Great Scot December 2017 GreatScot_152_Dec_Online | Page 15

I feel uncomfortable with the idea
of ‘tolerating’ other people’s beliefs,
backgrounds, faiths or ethnicity. To me, it
sounds as if we are saying, ‘I don’t accept
your beliefs but I will put up with them.’
I much prefer to consider this topic along
the lines of having ‘understanding and
compassion’ for others rather than showing
‘tolerance’ towards them.
Our school is very public in regards
to its policy for enrolment of boys. We
are an open entry school, and we accept
boys from all backgrounds and walks of
life equally. As long as you have placed
your son’s name on the enrolment list
early enough, he will be offered a place at
Scotch. I love the fact that we have such
a wide range of ethnic backgrounds at
Scotch, as I think it adds enormously to
each boy’s education.
Having taught in the primary sector
for almost 40 years, I know that young
children do not see differences between
people the way many adults do. Young
children really couldn’t care less whether
their classmates are from a different
culture, religion, have a different skin
colour or a different language. They just
care about making friends and playing
together. Unfortunately, it seems that
society and the influence of the media
often impact on this innocence, and
boys sometimes begin to use phrases and
words that can be denigrating of others’
differences. It is important to allow
children opportunity to think about
diversity in our world and how we can
embrace others, rather than use difference
as a means of creating separation between
people.
One of my most enjoyable times each
week is when I get to work with a group
of nine Year 6 boys in a ‘Literature Circle’
session. These sessions are much like a
student version of a book club.
Earlier this year my group read a novel
called Pennies for Hitler by Australian
author Jackie French. In this novel, set in
pre-World War II Germany, a German boy
named Georg experiences persecution as
a result of his father’s Jewish heritage. In
the story, Georg has to be smuggled out of
Germany to live with his English aunt in
London, where he feels compelled to hide
his German background from others.
Eventually, as a result of the London
blitz, he is relocated to Australia along
with many hundreds of English children to
escape the dangers of the war. Georg again
feels compelled to hide his background
from his foster family. Along the way he
is confronted with the idea that perhaps
his beloved country and its leaders are not
something to be proud of, and he questions
his earlier belief system and the things
that Hitler had done to certain groups of
people.
The boys in my group loved discussing
these concepts of racial intolerance and
persecution of others. We spent many
sessions talking about other similar events
in history, such as Chairman Mao Tse
Tung’s reign in China, the Taliban regime
in Afghanistan, and, more currently, the
situation in North Korea. It is fair to say
that the boys struggled to understand how
such people were able to come to power
and have great support from their country,
when it seems so wrong to treat people in
those ways.
In the Junior School we talk to the
boys regularly about values and how to
be a good person. Most importantly, we
often talk to them about respect – respect
for others, respect for property and respect
for themselves. The message is clear and
consistent: we all need to treat everyone
else with fairness and compassion. For the
boys in our senior year levels, we provide
opportunity to consider where, why and
how oppression and discrimination occurs
in the world and even in our own country.
In younger years we talk about treating
everyone fairly, and that the differences
between us are things to celebrate and
enjoy.
We have a great opportunity to
build a community of acceptance and
understanding through our youngest
members. I feel it is vital, if not crucial,
that we guide these young minds to
understand that respect for others means
all people, not just those who are most like
ourselves.
www.scotch.vic.edu.au Great Scot
15