Monday 5 June 2006

Tuesday 6 June

Wednesday 7 June

Thursday 8 June

Friday 9 June

Saturday - Sunday 10 - 11 June



Monday 5 June 2006

• Today's West Australian includes Inside Cover, a single article and three letters to the editor
  
  
• Curtin and UWA knuckle under but ECU sides with students and teachers

No OBE, no entry, unis warn students
by Susan Hewitt and Bethany Hiatt (page 7)

"WA universities say the State's international reputation would be shattered if they accepted students who did not have a high school graduation certificate.

"In response to teacher threats to refuse to teach new OBE courses in Year 11 and 12, the Curriculum Council has warned that if students did not study those OBE courses they would not receive the WA Certificate of Education and, therefore, not qualify for university entrance.

"Both Curtin University and the University of WA have confirmed the council's decree and said that without the certificate, students would be barred from university..."

"But Edith Cowan University promised if students found they had not been taught OBE subjects, they would not be disadvantaged and ECU would strive to find alternative entry for them. [emphasis added]

"Some teachers of new OBE courses introduced this year have hit back at claims that the courses had been a raging success.

"Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich was reported at the weekend as saying the new Year 11 English course had had some problems but aviation, media and engineering studies had been "a raging success".

"Maznod College engineering studies teacher Ralph Bradstreet said implementation of the new course had been "a mixed muddle".

"He still had big concerns with assessment and comparability.

"The West Australian understands media teachers from independent schools also recently raised concerns with the Curriculum Council about excessive workloads and lack of support. A northern suburbs media teacher at a State school said teachers were still struggling with assessment issues and a lack of resources."

Full story in The West Australian


• Inside Cover "Waffle Watch" (page 2)
  Absolute codswallop, that's one indisputable outcome
  
  "If this is the type of waffle teachers have to wade through to decode OBE instructions, it's no wonder so many want to put a handbrake on proceedings.
  
  "The student applies standards and conventions considering cultural values and experiences of the intended audience, demonstrating a repertoire of techniques that highlights the interrelationships between technical competence and expressive qualities while using resources in a positive manner that demonstrates creative and innovative information solutions for a variety of audiences and purposes." [a letter-perfect quote from one of the Curriculum Council's new "OBE Level Descriptors"]
  
  "Apparently the "student-centred learning area" (subject) it refers to is "applied information technology" (computers).
  
  "The chalkie who sent in this "outcome descriptor" accurately described it as an absolute El Dorado of incoherent, ostentatious and unintelligible codswallop.
  
  "What hope is there for parents and, more importantly, their children if teachers are struggling to decipher such verbiage?"
  
  
  
• Three letters to the editor (page 20)
  
  
  • "Alan Carpenter says he won't be spooked by the people. Well, Alan, come next election, you and your colleagues will be well and truly spooked by the people."
    
    James Rogers, Hamilton Hill
    
    
    
  • "After looking at some experiences of OBE-type systems in Australia and abroad, it appears that most early versions failed. Those which have grafted a syllabus approach on to the erstwhile "fluffy" OBE purist's model appear to have a chance of success in preparing students for university. The current WA model appears to only be capable of offering universities a version of academic "Pluck-a-duck" where entrants appear the same but carry vastly different skills. Perhaps the OBE champions can tell us what is wrong with acknowledging students who strive to excel?"
    
    Dave Sivyer, Darlington
    
    
    
  • "I have always considered that law and order (policing), health and education are the foundations of our society. I have also considered that some of the difficult issues in these three areas are very demanding and probably can't be solved and are beyond the control of governments.
    
    "This could be due to social reforms, international situations or conflicts. However, after witnessing the development, implementation and finally the "pay-off" fo teachers (12 per cent pay rise) for OBE and COS in WA, I realise now that incompetence and arrogance are the cause of these "unsolvable" issues." [emphasis added]
    
    M Crowe, Albany
    
    
    
• The Australian Newspaper
  
  
  • Four Letters to the Editor
    Outcome-based education will hurt competitive ability
    
    
    • It is becoming increasingly obvious that our politicised state education departments are working to expunge any trace of intellectual rigour from school and university curricula under a doctrine that equates scholastic excellence with elitism. The parallel doctrine of inclusiveness means that total duffers cannot be barred from subjects for which they are ill-equipped. Hence music without instruments, English without grammar or literature, history without facts.
      
      Need we worry? An education system that reduces every subject to half-baked polemics will not equip young Australians to deal with the realities of global competition.
      
      Barry Wells
      Clifton Beach, Qld
      
      
    • Eeucation based upon desired outcomes (3-4/6) is the wave of the future, despite the unwillingness of traditional educators to embrace change, especially in the US.

      An outcomes basis leads to authentic assessment, the development of personal mastery, the natural integration of academic disciplines and collaboration as the prevailing learning culture in contrast to the divisiveness of competition. I sincerely hope what you are doing down under can spread north. My personal thanks to your courageous and forward thinking educators
      
      Chuck Fellows
      South Lyon, Michigan, US
      

    • One wonders just what type of education West Australian Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich underwent to allow her to get to where she is. I'll bet it wasn't any gradeless curriculum. And as for beating on 44-gallon drums -- is she not aware of the Caribbean's rich calypso history?
      
      David Stone
      Kirwan, Qld
      
      
    • The so-called outcomes-based education has to be among the worst examples of doublespeak since George Orwell's 1984, in which the people were taught that freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength. The proposed WA curriculum is a disgrace. It would undermine outcomes while twisting language to claim the reverse.
      
      Robert Tulip
      Fraser, ACT

      The Australian Newspaper at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19362233-21223,00.htm
      
      

Tuesday 6 June 2006

• Today's West Australian includes Paul Murray's Op Ed piece, the Alston cartoon, a front page article on the maths skills crisis and three letters to the editor
  
  
  • Premier's press attack just the same old story
    Op Ed by Paul Murray (page 18)
    
    "Imagine the world if politicians got the sort of newspapers they wanted. We'd get sports coverage on page one only when taxes go up, endless pictures of government MPs kissing babies and Alston would be back working behind a bar rather than daily exposing their peculiarities.
    
    "Once again this newspaper is under attack by the government of the day, accused of bias, playing the man -- or woman -- and abusing its power. So what's new?
    
    "This time the issue is outcomes-based education and the Carpenter Government's drive to impose it on Years 11 and 12 against strong opposition.
    
    "Premier Alan Carpenter last week gave the newspaper -- and its editor, Paul Armstrong -- a bit of a touch-up. It caused me a certain sense of nostalgia..."
    
    "I suppose Paul Armstrong can't complain about the personal nature of the attack on him, given his page-one wanted poster targeting Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich. And as far as I know, he isn't.
    
    "But the bottom line to the Premier's attack is that The West's ongoing campaign on OBE is in some way illegitimate. That's worth examining.
    
    So is the treatment warranted?
    
