Caleb Anderson: Dare to be a Daniel

The words below will be familiar to those who grew up in Christian homes. Whether you view Daniel in truth, or in archetype, his story bore/bears witness to the willingness of some to stand for principles in spite of the cost.

Dare to be a Daniel!
Dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known!'

Daniel was more willing (and called) to face the lions' den than to compromise on what he believed to be true.

Recently I watched Peter Williams interview Professor Elizabeth Rata who spoke from her heart about the tragic decline in New Zealand's educational standards, and the absolute necessity of reform. She spoke with her customary authority, and eloquence, of the reasons for reform, of the price that has been (and is being) paid for excursions into ideology, and of her conviction that this can be turned around.

Toward the end of the interview Peter asked Professor Rata if she had received support from Auckland University in her very recent efforts to give context and substance to the current reforms. Professor Rata paused, and struggled to respond.

I would suggest that the interview is worth watching for the pause alone.

Sometimes silence reveals more than words ever can.

Thank you Professor Rata for bearing the price of principle, for foregoing the fruits of compromise and compliance, for refusing to sacrifice evidence for convenience, or career, for your courage in the face of inevitable professional isolation, and for staying the course.

Daniel survived the lion's den. He is remembered to this day for his commitment to principle, for his courage in the face of seemingly impossible odds, and for his faith in a higher purpose.

ANZAC day reminds us of sacrifice. Last century the free world faced an unprecedented attack on the principles of freedom of thought and the privilege of liberal democracy.

These attacks were from without. Now they are from within.

Thank you to those who will not be silenced. To National Party politicians of past decades who endured relegation as the price of their conservatism, to those who have been ostracised in the school staffroom because they could no longer endure the radical agendas of the teacher unions, to those who have taken a stand, in the knowledge that promotion would no longer come their way, to tertiary students who persevered with the nonsense they were being taught, because of their passion to make a difference, and to those who have undeservedly lost reputation and career, because they did not like what they were seeing and said so ... and to those who are speaking while others remain silent.

Thank you to those who know how easily the privileges of free thought and action can be eroded, and who refuse to surrender the ground of common sense.

And thank you, again, Professor Rata, and in the hope that you get to read this, and are encouraged in doing so.

Caleb Anderson, a graduate history, economics, psychotherapy and theology, has been an educator for over thirty years, twenty as a school principal.