The Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-05-03, Page 23sijkes
Inside this section:
GLT'thriller lived up tot he name of the play , Page 3A
Goderich Art Club prepares for the annual show Page 4A
The United Church of Canada's area churches meetPage 6A
Jack Riddell writes about his concerns over foreign
ownership Page 7A
Obituaries Pages 8A, 9A
Captain Comet Pages 14A, 15A, 16A
I think this message -is., being
misinterpreted.
Npw I don't mean to be preumptuous
in claiming there is a Message in these
bits. At least not on a consistent basis.
But, unequivocally, these
paragraphs have peen taken out of
context, twisted and generally in-
trepreted to suit the readers' needs.
On occasion, readers have coralled
this correspondent by the shirt collar,
coat, nose <whatever was available). to
offer their opinion on these grey bits.
Comments are appreciated but
physical intimidation really isn't
necessary.
But then just last week one faithful
reader was able to distinguish this
scribe from the seagull in the
caricature and offered a critique on the
column.
" I get a chuckle, out of your column,"
she stated flatly.
A chuckle. To be honest I was
crushed.
Has this piece at the top of the page
simply turned into a replacement for
the Johnny Carson show?
I would hope not.
Are readers missing the poignant
social commentary, political analysis,
economic policies and solutions to the
world's major problems that dot this
column on a weekly basis?
If this peice was {merely good for a
chuckle then it is safe to assume those
pain ts.are going undetected cted.
Never for a minute did I suspect that
these words were rendering the faithful
readership useless' in a fit of . gut-
wrepching laughter. That's not my
style.
Surely readers aren't: overlooking
solutions proposed to the country's
economic ills because a few witty bits
accidentally creeped into the column
bringing tears to their eyes.
Really, I should be more careful.
And while I offered key insights into
the upcoming federal election did the
points go straight over readers' heads
'after
they stopped to slap their knee
after a humorous phrase, thereby
losing their train of thought.
Truly an oversight on my part.
Should this scribe assume then, that
as a result of the mirth and merriment
contained in these 800 words, although
unkown to the writer, readers are
unable to complete the colun.n without
continual fits.„of laughter or re -reading
key witty bits to the better ha if.
The indication is there.
Please accept my humble apology.
There was never any conscious intent
on my part to dispense with much
jocularity among ttis•seri.ous stuff. So
what am I to do to relieve this column
of the apparent gaiety?
Perhaps it would be reasonable to
ask the proof readers to scan these bon
mots with extra caution slashing
vigorously at any phrases, sentences or
paragraphs with a hint of humor.
Afterall, it was never anticipated
that. these columns even produced a
weak smile.
Or, this correspondent could watch
readers while scanning their favorite
weekly to see if they can make it
through this column without a smirk,
chuckle or hearty laugh.
But not even the editor or
management has cautioned this writer
about the amount of mirth that
unknowingly slips into this solemn and
responsible piece. Undoubtedly, if it
continues, there will be a stern warning
issued in this direction.
While this columnist is in a quandry
there is little choice but to ask the
readership to lend a hand and relieve
this writer of the unbearable guilt.
So readers are asked to scrutinize
these paragraphs closely and if there is
anything that provokes a smile,
laughter or all-out slap on the'knee,
send it back to me.
My image is at stake.
Goderich
132—YEAR 18
SIGNAL
THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1979
STAR
SECOND SECTION
Teachers reluctant to teach morals- values
BY
SHIRLEY J.KELLER
Question: You are a
Grade 3 student on your
way to school one mor-
ning. On the way, you
come across a little girl,
standing and crying
under a tree. e. The little
gir•I's cat• is -up the tree
and can't get down. What
do you do?
.Answer: You must
make -' a - values
judgement. What you do
will depend on your own
sense of what's right and
° wrong, important and
unimportant.
Exercise: To deter-
mine all the alternatives
and the various con-
sequences of those
alternatives, and then
decide on that basis what
you will•do.
The theme at Friday's
professional activity day
for the Huron County
Board of Education's
.-elementary school
teachers held in South
Huron District High
School, Exeter, was
Moral -Values Education.
The day -long sessions
were attended by
teachers, principals,
board staff and some
parents who came to hear
presentations made by
' some selected staff
Members from London
and Hamilton Boards of
Education.
Moral -values education
is 'nothing new' ac-
cording to the majority of
teachers at the seminar.