    "The issue at hand is the fundamentals of the education of WA's children, especially in the important years leading to tertiary studies. There can be few more worthy subjects for inquiry.
    
    "Is the newspaper a lone voice of criticism and off on a frolic of its own?
    
    "Absolutely not. While it has led the debate, it now has widespread support throughout the education community, at least for a delay in implementation..." [emphasis added]
    
    Paul (Armstrong) presents himself in this role of being an Opposition and holding people accountable," one nameless backbencher said, thus being unaccountable for his views. "Well, if you guys want to hold us accountable, who holds you accountable?"
    
    "The answer to that dumb question is the same as always: the public.
    
    "Newspaper campaigns come with an attendant risk. If the public doesn't perceive that its interests are being pursued, there will be a backlash. There is no evidence of than on OBE -- quite the opposite, in fact.
    
    "It is arrogance and myopia for politicians to think they are the only ones with a view on public policy. In fact, as the membership of political parties dwindles, there is a demonstrable need for other forms of public participation in the processes of government.
    
    "And it should be noted that Her Majesty's elected Opposition has been strangely muted. That's probably because the system started when former leader Colin Barnett was education minister and some people feel compromised.
    
    "Is that a good enough reason for going soft, when it is now apparent that so much is at stake? No.
    
    "A newspaper properly fills the void left by an inactive or incompetent Opposition as long as it is arguing its case and holding the public' confidence..."
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
  • Skill crisis grows as kids reject maths
    by Bethany Hiatt (front page)

    "The number of WA teenagers studying advanced maths has plunged to such low levels that there will soon be "a dire shortage" of students eligible for much-needed university courses, a national education think tank will warn today.

    "The report, by the Federally funded International Centre of Excellence for Education in Mathematics, reveals that just 8.2 per cent of students took advanced maths in 2004, down from 12.6 per cent in 1995. The number taking intermediate maths fell from 18.8 per cent to 13.4 per cent over the same time.

    "Centre director Garth Gaudry described the trend as disturbing, saying WA faced having "a dire shortage of mathematically trained people". And he warned that this figure would fall further once outcomes-based education was introduced to Years 11 and 12 because smarter students would be held back by less able ones.

    "The proportion of WA students enrolling in advanced maths was the second-lowest of all the States. In NSW, the percentage fell from 18.9 to 15 and rose from 11.4 to 12.6 in Victoria. The share of WA students studying intermediate maths was the lowest of all States and compared with 20.1 per cent in NSW, 24.2 per cent in Victoria and 31.7 per cent in Queensland. [emphasis added]

    "Professor Gaudry said advanced maths skills, which includes calculus, were essential for careers that were vital to the State's economy, such as engineering, physical sciences, finance, biosciences and computing.

    "It's really a great shame and a real regret that there aren't enough kids there taking advanced mathematics - the sort needed for engineering," he said.

    "Professor Gaudry blamed universities for driving the trend, saying they had softened entrance requirements and no longer made certain subjects, such as advanced maths, prerequisites to qualify for various courses.

    "But Education Department director-general Paul Albert dismissed the OBE concerns, saying that new OBE maths, to be introduced in 2008, would give students more opportunity to study advanced maths.

    "He said the new courses would be structured so that more students tackled calculus, rather than offering it as a separate subject. [emphasis added]

    "The problem is we want more students to be doing calculus than the current course allows and that's unfortunate in the way the TEE is structured, because only the select few get to go on and do calculus," he said. "It's a very important subject for students to have a taste of."...

    Full story in The West Australian at http://www.thewest.com.au/20060606/news/general/tw-news-general-home-sto134347.html
    
    
    
  • Alston (page 18) © The West Australian newspaper
    
    
    
    
    
  • Three letters to the editor (page 21)
    
    
    • "Will OBE spell the end for overseas students who do not have a suitable certificate from the Curriculum Council? The threat to our students must be fairly applied to all.
      
      "Please do not publish my name and address as I have only this year received my permanency after 17 years of teaching and I am afraid of the consequences. Please keep the reports going. This is a topic that has been taboo ever since it was thrown at us in the primary schools."
      
      Name and address supplied
      
      
      
    • "Many parents who pay for their children to attend Catholic schools would be staggered by your report (1/6) that Catholic schools must toe the OBE line. If the head of the Catholic Education Office is unwilling to exercise independence from the State Government's education program, we could justifiably scrap it entirely and save its annual budget of about $20 million."
      
      Frank Collins, Morley
      
      
      
    • "I am a high school student and my friends and I are constantly being told by my parents that the work I am doing is what would have been considered "university standard" in their youth..."
      
      "...To all you out there who believe it's all "too easy" these days, I ask you the following question: Which of these two options seems more challenging? Remembering the names of great men, how many people they killed and when they killed them (facts which can be acquired easily by anyone armed with a computer, modem or even a well-stocked library) or having to analyse the mass effects of policies and actions in the context of complex political ideology and to discuss varying opinions (and why they have arisen) on this..."
      
      Harry Midalia, Claremont
      
      
      
• Geraldton Guardian
  

  Why I don't believe we are ready to bring in OBE

  "A Geraldton high school teacher says she holds grave fears for the future of students' education under the State Government's Outcomes-based education plan.

  "Ilse Middleton, who is also a member of lobby group PLATO -- said the new curriculum for knowledge based subjects such as mathematics and physics would lead to a future generation of students who were incompetent in basic maths and science.

  "'I know maths is still another year away from being implemented but looking at the physics exam, I just can't see how it's going to prepare these kids for an engineering degree,' Mrs Middleton said.

  "'There hasn't been enough consultation with specialist teachers -- in implementing the final stages of OBE they've gone to philosophers and left the specialist teachers out of it.'

  "Mrs Middleton said the State Government needed to take a step back from its aggressive push to implement OBE across Year 11 next year and address teachers' concerns.

  "She said a number of teachers involved with writing the OBE courses had resigned over their concerns with the new content and assessment methods.

  "Mrs Middleton, a parent of school aged children, said without a clear syllabus students were unsure of what they would be assessed on and their preparations for final year exams suffered.

  "'I didn't want to wade into the debate but this is just too important for the future of our kids,' she said.

  "Midwest District Education Office curriculum manager, Lis Turner said all OBE courses contained the necessary core elements for each discipline and said it was up to teachers to tailor the courses for different groups of students."
  

  From The Geraldton Guardian
  

• ABC News Online
  
  
  • Academics fear for higher maths uptake

    "Academics have expressed concern at a trend among year 12 students across Australia not to take higher level mathematics in their final exams.

    "A survey by the federally funded International Centre for Education in Mathematics shows there has been a mass movement to elementary maths.

    "South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland and Tasmania are the worst, with less than 10 per cent of year 12 students taking advanced subjects.

    "Centre director, Professor Garth Gaudry, says apart from the more advanced mathematics not being sufficiently rewarded by university entrance marks, standards are being dropped for university courses.

