full text of Sr Rita's occasional address

 

 

Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, esteemed faculty members, graduates, family and friends of the graduates. I take much joy in accepting the honor that the University has conferred on me today.  Thank you, also, for the citation cataloguing various aspects of my life, some of which even I had forgotten.  I recall a message I recently received from a friend: "Somewhere in your youth or childhood, you must have done something good."

 

Congratulations to all of you who graduate today. I address what follows to you. You have every reason to be proud of your achievements.  You may like to spare a thought for your families who have walked this journey  with you and in so many cases made sacrifices to enable you to undertake and complete your studies. You may also like to pause for a moment and consider how many of your parents' or grandparents' generation had the opportunity for a tertiary education.  You are probably trail-blazers in this and many other respects and have much to look forward to as you move into a new phase of your lives.

 

On a personal note, I did not have the opportunity of going to University in my youth as many of you have.

 

Teacher training in those days was a two-year program similar in structure to the present apprenticeship model. Much later in life, I had the privilege of studying the social sciences at this University, or rather at its predecessor institution, Ballarat College of Advanced Education. Now, in my eighty-first year, I give thanks for a life-time of learning and for the opportunities I have had as a Sister of Mercy to be with those on the margins of our society.

 

I rejoice with you as you move into whatever today's world holds for you. Your tertiary education has provided not just a practical but a theoretical and philosophical framework for your career as educators that will touch many lives.  The degree conferred on you today marks one significant point in your journey. It is not an end in itself although it functions as a key transition in your life.

 

As educators, you are invited, as was I many decades ago, to engage in life-long learning. You have opportunities for this as never before.  The wisdom and knowledge you have gained through your study and research has offered you a sound basis for understanding your place in the world.

 

You take out your higher degree in education at an extraordinary moment in history.  You are far more aware than your forebears of what human endeavour has achieved for better or for worse. Ours is a time of unprecedented global awareness of the interconnectedness of all human and other than human life.

 

You are, no doubt, aware of the United Nations intergovernmental assessments on climate change and of Professor Ross Garnaud's recent interim report that calls for urgent intervention to address rising global temperatures.  And you will, I expect, have followed the reports coming from the recent 2020 Summit.

 

You have a unique and privileged role in bringing your particular gifts and skills to these and other challenges of the contemporary world.  You make your own specific contribution to the body of knowledge and wisdom in your field.

 

You graduate at a time of previously unimagined future directions in education.

 

A strong influencing factor in this is the ever changing role of information technology. Two to threecenturies ago, the Industrial Revolution changed the world forever.

 

The Internet has had a comparable impact in our times.  You certainly know about technology.  You know itsstrengths and possibilities. You are also aware of the dangers it can pose to human community and human flourishing. You know that a course can be completed on line anywhere in the world without the lecturer ever seeing the student.

 

There are advantages in this for the isolated. There are also risks.

 

Could a similar dynamic operate at the primary and secondary levels?

 

Used extensively at these levels of education, could a student become an extension of the computer withthe focus of teacher and student on access to information only?  In such a system, where do we find the opportunity for the development of different gifts, different learning patterns, for the development of social skills, for creativity, and for diversity?  And most of all, where do we make room for the celebration of learning?

 

We know that the essence of teaching is to facilitate learning and that education encompasses the development of the whole person.  We must never lose sight of this as we engage with the new technologies.

 

Whether you realize it or not, your chosen profession places you in a position of influence on the lives of others. That carries with it considerable responsibility.

 

I invite you to think back on your life as a student - primary, secondary, tertiary.  Maybe you will recall a teacher/lecturer who influenced you for good.  Stories abound of people who have achieved much and who attribute their success to encouragement from a teacher.

 

I would like to acknowledge here two important teachers who had an influence on my life.

 

The first is Sister Rose Daly, now 93, who persuaded me in Year 9 that time at school could be spent on things other than finding ways to bend rules and play sport.

 

The second is Isabel Dowling, here with us today, and a one-time lecturer, who inspired me as a mature-age student at this University with her enthusiasm and love for learning.  In a recent telephone conversation Isabel had to cut the call short so that she could be on time for a voluntary commitment with a Primary School class.  Also in her eighties, Isabel still has a love of teaching that draws her into the classroom.

 

You hold in your hand today a certificate that confirms your achievement. But, there is a unique difference in each certificate. It is your name on that certificate that makes the difference.

 

You will each be your own type of educator because of your unique gifts and creative abilities.  The way in which you develop your gifts and creative abilities will enable you to realize your potential as an educator and influence for good those whom you teach.  It is your energy and enthusiasm for learning that will create a dynamic that fosters learning. To do this effectively you will have at your disposal the experience and ideas of others and your peer support.

 

If you remember that 70% of the world's inhabitants have never heard a dial tone, then you will have the capacity to lead your students beyond the confines of the classroom and their own immediate interests to embrace the needs of a much bigger world.

 

You are already on the way. You belong within a long line of great educators. Continue to seek wisdom, not least in the students you teach.

 

May your goals, dreams, and ambitions be realized as you join with others to create a better world.