I've been waiting for sometime now for something to shake up our Education System...
And what interests me most is the reaction primarily from TEACHERS to this new testing system NAPLAN
i wonder what they are afraid of?
Perhaps because the spotlight might be on THEIR successful scores? And their abilities to teach?
Why shouldn't our teachers come under the spotlight anyway? i wonder?
Children learn if teachers can teach... in my experience (and i have 3 children)
Perhaps there is something wrong with the system then? *ping*
i think the government's introduction of the changes to the Parenting Payment, the stay in school or else attitude! ... is naive
(ie) if your child does not stay in the system until year 12 (or complete a year 12 equivalent) you will no longer be eligible for government assistance
(BTW i use mine for school fees- of which incidentally it is never enough to cover)
...Sighhh whatever happened to every child deserves/has the right to an education that doesn't rely on what their parents can afford? Remember FREE education!?!
Perhaps a returning of our Tafe system for the Trade Careers would be more practical?
(An industry that is severely lacking since this closure)
Not everyone is going to be a doctor
Perhaps our government is really just trying to save money? (Methinks)
Knowing that there is such a big school drop out rate these days?
So maybe the problem is much bigger...
Afteral doesn't the year 12 exams stand for the same kind of thing for kids?
As the Naplan might for our educators?
i mean we cram these kids into a room under great pressure and say "perform"
Then we base the rest of their careers paths upon the results...
So... why can't teachers come under the same scrutiny?
with NAPLAN?
i mean it's not like THEY have to sit the exams...
But i suspect the results will be the same...
and so i think to myself if teachers can't be held responsible for our children's successes or failures in their education
...Then who can?
So maybe it's time to see what's REALLY going on in our schools!?!
*My~School website
...and THEN maybe we could look at ~change~
*ping*
3 comments:
An interesting take, however as a teacher myself (albeit in a different country but we do have SATS which are simialr), one of the reasons so many of us view these tests as bad is because we end up 'teaching to the test' instead of giving real value in our classes.
I like to do project work with my students, which encourages the research and teamwork skills they need in the real world. That doesn't mean I shove them off to the library for 6 weeks, it just means that within the framework of the class they are free to add in their own information and research to expand their knowledge and understanding.
But they have to pass the test so I end up concentrating on that first, leaving no time for the fun, interesting, creative learning that most of us loved in school and gained real benefit from.
I'm not against skills tests, they have their place and I would happily take a test aimed at teachers (and believe more evaluation of teachers should happen).I just don't want to spend my time forcing students to learn information just to pass a test. That's not education.
In my view, education should allow students to use their art skills in English to illustrate their stories, to use their science skills to make a interesting computer science presentation or to use their maths and chemistry skills in art & design to learn how hot a kiln has to be to fire clay. Teaching to the test leaves no room for that sort of cross-curriculum learning. It becomes about regurgitating facts and figures you can look up on Wikipedia, to pass a test that doesn't really prove anything except that you can pass a test and is then used for political gerrymandering.
Our tests are used for league tables that are supposed to tell you how good a school is. They don't. They tell you how well the teachers can get the kids to retain the information to score well on a test.
Anyone can get a group of kids to repeat the 12x table ad nauseam until they 'know' it off by heart. But there a few who can teach maths in such a way that kids love it and are engaged, learning and experimenting with it. That's when a teacher can teach the value of what they're learning and how to apply it to the real world.
Hi Rhomany, Thankyou for your comment, it's great to hear from a teacher X:-) and i totally agree with what you have said, i think it further backs up my feelings that schools should "change"... Your teaching idea's are fab and i only wish that that kind of focus would go beyond year 9 here too... In Australia from year 9 to year 12 the furious focus is on year 12 and passing those year 12 EXAMS... i see so many kids drop out, 'A' grade students, from the shear pressure of it all and i don't believe in the old adage that it toughens them up for the 'real world' either...The schools my children are in are fabulous, in the Catholic tradition (although my children are not catholic) the focus is on community and empowering them to find their place within their world, but beginning in year 10 the focus changes to passing year 12 and i sometimes wonder if it isn't all about keeping the schools 'figures'up high... My husband and i struggle to keep our kids out of the public school system (Public high school) because of the enormous gap between it and the private school system... I have personally had experience with how 'slack' the teachers are in the public system, where i think that the primary problem is because they are less accountable to their students and the system supports them in this (ie) No accountability... You are obviously not like that and i know there are good teachers 'out there' but the difference between the public school teachers responsibilities to the student and private schools is HUGE (i see this and we are only in the lower end of the private system) i think change is needed and i am hoping by making a few teachers nervous about their real responsibilities to their students it might help shake up the system as a whole, i can only hope x
Interesting and I agree, not that that matters cuz you can say whatever you want;)
Post a Comment