    "Universities have dropped prerequisites even where the subjects are necessary," he said.

    "Students are taken in without the appropriate prerequisites and they are having to do remedial courses to try and catch up just before they start the degree. [emphasis added]

"It costs students extra money and many students struggle to finish the degree because they didn't come in with the proper mathematics...."

For full story see ABC News Online at http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200606/s1656056.htm

• The Australian Newspaper
  
  
  • Fall-off in maths studies to hit skills
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "A drop of 20 per cent in the number of Year 12 students studying high-level maths has sparked warnings from engineers and scientists that the skills shortage will worsen.

    "The fall, blamed on universities dropping maths as a prerequisite and the subject no longer being weighted above others, threatens national economic competitiveness in technologies such as molecular biology and genetics.

    "A study by the federally funded International Centre of Excellence for Education in Mathematics is the first to analyse the level of maths studied in Year 12.

    "The steepest falls were among advanced maths students in Queensland and Western Australia, where 35 per cent of students have rejected advanced maths in the past 10 years..." [emphasis added]

  Full story in The Australian Newspaper at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19377961-13881,00.html

  • Letter to the editor
    Put artists in the classroom
    
    "Recent debate about the new West Australian school music curriculum has alluded to an absolutely critical issue for the state of Australia's education system – poorly resourced teacher education in the arts. Without the expertise and efforts of highly qualified and experienced music educators, no curriculum can reach the clarity Richard Gill has declared so lacking in the state's curriculum ("A scaled-down land of the bland", Opinion, 26/5)..."
    
    Jennifer Bott, CEO, Australia Council
    
    Full letter in The Australian Newspaper at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19372962-21223,00.html

   

Wednesday 7 June 1007

• Today's West Australian
  
  
• Carpenter in new bid to settle OBE unrest
  Bethany Hiatt (page 7)
  
  "Alan Carpenter has sought to hose down some of the outcomes-based education furore by promising senior teachers he will make key changes to a range of subjects by the end of the year.
  
  "In a bid to be seen as offering angry teachers an olive branch, the Premier said he would address their complaints about a lack of flexibility in some courses, assessment workload and lack of content.
  
  "But the subject association chiefs who attended a meeting with Mr Carpenter late last week to air their fears said they wanted to see the Premier's assurances translated into firm action by the Curriculum Council.
  
  "The meeting was called as the OBE furore hit fever pitch last week, when Mr Carpenter and Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich blamed the media for the fierce opposition to it among parents and teachers.
  
  "Among the assurances teachers were given was a key concession to drop the demand that all courses fir the same rigid model, which requires students to meet four main outcomes..."
  
  [science courses to drop Outcome 4]
  
  "Senior teacher Marko Vojkovic, co-founded of teachers' lobby group PLATO, said the council appeared to be abandoning some of the basic principles of OBE. But he said he would not give up his fight until the council scrapped its insistence that high school students be assessed in levels between four and eight.
  
  "I don't know how they can say the courses are ready when they still can't tell us how we are to assess them and what's in the course because they are changing it every five minutes," he said..."
  
  [further concessions in music and history]
  
  Full story in The West Australian
  
  
  
• Opinion: Curriculum Council carries on its bluster
  by Tony Rutherford (page 25)
  
  An interesting look at the Curriculum Council's bullying, hubris, and the ideology driving its English replacement course "Texts, Traditions and Cultures" -- "post-structuralist critical theory"
  
  "...It is revealing in itself that the Curriculum Council considers differences from its own opinions as "factual errors"; but we should expect that kind of response, which is not much different from the bullying bluster that has so far characterised their dealings with dissenters, from inside and outside the education system." [emphasis added]
  
  Full story in The West Australian
  
  
  
• Another Inside Cover "Waffle Watch":
  Rubbish bin the best outcome (page 2)
  
  "Further to Monday's example of OBE waffle, here's what Year 8 English teachers have to interpret from a document entitled Indicators of Level of Achievement. Apparently it has something to do with a "reading outcome".
  
  "...select accessible reading material to fulfill (sic) reading purposes; use graphophonic knowledge, semantic, syntactic and pectoral cues interactively to identify and comprehend words and text; monitor their understanding and adjust reading strategies according to the reading purpose and text structure; and identify opinion and point of view in accessible texts." [emphasis added. Note: spelling error was Curriculum Council's, not Inside Cover's]
  
  "IC's suggested outcome for the author of this overwritten rubbish is to head back to the classroom and rediscover simple English." [But it was written by one of the CC's English specialists, who no doubt is training other teachers on Indicators of Level of Achievement... Webmaster]
  
  
  
  
• Today's The Australian Newspaper
  
  
  • Premier acts on new-age courses
    Ean Higgins and Paige Taylor

    "West Australian Premier Alan Carpenter has taken control from his Education Minister to add substance and remove ideological bent from the state's new-age, outcomes-based schools curriculum. [emphasis added]

    "Mr Carpenter has insisted that the new music course require students to learn a musical instrument, and curriculum writers will now be instructed to remove a "values" component worth 25 per cent of all science courses.

    "Changes will be made to the new history course, which has been criticised for having no compulsory elements.

    "The Premier yesterday revealed he had called a meeting of subject association heads in his office last Thursday and expressed his views firmly, with Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich in attendance.

    "Ms Ravlich had spent more than a week refusing to address the issue, dodging media and allowing the controversy to spiral out of control.

    "Mr Carpenter, who was the education minister from 2001 to 2005, yesterday denied he had issued instructions to Ms Ravlich, in whom he said he had full confidence. But on Friday, she broke her silence with a blitz of media engagements.

    "His intervention follows weeks of controversy over the new curriculum for Years 11 and 12 that critics say places left-leaning philosophy over solid learning.

    "The proposed introduction of 17 courses into Year 11 next year has sparked a teacher mutiny, alarmed parents' organisations, and prompted educators to stand up against what they describe as falling standards.

    "The most controversial element, a music course that does not require students to learn scales or play an instrument, was exposed by The Australian. Course co-ordinator Christine Adams had said "the status of all instruments is equal", including turntables and computers.

    "Asked if he agreed with that view, Mr Carpenter yesterday said he did not.

    "As part of the discussions we had, I expressed the view that in order to get a satisfactory assessment, a student would be able to play a musical instrument," he said. "It was a very, very constructive meeting."

    "Mr Carpenter said one of his daughters was studying music, and he wanted her to be able to play an instrument..."
    
    Full story in The Australian Newspaper at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19390789-13881,00.html

  • Letter to the Editor
    

    Bring back teachers' craft
    
    "Jennifer Bott, CEO of the Australia Council, has touched on what might be the cause of the malaise in teacher preparation: teacher education (Letters, 6/6).

    "Put simply, what would-be classroom teachers need is post-graduate teacher training, and what the profession needs are graduate students who've been educated in the subjects that they hope to teach: in other words, educated people who learn the craft of teaching.

