Knock. Knock.
You rang, My Lord?
Oh Rutledge, there you are. Come in and sit down, there’s a good chap. I have a question.
What is it, Your Honour?
Would you like to partake of a port?
Don’t mind if I do, Your Honour. Will that be all?
No! No man. That’s not the question. Sit down.
Mm.
Mm. Yes. I agree. Good port! Now this report is troubling me.
Report, Sir?
Yes. This darn stuff for Waitakere Writers.
Oh this! May I?
Yes. Go ahead and read it.
An achievement I am proud of is ...
Yes.
That’s only the heading Sir. There has to be more, Sir.
More!
Yes. More, Sir. Tell us about your greatest achievement.
Oh. Is that what it is. It’s not Waitakere Writers greatest achievement?
No, Sir.
So that’s why there is nothing there?
I’m sure that they have had an achievement. But the interest is in your greatest achievement.
My greatest achievement.
Yes, Sir!
Is ... Well. Let me think. There was my schooling. University. Military. I was in the artillery you know.
Yes, Sir.
Bang, bang and all that. Always found it darned noisy.
You do have a bit of deafness, Sir.
Then there was the politics …
You lost the election, Sir.
That was an unfortunate incident.
Well there was that photo of the feather duster stuck up your bottom, Sir.
Well I was set up by that saucy maid and that fluffy brush.
Too much port, Sir?
Never too much, Rutledge. Sometimes an over indulgement.
In everything, Sir!
Well it didn’t prevent my admission to the bar.
An inclusion because of your good family name, Sir.
Well that is my achievement, you must admit. I set some case law precedent.
500 words, My Lord.
500 words!
Yes. 500 words about something very good and difficult, that one has succeeded in doing. An accomplishment.
I am so pleased in achieving this great accomplishment, that a mere 500 words would be inadequate to describe, although I remain humble on the topic. However ...
Yes, Sir.
Mm, this is fine port. Where was I?
You were humble on the topic of your great achievement, Your Honour.
Oh yes. Well the question is raised, however. How is achievement assessed?
Assessed?
Is it a standard implied through measurement of external tests, or data sometimes collected through comparative reports?
Very good, Sir. That is profound.
Well now that you mention it. Could reports yield more useful pedagogical implications, or is it a behaviour or emotion focused problem.
Like it is all in the mind, Sir.
The mind is a continuum which can lead ultimately to achievement.
Yes, Sir. Exactly, Sir.
It can be carried by optimism and faith. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. Not my words, I admit. Are they mere words or the unlocking of power to achieve our goals.
Hmm. Achievement can be a continuum!.
Hmm. Even after failure.
Well, Sir. Theodore Rubin described it thus, “ Happiness does not come from doing easy work, but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best.”
This fellow Rubin. I don’t think I’ve come across him in court. Have I?
No, Sir. It is unlikely.
Well, wise words speaking from experience there. It doesn’t stop does it? It goes on and on. I say, this port has a nice afterglow that goes on and on. Another one?
Oh. Don’t mind if I do. Thank you.
Well that’s finished that. It looks like the recess is over. Are we are fortified to face court now Rutledge.
Yes, Sir. I think we are.