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Breaking
News: Week of 21 August 2006
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Saturday – Sunday, 26 – 27 August
- Media Release: David Wood named Chief Executive Officer of the Curriculum Council
David Wood named Chief Executive Officer of the Curriculum Council
Education and Training Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich has welcomed the appointment of David Wood as the new permanent head of the Curriculum Council.
Ms Ravlich said Mr Wood was a career educator and highly capable of continuing the significant progress made in implementing new courses for Year 11 and 12 students.
"Mr Wood, who was previously the principal at Sevenoaks Senior College, is a life member of the Science Teachers' Association and has had substantial experience in curriculum issues," she said.
"He has spent 10 years at the Secondary Education Authority (prior to it becoming the Curriculum Council) and has been involved in a number of strategic programs, including refinement and publication of the Western Australian Outcomes and Standards Framework.
"As a principal, Mr Wood knows the importance of a student-focused approach, especially for senior secondary students, which is why the current implementation process needs to be carefully monitored, properly evaluated and well-supported."
Ms Ravlich thanked acting CEO David Axworthy for his leadership and professionalism during his time at the helm of the council.
The Minister said Mr Wood would continue the task of refining the new courses of study for Years 11 and 12 and would ensure a smooth transition to Outcomes and Standards Education.
"The new WA Certificate of Education courses will benefit all students and better prepare them for further study, training or employment," she said.
Ms Ravlich said now the Government, the teaching unions and all the public and private school sectors had agreed to a way forward for the new courses, she wished Mr Wood every success in carrying out the Curriculum Council's supportive role in the process.
Minister's office - 9213 6800
- For info: David Wood's submission to the Parliamentary Inquiry into Post-Compulsory Education
- The West Australian
- Editorial
National history a vital part of education for all Australians (page 18)
"Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop has struck a chord with many Australians with her push to make the teaching of our nation's history compulsory in all Australian schools.
"It should be obvious even to WA's ideologically driven Curriculum Council that it is important for all young Australians to get a solid grounding in Australian history..."
"WA students from Years 1 to 10 do not study Australian history as a separate subject. It is taught as part of the Time, Continuity and Change course, something which Ms Bishop says should be seriously questioned.
"Her criticisms have been echoed by historians, teachers, parents and community members. This month, a Westpoll survey of 402 people found than an overwhelming 83 per cent wanted Australian history to be taught as a compulsory stand-alone subject at some stage of high school..."
"It is hoped that WA's educators will see the light and follow the NSW example by making Australian history compulsory for all students in Years 9 and 10 without having to be bludgeoned into compliance by the threat of Federal funding being withheld..."
- Op Ed
System to blame for kids who can't read (page 18)
by Bettina Arndt
"Many are applauding the news that a mother has won a payout from a top Melbourne school which failed to teach her son how to read. This shot across the bow alerts those running our education system that there may be a price to pay for the generations of students who have missed out on literacy skills..." [See the Breaking News Archive for the Week of 14 August for more articles on the story.]
"The major reason so many children are struggling – according to the national inquiry into literacy which reported in December last year – has been the failure of our education system to include proper instruction in phonics. Teachers haven't been properly taught to teach phonics and hence students have missed the essential building blocks to literacy.
"Children have paid the price for replacing proper phonics-based reading instructions with the fad of whole-language – an approach which has dominated our system for more than 20 years.
[More details on the Melbourne story.]
"Sadly public schools have suffered even more strongly from educational adventurism, such as the whole language fad. With no control over quality of teachers, State education has more than its fair share of poorly prepared teachers. For decades, many teacher-training courses have not only failed to provide a thorough grounding in phonics but given little instruction in how to teach.
"So teachers are not to blame for the current crisis – indeed many are well aware of the deficiencies in their training. While most university courses claim to include phonics, many give it only lip service.
"A survey of primary school teachers conducted by the Queensland University of Technology found more than half of the teachers did not know what a syllable was and three-quarters could not count the sounds in words. A group of recent graduate teachers is apparently exploring legal options to try to sue the university concerned..." [emphasis added]
- Two years in preschool best for children, says researcher (page 6)
"A national preschool system that gives children at least two years education before they start school is the ideal child-care system, says a paper to be released today by 21 social policy researchers..."
Based on a story in today's The Australian
- Schools are safety risk: WorkSafe (page 7)
by Keryn McKinnon, FOI Editor
"Dangerous chemicals kept in drink bottles, first aid supplies past their use-by dates, damaged electrical cords and blocked access to fire equipment are among a list of unsafe work practices at WA schools exposing students and teachers to life-threatening risks..."