Teachers' down through
the centuries have been
attempting to instill in
their students a respect
for and an understanding
of high moral standards
and healthy values
•
judgements.
What's new, of course,
is that nolo/ the. Ontario
Ministry of Health is
encouraging teachers to
actively program moral
values education ' into
their regular classroom
lessons.
What's different. is that -
instead of incidentally
guiding youngsters in
satisfactory, moral -
values modes, the
ministry is now saying
teachers should
deliberately plant moral -
values le
ssons in, with
and under"inatheniatics,
spelling, history,
geography and physical
education.
. To put it bluntly, the
teachers of the Huron
County, Board of
Education are skeptical
about itall.
OTHERS FAILING
Don Santos, moral
education consultant for
the London Board of
Education, said the
primary responsibility
for moral -values
education should rest
with the parents in the
home and with the
church.
The school, according
to Santor, has at best a
secondary responsibility
to inculcate morals
values education into the
regular curriculum.
But Santor admitted
that in a'growing number
cases, the home in the
first instance and the
church' in the second.
instance, are abdicating
this responsibility. That's
why the school is being
saddled with the job in
more and more locations.
Whose values arid '
morals do you teach? The
teacher's? The board's?
Actually, the classroom
teacher tries very hard
not to teach any one
particular set of morals
and values rules. The
object .is to lea
And there is "need- for
caution. Don't expect all
children, to reach the
same conclusion. And
could tell somebody else
about it•who was bigger.
And I would stillbe on
time for school."
don't challenge the _ The skillful teacher
youngster who makes a
moral or value decision
that is different from
your own.
THE CAT IN THE REE
L �
get back 'o the
little girl's cat who is
stranded in the tree. And
let's try to imagine how a
Grade. 3 student would
react to this problem.
Student One: "I would
go straight to school. I
would not stop to help the
little ' girl. It is her
problem. What difference
would it make if the cat
stayed up in the tree all
day? I would tell the girl.
to stop crying and get to
school before she got into
any more trouble." '
Student Two: "I would
go straight to school. If I
stopped to help the little
girl get her cat out of the
tree, I would be in trouble
with the teacher. The
teacher would tell my
mom and dad I was late,
and they would make me
stay home on Saturday
afternoon. I'd like to help
the little girl, but I'd get
into, too much trouble
over it."
Student Three: "I
would help the little girl.
If it was my cat, I would
want somebody 'to help
me. I wouldn't care if I
was late. If I had to stay
in, I would. But maybe if
the teacher knew why I
was, late, she'd say it was
okay for me to be late this
once."
Student Four: "I would
go straight to school, but •
I'd help the little girl, too.
lead the
Let's I'd stop at som
:louse and tell somebody vinced. Some of them
about . the_ l.ittl.g. gi-i 4's m feared -----t at :.mors.= -r--
problem: Or I'd telephone values education could
my mom. Maybe I'd tell get "dicey", partitularly
the teacher. I'm too•small, when it came to
to get the. cat out of the judgements that could be
tree by myself, but I in conflict with the
.I.
would carefully draw out
all possible sdlu.tions to
the problem of the little
girl with the cat in the
tree. The teacher might
indeed indicat
e
by a
manner or by some
statement 'which alter-
native seems the best but
in general, the purpose of
morals -values education
would beserved simply
by allowing the students
to see how their peers
would react . to this
situation, how they would
deal with it and why, and
then make their own
decisions based on this
knowledge.
•PARENTS SATISFIED
Teachers from
Hamilton and London
who were using these
methods in their classes,
said parents seemed
pleased with the results.
Don Santor described it _
as "building a bridge
network between the
school and home". Santor
said these morals -values
education sessions often
prompted family
discussions and opened.
the way for com-
munication between
parents and children. '
One teacher from
Hamilton commented
that she had often ex-
perienced irate parents
as a result of regular
classroom programs, but
to date had never had one
angry parent because of
the morals -values
education lessons. '
Huron County teachers
students into the widest
possible discussion of all
-the alternatives ,in any
one particular issue, and
then let the students.
decide which alternative
is the best.
teachings of home and
church. _
Don Santor touched on
religious problems. He
said that in general, all
religions ascribe to 'the
concept that morals -
values judgements
should be made for the
ultimate good of
mankind. k d. .Only , two
religions -' ,the Church of
Satan andto some extent
the Hari Krishna - would
be in any conflict with'
this concept.
