Spencer Dunkerley 1916-1982 (Year's mind 3 July)

Spencer Dunkerley

I met Spencer, for so he was ever  known , when I went to St Mark’s College, Adelaide in the early 70s. He was at that time  a Lecturer in History of Education at the  University of Adelaide.

But most of his students  sussed early on that he was boring and lacked the capacity to deliver… a dull voice and he had a total lack of awareness that he was NOT connecting with the couple of hundred folk who were supposed to receive his wisdom.  His content was rock solid, so thank goodness he provided good notes ..in the days long-before it was usual for Lecturers to provide same.

Spencer was born in Oldham, Lancashire c 1916 He was privileged to go to Manchester Grammar School, one of the schools which straddled the state/private school system.

He went to Kings College Cambridge in the pre-war period and consolidated an already expansive knowledge of modern history there.

There is a record of his commissioning as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Intelligence Corps on 25 Jan 1942, my memory is that he served in the Middle East and particularly in Cairo (prior to the Israel ‘resettlement’), and then subsequently in Africa as a functionary of the Foreign Office burning unused currency ( a funny story for another day)

Post-war he tested his vocation at the Community of the  Resurrection, Mirfield, Yorkshire -(https://www.mirfield.org.uk/) but did not proceed to profession. He was however prepared for ordination and duly ordained ( not a 100% sure but maybe for St Nicholas Leicester or Coventry…by Bp Guy Smith (c 1952.) or perhaps Cuthbert Bardsley for Coventry...am thinking the latter)

Spencer subsequently came as  a ‘missionary’ to be a Bush Brother in Queensland [ maybe the Brotherhood of St Paul, or the Brotherhood of the Good Shepherd…not sure which]…either way he drove outback Queensland in a Mini,  which was a miracle in itself.  he was a fairly hair-raising driver!

(Spencer (L) with the saintly Fr Percy Smith a pioneer advocate and pastor to young indigenous men in Alice Springs, and Port Adelaide watch the Charles Perkins video here )





He was seduced to Adelaide in the 60s to be a Chaplain at the University, and then to be   a senior Lecturer  in the Department of Education. He lived as resident fellow at St Mark’s College until his retirement c. 1980.



Spencer was tragically killed at Edwardstown, South Australia when struck by a motor vehicle on 3rd July 1982 at about 11 p.m. outside his home.

His funeral was held at St Mary Magdalene’s Church, Adelaide and his burial at St Mary’s on the Sturt 1163 South Rd, St Mary’s. Archbishop Keith Rayner presided at the Funeral, and I officiated at the burial. Many of Spencer’s friends  and students were present and a fine young cohort of univeristy and St Mark's students  acted as pall-bearers.



                             “he was a good priest…and I liked him”

Knowing then what you know now

I am actually quite fortunate in that I went to two "quite good"  secondary schools.
When we moved to Australia I went to Whyalla Technical High School
But in those days country schools had no conception that  "country students" might do more than work on the land, or at the steelworks, or in the shipyard.

Let's face it ...this was never going to be my fate!
I came from England with two other languages in tow....French and German....but could only pursue French.  ( I can just get by in both...,.this is a case of how 'education' may well have destroyed a native talent!)
The Science and Maths was Ok and the English was OK.  Music was virtually non-existent,  
as a mediocre cellist there was no-one who could take me to the next step. 
As a quite reasonable singer, there was no one to train my voice.
I didn't even really realise this was happening....I was too busy learning how to smoke!
I lament these things. But life's like that
Whitehaven Grammar School was a classic school of the English Grammar School tradition.My French and German would have been cemented and I would probably have got a grounding in Russian.
I learnt only later in  life that I have  a bit of flair for languages.
I can now struggle by in Hebrew, NT Greek ...and my German and French are still OK.
I lament the lack of Russian!
Soooooo....today, as you do,
I have had a little contact on Facebook 
with former school contacts.
I remember that  
I played the Cello in the orchestra for Trial by Jury in 1967, 
that I was a policeman & a pirate of Penzance. 
That I had been H. Higgins in Pygmalion along with Lynn Breuer (formerly Raymond...and speaker of the Legislative Assembly....who was much better than me !) 
That I had been a Duke both in Merchant of Venice,  and in Twelfth Night. 
That I had conducted  B.Britten's Let's Make an Opera!.....so I can't complain.
Just sort of wish I'd known then what I know now!

