humans are overawed by natural events
that carry within them elements of danger.
We are a metereopathetic lot reacting
and groping into our memory to verify
our fear with stories of victims struck
by a killer lightening or collapsing dead
frightened by the power of a loaded thunder.
Even our fauna was all a fluster reacting
to this phenomenon... with dogs barking
cats meowing and running along the gutters
of the school rooftops, and birds cowing.
Nature's Autumn weather brought a last gasp
of its youthful character to our students
succumbing to its magical outdoor concerto.
The real subjects at school
They say that at school
you study many subjects:
languages, mathematics, history,
geography, sciences, arts,
music, physical education and others.
But I tell you that these
are only many, many excuses.
The real subjects which you study...
I see them very, very differently.
The student has to follow
the system... and obey!
He has to confront himself
with adults who want
to control him.
He has to meet other students
in order to socialize and adapt;
or even to fight and win,
to impose his own will!
Or be the victim of abuses
from those primitive teenagers
who are still lacking in civility
The true subjects at school you learn
quickly after the first days in class,
when you have to remain seated
and you cannot do what you want.
And when in the corridors or open spaces,
or in the gymnasium or the oval
you are alone and without friends;
you have to survive and use ingenuity,
your very own means in hand
in your very own first society!
And the teacher, were is he?
Let’s learn
Let’s learn something everybody!
That there is the sun that warms the Earth,
that brings light onto everything.
That there is the ocean, the sea, the lake,
the river, the stream and the puddles;
that there are fish of every species.
That it is steam that bring water back
up there into the sky when the rainbow appears,
but also the clouds, rain and the snow.
Let’s learn that there is ice
on tall mountain peaks, but also the smell
of flowers, fresh grass, of animals.
That many shepherds live in the open
when in summer the fireflies shine
in the night under the stars and the moon.
Let’s learn now something about
human beings who live in the world:
the ones who care for each other.
Those who help and smile.
The ones who don’t want to make war,
who try always to reach out to others.
Let’s learn together everyday
to bring to every person, to the people,
comfort, harmony, well being.
Let’s learn finally that humanity,
which is fragile by nature in the infinity,
has only so much, much need of peace.
School and TV
We want to make our school civilized:
that is, we want everyone to be polite.
We want to have the most of freedom.
We love when others are courteous.
We want to teach in an environment
of collaboration where students
develop their own self-disclipine.
We want that students do not fight
with each other, that they do not shout
or scream or misbehave.
We want to see a nice atmosphere
where each person can do what
he/she wants (let’s not forget
our ideal of equal opportunity).
When the students behave well,
you realise that every boy can do
what he wants, that every girl
succeeds in doing what she pleases.
The reason for this progress
in the behaviour of students
can be attributed to television.
They follow her more closely
than they do with us teachers
who are present in class!
Listen to how the students speak
of this great educator: everyone
follows his own favourite program,
of which he speaks with great interest and respect!
We have been replaced by a more important
instructor! But we, teachers,
will not give up to reclaim
our presence and influence in schools.
What shall we do? Find a solution!
Maybe we should use our images
of teachers to go to air,
to communicate with our students,
since they are more willing
to listen to us when we are no longer
there in class physically, as a person!
It’s a novel virtual teaching,
without emotions! If you really
want to teach in this virtual reality
you must be prepared to face the reality
of a new telematic, visible, objective
teaching style! You, teacher, will have
a greater impact on those
that want to really listen to you
or eliminate you with the click of a button
to turn on or turn off the television set!
It’s so true!!!
Your eyes are the window
to your soul. Yes, this is true
especially when one of my student
avoids my stare, when he looks
sideways or rolls his eyes in the air!
That tells me that he is not up to date
with his work, that he doesn’t care
about this subject, that he is merely
in this class to warm his chair!
I ask him to look into my eyes
and he realizes that he cannot escape
his obligations, his responsibilities!
He cannot make excuses or move in his seat.
It now seems silly to find new ways to meet;
for, alas, our eyes have met, and now
he knows the truth, he knows what to do!
All this happened because deep in his eyes
there was a portion of his soul that told me
that he didn’t know any better, that he was
still too young, too unaware, immature!!!
If you are lucky to meet your soul,
you finally meet up with the yourself
that can be better, that can be great,
that can do, do well and succeed.
Go for it!!!
Cop This Out
Don’t let me stop your learning,
open your books on the correct page.
Don’t let me stop your Lettura and,
when you are bored, Conversare e Parlare.
Don’t forget to Scrivere a postcard from
our favourite spot in Melbourne town,
or from the ocean waves of Lorne,
or the Twelve Apostles or Warrnambool!
Don’t let me stop you
opening your books.
Don’t let me stop you
doing revision!
Don’t let me tell you
what to do in Italiano,
you know how to say:
‘Ciao, buongiorno ed arrivederci!”
Your amici are everywhere
and you’ll see them in Lygon Street
drinking a caffelatte and sharing a bacio or two!
Sit around and tell stories of your nonno or nonna,
and their wonderful cucina and molto buon vino.
Take pride in your pasta with salsa, e le salsicce,
e le cotolette con insalata, e un gelato al cioccolato.
E Buon Appetito. Grazie. Altrettanto
Don’t let me stop you
opening your books.
Don’t let me stop you
doing revision!
Don’t let me tell you
what to do in Italiano,
you know how to say:
‘Ciao, buongiorno ed arrivederci!”
Don’t tell me that one day
you are going to Italy.
I don’t believe you want
to go on a gondola in Venice
or visit the leaning Tower of Pisa
or walk on the slopes of fiery Vesuvius
or sing on an ancient stage in Syracuse,
or walk sul Gianicolo in Roma at sunset!