A BIT OF
PSYCHOLOGY? -
While Friday's
meetings in Exeter
contained a wealth of
knowledge about a
number of varying
courses within any
morals -values education
program, teachers from
each school broke into as
many teams as possible
to insure that all areas
were covered. It nokv
remains for the teachers
• to go back to their in-'
dtvidual schools,
assimilate all the in-
formation from the
teams, discuss it and
possibly make Borne
recommendation about a
morals -values education
program in Huron.
There is no immediate
decision to formally
include morals -values
education in the
curriculum in Huron
County schools.
And it appears that
there are a number of
teachers from the Huron
system who. really
Y
question the need for it .,..
or certainly some parts of
it.
One such portion was
Transactional Analysis.
which in the Hamilton
schools, is taught to
students from kin-
dergarten up.
"We even call it
Transactional Analysis
or TA,:' said,the pert little
instructor proudly. "We
actually. Y saY, now.it ...is
time for TA.
Transactional analysis
is the study of man's
Turn to page 2A •
As part of Education Week last week, students at Holmesville
Public School performed their spring concert including the
of'eretta called, His Majesty's Pie, Left to right are, Heather
Lindsay (the princess), Shawn Rehbek (the King), Allan Van der
Ende (Lord High Chancellor), Elise Lindsay (a page of the court)
and Shelley -Anne Teal (the troubadour). Besides the operetta„.
the concert featured three choirs and the school band. (Photo by
Joanne Buchanan)
I'm not up on the latest concerns of
women trying to liberate themselves
from the role us male chauvinist pigs
gave them but I understand one of the
things that has to go is beauty contests.
'Unless I'm mistaken there was a
little discontent -over the contests.
Something about men, and I suppose
some women, ignoring the important..
attributes of a female human being
(i.e. personality, •character, attitude
and her outlook on life in general) and
• concentrating on her physical at-
tributes. -
Some women feel that those
misplaced priorities in beauty contests
are demeaning. They claim that the
judging of the girls in Miss Canada,
Miss America and Miss Universe
contests is done during the bathing suit
competition and that the remainder of
the contest, the talent portion and the
interview with the girls, is only politely
viewed by judges.
Never having paid a heck of a lot of
attention to beauty contests (I find
thein boring) I have little reason to
doubt their claims. I flicked on the old
tube last night around 10 o'clock and in
my travels around the channel selector
I came across the Miss America
contest. It just happened to be the
bathing suit competition.
I really did want to hear the girls
speak toallow me to form some kind of
opinion about them. But the format of
the show and the fact that my television
aerial is not on top of the CN tower
prevented that. I barely got to see the
parade of flesh before the signal faded
into oblivion.
But what I did see impressed me
after a fashion. 1 mean, some of those
lovely human beings were also built
like brick....
Not only were they well proportioned
they were nice to look at. And as an
added feature the pageant has gone
computer.
As each girl was introduced she
walked to the centre of the stage,
walked down a few steps to a spot close
to the judging area, set herself up as
best she could and stood for viewing. I
mean there wasn't much a fellow could
do but judge the girl on her ap-
pearance. What can you learn. about
someone's personality from that kind
of entrance?
As each girl prepared to leave the
stage her scoring was flashed in a
digital readout in a tiny square on the
screen. I've seen. the same type of
scoring results posted for dog, cattle
and horse shows but that's modern
technology. -
But the computer had nothing on the
audience. The guys sitting in the hack
of the auditorium had it all over the
computer for instant results. Whoever
they were they outguessed that com-
puter every time and were faster to
make up their minds.
As each girl was! introduced the
reaction of these. guys almost
guaranteed the computer results. Miss
Arizona brought a sizeable stirring
from the back of the room and she was
given an 8.2. Miss New York must have
dazzled somebody because her en-
trance was greeted with a roar of
approval and she drew an 8.5. Miss
Mississippi was a sure candidate for
top honors. The drooling of the back of
the room gang, almost drowned out
their cheers and the computer
responded with an 8.7.
But what if Miss Mississippi slipped
up during the .interview and said a no:
no. She may not win. I suppose Miss
New York had a personality like the
girl next door and if it came down to
deciding between the two the guys in
the hack probably would be willing to
b9ost her up to an 8.7 on the rector
scale. -
Now tell me, what's demeaning
about that.
jerFsed
don
7