Oh school!

I am actually quite fortunate in that I went to two "quite good"  secondary schools.
When we moved to Australia I went to Whyalla Technical High School
But in those days country schools had no conception that  "country students" might do more than work on the land, or at the steelworks, or in the shipyard.
Let's face it ...this was never going to be my fate!
I came from England with two other languages int ow....French and German....but could only pursue French.
The Science and Maths was Ok and the English was OK.  Music was virtually non-existent,  as a mediocre cellist there was no-one who could take me to the next step. As a quite reasonable singer, there was no one to train my voice.
I didn't even really realise this was happening....I was too busy learning how to smoke!
I lament these things. But life's like that
Whitehaven Grammar School was a classic school of the English Grammar School tradition.
My French and German would have been cemented and I would probably have got a grounding in Russian.
I learnt only later in  life that I have  a bit of flair for languages.
I can now struggle by in Hebrew, NT Greek ...and my German and French are still OK.
I lament the lack of Russian!
Soooooo....today, as you do,
I have had a little contact on Facebook with former school contacts.
I remember that  I played the Cello in the orchestra for Trial by Jury in 1967, that I was a policeman & a pirate of Penzance. That I had been H. Higgins in Pygmalion along with Lynn Breuer (formerly Raymond...and speaker of the Legislative Assembly....who was much better than me !) That I had been a Duke both in Merchant of Venice,  and in Twelfth Night. That I had conducted  B.Britten's Let's Make an Opera!.....so I can't complain.
Just sort of wish I'd known then what I know now!

Bind us together!

We had a wonderful morning as we commissioned our local CPSWs....what used to be called School Chaplains .....now the politically correct Christian Pastoral Support Workers

I guess the kids in school today don't quite look like this little chap....but you know kids are kids.
In our Inter Church Council Area (Mitcham Hills) there are a lot of chaplains.
Two in the High School and seven or eight in different primary schools. As well as  St John's Anglican Grammar and St Peter's Lutheran School; the Christian presence in the education of children is maintained.  I am often bemused (were it not so nasty) to note that Churches give a great gift to the wider community through Schools Ministry which fierce anti-Christians seem intent on resisting.
The CPSWs seem intent on supporting vulnerable kids, churches largely fund this exercise above and beyond governmental educational funding. Latterly the Federal government has supported this more generously. It (after all) for them a way of channeling the generosity of churches.

There is, indeed, government sponsorship...but local churches (like ours) make funds available so that there is genuine and caring pastoral ministry. Without the join sponsorship it wouldn't happen.

Belair chaplain, Sarah Walding spoke powerfully of her powerful and intimate ministry with one particular child.
One is always moved to wonder  when you hear the story of how a careful pastoral intervention has taken place.....What would have happened if this person had not chosen to care ??  This is of course the point that is so often forgotten


There are many chaplains, Sam who is pictured below has been at Blackwood High for the best part of the last three decades. This is not flibberty gibbert sort of stuff. This is Churches committing themselves to community life.

Seven decades -1960's

The most amazing thing about the second decade of life is the degree of change that takes place. You start off a  boy and end up a young man. It is disconcerting to say the least.
It is said of the 60s that if you remember it then you weren't there; that, of course, is contingent upon your being a crack head...which I wasn't.
But it was an amazing time in the life of the world. One only has to say Beatles, and that alone explains what a fantastic decade it was. But one could equally well say Moon Landing.
For my family in 1967 we left England and came to South Australia, we did this with a certain sense of sadness. The sort of sadness that anyone will have in leaving the country of their birth, but with no regret and it was certainly the right thing to do....if that construction can be made.
Grammar School in England was very enthralling. I am glad for the opportunity, in particular, of having been exposed to the learning of both French and German...and I rather wish I was better at both (or at least one). School in Australia was quite different, and in some senses I look back and think that it lacked the rigour that I probably needed at the time and so coasted a bit. Regrets, I have a few.
I had a mad group of friends who enjoyed doing plays and music...and of course there was Monty Python (here)
An extraordinary decade really

The Spin Dilemma

Premier Mike Rann said on radio the other day in answer to a caller accusing him of too much "spin"..,.well I suppose you will think this answer is spin any way.
Indeed! Even if a question is answered directly...the spin critics will suggest that you are trying to spin the impression that you are a direct speaker
Damned if you do....
This, incidentally, is why English should do more than just teach grammar. It is more important to know how to decode spin than where to stick your apostrophe!