"An investigation by The West Australian has revealed many WA schools are putting students and staff at risk of electric shock because they fail to check and update electrical equipment."And machinery in some metalwork and woodwork classrooms did not have proper guards or emergency safety switches to protect students and teachers from injury.
"Several schools have been ordered to improve the storage of chemicals after science laboratories were left unlocked and storage containers were not labelled. At one school, drink containers with the drink labels still on them were used to hold chemicals.
"Many schools did not practise evacuation procedures and in some cases staff had not been instructed how to deal with violent situations. In another school with more than 400 staff and students, not one staff member had first aid training.
"Nearly 150 dangerous work practices were exposed by WorkSafe inspectors visiting public and private schools over the past two years. The improvement notices ordering the potential hazards be fixed have been obtained by The West Australian under Freedom of Information laws.
"State School Teachers Union president Mike Keely said workplace safety was an area of concern for the union and he did not believe enough emphasis was placed on it.
"Teachers were already under pressure and safety problems were often exacerbated because they were not as alert, or well trained as they should be, to identify and prevent potential hazards.
"Education Department manager for employee support services, Wendy Doyle, said principals and department heads must provide and maintain a safe workplace. Safety officers helped them meet health and safety requirements.
"She said many improvement notices received by schools were relatively minor and schools were helped to comply with them.
"WorkSafe Commissioner Nina Lyhne said the notices were an opportunity for workplaces to fix problems before a serious accident occurred. About 1100 improvement notices were issued every year to public and private businesses.
"Ms Lyhne said schools were no different to any type of business and inspectors were particularly vigilant in ensuring staff were trained in dealing with violent situations they may encounter with parents or students."
From The West Australian at link
- Junk food ban sought to end 'diabesity' (page 11)
Based on a story in today's The Melbourne Age
- High school age concern (page 16)
"Parents have called on Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich to retain the current high school entry age or risk the viability of country schools.
"The WA Council of State School Organisations annual conference yesterday bolstered opposition to the shirting of Year 7 students to high schools.
"The Department of Education and Training is investigating reducing the high-school entry age by one year to put WA in line with other States.
"Conference delegates also called for a quadrupling of country teaching incentives to $100 per week.
"A spokesperson for the Minister Assisting for Education, Norm Marlborough, declined to comment while Ms Ravlich was on holiday." [emphasis added]
- Letters to the Editor
Two letters on education issues today: one opposes full-time kindy, while the other applauds the Federal history teaching initiative.
Full stories in The West Australian
- The Guardian
- Third of employers forced to teach basic maths and English
by Rebecca Smithers, education editor
· CBI says government must act now to raise standards
· GCSE results expected to indicate poor core skills
"One in three businesses is having to send staff for remedial "catch-up" lessons in basic literacy and numeracy skills that they have failed to acquire at school, a damning report reveals today."The employers' organisation CBI says the government must act urgently to improve poor standards of maths and English among Britain's school leavers. The evidence emerges days before GCSE results are expected to show that more than half of all 16-year-olds have failed to achieve good grades in both key subjects.
"In the 112-page report, the employers condemn poor standards of spelling, handwriting and mental arithmetic among school leavers, noting that their social and practical skills have also declined. The report claims that "people become extraordinarily adept at hiding their poor skills and go to great lengths to avoid the stigma often associated with them".
Full story in The Guardian at link
- Similar stories in The Independent
- The Australian
- Teacher joins exodus for better pay
by Patricia Karvelas
"At midnight last night, Australia lost another of our youngest and brightest teachers to the British education system."Luke Hall, 23, a maths and science teacher from country Victoria, hopped on a jet for a new life working in London.
"His departure and that of thousands of other teachers each year has led to calls by Labor backbencher Craig Emerson for a model that would allow all state school principals to pay teachers more money for good performance instead of seniority.
"According to previously unpublished data obtained by Dr Emerson, Australia is experiencing an exodus of teachers, with 8400 teachers leaving our shores in 2004-05, twice the number who left a decade earlier.
"Even after taking account of foreign teachers coming to the country, Australia has lost more than 18,000 teachers in the past decade, whereas before then there had been a small net gain.
"Dr Emerson says that to stem the trend, Australia must introduce performance pay in all state schools. Under his model, which will anger unions, principals would get more money to attract and retain the best teachers. "The principal could offer extra money to a teacher or teachers that the principal wants to retain, or offer extra money to teachers that the principal wants to attain from other schools," he said..."
