In January 1975, Chevalier College, Bowral, and Elm Court,
Moss Vale, schools for boys and girls respectively situated six kilometres
apart, began discussions about extending their present combination in the
senior school to full co-education in a fully combined high school.
Chevalier would become the senior partner and take over administration
of the combined school.
In 1975, support was sought from religious communities,
teaching staffs and parents involved, and detailed planning began
in several committees.
The next year brought conflict. For reasons so frequently
associated with resistance to change, such as loss of power and
identity, intensified by thoughtlessness from Chevalier, the Elm
Court community began to resist and work against the amalgamation.
The diocesan education authorities, appealed to by the local sisters,
suggested an alternative proposal to replace the amalgamation.
However, after further consideration by the superiors of the
sisters at Elm Court, and helped by more careful consideration from
Chevalier, the project finally went ahead.
The major decisions concerned with the amalgamation were made
by the superiors of the two religious orders concerned, and then by the
school headmaster, assisted by his councils. There was very little
real involvement of the local community of parents, or of the students.
With the crisis successfully weathered, prospects seem bright
for 1977, especially if the lessons learnt during the conflict are
remembered.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/218942 |
| Date | January 1976 |
| Creators | Franzmann, John, n/a |
| Publisher | University of Canberra. Teacher Education |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | ), Copyright John Franzmann |
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