Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Lucknow Sentinel, 1988-10-19, Page 1340 B ruce schools lead pack; hope to keep Lord's Prayer in place It may be that the Ministry of Education for the Province of Ontario has taken its cue from the Bruce County Board of Education when it comes to the matter of use of The Lord's Prayer in the public schools. At the October school board meeting held this month in Ripley, Director or Education P.A.Martindale told truste._ that feedback he was receiving from the principals in Bruce County was that they wished to continue using The Lord's Prayer in the schools and the Morals and Values Program developed in the county 10 years ago. And that may be no problem at all in Bruce County. In a telephone interview with D.H. Car- roll, superintendent of Schools from the Chesley board office, The Sentinel learned that Ontario regulations permit the use of The Lord's Prayer providing it is part of a "balanced program" in which viewpoints other than those of the Judaeo-Christian persuasion are offered. "We feel we have a balanced program right at the moment rooted in commonly accepted moral values of the people in Bruce County," said Carroll. Hesaid the Bruce County program which was developed in 1978 via a concen- sus of community opinion, is currently under review locally. He said it was scheduled for review anyway, but the pro- cess has been speeded up a little because of the recent Ontario Court of Appeal deci- sion which struck down Section 28 (1) of Ontario Regulation 262 regarding use of The Lord's Prayer in the province's public schools. One of the persons who will assist with this review is Al Leeder of Wiarton, a former Bruce County elementary school principal who was project convener when the current morals and values program for Bruce County schools was developed. "Bruce County was among the first boards in Ontario to do something about developing a morals and values program for the schools," said Mr. Leeder in a telephone interview. "We were on the growing edge of that whole thing which began about 1977." MAMMOTH UNDERTAKING A long and stressful consultative process to get a cross-section of the opinions of Bruce County residents paid off hand- somely, in the opinion of Al Leeder. In fact, it may be a one -of -a -kind undertaking that really set a course for the future of educa- tion in Ontario. "You are getting very close to the sur- face of people's emotions when you talk about morals and values," said Leeder, "so it was stressful. But it was one of the most rewarding things I did in my whole career." The first thing Bruce County educators did was to call a general meeting of the ratepayers of Bruce County for the pur- pose of discussing education. Out of that meeting came evidence of a desire on the part of the populace to include some kind of morals and values emphasis in the school program. The next step was to ask parents of school children to come to meetings to discuss their feelings and ideas about the whole concept of morals and values being taught in the schools. Six meetings in six different schools across the county were held. Presentations by educators were made at all of these meetings, questionnaires were handed out for completion and submissions on the sub- ject of morals and values education were invited from the public. Similar meetings were held with Bruce County school teachers and with clergy persons and recognized spokesmen of groups of all faiths in Bruce. Groups of educators talked with senior high school students at all Bruce County high schools to glean their opinions and gather their response. From all these meetings and from all the questionnaires and written submissions, results were tabulated. The core group then formulated goals and objectives for a morals and values program in Bruce County. A special curriculum committee was set up with representation from every school, every division (primary, junion, senior) and every subject area. "The object was to develop a set of guidelines that did not disturb the educa- tion program already in place but attemp- ted to enhance it," explained Leeder. said the idea was to include Bruce Junty's accepted morals and values judgements in and with every lesson taught m the schools. "We wanted to exert an influence on that which already existed," said Leeder. OPENING EXERCISES During this in-depth study, it was clear that attention must be directed to the mat- ter of opening and closing exercises in the schools. The decision was made to careful- ly orchestrate school openings and clos- ings to reflect the commonly accepted moral attitudes of Bruce County residents. "Many morals are commonly accepted by people, whether they attend church or not," said Leeder. Things like courage, honesty, diligence, endurance, friendship and gratitude are desirable behaviour for people of all beliefs. The list of these commonly accep- table attributes includes about 100 dif- ferent things, said Don Carroll. According to Al Leeder, the Bruce Coun- ty opening exercises as approved by the residents of Bruce County include 0 Canada, repeating The Lord's Prayer or other suitable prayer, a three or four minute prepared reading on one of the ac- ceptable attitudes previously mentioned, a reading from the Bible or other suitable source to support the theme of the reading for the day, and a capsule thought for the day to support the theme. These thoughts are drawn from many sources including Confucius, Buddha, the Koran etc. The opening exercises are prepared and printed for teachers to follow. "It's just one sheet of paper for each day," said Leeder, "but there are about 100 of them." "We saw . that it was broadening our children's views about people and about living," said Leeder. "We began to feel that in the management of children in the schools, there was some validity in the belief that children could define their own behaviour." OPTIONAL FOR TEACHERS Some teachers began to see the oppor- tunity to help students develop inter- personal skills at an early age. Some began to use - and still use - one class period per week to talk about these things, but it is optional to teachers who may not be comfortable with it. Teachers found that when children own the rules by which they live - when they learn they have to live with the results of the decisions they make - they begin to discipline themselves. They start to make more acceptable judgements about they way they are behaving. "It's just about what life really is," said Leeder. "Decisions and consequences are intermeshed." SAME PROCESS Leeder has been invited by the Bruce Board of Education to take part in the cur- rent review of the morals and values pro- gram. He's quite willing to help, even though he's not teaching a regular basis any more. He recommends that the same con- sultative process be used to review the pro- gram as was used to develop it. "Providing we go to our people, pro- viding we really listen to what they are saying and try to r +bulate their feelings to discover the corn ,nly accepted values in Bruce County, wt will have no problem," said Leeder who has offered his services as a resource person. But he doesn't envision the need to do everything all oc again. He believes the study group can ,ok at what's working and what can be done better. "The ministry direction is to provide a balanced approach," said Leeder. "I believe we have a balanced approach in Bruce County. I believe Bruce County is among the leaders m Ontario in this regard." Lucknow Sentinel, Wednesday, October 19, 1988—Page 13 H 7 • Reversible Red and Green Coats and Vests • Heavy Work Shirts • Rubber Boots • Work Socks • Insul Work Boots •Sport Socks •Dress Socks GROCER;ES *Pop *Chip* flcars Bruce Packets Summer &misuse HARDWARE *Staples *Nails *Salts *Lack Washers *oil *Anti -freeze *Grease VIDEO MOVIES FOR RENT LICENSES AVAILABLE •Fishing *Hunting •Archery *Bear *Small Game •Moose HOLYROOD VARIETY AND AUCTION CENTRE Open 7 Days A Week 395-5062 ' Bring Your Decorated Pumpkin To The LUCKNOW CO-OP Monday, October 17th to Friday, October 21 For Judging * EXTRA BONUS * With a purchase over $5 each child will receive a Looney Dollar Pancake & Sausage Breakfast Saturday, October 22 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. Come join us for Co-op Week Celebrations, and see the prize winning pumpkin LUCKNOW DISTRICT CO-OPERATIVE INC. HURON ROAD #1 LUCKNOW 529-7953