Full story in The Australian at link
- Howard accused of bullying on history
by Imre Salusinszky
"The states are continuing to claim the Howard Government is bullying them into reinstating traditional history teaching in schools, despite having been officially invited to contribute to last week's history summit in Canberra."The Australian has learned that federal Education Minister Julie Bishop wrote to all states and territories last month to seek their input to the summit.
"I am very willing to work with the states and territories ... to further strengthen the place of history in the Australian classroom," Ms Bishop said in her letter.
"As part of the preparation for the summit, and to assist the participants at the summit to appreciate each state and territory's views, I would appreciate you writing to me to advise me of your thoughts on the current state of the teaching of Australian history in your jurisdiction's classrooms, and on what initiatives your government, together with the federal Government could be taking to strengthen the place and maintain the integrity of Australian history in your jurisdiction's classrooms."
"Only the ACT Government bothered to reply.
"Despite this, West Australian Education Minister Norm Marlborough told The Australian the Howard Government should drop its threats to withhold education funding and "start talking to the states". [Right: The DET and Minister to drop their threats and "start talking"... Web]
"What we need to do is create an atmosphere of co-operation whereby the states and federal Government can sit down and intelligently produce a model of Australian history that should be measured by improved participation and educational outcomes," he said..."
"Meanwhile, the state opposition parties have grasped the political opportunity of the summit and endorsed a return to traditional Australian history."West Australian shadow education spokesman Peter Collier, who was a history teacher for 23 years before entering politics last year, said the summit proposal was a "fantastic idea". [emphasis added]
Full story in The Australian at link
- Op Ed
Peter Craven: A great story that deserves to be taught
John Howard's political and cultural opponents should praise the Prime Minister for talking up Australian history
"You can disagree with John Howard about most things and still think he's right about history, just as he was right when he bought into the literature syllabus debate a few months ago."The Labor Party, together with liberals of all descriptions, will only look wrong-footed if they object to the Prime Minister making some gesture towards rectifying a situation where history is taught as a separate school subject only in NSW and Victoria.
"It helps, too, that Bob Carr, the former politician famous for his love of history, the man who as Labor premier of NSW established a history prize, should back him to the hilt. And Carr, who likes reading about the idealism and turbulence of America's history, cannot be accused of parochialism in these matters.
"Nor can anyone be dismissive of a history get-together that not only invites Geoffrey Blainey (the greatest living historian; who cares that he's conservative?) together with Geoffrey Bolton, Inga Clendinnen and John Hirst, historians who command the attention of whatever general public reads history. Stuart Macintyre, that eminent historian of the Left, who was also invited (though he could not attend), could hardly fail to approve of the PM talking up of history..."
Peter Craven, a Melbourne writer, is the former editor of Quarterly Essay.
Full story in The Australian at link
- Plan calls for two pre-school years
by Elizabeth Gosch
"All children should have at least two years of pre-school education, according to a group of Australian researchers."The recommendation features in a 10-point plan for early childhood education and care put together by the panel of 21 researchers, including Eva Cox and Barbara Pocock.
"The plan calls for greater government involvement in the care and education of 0-5-year-olds.
"In the last 10 years, 0-5 education and care has been left to the market but government needs to play a larger role both with funding and organisation," panel convenor Elizabeth Hill said.
"The panel recommended that governments implement a national, universal and integrated early childhood education and care system, particularly for children in the two years prior to starting school. "International evidence about the positive role that early childhood education and care plays in the development and well-being of all young children provides a strong case for this," the panel said.
"Social commentator Ms Cox said arrangements for pre-school care and education across the country were chaotic."
From The Australian at link
- The Sydney Daily Telegraph
- Editorial
Bleak echoes of blackboard jungle
"We demand far more than we reasonably should from our teachers. Today's teachers are expected to pick up the slack on a range of fronts where society and parents are failing - as well as imparting exemplary maths and literacy skills."For little more than $50,000 a year, we demand they keep our youngsters fit, provide frontline child protection services, counter damaging popular culture influences, install a moral compass and create informed model citizens.
"With so much expected, the least we can do is ensure that teachers can do their jobs without threats and intimidation.
"Today The Daily Telegraph reveals that the teachers are battling a disturbing range of physical and verbal attacks from a small minority of troublesome students. Incidents range from punches and karate kicks to the stomach to head butts, acid splashes and choking..."
Full editorial in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
- Independent schools swamped
"Thousands of parents are inundating private schools with enrolment applications for their children – including new-born babies who haven't yet been given a name."Waiting lists at some prestigious schools are so long that parents applying 12 years in advance are being told they cannot be guaranteed a place.
