Formas de nombrar el Territorio: la vereda y el Camino

The relationship with Alexandra Secondary College commenced in the early stages of the intervention’s development. The then project leader was a former teacher at Alexandra Secondary College and had many connections there. Minutes of evaluation meetings recorded during this period revealed a great deal of communication with the College about potential program components. In an interview conducted some two years later, the principal of Alexandra Secondary College revealed his interests in CFK when the intervention commenced in Alexandra.

“I thought it was going to be a great opportunity for the school to become more closely aligned with Berry Street. From a welfare point of view I thought that that would have very big advantages … they could support our programs, they might be able to provide additional resources that we couldn’t access in the past and provide opportunities for I guess developing the total community approach to

education that we were looking for” Principal Alexandra Secondary College (August, 2003)

“I guess my primary focus was that I wanted to keep a handle on it myself as to what was happening within the community and I wanted to ensure that the vision of the school had dovetailed with the vision of what Berry Street had and the only way that could happen was through consultation” Principal Alexandra Secondary College (August, 2003)

During this period there was only one program implemented in conjunction with the school. The ‘Secondary School Alternative Program’ was designed to increase the school engagement of selected students at risk of early school leaving, by providing alternatives to the regular curriculum. CFK provided the funds for this program where six students, engaging in disruptive behavior at the school, were given the opportunity to attend a one and a half hour class every week which intended to assist their understanding of locus of control, self- efficacy and the importance of taking responsibility for their own behavior. This program component was facilitated by Barbara and anecdotal evidence given to Barbara by teachers was that a difference was noted in the students’ classroom behavior.

At the conclusion of the funded period for this program component, some discussion was had about the possibility of locating an alternative source of funding in order to continue the program. There is no record of events that transpired at this point, but the program did not continue. However a hand written note by Barbara in September, 2001, that stated “teachers’ report kids behavior has improved but they want them out of schools”, may provide some insight into Barbara’s belief about the school’s attitude.

Barbara resigned from CFK during this period. When Daniel replaced her he was clear on his thoughts about program components, such as the ‘Secondary School Alternative Program’ that were what he described as “reactive” programs, in that they met the needs of a small targeted group rather than the greater

population. He felt that these programs required a great deal of resources and produced outcomes for a small number. Daniel was unmoved by the argument that change in the behavior of these children would result in fewer disruptions in the classroom and a more productive learning environment for all children would be created.

For reasons unknown, the partnership with Alexandra Secondary College floundered for some time after this. There was no evidence contained in the data that CFK made any endeavors to pursue a relationship with the school during the initial few months of Daniel’s employment. However, some months later Daniel discovered a program that he was very enthusiastic about and wished to

implement as part of the CFK intervention. The program was called ‘The No Dole Pledge’ and had been implemented in country towns in Victoria and

Tasmania. It involved secondary students making a public pledge not to apply for unemployment benefits and local business and secondary schools making a commitment to assist students in achieving this through educational and employment support schemes. Daniel needed the support of Alexandra Secondary College and he described how he was able to use this program to connect and form a meaningful partnership with the school.

“in trying to get the ARC program under way first of all it was a matter of inviting the Principal to go over to Tassie and offering to pay and he jumped at that … he’s been on the (advisory) committee from word go, but he’s only started coming now that he can see something tangible, after we’d been to Tassie” Daniel (February, 2003)

The principal reflected upon the development of the relationship between CFK and the secondary school and felt that Barbara had greatly assisted the process.

“Barbara has really driven a lot of the initial contact and built up a lot of level of trust and that trust has sustained the change and it’s been terrific” Principal Alexandra

Secondary College (August, 2003)

Despite what CFK viewed as a rocky start to the relationship with the secondary school, a valuable partnership, facilitated by the ARC working party, emerged. In June, 2003, the secondary school appointed a teacher as the ARC coordinator at the school and she was allocated four class periods per week to work on this program. They also offered Kerry a space at the school in which she could work on the ARC program.

“we’ve clearly got the strongest commitment now from the school for this really to happen and to happen in a very positive way” Daniel (May, 2003)

Unfortunately the commitment from the school, in terms of time and resources allocated to the ARC program, was short lived. The four period provision of time for the school teacher was reduced to three periods and then to two periods. There was a culture of resentment in the school and teachers were unhappy about being asked to work on the ARC program without compensation for their time. Daniel felt that these problems would resolve themselves as the program progressed, if the school was given time to catch up to CFK in relation to their “passion” for the program.

7.2.2.2.2 Local Primary Schools, Kindergartens and Play Groups