Mapping the Field: How are the Links Between Violence and Learning Understood in the Australian Context‪?‬

Our first assignment in home economics was to draw a detailed diagram of the house we each lived in, indicating the various rooms, the place where our mothers kept the linen, where the glassware was stored, and where the family dined. After hearing this, I decided to try and get out of this class in another way and, as the other girls began scribbling away madly, I walked up to the teacher and explained, in a low voice, that I did not have a home. I had come from Sydney two weeks ago and now lived in a women's refuge. The teacher smiled and patted me on the head. That's all right, dear. Just draw a diagram of your refuge. When my workbook was handed back during the next home ec class, the teacher's only comment, written in neat copper-plate was Mandy, I wish you would take this class SERIOUSLY.