    "Teacher education" seems more and more to be a cover for indoctrination into the current ideological fads; moreover, there appears to be credible evidence that many university faculties of "education" actually despise "training".

    "The result is sad and predictable: beginners who can't manage classrooms and can't deal with syllabuses who then end up burnt-out after a few years – all that idealism lost forever to the nation's schools.

    "Sadder yet, some go on to become part of the problem – they get themselves jobs telling others how to do what they couldn't do and/or conjuring up make-work for those still doing the real work."
    
    Leonard Colquhoun
    Invermay, Tas
    
    Full story in The Australian Newspaper at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19388565-21223,00.html
    
    

• Adelaide Advertiser

The SA Government has recently released a report about years 11 and 12 - it adopts an OBE approach much like the new WACE.
See the story below, where SA universities attack the new certificate.

Kevin Donnelly

Report deals a blow to university state image
by Deborrah Tideman

"State Government aspirations to position South Australia as a "university city" have suffered a blow with the release of a report slamming proposed changes to senior secondary education.

"The South Australian Vice Chancellors' Committee Response to the Final Report of the SACE Review condemns the review as not in the best interests of SA universities or a significant proportion of the students who undertake the SACE with the intention of proceeding to university.

"Many of the review recommendations jeopardise "the important aspirations of the state to develop a knowledge-based economy that is nationally and internationally competitive", the vice chancellors say.

"Opposition education spokesman Dr Duncan McFetridge said yesterday the universities' concerns were extremely serious.

"I have serious concerns that the SACE review is a step towards the dumbing-down of school education in this state," he said.

"UniSA, Adelaide University and Flinders University acknowledge in their response that the purpose of the review is to increase retention rates in senior secondary education in SA, accepted as one of the worst in the nation, and completion of the SACE.

"The universities advocate incremental not wholesale changes with a move to a "new SACE". Their response also says:

"The review seriously disadvantages universities and risks severing connections between education sectors.

"There is significant scepticism among university academic staff about whether the "new SACE" enhances SA's position to develop as a university city..."

Full story in The Adelaide Advertiser at http://www.theadvertiser.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,19391183%255E2682,00.html

• This seems to be a good opportunity to congratulate and thank Jenny Balson for her excellent, gutsy letter in today's Stirling Times, titled "Parents: stand up and protest".

Packed full of fact and directions to platowa.com. Well done, Jenny!

Thursday 8 June 2006

• Today's West Australian includes the front page lead story, Alston cartoon and four letters to the editor -- the first of which is a real gem
  
  • Teachers plot new attack on OBE (front page)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "The State Government has been plunged into a fresh crisis over outcomes-based education, with private school teachers deciding to boycott the scheme despite threats that their actions may prevent students qualifying for university.

    "Teachers representing more than 30 of the State's 80 private schools have agreed to refuse to implement the OBE courses due to be introduced to Year 11 next year and more are expected to join their protest. [emphasis added]

    "The boycott comes despite a Curriculum Council warning last week that students who studied non-OBE courses when an OBE alternative was available would not get a high school graduation certificate and therefore not qualify for university.

    "Curtin University and the University of WA have confirmed that students without a WA Certificate of Education would be barred, saying that accepting them would shatter the State's international reputation.

    "But Independent Education Union secretary Theresa Howe and her public school counterpart, State School Teachers Union president Mike Keely, shrugged off the warning, saying if enough students were affected by teachers' refusal to implement OBE the universities would have to accept them.

    "We think that (threat) is a red herring," Ms Howe said yesterday. "Certainly some of our members have expressed concern but if enough of our members take action then those (non-OBE) courses will quickly be accredited."

    "Both unions have directed teachers to ignore the Government's attempts to proceed with its implementation plan, telling them to treat the new OBE courses as voluntary and teach them only if they feel comfortable doing so.

    "Ms Howe said an average of five subject faculties from each of the 30 private schools had said they would refuse to teach the new courses.

    "More schools were joining the boycott each day, she said, but the number of schools already on board was a clear indication of the huge level of discontent. An SSTU spokesman said about 40 public schools had signed up for the boycott and he expected many more to join before the union's State council next week..."

    Full story in The West Australian at http://www.thewest.com.au/20060608/news/general/tw-news-general-home-sto134375.html
    
    
    

  • Alston (page 20) © The West Australian newspaper
    
    
    
    
    
    
  • Four letters to the editor (page 22)
    
    

OBE and the Eagles "Dear Mr Worsfold, "As you are aware, significant changes are planned for the 2007 football season. We at the AFL feel the current system, which has been in place for more than 100 years, is antiquated and in need of a radical overhaul to bring it into line with the 21st century. "The current system is based on a league ladder which is a narrow numerical indicator linked to a series of weekly tests. We believe a more holistic approach is required using a range of rich and deep tasks delivered in a variety of contexts. "The changes are as follows. First, the scoreboard will be removed. Goal umpires will become facilitators working with individuals or small groups to progress players along a continuum of success. Field umpires will oversee the process and allocate resources equitably to ensure inclusivity. "Players will no longer have to demonstrate competency in a range of skills but simply demonstrate an understanding of the skill in a range of contexts. For example, Quinten Lynch will no longer need to kick the goal but can demonstrate an understanding of the process through a rap song, a power-point presentation or a skit with his teammates. "You may have heard some recent criticism of these proposals, particularly from the more senior coaches Sheedy and Malthouse. However, as Commissioner Carpenter pointed out, when was the last time those two played AFL footy? Furthermore, Commissioner Ripper stated that if the boys didn't want to toe the line there were plenty of vacancies in the under-14s. "I am confident that you will embrace these initiatives (because they will be imposed regardless) even though much of the detail is still yet to be finalised (despite our promises). I look forward to meeting you again at next year's end of season Celebration of Success (formerly the Grand Final) where the five or six teams that demonstrated significant progress and achievement throughout the year will hold the premiership cup aloft. "Regards, Commissioner Ravlich" Kim Treffone, Geraldton

 

• "All West Australians should be asking themselves why the Carpenter Government is so determined to dumb down education -- in other words, what's in it for them?"
  
  Ann Doig, Mr Helena
  
  
  
• "At the beginning of a school year a head teacher explained: "A belief cannot be a standard because it is based on variable conditions. This kind of non-standard is what we describe as opinion."
  
  "He continued: "In mathematics, a standard represents the meaning of something that cannot be changed or modified by any other influence. In effect, it is a noumenon and often a noetic experience.
  
  "Relatively, few standards are recognised because they are invisible. Being insensible to most, you may prefer to use a sensible equivalent. Students will find it more useful to recognise that any practical standard can be valued by anyone, and that every standard can be recognised as a virtuous influence. What you will find difficult to understand is why such important influences do not provide us with any sensible feeling."
  
  "He concluded: "But I can assure you that without students honouring the common standards of mathematics I will not respect the results of their examination." Then he added: "I am hopeful that you will at least learn how to value the common standard of respect."
  