Historically accurate!

It is interesting tha the national 'debate' (or has the conclusion already been arrived at) about the common curriculum is of different quality depending where you focus.
The Language and Maths areas for example are very narrowly focussed on fairly mundane skills...grammar, adding up, multiplying, spelling...and so on.
The History area is really about evaluative interpretation. Long ago (when I was at school) I remember being told by someone who had not long been out of university that history was not about regurgitating dates. This was news to me. As it seemed that that was all it had been about up until then.
So 1066 is immediately recognisable as a date of significance, and indeed 1914-1918.
But get into it at any deeper level and it is apparent, even obvious , that the dates are not that significant.
They are of course easy to teach!
But what is important is the meaning and interpretation of events, words and actions.
This requires a level of critical skill which is far more important than being able to regurgitate the sucession of British monarchs from 1066 to the present day.

This is also true of English.While I do think that it's important to be able to spell, and to write relatively intelligble English. It's also vital that anyone is taught how to evaluate what is written as well as to spell it correctly.
And not just what is written. But also what is thrust at us in the form of advertising, the values that are promoted through TV and film, and the inevitable need to work out what on earth is the value of anything that appears on the internet.

Lest we think that all problems are solved with rote learning of grammar and spelling, we should I think try to address this some what more deeply and realise that that is only a start.

Maths is a bit more tricky. I am always amazed when I arrive at a checkout and am told that the cost is $7.15; when I hand over a $10 note and a 5 cent and 10 cent piece (thinking I am making their life easier) I am sometimes faced with a puzzled look.
This is because the cash register has told them that the change is $2.85 and they can't always easily work out what they should do when I give the extra 15 cents.
This is very low level stuff.
I think Maths is also evaluative. Statistics are used widely, but which of us can adequately assess what we are told unless we can sort the wheat from the chaff. (don't even start me about the use of metaphor!!)

What is literary truth?

The Australian continues its war against teachers of English. Justine Ferrari can scarcely hide her indignation in a front page piece today (28/2/09) this is followed up by editorial comment which suggests that professional teachers of English have (once again) got it wrong. We are of course entitled to our opinions, though Ferrari's article purports (and I use that word advisedly!) to an objectivity which is tainted with snide comment and emphatic utterance which hardly renders it impartial.
The thrust?
In discussing the national curriculum English teachers want us to recognise that the teaching of literature is inherently a political act. This Marxist view has undoubtedlyt an element of truth.
When you think back to what you were required to read at school, at the very least we should all recognise that we were being given a world-view which was the political correctness of the time.
Not all of this is bad?
But what I think the English teachers are suggesting is that kids read cultural values outside the bounds of literature. Indeed kids don't read anything approaching 'literature'. They do web-surf, they do watch music videos, anime, youtube and so on.
If they were to leave school not being able to evaluate this populist material they are far more vulnerable than if they have never read Great Expectations or even watched youtube about it!!
TheAustralian also takes opportunity to whine about the teaching of grammar ( I have blogged before)
I have mixed feeling about this, but I am most concerned about the fact that the constant demand to "teach grammar" is not about addressing understanding but about doing something manageable. It is not an exercise in education, it is an exercise in control (pretty Marxist sort of stuff ehhh?).
I am not convinced that understanding what an adverbial clause is necessarily contributes to understanding.
I do think that spelling is important, though meaning is more important.
It is important to be able to read critically and to be able to address issues...this is not about parsing sentences and so much of what passes for grammar.
We need to recognise that grammar is the servant of language and not the end.

What education might be for?