"The enrolment growth in independent colleges charging as much as $20,000 a year dwarfs recent gains by the best government schools..."
"The Association of Independent Schools has told The Daily Telegraph enrolments are growing by as many as 5000 a year – mostly in high-growth spots in outer Sydney and regional areas such as the North Coast."Enrolments in Catholic schools have also increased slightly while the public system has contracted by almost 14,000 over the last three years..."
Full story in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
- The Melbourne Age
- Op Ed
The questions of history will be answered
by John Hirst
"The participants at last week's history summit broadly accepted the Prime Minister's critique of Australian history teaching in schools, but they came to their own solutions."The composition of the summit was criticised as having too few practising school teachers. This was puzzling to me — as if intelligent people, summoned to consider school curriculum, would heed the voice of teachers only if they were outnumbered by them.
"The teachers who came to Canberra last Thursday were listened to with respect. But better than any individual contribution was the paper and advice of Monash University professor Tony Taylor, an expert in teaching history in schools.
"His report showed how scrappy and incoherent are the offerings on Australian history (except in NSW), with some topics repeated year after year and others never treated. But his warning to the summit, the first thing that those attending heard, was that if a curriculum was developed that alienated teachers and bored students, we would be worse off than we are now.
"The summit also considered a paper by University of Wollongong history and politics professor Greg Melleuish, outlining what he thought a student should know of Australian history by the end of year 10.
"This sought to rectify some of the imbalances and omissions in standard accounts of Australian history. Melleuish wanted more attention paid to middle Australia, to the role of religion, to economic history, to the NSW Free Trade Party in the early days of the Commonwealth. It was defeated then by the Victorian protectionists, but looks better these days, as we are all free-traders now.
"His paper impressed and dismayed those involved in the summit. Several speakers said that it covered more ground than a university course and some of it required abstract thinking that would be beyond a young teenager..."
John Hirst, a reader in history at La Trobe University and an author, is chairing the working group that will refine the lists of questions and landmark events.
Full story in The Melbourne Age at link [Slightly edited version of the same Op Ed in The Sydney Morning Herald]
- Top pupils poached, schools say
by Michael Bachelard and Brydie Flynn
"Private schools are continuing to try to poach sports stars from each other, despite an agreement to end the controversial practice, some principals claim."The agreement has certainly not been enforced," the principal of St Bede's in Mentone, Brother Ken Ormerod, said..."
"Associated Public Schools principals agreed last year not to directly approach each others' sports stars. But they have since had legal advice that the ban is legally unenforceable because it amounts to a restraint of trade..."
Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
- New call for ban on junk food, drinks
by Carol Nader
"Junk food and soft drinks should be banned from hospitals, schools and other public institutions to help stem growing "diabesity", health experts say..."
Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
- The Canberra Times
- Teachers, minister agree to more talks
by Markus Mannheim
"A small concession was made yesterday in the long-running dispute on ACT teachers' salaries, as both sides grudgingly agreed in principle to resume negotiations."The education union offered at the weekend to call off planned strikes if the Government agreed to rule out job losses..."
Full story in The Canberra Times at link
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Two years' preschool for all, pay rises for staff urged [late edition]
by Stephanie Peatling
"A national preschool system that gives children at least two years' education before they start school is the ideal child-care system, says a paper to be released today by 21 social policy researchers."Much greater Federal Government co-ordination is needed, the group says, to plan for care, to check standards in centres and to increase the numbers of people who work in child care by raising wages.
"The Federal Government is paying a big bill [for child care] at the moment and it will grow," said the director of the Centre for Work and Life at the University of South Australia, Professor Barbara Pocock. "The dollars spent on preschool will be recouped later in life..."
"Education and care interventions in the early years have a demonstrated capacity to narrow social inequity and improve the health, educational and economic outcomes of children from disadvantaged backgrounds over the life course," the paper says..."
Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- Leading principal gives new reports system an E grade [late edition]
by Anna Patty Education Editor
"Sixty students at a Sydney high school can expect to be labelled failures 76 times over the next four years under the compulsory A to E grading system, the school's principal says."Judy King, the principal at Riverside Girls High School, near Gladesville, said 60 of her 1050 students were struggling to learn and cope with the demands of the curriculum in years 7 to 10.
"The students do not qualify as special education students, who are exempt from A to E grading..."
Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- Letters to the Editor
- Whose version will rule the history syllabus?