  John Dixon, Balga
  
  
  
• "Joy Shepherd's article on outcomes-based education (Our children's education at risk to political expediency, 3/6) was great, but it didn't deal with the core problem -- our system of government.
  
  "Both sides of politics agreed on OBE nearly a decade ago but neither could get the bureaucracy to deliver. It's time for politicians, public servants, unions and others who would exploit confusion to return to the ethic of making things work as best they can. Selflessness of this kind seems to have disappeared in our new rationality..."
  
  Malcolm Mummery, Shenton Park
  

   

• Today's The Australian Newspaper
  
  • Carpenter steps in to fix curriculum
    by Paige Taylor and Victoria Laurie
    
    "Premier Alan Carpenter plans to chair a series of meetings with Western Australia's teachers as he takes control of fixing the state's gradeless curriculum, sidelining his minister.

    "Mr Carpenter's intervention, ahead of Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich, has led to significant changes to the proposed Year 11 and 12 courses. [emphasis added]

    "As controversy raged over the state's new outcomes-based courses last week, he called and chaired a meeting at which it was agreed that a controversial "values" component worth 25 per cent of all science courses would be scrapped and the history course would have essential content inserted.

    "Mr Carpenter's spokeswoman said his meeting with the heads of subject associations last Thursday was the first of several on the troubled curriculum.

    "There will be a series of meetings between the Premier and subject association heads, however, the Premier does not want to go into any more detail of the meetings," the spokeswoman said. [emphasis added]

    "Several at the meeting told The Australian that Mr Carpenter was determined to make necessary changes, asking them: "What do we have to change in order to make this work?"

    "Mr Carpenter's intervention has resulted in a significant change to the music course, which was met with relief by local teachers yesterday. The performance weighting will be boosted to 50 per cent..."

    "History Teachers Association of WA president Tom Loreck said Mr Carpenter was receptive to his complaint that the history course needed compulsory content.

    "We told him there was no common ground on which to mark an exam paper," he said. "If Mr Carpenter does what he appeared to agree to, it's going to be a major breakthrough."
    
    Full story in The Australian Newspaper at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19400894-13881,00.html
    
    

  • Leave politics out of poetry: dean
    by Justine Ferrari, Education write
    
    "High school English is being turned into a political science course with its emphasis on neo-Marxist and deconstructivist analysis of literature.

    "Addressing the Lowy Institute for International Policy on links between Milton and the terrorist mind, the dean of humanities at Australian National University, Simon Haines, said English teachers felt the need to give poetry and literature "political roughage" to make it relevant to students.

    "Make it a literature course, not a disguised political science course," he urged..."
    
    "He believed part of the problem was the lack of contact teachers had with universities after they had graduated.

    "The other problem lay in seeing education as distinct from the subjects taught at school.

    "The more you split education as a qualification on its own away from the actual disciplines that you are teaching in the classroom, the greater the risk you lose control," Dr Haines said.

    "This is what happened in Western Australia (where a gradeless curriculum built on the principles of outcomes-based education is being introduced). You lose a hold on the core of the discipline, whether it's literature, languages or music. [emphasis added]

    "Instead you replace it with the ideology of education or an ideology of society, which is putting the cart before the horse..."
    
    Full story in The Australian Newspaper at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19400814-13881,00.html

Friday 9 June 2006

• Today's West Australian includes two articles, an Op Ed piece by Don Watts, and three letters to the editor
  
  
  • Carpenter to offer OBE peace plan
    by Bethany Hiatt and Graham Mason (page 4)
    
    "The State Government is hurriedly piecing together a package of compromise measures aimed at appeasing the parent and teacher outcry over its outcomes-based education scheme.

    "In the wake of a series of meetings between Alan Carpenter and disgruntled subject association chiefs, the Curriculum Council said last night it would unveil its "make or break" changes next week.

    "News of the council's bid to accommodate furious parents and teachers came as the Premier admitted for the first time that he had effectively taken control of the OBE debate from Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich.

    "While the high-risk move may increase Mr Carpenter's chances of hosing down the furore over the Government's plan to implement OBE courses in Years 11 and 12 next year, it will also raise questions about why he has not sacked Ms Ravlich over the matter. [emphasis added]

    "Mr Carpenter yesterday insisted he still had confidence in Ms Ravlich. "I haven't taken over the role of the Education Minister. I'm working in partnership with the Education Minister to resolve some outstanding issues," he said.

    "But asked if he was taking a bigger role, he said: "Yes, yes, we are at a critical stage in the implementation of outcomes-based education in Years 11 and 12 in WA."

    "His admission came as he reacted favourably to a push by Catholic principals for another $2 million to help implement the OBE courses.

    "Teachers' unions have directed members to refuse to teach the OBE courses next year if they do not feel ready and are locked in a stalemate with the Curriculum Council, which says students taking non-OBE courses will not get a WA Certificate of Education, and universities, which will not accept students without that certificate.

    "More than 30 principals met Catholic Education Office director Ron Dullard yesterday to thrash out a solution...."

    "In another move, two top education bureaucrats will be recalled by the parliamentary inquiry into OBE implementation, due to hand down a report on June 30. Education director-general Paul Albert and Curriculum Council acting chief executive David Axworthy will give further evidence." [emphasis added]

    Full story in The West Australian at http://www.thewest.com.au/20060609/news/general/tw-news-general-home-sto134383.html
    
    
    
  • Premier makes himself OBE minister
    Comment by Robert Taylor (page 4)
    
    "By taking personal control of the Government's OBE agenda, Alan Carpenter has conceded two things -- the issue is hurting Labor and Ljiljanna Ravlich isn't up to the job of overcoming the problems..."
    
    "All of which begs the question of why those concerns and others of teachers, parents and educators, some of whom have quit their jobs over the issue, were not taken seriously by the Government when it first became aware that OBE implementation was off the rails." [emphasis added]
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
  • Why the State will not listen to reason on OBE
    Op Ed piece by Don Watts (page 18)
    
    "... Experience tells me that one of the fundamental rights of learners and their parents is to receive unequivocal information on the achievement of a child and that each child should be given an opportunity to face learning objectives that match their readiness.
    
    "In a system aiming at disguising differences, teachers face classes characterised by readiness ranges so wide that it is inevitable that those with lower readiness continue to waste their time attempting the unachievable and those with high readiness are not challenged..."
    
    "At this point I began to see a trend that continues today and is at the basis of the OBE disputation.
    
    "The current movement [for OBE]... is cleverly presented. Who is their right mind would argue against the measurement of "outcomes"?
    
    "Those who would are those that question whether the outcomes sought have educational validity.
    
    "Another group that should question this new system are those who have an interest in whether the information on outcomes provided to the learner and their parents is, firstly understandable, and secondly indicative of readiness for the next stage of development..."
    
    "There are interests in schooling that are simply not concerned about their obligations to provide understandable information on real learning achievements.
    