My contribution to the wit of the 20th century was "Anglicans like to be told what to do so that they can go ahead and not do it"
I try to not tell people what to do (some would laugh) and this worries some people. We work the education system in such a way that we get good at discerning what bring the teacher's or authority figure's approval, so when we are deliberately not told it can be alarming.
Janet Albrechtsen, the rightist commentator, writing in The Australian this week reminds us that education should be about teaching kids to sift what they are taught so that they can detect the teacher's bias. This is not dissimilar to my own goal, (rather unusual for me to agree with Ms Albrechtsen). I don't want people to believe what I believe, I want them to respoect what I believe but to make up their own minds.
The ongoing grammar debate might have something of this. The trouble is that people want to be told what to do....how easy it is to just assume that there is a set of rules. This is the great flaw, grammar is much more fluid than that.
The rules by and large are not absolute, the only given is that you need to be understood. So accurate spelling is probably more important than meticulous sentence structure.
But if I write that chocolate pudding is deeeelishus, you probably know what I mean.
We make absolute rules...no prepositions at the end of sentences....which don't make the slightest biut of difference (and it is now widely regarded that this rule is more breached than kept).
What about split infinitives? Most people don't have a clue about this ...and although each year ay Synod we used to count up their number, I would like to also contend that this rule is more subtle than it is often given credit for....(did you even notice that I split the infinitive in that last sentence?) viz: to also contend has a slightly different meaning from 'I would like also to contend' or 'to contend also'...'to anxiously deny' (don't you think dear reader) is different from 'to deny anxiously' or 'anxiously to deny'.
The point? People shoudl be being taught to think not to regurgitate!!

Grammar (iii)

During my fairly limited language education, I am rather glad that I had a good grasp of grammar as a result of being at school in the 50s and 60s.

For my sins I have been formally exposed to the teaching of French, German, New Testament Greek, Biblical Hebrew and I have had cause to try and teach myself a little bit of Italian, Latin and Bahasa Indonesia.

It would seem to be fairly apparent that just to get into language you have to understand how you name things (nouns); how they act (verbs); and how they might be qualified (adjectives and adverbs); you probably need to know who owns what (possessives and genitives); and have some idea about what time it is (tense).

This is a fairly significant syllabus, even if it is fairly minimal.

I am not so convinced that you need to understand about gerunds, adverbial participles, the future perfect, and other ephemera...you do need to know about how to find out about this stuff...but hours of classroom time, that should also be involved in encouraging the appreciation of literature, developing the ability to evaluate written and spoken language...should not be being wasted (now that phrase/clause is a grammatical nightmare!) on rote learning only.

Grammar (ii)

I asked the question in the last post about how you could teach a language without the grammatical super-structure. The answer of course is ... the same way we teach swimming.... by immersion.
There are plenty of humble folk who have little or no education whose livelihoods depend on speaking a language other than their native tongue. The modestly educated street merchants of an island such as our near neighbour (no, not Tasmania) Bali seem to do quite well. Most ordinary folk in that place have limited education, and many have good command of not just English but also Bahasa Malaysia, and even Japanese.
Not all,but many.
Occupying soldiers pick up working language, though often with awful mispronunciations like danke schön...we have Elvis to thank for Danke Shane! I suspect... which makes every person who has ever learned German shudder (see here) but by and large they don't read novels or poetry!
What you are doomed to experience if your knowledge of grammar is non-existent is the continuing risk of being misunderstood, and the likelihood that you will get stuck at a very elementary level.

The Prose and Konns of Grammar (i)

I will try not to make any grammatical mistakes in this post, but these days my fingers rather do what they want!
I have mixed feelings about the current focus on the reintroduction of intensive grammar into the curriculum.
First, as a former teacher of English, I am conscious of the fact that much of what is said is true about kids not having a clue about grammar. This may not matter much, as long as the common or plain meaning is clear.
I became quite obsessive about the apostrophe, but I think now (if signwriting is anything to go by) that is a lost cause. The rule now seems to be .... if in doubt put an apostrophe in just in case!
What about things like this quickly gleaned from the web:
Ladie's Restroom; Christian's Love Sarah Palin;Your invited; You're car; Your fat!...well its/it's a never ending list. Sometimes meaning is ambiguous but not usually life threateningly so.
Second,I know ( and was talking about this to someone of the same age the other day) at least half of our English time in First and Second Year Grammar School (year 7,8,9) was spent 'parsing' sentences. We used to rule up columns like the modern day spreadsheets and parse "The cat sat on the mat"
Subject: The Cat, verb: sat (past tense) Predicate: on the mat
This could be more complex the predicate could be understood to be in the accusative case, there was a preposition 'on' which governed the accusative...
The point of my conversation of days ago was that never....and I mean NEVER...since I was 14 have I had cause to parse a sentence.
Even those people who never really got parsing, apparently manage to communicate quite well.
Third, though, my principle reservation is about the teaching of LOTE (Languages other than English).
How on earth do you begin to teach a language if you can't have a super-structure?
I shall blog on this later.....