"Good on the Prime Minister for wanting everyone to be well-educated in history. With a good history education everyone will be able to see the uncanny parallels between the cases of the alleged anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti in the 1920s and the alleged terrorists "Jihad" Jack and David Hicks. Everyone would immediately recognise the predicted 50-year war against the "Islamofascists" as pure Orwellian spin from Big Brother's state of perpetual warfare. We might also be able to avoid the mistakes of the past, so we don't have to add the name of some Iraqi village to Australia's list of historical villages such as Fromelles and Long Tan."
Dr Phil Gregory, Narrawallee
- "It is good to hear that our Prime Minister is so keen for Australians to learn about their country's history. Isn't he the one who, not so long ago, said Australians would be insulted to be told the nation had a racist, bigoted past and that it was wrong for this to be taught in schools? Would our Prime Minister now tell us which part of our history should be left out of the curriculum?"
Francis Lee, Pyrmont
"Whatever is decided, white Australia will always have a black history."
Kevin Williams, The Hill
"John Howard rightly apologises to Vietnam veterans for the despicable way they were treated when they returned from an unpopular war. Can we now expect him to do the same for the stolen generation? If not, will the new history books he is espousing for today's schoolchildren at least reflect the criticism of the nation for his continuing refusal to say sorry lest we are all tarred with the same brush?"
Eddie Raggett, Mosman
"The Federal Government wants to take over history teaching in high schools because its wants to have history presented totally from the point of view of the winners of history. That means it wants the white-hooded version or the white blindfolded version taught, rather than what it calls the "black armband" version. It wants to whitewash history, and pretend there were no victims of a white holocaust, a white military invasion and a massacre of the original inhabitants of Australia. Just like the Liberal Party wants to pretend that there have been no victims of their invasion of Iraq. They want that history rewritten as well."
Gavin Date, Marleston (SA)
Complete Letters to the Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald at http://www.smh.com.au/letters/
- The Adelaide Advertiser
- Editorial
Howard joins the chorus on seatbelts
"Education Minister Jane Lomax-Smith is becoming increasingly isolated as she continues to oppose the blanket introduction of school bus seatbelts.
"Since The Advertiser first highlighted the issue two weeks ago, a growing body of public and political opinion has swung behind the push to improve the safety of children who travel to and from schools on government transport."Prime Minister John Howard has become the latest to join those calling for the fitting of seatbelts in all South Australian school buses, regardless of the cost..."
Full editorial in The Adelaide Advertiser at link
- The West Australian
© The West Australian
"Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich says it is not important for students to know key historical dates, saying they can find the information using the internet search engine Google.
"Ms Ravlich also said yesterday that lack of knowledge about Australian history was similar to students not knowing “the internal workings of a computer”.
"And when asked about the significance of the date 1788 — the year the First Fleet landed — she replied, “I am not getting into that”, and hung up the phone. [emphasis added]
"Ms Ravlich said the advent of Google meant important dates were at students’ fingertips. It was more important that students knew the context in which events took place.
“I think you can overplay the importance of dates, it’s important to understand the context in which history was made,” she said.
“I’m one of these people who have also recognised that time has moved on and any young person, if you ask them to find something, it will probably be at their fingertips.”
"Questioned about a straw poll by The West Australian which revealed a lack of knowledge of key events in Australian history, she said: “You can ask many students a range of questions about the internal workings of a computer and chances are they wouldn’t know anything about that.”
"Ms Ravlich was responding to a push by Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop for a compulsory history curriculum for Years 9 and 10.
"WA students from Years 1 to 10 do not study Australian history as a separate subject. It is taught as part of the Time, Continuity and Change course.
"The existing system was criticised by Ms Bishop and leading historians at a history summit in Canberra last week. They said history was “mushed up” with other subjects.
"Ms Bishop and Prime Minister John Howard have said history should be taught with an emphasis on dates and facts.
"Ms Ravlich said she was offended by Ms Bishop’s threat to withdraw billions in Federal funding if the States did not commit to developing a new national history curriculum.
"She accused Ms Bishop of not consulting the States properly before revealing her plan, but said in the interests of WA students she would investigate the concept. States had been invited to contribute ideas but not to attend the summit. “It’s like being given a pie and being told you can’t eat it,” Ms Ravlich said.
"She said the State would do its own research and consult widely on the proposal for all Year 9 and 10 students to study a stand-alone Australian history subject.
“In terms of making (history) a compulsory subject in Years 9 and 10, I don’t have a problem with that necessarily,” she said. “I don’t underestimate the importance of Australian history but it’s important to engage students so they will want to learn.”
