Academic defends group named as cult
By Michael Collins
How free should academics be to lend the authority of their positions to doctrines which have not been subject to academic evaluation? The question arises in regard to the group Kenja, attacked in the NSW Parliament in November last year and April this year as a "destructive cult" by Stephen Mutch, MLC.
Mutch alleged that Kenja's activities included "deceitful recruitment practices, physical and financial exploitation and abuse of cult members, taxation avoidance and the misuse of pseudo-hypnosis and other mind influencing techniques". He has called for a select committee inquiry into cult activity in NSW.
Following these allegations, Professor J.C. Walker, the dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Canberra, leant the weight of his position to Kenja in an advertisement that appeared simultaneously in the Sydney Morning Herald, the Age, and the Canberra Times on May 15.
The advertisement rejected Mutch's allegations, saying that the signatories "use the training available in Kenja to enrich our own lives and make ourselves more effective in our workplaces, our homes, in our relationships and with our family members".
Professor Walker had previously defended Kenja on University of Canberra letterhead in a letter to Bulli MP Ian McManus in December 1992. This letter, along with many others written by Kenja members protesting about Mutch, were tabled by McManus in parliament. In his letter, Professor Walker said he has "not found anything as practically effective as the Kenja approach to learning".
Walker wrote, "I can say with certainty as the Dean of a University Faculty of Education that learning is effective when it is enjoyable, directly applicable in practical situations and positively rewarded. Kenja training provides all of these."
Mutch said that "Kenja training" was called "processing". This apparently was a session of up to two hours involving a member with a "professional" or "meditation consultant", often in a private locked cubicle. This generally consisted of the member talking about themselves, especially their innermost thoughts, followed by an extended period during which the parties stared into each other's eyes in silence. The sessions cost $100.
In the range of pedagogical literature, Kenja has no published textbook that has been exposed to critical review by the appropriate academic authorities. The principle of Kenja, Ken Dyers, has no known academic qualifications or reputation.
So far as is known, no body of the University of Canberra has officially questioned Professor Walker's use of his office as support for Kenja.