My Father’s Order of Australia Award for Services
to Education- and progressive causes.
Thanks to all who have shown support by congratulating my father, Malcolm Skilbeck, on his Order of Australia award for
services to education in Australia and internationally (Australia Day 2014
award). As my internet and phone service is so poor I only received the news
today, and have now exchanged messages with my father who expresses that what
pleases him is the pleasure taken by family and friends and colleagues in his
award and that this shows there is a shared sense of the value of the public
sphere of education. But he also expresses his hope that this sense of value
also extends to the efforts he, along with many others, have made to advance
progressive causes, since many of these progressive causes are being resisted or ignored by governments
(regardless of which party is in power), the media, business and perhaps even
the community in general. He urges that this is an opportunity to once again
raise the flag, if only in a small way. So I am passing on this message to
family and colleagues here.
My father has always supported my own small
efforts to advance the causes of refugees, writers and human rights, and
feminism, in my academic publication in journals, and in my research. I thank
him for this, and his enormous contribution to public education as an inspired
and dedicated teacher, educator and author, in Australia and internationally.
The world needs more such dedicated teachers and
educators and authors, to support public education and progressive causes, in
many fields. We must speak up and out
and continue to support the causes that are ignored by governments, media, big
business, and even increasingly it seems, the community which turns a blind eye to what is happening in the world, the wars and destruction, in the name of profit
for a few.
2 comments:
I was so pleased to hear of your father's Order of Australia Award. What an excellent way to mark his contribution, and a lifetime's work, in the field of education. Please pass on my congratulations to him.
Andrew Jardine
Thank you very much Andrew, I will pass this on to him. It is good to hear from you.
All the best,
Ruth
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