"Asked about the significance of 1788, shadow education minister Peter Collier said it marked the European settlement of Australia. He said it was essential for students to have a sequential knowledge of key events, dates and facts.
"UWA associate professor of history Jenny Gregory said context was important but there were dates and events every Australian should know."
From The West Australian at link
- Newly appointed curriculum boss backs "sweeping education reforms" (page 15)
by Bethany Hiatt
"Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich yesterday appointed a public school principal as the new permanent head of the Curriculum Council.
"David Wood, the fourth chief executive the troubled organisation has had in the past 12 months, said he strongly supported the direction of the current education reforms.
© The West Australian
"The Curriculum Council has been at the centre of controversy over the introduction of outcomes-based education to Years 11 and 12, with Alan Carpenter forced to step in to broker a compromise deal with the State School Teachers Union last month.
"Before taking on the role of principal at Sevenoaks Senior College six years ago, Mr Wood was a senior policy advisor for 10 years at the Secondary Education Authority, forerunner of the Curriculum Council.
"He denied he had taken on a poisoned chalice, saying he applied for the job because of his strong belief WA students needed the sweeping education reforms. "I think there are some immediate challenges about making sure we work very collaboratively," he said.
"Mr Wood would not say why he believed implementation of OBE went off the rails. "But I think it;s widely accepted that the approach to curriculum design wasn't broad enough," he said.
"He promised to consult teachers before revised courses were accredited, which he expected would take place later this year. He hoped sample exams would be released at the same time.
"The West Australian predicted three weeks ago that Mr Wood would be the new substantive head of the Curriculum Council when it revealed acting chief David Axworthy had not been recommended.
"People Lobbying Against Teaching Outcomes (PLATO) co-founder Marko Vojkovic said he hoped Mr Wood's background in science would help him bring a commonsense, analytical approach to the role."
From The West Australian
- Correction: OBE mailout ONLY to cost $57,000 (page 16)
- Concern at school library staffing (page 7)
by Bethany Hiatt
"A serious shortage of trained teacher librarians in State schools is leading to a decline in children’s reading and writing skills, academics and teachers have warned.
"Submissions to the WA Literacy and Numeracy review say recent research shows that poorly resourced school libraries hinder students’ literacy development."They want the Education Department to supply a qualified library or resource teacher to every public school.
"They say many school libraries are not staffed by trained professionals because principals limited by strict staffing formulas are giving priority to employing specialists in other areas such as music, physical education or art..."
Full story in The West Australian at link
- Industrial action threatened over latest education pay dispute (page 7)
by Bethany Hiatt
"The State Government and the Department of Education and Training have been plunged into another industrial dispute, with thousands of education assistants threatening rolling stoppages at schools across the State.
"The Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union says the dispute is over a pay discrepancy between education assistants at special needs schools and those at mainstream schools. Assistants from special needs schools have agreed to industrial action in support of 158 education assistants at mainstream public schools. Education assistants care for the needs of children with disabilities, such as taking them to the toilet, restraining them and giving medication."Assistants at mainstream public schools get paid $2 less an hour than their counterparts at special schools.
"LHMU assistant secretary Sue Lines said two years of negotiations had proved fruitless and the union put its final position to the department on Friday.
"Education Department human resources director Alby Huts said the matter was under discussion at the WA Industrial Relations Commission."
From The West Australian at link
- Letters to the Editor
- There are three Letters on educational issues. One compares Julie Bishop to Joseph Stalin; one quotes Albert Einstein to oppose full-time kindy; the third one follows:
- "While our beloved Education Minister remains on holiday, her "Minister Assisting", Norm Marlborough, said (Report, 19/8):
"Unfortunately, the present state of mind of the Federal Minister for Education seems to be based on threatening and bullying the States... What we need to do is create an atmosphere of co-operation..."
"This from the bureaucracy that punishes teachers for blowing the whistle on child abuse, does everything in its power to stifle and gag debate on OBE, and wants the shadow education minister kept on a leash and prevented from visiting government schools.
"A bit rich, Norm, coming from the most oppressive educational bureaucracy in Australia's history!"
Steve Kessell, Willetton
Complete Letters to the Editor in The West Australian
- The Australian
- Algebra + toddlers = head start in mathematics
by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
"Preschool children as young as 3 1/2 years who are taught algebra to help them recognise the pattern and structure underpinning mathematics develop skills years ahead of their peers."A trial by Macquarie University researchers run in two Sydney preschools found that at the end of their first year of school, the children could solve grade three maths problems..."
