MEMBERS NEWS "O.K. I hope we're not too long, because I've got things to do too, Darren, but we've got to see how we can help you to keep up with your work."
Again, with a crestfallen look on his face and a “more in sorrow than anger voice” the teacher asked, “Just finish off the map and then you can go.”
This was a deliberately gentle start from the teacher who was a bundle of contradictory emotions as he tackled this interview, standing at the blackboard and trying to look relaxed and to sound pastoral. His heart was pumping with a strange mixture of surprise, fear and compassion.
If only he could understand what was going on in that youngster, whose eyes were narrowing, whose normally pasty colouring was rapidly turning a bright shade of red and whose pursed lips looked ready to snap open and bite.
Surprise, because Darren had actually remained; fear, because he had seen Darren explode before compassion, because he was aware of some of the problems that Darren brought in to the school with him. "I've gotta get home ... and you're not allowed to keep me." “I’ll keep you as long as we need. Just settle down and finish your work and then we can talk about what happens next. You know I’ve talked to your mum and you know she wants to you have some success at school. Just sit down and finish copying that map and then you can go. It’ll only take a couple of minutes if you get stuck into it.” “I’m not doing that now. I’ve gotta meet me friends and they’re waiting for me.” The teacher had faced lots of these typical moves from wayward students who could not countenance staying back, particularly on a Friday afternoon. He persevered, aware that his body was becoming more tense by the moment and that his voice was becoming softer in inverse proportion to his anger.
Again, the soft response. Somehow this seemed to aggravate the situation and Darren turned to his desk, snatched up his folders – he never brought a bag to school – and looked as if he was going to flee. “Darren, getting angry’s not going to help. If you go now, you won’t be allowed back next week and then your mother will be upset. Let’s work out why you’re messing round so much and ruining your chances.” “It’s none of your business. I’ll do what I like and you’re not going to stop me.” There was a long pause while the combatants glared at one another, both victims and yet both strangely powerful. In the teacher's mind, the last few months flashed by in a minisecond. Darren was one of the most frightened and angry students he had ever encountered, with a desperate need to keep adults at a distance and to play up to his peer group. Earlier in the year the school had arranged for him to attend a special small school where some gifted staff had built a relationship with him and helped him gain some self-respect on the way back to normality.
The teacher had visited the home, had a profitable discussion with Darren's mother and older brother and his return last month had been accompanied by some real hope for a better term than last year. Now this ... and a sinking feeling of deja vu and another failure.
Discovering Melbourne We are very proud to have such a disparate and varied membership. Graduate Union Members are all over Australia and the world. This month we present to you the latest Melbourne gems that should be explored, whether you are temporarily passing through the world's most livable city, or you reside here.
Who was winning? By now, they had been in the classroom for ten minutes, so the teacher had succeeded in keeping Darren against his will. What sort of success was that? Darren was still frustrated and he had still not finished the assigned task - filling in a few cities on a map of India. Once more the request was made, quietly and persistently. "Come on, Darren, just finish off that map and then you'll be free to go." What happened next remained embedded in the teacher's memory for life. He often wondered whether he had provoked the outburst by the very deliberately quiet manner in which he had addressed his combatant. With a sudden lunge, Darren leapt to the blackboard and slammed his clenched fist against it with all the accumulated anger he had been nursing. The sound echoed around the silent corridors along which he strode towards freedom from the oppression of the afternoon. A winner?
The names in the story have been changed.
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Aboriginal Heritage Walk
Winter Night Market Queen Victoria Market, Corner Queen and Therry Street. 7th June, 14th June, 21st June, 2017 Queen Victoria Night Markets are back on Wednesdays and will be starting in June. Explore the wonder of one of Melbourne’s greatest markets against the backdrop of a starry Melbourne night sky.
Birdwood Avenue, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, Birdwood Avenue. With an Indigenous Australian guide, you can explore the Royal Botanic Gardens through the history of its Traditional Owners. The tour includes a traditional smoking ceremony, a guided walk through important areas of the gardens, discussions about the traditional uses for food, tools and medicine. The tour is a fantastic way to learn more about Indigenous heritage. Learn more at https:// www.rbg.vic.gov.au/ whats-on/aboriginalheritage-walk
Run Melbourne Presented by lululemon DENFAIR 2017 Design Exhibition
Federation Square, Melbourne, Corner Swanston Street and Flinders Street.
30th July 2017 Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Join Sole Motive and run 1 Convention Centre Place, Melbourne again in 2017 South Wharf. to celebrate 10 years of Run Melbourne. 10th June 2017
Be part of the 170,000 plus who have helped participated in Run Melbourne since 2008, raising over $12 million for more than 400 charities. With distances of five and ten kilometres or the Half-Marathon, there is an option available for everyone. Run for a charity close to 12,000 square metres of your heart, take on a new pure design with over 300 curated design brands challenge, or aim for a personal best. on display, you can lose yourself in the world of design that Australia has to offer. Denfair is the leading destination for contemporary design in Australia. As the only design event dedicated to tailoring authentic design to design professionals, DENFAIR will open its doors to the public for one day only on 10 June.
If you have any recommendations for places or events of interest for our Members and Residents, email publications@graduatehouse.com.au www.graduatehouse.com.au | ABN 55610 664 963 | Incorporated Association Registration No. A0023234B | 31
