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Justice Peace and Advocacy 2020
Words on Justice Peace and Advocacy 2020
We often hear about notions of ‘Head, Heart and Hands’, the idea that while each is vital, it is the integration of all three that really brings our potential to fruition. We all know how wonderful it feels at certain times in our lives when it feels as though all three of these interconnected elements are working in sync, there is no doubt that the whole is far greater than the sum of the individual parts. We also know that in many ways any sense of separation between these parts is an artificial distinction that belies how overlapping and interrelated these parts of ourselves are.
This ‘Head, Heart and Hands’ model is sometimes applied to the deep connections between the Religious Education Curriculum (head), the Spirituality Retreat Program (heart) and our Christian Service-Learning Program (hands). Over the last couple of years, we are striving to bring another couple of layers to this metaphor – Feet and Voice. A wide variety of endeavours across the secondary campus in the areas of Justice, Peace and Advocacy are designed to firstly acknowledge that as Christians we are called to use our feet to not only walk alongside others but to also take a stand, i.e., to choose a side when we encounter an unjust behaviour, practice or policy. This might take some time and energy to educate ourselves about the nuances of the issue.
Furthermore, we are then called to use our voice to advocate for a change towards a more just world. This is best done when we use our voice to amplify the voices of those that are not being heard loud enough within the unjust situation. It is the quest to form, train and use our feet and voice wisely that drives the energy of the Justice, Peace and Advocacy Student Council.
Under the leadership of Ged Street, Prefect for Justice, Peace and Advocacy, the Student Council is once again launching for a big year ahead. Our areas of interest are wide and varied. Much of our attention turns to the ways boys at Aquinas College think about, speak about and treat each other and also the young women in their lives. As a result. we have staged a variety of campaigns to address these issues – to grab the attention of the young men at Aquinas College, raise their awareness that they are capable of better collectively and provide encouragement towards this better future. In addition, we have examined environmental sustainability and the rights of the first Australians and the most recent Australians.
Yet to really glimpse our purpose as a group means to put aside the list of topics. Far better is to understand that we exist to look at any and all issues through our particular lens – ‘advocating for change’. Each of us regularly notices something that isn’t right in the world, we can lament in silence or complain to those around us about how much we wish things were different. However, our group often rallies around the idea that ‘whinging isn’t changing’. We focus on the principle that we must clearly identify a better alternative and the people or group that have the power to make the changes we seek - then we need to find creative and persuasive ways to deliver our change message to those people.
Whenever people, perhaps especially teenage boys, notice an injustice the
focus usually starts with a rant about what they are ‘against’ – the focus is on the problem. One of the key elements in our process is to gently and patiently talk the issue through until we can articulate what are we ‘for’.
Getting boys to paint a picture of the ideal destination they are aiming for is a slower process, they generally prefer to play whack-a-mole….!? Once the destination can be articulated, then tangible steps towards that destination can be identified. As ideas for achievable changes arise, we work out who is capable of bringing about these changes and we start to imagine what we might say to them to encourage these changes to be adopted.
Ultimately, we want to be advocating for change to those with the ability to make the changes we seek, proposing a more positive alternative to them to encourage their implementation of change. Our greatest hope then is that we are able to prevent some suffering before it even occurs. We see these efforts as deeply interconnected and overlapping with the works of our head, heart and hands.
Of course, this means that the bulk of our time is spent preparing ourselves for these endeavours, to ensure that we understand the issues and the particular intent of our interventions. In essence, we focus primarily on education and formation on matters of justice and peace in preparation for action and advocacy. If we get our preparation right, then any projects or campaigns that emerge should make a valuable contribution to our community and deepen the way young men at Aquinas understand and fulfil their contemporary discipleship.
In 2020, we once again helped stage a successful ‘Young Justice Leaders’ Forum’ for over fifty students. Delegates came together from Santa Maria College, Aquinas College, Iona Presentation College and CBC Fremantle to participate in two full days, held during the October holidays, at CBC Fremantle.
The students were provided with justice, peace, and advocacy formation and training grounded in the Gospel. Networking with like-minded students, the delegates had time to practice and develop their own leadership capacity, their public speaking competencies, and even tested their project planning skills over a short timeline. The forum culminated in the delegates delivering presentations to showcase the major themes of the forum to their parents, this was a dynamic and powerful experience. Afterwards, delegates, parents and staff joined together to celebrate Eucharist and share a closing dinner.
“The program taught me about charity, justice, advocacy, peace and non-violence, and how to effectively plan a project or campaign. We worked in groups, brainstorming and discussing injustices in our world and planning a campaign around how we could do something about it.” – Student delegate
The success of this program has contributed to a growing interest among our peers at other Perth Catholic Schools in coming together to explore matters of Justice, Peace and Advocacy. The hope is that we will not only continue to share formation and training experiences, but that one day soon we might collaborate on an advocacy campaign.
Richard Mavros, Director of Justice, Advocacy and Formation