    "These same interests are not concerned that poor quality information disadvantages those who because of lower standards of readiness remain the under-performers irrespective of the reasons for their under-performance.
    
    "It is easy to understand why the State Government is not listening to reason on the OBE.
    
    "There is a conspiracy of interests within linked bureaucracies that seeks to control outcomes measurement. The interests of this group are met through an unnecessarily complex assessment regime that protects points of failure and under-investment in a school system that has been neglected for too long. Such a system also limits the differences between the regulated State system and the independent schools and disguises differences in achievement..."
    
    Don Watts is a former professor of chemistry at UWA, vice-chancellor of Curtin University and then foundation vice-chancellor of Bond University
    
    Full story in The West Australian
    
    
    
  • Letters to the editor (page 20)
    
    
    • It's doomed to failure
      
      "... As a child of post-structuralism, OBE theory lacks the sort of rigour required to be of any real value in practice. And this is precisely why teachers are up in arms. OBE is high on gobbledegook but low on substance. Teaching has traditionally been about substance. Consequently, teachers are extremely confused, not just about what to teach, but about their very identity as custodians and transmitters of society's knowledge and values imperatives. [emphasis added]
      
      "The Curriculum Council's response... is bothersome on two accounts. First, the notion that "this theoretical approach [post-structuralism] is used in Australian universities" is not true... If OBE as a way of "doing university" ever found its way into our tertiary institutions, I and, I suspect, many other academics would resign immediately. OBE is anathema to the very concept of a university. [emphasis added]
      
      "Second, to claim that we're stuck with critical theory... is just plain wrong. There are numerous paradigms which have been developed over the years which, unlike OBE, are replete with evidence of success. An appeal to critical theory for the best paradigm on which to base compulsory education puts the Curriculum Council about 15 years out of date in terms of contemporary models of curriculum theory.
      
      "The Education Minister has regularly pointed to the overwhelming success of OBE in years K-10 as support for extending it to years 11 and 12 But just how has this touted success been measured? Where's the evidence? Rather than continuing with the rhetoric, the Minister, her department and the council would do well to survey K-10 teachers regarding their perceptions of OBE. They may be surprised to learn that post-structural critical theory is not being received quite as enthusiastically as they think it is. They may also find that its progeny, OBE, is not the way in which teachers would prefer to engage in the delivery of educational outcomes." [ditto]
      
      Richard G Berlach, Assoc Dean, School of Education, University of Notre Dame, Fremantle
      
      
      
    • "Congratulations to Paul Murray (5/6). Yes, the ongoing questioning of the OBE issue is justified and The West Australian deserves accolades for its persistence. The Premier and Education Minister no doubt feel uncomfortable under this scrutiny -- and so they should. It is their obstinate refusal to listen to the voice of the people (teachers, academics and parents) that has brought about this sorry situation. To the editor and journalists at The West Australian, keep up the good work."
      
      Rob Thompson, Manning
      
      
      
    • [We've seen it before, but it's still relevant...]
      
      "... the evolution of teaching maths:

    1. Teaching maths in 1950: A logger sells a truckload of timber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of the price. What is his profit?
    2. Teaching maths in 1960: A logger sells timber for $100. His production cost is 4/5 of the price, or $80. What is his profit?
    3. Teaching maths in 1970: A logger sells timber for $100. Production cost is $80. Did he make a profit?
    4. Teaching maths in 1980: A logger sells a truckload of timber for $100. Production costs is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment: underline the number 20.
    5. Teaching maths in 1990: A logger cuts down a beautiful forest because he cares nothing for the habitat of animals or the preservation of our woodlands. He does this to make a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? Topic for class participation after answering the question: How did birds and squirrels feel as the logger destroyed their homes? There are no wrong answers."
       
       David Apps, Kinross

     

    Webmaster's addendum for 2006, the OBE way "Students in the late adolescence years recognise that the development and use of mathematics can be linked to the condition, concerns and values of people and communities. They recognise historical examples that show the development of mathematical idea, such as the development of the notion of rate of change in economics from the Marginalist school of economics thought in Austria. They identify communities [loggers or squirrels?] that have not had a tradition of recording their mathematics and yet have solved practical problems of considerable complexity: for example, the navigational techniques used by Pacific Islanders." [pg 15 of the Curriculum Framework Progress Maps: Mathematics] or The student understands the multi-faceted cultural determination of social factors influencing materials and resources available to communities; and describes their effects on complex systems to a predetermined and relevant audience using standard and alternative conventions. or The student understands that there are internal and external forces that can be forces for change and continuity; that certain forces are more powerful than others and that their impact on society might be negative for some and yet positive for others.

    Full letters in The West Australian
    

• Today's The Australian Newspaper
  
  
  • Kevin Donnelly: History repeats as WA ignores exam lessons
    The spectre of Joan Kirner haunts Western Australia's much maligned new education system
    
    "It's a pity that neither Western Australia's Premier, Alan Carpenter, nor his Education Minister, Ljiljanna Ravlich, appears to have studied history. If either had, they would know George Santayana's famous aphorism, "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

    "Music courses where students do not play instruments or learn musical notation, students studying the ethics of airbags in physics, chemistry about the sociology of cosmetics, English examinations in which students are not penalised for faulty spelling, grammar and punctuation, and literary classics replaced with movie posters and SMS messages.

    "The sad fact is the imbroglio that is WA's adoption of outcomes-based education, especially in years 11 and 12, could have been averted if those in control had bothered to learn from the past.

    "It is also clear that no amount of crisis management or last-minute tinkering at the edges, represented by Carpenter's willingness to remove some of the more egregious, dumbed-down elements of the new courses, will save the OBE juggernaut.

    "The proposed WA Certificate has much in common with the much-maligned Joan Kirner-inspired Victorian Certificate of Education. The VCE, as originally designed during the early 1990s, imposed a one-size-fits-all approach to curriculum, was anti-competitive and anti-academic and imposed a debilitating and unreliable system of assessment.

    "Such were the flaws in the VCE that the then vice-chancellor at the University of Melbourne, David Penington, threatened that the university would introduce its own entrance examinations, and the election campaign leading to the ALP's loss featured a "guilty party" advertisement highlighting a picture of Joan "VCE" Kirner..."

    "When students sit an externally set and marked examination there is a level playing field and it is possible to ensure that the grades given, used to rank students in terms of ability and merit and for tertiary selection, are comparable.

    "With school-based assessment, where students undertake projects and tests monitored and marked at the school level, it is impossible to ensure that the grade given to a student in one school is comparable to a grade given in another school.

    "As highlighted by the Victorian experience, it is also impossible to authenticate work, given that much is completed outside the classroom over an extended period.

    "Moderation meetings, where teachers meet and agree on what constitutes a particular grade to ensure consistency, are time-consuming and expensive. And, as demonstrated by events in WA, if the curriculum outcomes are vague and unclear, it is almost impossible to reach consensus.