Making homework work

At the end of my first year of being a teacher I had so many unmarked piece s of paper to return to students that it was impossible to make any sense of it. I learnt an important lesson, homework is not just work for the student, it is work for the teacher. Since becoming a parent I have learnt also that it is work for the parent. [At one stage at a previous school, I think when our eldest was in year 5 or 6, they were given a project {projects are another story too} and there really was a competition between parents to see whose would be the best...I felt vaguely embarrassed as I had refused to do K's project, other parents were less bashful..but to what avail]
And so the debate rages on, what is the point of homework?
An interesting summary of a recent article in The Age goes like this:

HOME STUDY - THE GREAT DIVIDE
The academic
There is no conclusive evidence that homework leads to higher academic results, or that encouraging children to study at a young age leads to good study habits in later years, says Jacinta Cashen (left), who has just completed research on homework at RMIT University.
Parents groups
Tasmania: "If homework is not beneficial, I don't think we should be having it," says the president of Tasmanian State School Parents and Friends, Jenny Branch.
Victoria: Supports homework so long as each school has a policy, developed with parents, teachers and students, says executive director of Parents Victoria, Gail McHardy.
The US author
Reasons given for homework, such as higher academic achievement, are not substantiated by research, says Alfie Kohn, author of the new book The Homework Myth.
The principal
Homework develops attributes such as self-discipline, planning and the ability to work independently, says Shelford Anglican Girls' Grammar principal Pam Chessell.
The classroom teacher
Homework is quiet, contemplative time that is great for reviewing work away from a class full of other noisy students, says Camberwell High School year level co-ordinator Richard Geddes.
The psychologist
Homework instils a sense of resilience and responsibility, says Evelyn Field.
The student
Homework can be tough, but is mostly fun, says Rachel (right), in year 6 at Toorak Primary School.

I well remember, too, a colleague of mine (both poarents trained and practicisng teachers) complaining to their uppper-bracket State primary school teacher that their Year 3 kids(7-8) were getting too much homework. The reply of the teacher? "I agree with you, but for every one of you who complains there is too much, there are 10 who say there is not enough!"

This about says it all, teachers by and large don't believe in homework they rather bow to public pressure!
The only argument that seems to have any force for me is that it may encourage individuals to work independently, though I am inclined to believe that it is probably better to encourage them to have a hobby, or a sport, or music which is largely self-directed than to impose something that seems like exactly what they have been doing at school.

The major factor against is the sheer weight of stuff that a 13 year old has to do. S is both musical and interested in science and technology. She likes sport and is a real team player.
School starts at 8.30-8.45 and finishes at 3.40. So she already has a 7 hour commitment in formal time.
This is before you count the fact that she catches the bus...on a normal day she does this at 8 a.m. and gets home at 4.30 so add another hour. So that's 40 hours just to get there and back each week.
BUT remember I said she likes music...so 3 days a week she has choir which means she starts school at 7.45...so add another 3 hours. She has a cello lesson during school (45 mins) and Bell Practice (45 mins)...so she give up 90 mins of her free time. And she only manages orchestra by alternating one of her choir rehearsals. This kid is no slouch.
AND YET MORE... she would go to Science Club (45 mins before school) but now it clashes with a choir and orchestra.
AND SHE DOES GO ... to IT Club for 90 mins after school on the worst day of the week (yes it's Thursday when she should go to Orchestra/Choir and can't go to Science Club) so she has stared at 7.54 and finished at 5.15.

REMINDER! REMINDER! REMINDER! She is 13!

Thank goodness that we don't have cows to milk at home!

This week she is having an easy time as she is on camp on KI. This only meant being at school at 6 a.m....she will not be back till Friday at 3.30 p.m.

And they want to give them homework!!!