I had the pleasure of presenting in the Gold Coast, Sydney, Newcastle, and Adelaide, Australia hosted by Judy Hatswell, a senior faculty Member of the William Glasser Institute of Australia.
While being hosted by Judy and her husband, Gerry, a retired school principal, I was admiring their various collections when I read a postcard sent to Judy by one of her clients. I share it with you:
Happiness is not a state to arrive at
but a manner of traveling.
The William Glasser approach of noncoercion and taking responsibility for one’s actions is growing in popularity across the country/continent. Partial credit toward a masters degree is being planned at the Gold Coast campus of Griffith University for those who have had William Glasser training.
If you look at the north western part of Australia, you can see how it was at one time connected to Indonesia and how Tasmania was part of Australia millions of years ago. Most of the continent receives less than 10 inches of rain each year. Eighty percent of the 20 million human residents reside around the southeast coastline.
The population around Sydney, which has one of the most spectacular harbors in the world, is four million—not counting the kangaroos, wallabies, pandas, wombats, ibises, and emus.
The following few items may be of interest to educators.
The following is from the Australian Government’s National Framework for Values Education in Australian Schools:
— Education is as much about building character as it is about equipping students with specific skills.
—Values based education can strengthen students self- esteem, optimism and commitment to personal fulfillment; and help students exercise ethical judgment and social responsibility.
The first issue listed in Australian Government’s National Safe Schools Framework is bullying. Harassment, violence, and child protection are then listed in that order. The Discipline Without Stress directly addresses the first three issues.