    "Not only have those responsible for WA's education system failed to learn from history, but they have also ignored how stronger-performing overseas education systems structure their senior school certificates..."

    "Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach, better-performing education systems also have a highly differentiated secondary curriculum in which students, depending on ability and interest, can choose between certificates, ranging from academic to vocational to trade.

    "In trying to justify WA's faddish approach to curriculum, Ravlich has been quoted as saying that outcomes-based education is "the way of the future" and that it has been adopted by "30 other OECD nations".

    "If OBE is the way of the future, why did the 1995 Eltis Report in NSW argue that there was little, if any, evidence proving the benefits of OBE or that it had been successfully adopted elsewhere?

    "The truth is, as noted by Gita Steiner-Khamsi, an academic at Columbia University and a consultant to the World Bank, only a handful of countries ever adopted OBE. She states: "During OBE's phase of slow growth in the late 1980s and early 1990s, only a few educational systems adopted the reform, notably New Zealand, Australia, England and Wales, Canada and the US."

    "In the US, such were the attacks on the politically correct, dumbed-down nature of OBE when it was introduced during the '90s that all states have long since ditched the outcomes approach in favour of syllabuses that are academically based, succinct, clearly defined and teacher-friendly... " [emphasis added]

    "When in Perth last year, the previous federal education minister, Brendan Nelson, described OBE as a cancer. He is correct and, like shifting the chairs on the Titanic, no amount of last-minute compromise by Carpenter can disguise the reality that OBE is misconceived and fundamentally flawed.

    "Kevin Donnelly is director of Melbourne-based Education Strategies. On June 20 he will be involved in a public meeting in Perth, organised by the Institute of Public Affairs, discussing outcomes-based education."

    Full story in The Australian at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19408985-7583,00.html
    
    
    
• Theory taught too soon
  byJustine Ferrari, Education writer
  
  "High-school English has become a cultural studies course rather than a study of literature and is too broad and patchy in its implementation.

  "Weighing into the debate over courses that ask for Marxist readings of Shakespeare and analyses of the language of movie posters are the authors of a new textbook on the English canon for the 21st century, university lecturer in literature Fiona Morrison and English head teacher Michael Parker.

  "Dr Morrison, a lecturer at Sydney University, said the curriculum had been updated to take account of newer thinking and to broaden the texts studied, which was a good idea. But she questioned the ability of Year 12 students to pursue meaningful cultural studies.

  "The greats of cultural studies are multidisciplinary, exceedingly well read, exceedingly contextualised, with an exceedingly historic focus," she said.

  "It takes time and training and it's dealing with something substantial."

  "Dr Morrison said the English curriculum tended to be too broad and tried to include too much, resulting in patchy and variable applications..."
  
  Full story in The Australian at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19412614-13881,00.htm

Saturday - Sunday 10 - 11 June 2006

• Channel 7 Evening News, 5:25 pm, Sunday 11 June
  Government's FIRST big back-down

  Following Premier Alan Carpenter's meeting today with the Curriculum Council and the teachers' unions, three major concessions were announced:

  1. Major changes to assessment, adopting the NSW model of marks and grades, as well as levels;

  2. The Curriculum Council to make changes to courses "where required";

  3. Syllabi will be provided for all courses, and teachers can use their current courses and exams as guidelines.

  Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich admitted: "Perhaps the direction we were moving towards was seen to be purist, whereas what we needed to do was pull it back."

  Union President Mike Keely said: "It is very clear the government realises it has not been listening, and now it is listening."

  Shadow Education Minister Peter Collier still maintains: "The opinion of the Opposition is that a delay is still necessary."

  The segment was followed with a plug for next week's "OBE Showdown" which will be broadcast as part of their 6 pm news over several evenings.

• ABC Evening News, 7 pm, Sunday 11 June
  
  The ABC ran pretty much the same story, but with these additional quotes:
  
  SSTUWA President Mike Keely: "I have a strong hope that what the union and its members want will be met."
  
  Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich: "I expect agreement by the end of the week with the state teachers' union."
  
  Shadow Education Minister Peter Collier: "Six months out from implementation, and still having these constant changes, is a disgrace."
  
  

• Today's West Australian includes two articles, the main editorial and the OBE WestPoll
  
  
  • Eighty per cent of voters say delay OBE
    by Jessica Strut and Graham Mason (page 4)
    
    "The fierce opposition towards outcomes-based education has been highlighted by a new poll showing four out of five West Australians want the State Government to delay introduction of the controversial new scheme.

    "The latest Westpoll has also revealed that the OBE debacle is taking a big toll on the Government's popularity, with one in three voters saying the issue is important enough to warrant throwing the Carpenter Government out of office. [emphasis added]

    "And it is damaging Alan Carpenter's standing among voters, with just 23 per cent saying he is doing a good job compared with 38 per cent two months ago.

    "The poll found almost 60 per cent were dissatisfied with the way Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich was introducing OBE and one in three said she should be sacked over the issue. Almost half of the 400 voters surveyed this week also agreed that OBE risked "dumbing down" education standards.

    "Last month, The West Australian reported that two of the State's top political analysts believed the Government was taking a big electoral risk by refusing to delay 17 outcomes-based education courses due to be implemented into Year 11 next year..."

    "Mr Carpenter's support among ALP supporters has taken a battering, with only 40 per cent believing he was doing a good job compared with 51 per cent three months ago..."
    
    Full story in The West Australian at http://www.thewest.com.au/20060610/news/general/tw-news-general-home-sto134390.html
    

    Should OBE be delayed?	%
    Agree	79
    Disagree	11
    Don't know	7
    Unsure	3
    Does OBE risk dumbing down standards?
    Agree	48
    Disagree	23
    Don't know	18
    Unsure	11

    
    The WestPoll was carried out June 6 - 8 through phone interviews with 403 voters across the State. WestPoll conducted by Patterson Market Research.
    
    
    
  • Carpenter calls crisis talks with teachers
    by Bethany Hiatt (page 4)
    
    "The State Government is holding crisis talks with teachers' unions in a last-ditch attempt to avoid a mutiny over outcomes-based education.
    
    "High-level staffers from the office of Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich put a proposal yesterday to the Independent Education Union, which represents private school teachers, aimed at appeasing teachers' concerns about ambiguous assessment procedures, lack of content and poor resourcing.
    
    "It is understood they also made overtures to the State School Teachers Union yesterday afternoon. Both unions have directed members not to teach new OBE courses due to be introduced next year if they believe they are not ready.
    
    "Alan Carpenter yesterday called a crisis meeting with both unions, Ms Ravlich and other education chiefs at his office tomorrow to thrash out possible solutions.
    
    "IEU secretary Theresa Howe said even if some concerns were resolved, teachers would say it was too late to introduce the scheme next year.
    
    "The Curriculum Council has been working frantically in a bid to piece together a compromise package that will appease teachers without backing down on the implementation timetable. The council is expected to unveil the package next week.
    