Don’t let me stop you
opening your books.
Don’t let me stop you
doing revision!
Don’t let me tell you
what to do in Italiano,
you know how to say:
‘Ciao, buongiorno ed arrivederci!”
You don’t know English well. You think that’s enough!
So, don’t tell me that you don’t want
to learn another language - that’s too bad!
You told me that you might develop due lingue
in your mouth; you might find it hard eating
your spaghetti: you may roll a tongue in your fork
and swallow the other in the gullet!
Ma tanti auguri lo stesso. Impara, impara, impara!
Don’t let me stop you
opening your books.
Don’t let me stop you
doing revision!
Don’t let me tell you
what to do in Italiano,
you know how to say:
‘Ciao, buongiorno ed arrivederci!”
Three Girls from my School
Three young girls by their lockers
are taking our their books for class.
They are chatting, laughing and are happy
because they are young and have no worries.
Nous chantons tous les matins
quand notre professeur vient par ici.
Nous voulons qu’il nous regarde
parce que que nous sommes ses favories!
But the teacher is worried because he is late
for his form assembly. He walks past
quickly through the crowded corridor
and he smiles as he says: bonjour, mes jeunes filles!
Nous chantons tous les matins
quand notre professeur vient par ici.
Nous voulons qu’il nous regarde
parce que que nous sommes ses favories!
To attract their teacher’s attention
the three students decide to sing him a song.
Their serenade is now well known
throughout the school and it goes like this...
Nous chantons tous les matins
quand notre professeur vient par ici.
Nous voulons qu’il nous regarde
parce que que nous sommes ses favories!
Flickering Darts
Behold the feeling of men
apart from the rule of law.
See those instincts in the raw
playing games of survival.
What endurance there is
when the spirit is alive!!!
There goes the mean dagger
of cronies who, like witches
in the night, brood over
the black pot of discord,
taking out potions of venom
and, with their spoons, flickering
them onto those effigies
of men, in their mortal remains.
The Body may suffer standing
pain and anger, but the spirit
rises to an almighty scream:
“Vendetta! Vendetta! Vendetta!”
Then you see those cronies
with their spirit naked, inflated,
floating in space like balloons
of Montpellier! Our revoir! Adieu!
End of the Year
They come each year in hordes
and, like fury, they take all
and leave, like leaves
on an autumn tree.
There I stand, desolate and alone,
awaiting the coming
of another season.
“Like leaves on an autumn tree
they left me!!! Never to return
to this same year, to this set
of classes and activities!”
In the Lake Mungo Region
The bones of people
living in the Lake Mungo Region
have been there for 60,000 years.
The bones of people
buried in the sand dunes
of the Lake Mungo Region give us
a clue of the aborigines’ story.
In the sand dunes
of the Lake Mungo Region
there is a skeleton.
“I am a skeleton
in the sand dunes
of the Lake Mungo Region.
When my bones were full of flesh,
I inhabited this land,
drank from the waters
and listened to the stories
of my ancestors from my elders.
I hunted, gathered fruit
and fished. I walked
about with my group
and saw lizards, emus
and kangaroos.
My friend Mulwala
painted in a cave
our ancestor hero, Bunjil
and his dingoes. Mindeye,
the rainbow serpent,
helped in the creation
of our mountains and trees,
of our flowers and water paths.
We lived in our land
awaiting the changes of weather.
We lived with our people
knowing that Mother Earth
would one day take us back
into the Sky World of our ancestors.
We lived, we loved,
I am now dead
so that you can see
which kulin* once upon a time
were owned by the lands
of the Lake Mungo* Region.”
* People
** North of Mildura, Victoria
The Fire of the Aborigines
They say that ‘Fire’ were Alpha and Beta Centaurs,
the two star pointers up there in the Skyworld
where two young brothers, Kanbi and Jitabidi,
lived in a camp near the Southern Cross.
During a famine in that part of the Universe,
all the heavenly heroes of the Dreamtime sought
refuge in various planets of the Constellation.
That’s how Kanbi and Jitabidi arrived in Australia.
In this land of megafauna where diprotedons lived
alongside the big possums, emus and kangaroos,
the two newly arrived brothers found that food was
plentiful and their ‘firesticks’, Alpha and Beta, were useful.
One day during a hunting in progress the two firesticks
that had been left behind in the camp became really bored,
so they chased each other and finally struck their heads...
and caused a bushfire, forcing all the animals into the open.
You can just imagine how happy the local Aborigines were
when their hunters rushed with their spears and finished the game!
Kanbi and Jitabidi were so annoyed that their fun had come to an end
that they sent Alpha and Beta straight back into the Heavens!
Today these star pointers fired my inspiration, this is true, but for
the kulin in my area and all the other Koorie people out there ‘Fire’
is sister and brother, it is a legend and a symbol evermore present
in their Culture: it still helps in hunting, cooking, dancing and living!
History
Who tells it has it.
It’s inside who remembers it.
There is also in it whoever is recognized.
Those who are liked by others are there,
who has really done something more.
Who has simply written
some verses… sometimes an encyclopaedia!
There are the many angles
of the prism of facts.
There are also those
who have done nothing.
Or who have imagined too much.
Therefore, there inside, you find
also the illusions and delusions
of who thinks that he/she has done
but in fact he/she hasn’t…
History is how
it is told
and who tells it.
History is important
for the important…
But history belongs to all.
Wondrous beauty...
and literature!
Art, Literature,
films, cassettes,
video, DVDs
give everyone
a sense of the beauty
of this life.
Humans strive and thrive
on the glory
of it all.
All this information,
communication offer
belonging, togetherness,
happiness!
Art and Literature
have no price!
Just ask
my printer!