ABSTRACT
Once again I was confronted by the need to look deeply at the culture of schools this time when I read the morning newspaper. Here was a sad and frightening picture of the deep hole into which schooling has fallen. On page 2 was the headline: ‘20 per cent of teachers suffer stress disorders’. The article under this heading reported that ‘almost one in five NSW teachers has been diagnosed with a stress disorder and nearly 40 per cent of teachers reported taking legal drugs to cope with the pressure of their job’. These horrifying statistics were found when a survey was conducted at the end of 1995 and included 2360 NSW teachers (Sydney Morning Herald, 1 July 1996, p. 2). Here was evidence that all was not well in our schools, that urgent attention needs to be given to reculturing these important communities.