    "But many teachers say the changes are nothing more than window dressing and they will not be satisfied with anything other than a delay.
    
    "Their main sticking point is their demand for a complete overhaul of the contentious system of "levelling" students by assessing them against verbose, difficult-to-interpret level descriptors.
    
    "Education insiders say the changes now being considered by the Curriculum Council include rewriting level descriptors which many, including Prime Minister John Howard, have labelled gobbledegood. Changes are also likely to include redesigning courses and exam papers so they more closely resemble TEE courses.
    
    "Greg Williams, president of teachers' lobby group PLATO, said tinkering just increased teachers' confusion. "They have to get rid of levelling," he said. [emphasis added]
    
    "Shadow education minister Peter Collier said the proposed changes were too little, too late."
    
    From The West Australian
    
    
    
  • Editorial
    Cynical Premier a conjurer of OBE illusions (page 18)
    
    "Alan Carpenter has become the self-appointed window dresser for his Government's rapidly unravelling outcomes-based education plans. In doing so, he has high-handedly brushed aside Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich, without having the gumption to say unambiguously that is what he has done.
    
    "This has now become all about the Government saving political face, with the Premier intent on enforcing on reluctant schools its potentially disastrous timetable for the introduction of OBE into Years 11 and 12. Big sections of the education community have said the sensible decision in the face of the many uncertainties about the courses would be to delay their introduction for a year.
    
    "It would also be the morally correct decision. It would offer the only guarantee now available that students would not be put at any disadvantage by new courses, which many schools are clearly not ready to teach properly.
    
    "But Mr Carpenter has not been able to bring himself to acknowledge this as he pig-headedly presses on with the introduction of some sort of politically contrived compromise that he could still call OBE. This is no longer just about the quality of education offered to young people, though that is as important as any responsibility with which the Government is entrusted. It is also a test of the Government's integrity, honour and commitment to the public interest.
    
    "So far it has been found wanting on all counts. Indeed, it is evident that Mr Carpenter has embarked on a cynical exercise of spin doctoring aimed to change appearances, to make the shop window of OBE look good and distract attention from the fatal flaws in what is really on offer..." [emphasis added]
    
    Full editorial in The West Australian
    
    
• TV Evening News, 10 June
  
  
  • ABC TV News at 7 pm, 10 June

    Good coverage of the Premier's weekend "crisis meetings" with teaching association representatives, and a cynical look at the government's latest attempts at window dressing and Band-Aids.

    Bruce Hancy (Head of Economics teachers' association) and another learning area association representative (geography?) were on camera, saying that their associations had not been invited.

    SSTUWA spokesman David Kelly said issues had "come to a head", and gave the impression that the union had been very active and working on this for some time on behalf of teachers. He indicated this weekend was "the last chance to fix it". The ABC also repeated some footage of the Premier saying he was a concerned parent, too, with daughters in secondary school.

    Shadow Education Minister described the proposed Band-Aid changes as "too little, too late".

    The program closed by mentioning next week's Protest Rally at Parliament House.
    
    

  • Channel 7 News at 6 pm, 10 June
    
    Channel 7 admitted that their "feelgood' story on the Minister's cosmetic makeover [last night's Today Tonight] had backfired and caused some stress. "We asked the minister to attend the "OBE Showdown" [that we taped on Wednesday], but she was unavailable - apparently that was the day she was getting the makeover!" [emphasis added]
    
    They showed a brief rerun of that "Frilly Lilly" segment, closely followed by another "No Comment" from the her on OBE matters.
    
    Channel 7 is now advertising the "OBE Showdown" to be screened starting on Monday evening, 12 June [but didn't say "where": Evening News? Today Tonight?]

    [We have heard it will be 4 segments of 3 to 4 minutes over 4 days.]
    
    

• The Weekend Australian
  
• Big Brother ads and squiggles on the syllabus
  by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
  
  "Counting and analysing advertisements during Big Brother is one of the suggested assignments for Year 11 and 12 English students in Western Australia.

  "Resource materials provided by the state Curriculum Council, which suggest projects for teachers to use in the classroom, also include tasks on the squiggly lines used to draw Mr Messy in the MrMen children's books.

  "Other activities have students analysing junk mail and swimming pool rules and pretending they are celebrities for interviews by classmates.

  "The teaching guide suggests students count the number of ads screened during a one-hour prime-time television show, such as CSI or Big Brother, and note the products and their intended market. Students report on "the values, attitudes and beliefs underlying the television show" and the target audiences identified for the ads. [emphasis added]

  "Consider what common messages are being sent to the social groups by the show itself and the advertisements screened with it," students are told.

  "The state's English course, which is being taught this year, has been widely criticised for replacing long literary texts with short texts such as movie posters.

  "The sample exam was attacked for failing to require students to answer a single question about a literary text and instructing markers not to penalise students for poor spelling, grammar or punctuation.

  "West Australian Premier Alan Carpenter finally stepped in this week to try to restore public confidence in the state's new Certificate of Education. He is meeting teachers associations to address their concerns.

  "But yesterday the English resource materials were still on the Curriculum Council's website..."
  
  "Another suggested task recommends that students read a selection of children's books, such as the Mr Men books, recommended for children aged three to six, and identify the features used to appeal to their audience -- such as "characters that are distinct and recognisable, bright colours, shapes and lines, eg squiggles for Mr Messy, clothes and props such as hats, simplified facial expressions"... [emphasis added]
  
  "And another task has students exploring "the phenomenon of unsolicited junk mail that uses visuals and writing, eg letterbox advertising, brochures and electronic spamming..."
  

  Full story in The Weekend Australian at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19423665-13881,00.html
  
  
  
• ALP U-turn will reward elite unis
  by Catherine Armitage, Higher education editor
  
  "Labor is abandoning the centrepiece of its university funding policy under a radical rethink that will return the party to a system of rewarding high-achieving institutions..."
  
  Full story in The Weekend Australian at http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19421562-2702,00.html
  
  
  
• The Sunday Times : An excellent letter to the editor
  
  "I am sick of Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich claiming she must push ahead with OBE because of "its successful introduction in kindergarten to Year 10" {"Iron lady will not back off", TST, June 4).
  
  "Who says it has been successful? Her non-teaching bureaucratic advisers, that's who.
  
  "Ask high school mathematics and science teachers if it's been successful.
  
  "Ask the parent who wrote on Page 15 of your paper about her three children who went through school as OBE was being introduced, one child pre-OBE, two during it, who says: "I can tell you that standards have fallen in primary schools. It's very sad."
  
  "The minister states that OBE is working in kindergarten to Year 10, yet there has never been an evaluation or survey on the changes.
  
  "Logic tells us that what she asserts without proof, we can deny without reason. Why has the department, or the Curriculum Council, never done an evaluation or survey of OBE?
  
  "I think I know why: The big lie would be exposed." [emphasis added]
  
  Patrick Whalen, Newman

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This page last updated 29 May, 2008 9:26 PM