Full story in The Australian at link
- Close call on school bus
by Richard Sproull
"School students on an Adelaide bus escaped death by millimetres yesterday when heavy steel girders speared through its windows after a truck collided with it in peak-hour traffic."The bus had 45 students on board and was parked when the truck crashed into its side and three heavy girders slid off a rack through the windows, hitting one passenger and narrowly missing others..."
Full story in The Australian at link
- Aboriginal children to learn work-skills at school
by Patricia Karvelas
"Aboriginal children as young as 13 will be offered pre-apprenticeship training in their second year of high school under a proposal to be adopted by Education Minister Julie Bishop."The idea of introducing trades training in schools, put forward by the nation's peak indigenous advisory body, has won the support of the Howard Government..."
Full story in The Australian at link
- Accenture to build $120m school system
by Ben Woodhead
"Systems integrator Accenture is poised to build a $120 million computer system to run Queensland schools, after the state's Education Department dropped initial plans to award the contract to Fujitsu."Education Queensland is understood to be in talks with an Accenture-led consortium for the school management system project, which was first launched by the department in 2002..."
Full story in The Australian at link
- Letters to the Editor
Teachers' viewpoints vital in deciding curriculum
Most Talked About: Lessons of History
- "Like nurses, the history teacher is at the bottom of the food chain in the debate on how any service needs to be structured and delivered. Teachers need to be aware of what specific services are required and must be motivated to provide them. The great debate does not tell me what the aims of the revitalised history curriculum are.
"If it is to stimulate interest in our unique past and give a thirst for more detail, then this will be achieved by enthusiastic teachers and not by some bureaucrats’ syllabus based on their interpretation of the results of the great debate. It won’t be achieved by making the kids learn by rote a list of dates and significant characters. Depending on the quality of the teacher, it may be achieved by comparing the reasons for what happened in the past to what is actually happening now.
"History does not stand alone, nor does science or any other area of knowledge."Good teachers know this, and they are able to give emphasis where it is needed while keeping the main agenda in context. And they are also able to inspire the students with a love of the subject and give them the motivation to seek more knowledge outside the context of the class. Please give them a say in the grand scheme of things and pay them adequately."
Mick Hawkins, Warradale, SA
"I amfrequently staggered by how little people know of our history. My adult sons reflect on a state school education that taught them nothing of it, yet Australia has a richness of history full of the drama, tragedy and joy of human experience. It is a unique tapestry that for too long has been hijacked by the self-interest of those who seek to force a dominant view and have stifled argument by controlling the education of our children. The emotional health of an individual or a nation does not come from denial or ignorance of our past; it comes from understanding it in its context. Congratulations, Julie Bishop, on kicking off an essential debate."
Jenny Hammett, Hazelwood North, Vic
"If the principal agenda of the history summit was to restore history’s status as a stand-alone subject as stated by Bob Carr ("Our history in disrepair”, Inquirer, 19-20/8), we need to be careful about collateral damage to geography and environmental studies.
"I write from the perspective of being a geographer, historian and environmentalist who was involved with curriculum development in Victoria which resulted in the sensible merging of history and geography into the new subject, Studies of Society and Environment, or SOSE.
"If history is to return to its former status, where does that leave geography? A properly balanced summit would not have considered history in isolation from these closely related disciplines and I can only hope that this mistake will be addressed in the not too distant future."
Geoff Mosley, Hurstbridge, Vic
"I applaud the Howard Government’s push for reform in history teaching. However, as a history teacher from Queensland, I noticed that the history summit heard the voices of privileged politicians, university professors and historians but not those of history or SOSE teachers. We were probably in the classroom teaching students to scrutinise all sources carefully for bias, omissions and accuracy because, as we all know, history is written by the victors. Readers need to be informed about the views of teachers."
Catherine Delaney, Cairns, Qld
"It seems to me that history is the story of one’s ancestors and thus the history of Australia for me began in 1949. My history then weaves into the history of continental Europe. I agree with some of the views expressed that the history push by the Prime Minister is to restore and maintain the Britishness of Australia. It fits with the pattern of his leanings as illustrated by his stance on the republican debate and the invasion of Iraq. I am not anti-British. I love my fellow Australians and realise that most of them are entitled to be as proud of their British heredity as I am of mine. We as a nation are increasingly becoming more diverse and I believe that the PM, like King Canute, cannot hold back the tide."
