Instruments of cultural preservation in the Greek community of Melbourne

Master of EducationTo the world Australia represents a uniform social environment, whilst the Australian stereotype is one of the blonde, athletic, down-to-earth individual. A closer examination however, of the Australian cultural framework reveals that the Australian citizen is quite different from that stereotype. Australia is far from culturally homogeneous, there are countless cultural groups that work, live and survive in their unique social groupings. The aim of this minor thesis is to examine the Greek Community of Melbourne. After giving a historical background of its early years I will examine the many and varied areas of cultural Preservation i.e., the Church, Brotherhoods, the Greek School, the Press, Cafenion etc. Throughout this minor thesis I will assess how culturally intact this community has remained. The specified areas have to be examined so as to establish their cultural maintenance techniques and to assess the extent of their traditional links with Greece. The ground work for this minor thesis began with my contact with the Greek community and my personal desire to explore those facilities which had become a part of my personal and social experiences as a functional Greek mother. My teaching experience at Richmond High School during 1981-1987 proved to be an invaluable resource, as it gave me a realistic insight into the wider issues of cultural maintenance. Consequently I gathered a wealth of material from Parent-Teacher nights, Report-Nights etc. which gave diverse insights into the hopes, ideals and expectations of the Greek Australian. The face to face contact with young Greek Australian students on the other hand, gave me the chance to assess how successful those cultural facilities had become in the second generation Australian-Greek. My findings are very heartening for the existing system of cultural maintenance. At the moment it is at its peak performance, catering for the needs of a primarily youthful community. Future success will largely depend on the second generation's desire to replace Australian Anglo-Saxon social experiences with the predetermined Greek ideals of social existence and family commitments