It's not my fault!

A classic movie scene that speaks, curiously, to the start of this academic year comes from “The Blues Brothers”. Two brothers, Jake and Elwood, on their frantic way to rescue the fate of a Catholic orphanage that helped them in their youth, are stalked by a crazed woman, intent on revenge. Even following a number of her appearances, we don’t know why she is following them.

She traps the brothers in a disused and dank train tunnel, courtesy of a spray from her machine gun.

The woman, played by post-Star Wars Carrie Fisher, turns out to be the spurned love of Jake, played by a corpulent John Belushi. Left at the altar, she is seeking her revenge.

To this point in the film, both Brothers have appeared only in black suit, white shirt, black tie, and sunglasses, regardless of the time of day. As Jake lies covered in wet filth and indignation, he pleads with the unnamed woman as to why he is not responsible for this situation:

I ran out of gas. I…I had a flat tire. I didn’t have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn’t come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts! Look, IT WASN’T MY FAULT!

Then, poignantly, dramatically, deceptively, slowly, he removes his glasses. She sees his eyes, their love, their warmth, and melts. They kiss…then he drops her, without mercy, into the wet, and exits the tunnel on to the rest of the adventure.

Comedic values aside, it’s a story too common in schools, and in life. This week, it showed up, too, in politics…but more of that shortly.

When things go wrong, do we seek excuses, someone else to blame, circumstances for which we are not responsible? Or do we own it?

Rather than own up to desertion of his bride waiting in the cathedral with her family and friends, Jake concocts a litany of fanciful explanations, one after the other, each more and more desperate. It was, despite his plea to the contrary, indeed HIS FAULT!

What do I do when I make a mistake?

And what is our school's culture about others making a mistake?

Are we encouraged and supported to set things aright, having admitted and owned our part in the situation? Or do we look for Jake-ish alternatives?

There are plenty of sorrys in my past, and I’m confident plenty still to come, despite my best efforts. But rather than look to blame someone, or something, other than myself, the best place to start if I am to be authentic is me; it’s critical for teachers, and even more so for leaders, given the significance they hold in enhancing the culture of the entire community.

In the law of the ancient Hebrews, as they wandered the desert lands of the Sinai, instructions were given for what became known as a “scapegoat”. Two goats were to be sacrificed as part of a ritual of reconciliation between the people and their deity. One goat was to be taken aside, alive, and the high priest would symbolically place their hands on the goat and confess the wrongdoings of the whole community.

The goat, then bearing these wrongdoings, would be sent into the desert, far away from the community. It would take away from the community the burden of wrongs the goat did not, indeed could not, commit. Propitiation was achieved.

For those with a theological/religious bent, the story has particular resonance. For those who don’t, the symbolism still has enormous power and speaks to a depressing outcome of some important education policy making that happened this week.

Last year, the Australian Senate held an inquiry into why Australian classrooms, at least according to some PISA data, are some of the most disruptive around the globe. Many of you will no doubt have plenty of examples. Sadly, it’s too great a reality to ignore. But it’s also a little more complex than Honourable Senators seem willing to appreciate.

It was an honour to appear before the inquiry last year. I shared a story of a teacher who was forced to apologise to a student and their family for letting them know they needed to “work harder” if they wanted to achieve their career aspiration. And of a psychologist despatched to help a traumatised community after the 2022 floods in northern NSW who, when hearing a child overturning furniture in a rage, told the principal that “I can’t work under these conditions”.

There are some great things happening in schools, but there are also some challenging circumstances that are compounded by such behaviours. And unfortunately, a lot of the causes and factors that impact upon what happens inside the school originate far outside the school gate.

Plenty of us have had parent-teacher interviews when some of the challenges we face with some students become clarion on meeting the parents/caregivers. And too many expectations placed on students are increasingly greeted by the same parents/caregivers taking issue with the school, rather than seeking a cooperative and positive joint approach.

So it was curious that the major recommendation from this week’s report was to establish another inquiry into "declining academic standards". Translated: teachers and school leaders are to blame for any issues there are in student achievement.

No “thanks for all you’re doing under increasingly tough circumstances”. No “what can we do to help you”. No “we hear you and call on parents/caregivers and students to take responsibility for their contribution to this situation”. It’s breathtaking and galling in equal measure.

It’s also what prompted me to mount a pointed criticism on the irony of poorly behaved politicians lecturing teachers about how they ought to do their job.

“There’s man [sic] all over for you. Blaming on his boots the faults of his feet,” says Samuel Beckett’s Vladimir in Waiting for Godot. Blaming the wrong thing, or other people, or defenseless animals has a rich history in faith, film, theatre, and, it seems, sadly, in educational politics.

Reading the interim report from the inquiry, released in December 2023, and the final one released this week makes me feel a little like Carrie Fisher. A melting heart, a quick moment of connection, a kiss, then the teaching profession has been dropped in the mud.