Edward Schuch, Gold Coast, Qld
"Imre Salusinszky reports ("Restore subject or funding is history”, 17/8) that I suggested in a Melbourne paper that last week’s history summit would lay down a single and binding account of Australian history. I said no such thing. Indeed I welcomed the Minister of Education’s inclusion of participants with different understandings of Australian history. I therefore find it bizarre that Salusinszky should ask various participants in the summit to comment on a proposition that is the reverse of the one I formulated. Even my name was misspelt. Equally, your editorial (17/8) claimed that I am “intellectual father to a generation of postmodernists”. This surprised at least one of my former students, who wrote to me expressing surprise that he could recall no mention of Bakhtin, Derrida or Lyotard in my lectures. I am in fact an unashamed modernist.
"The measure of agreement reached at the summit was encouraging to all who care about school history. I sometimes think that if your newspaper would desist from its prosecution of the history wars and denigration of teachers, we might be surprised by how much we have in common."
Stuart Macintyre, University of Melbourne
Complete Letters to the Editor of The Australian at http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/letters/
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- The sums of all fears: HSC students deserting maths
by Anna Patty, Education Editor
"An easier mathematics course for HSC students may be introduced to arrest falling enrolments in the subject, in the biggest overhaul of the syllabus for more than 20 years."Maths educators debated the merits of the present syllabus at the weekend, with traditionalists warning against following postmodernist trends and changing the two-, three- and four-unit calculus courses.
"However, there was agreement that general mathematics, which has no calculus, was still too hard for weaker students and another choice was needed..."
Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- Letters to the Editor
- A summit that makes history - by being democratic
"John Hirst's account of the Prime Minister's history summit was an illuminating telling of its events ("Questions will alter the course of history", August 21).
"It was striking that people with divergent ideologies came together to develop a philosophical framework about the way forward. It appears to have been a highly consultative, democratic process, which - shock, horror - may have approached a form of consensus.
"The great shame is that this seems an isolated event; yet major policy challenges that this country faces - such as health, education, environment, public infrastructure, the tax system and (sadly) workplace reform - are approached with blinkered ideology, or avoided altogether.
"Perhaps the Federal Government could learn from these teachers and produce balanced results that really do maximise our common wealth."
David Cumming, Mosman
- "In John Hirst's brief exploration of questions in Australian history, there are many excellent ideas and lessons for us. Among them, I couldn't help noticing the integral part that is played by immigrants, of all types, in enriching our nation's history.
"What a pity the Government is intent on stopping so many of them nowadays."
Andrew Dunstall, Gladesville
- "A fragmented approach to teaching Australian history in schools in units - Aborigines, convicts, gold rushes, explorers, wars - effectively kills interest in the subject.
"Australian history should be taught as a continuum of events and philosophies, engendering in students an intelligent and perceptive overview that can lead them to a critical understanding of their nation."
David Wall, Newtown
- "History students are now to learn that the opposition to the Vietnam War was due to "anti-American feeling". It is just replacing one version of political correctness with another."
Robin Herbert, Hornsby
"Why only Australian history? Aren't we parochial enough? In any case, the whole world's story (as so well told by Geoffrey Blainey and by many others) is more varied and interesting than our own small part in it."
Barrie Smillie, Duffy (ACT)
Complete Letters to the Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald at http://www.smh.com.au/letters/
- The Melbourne Age
- [late-updating] Monday Education Section has 16 articles, including:
- Call for national teacher standards
A new report recommends an overhaul of how teachers are judged, writes Caroline Milburn.
"School teachers should be able to measure their competence against national standards that could herald a new era of performance-based pay, according to the author of a report on the profession."Dr Lawrence Ingvarson said teaching, unlike most other professions in Australia, had not developed uniform standards that applied to its members regardless of where they worked.
"Other professions would find it odd that in teaching, it has typically been governments or other employer bodies, rather than teachers, who develop professional standards," he said.
"Most standards developed by employers do not drill down beyond generalities - they're designed to be used by managers for assessing teacher performance, they're not designed to be used by expert peers who can decide whether people are up to date with their professional knowledge. So we get situations where a principal can go and assess a teacher who teaches French and not have a clue about the content of the subject matter or the skills needed for accomplished French teaching."
"Dr Ingvarson's report on professional standards for teachers was commissioned by Teaching Australia, the national agency representing teachers, established by the Federal Government.
"The report examined the development of national standards for advanced teaching in four countries, including Australia. It found standards for Australian teachers were piecemeal and varied between states and school sectors. State teacher registration agencies had developed some generic standards while some professional associations, such as those in maths, science and English, had developed specialised standards for their subject areas. But the report said if national standards for advanced teaching were established, they would need to go deeper than generic categories of practice because the skills and professional knowledge of an effective prep teacher were very different from those of an accomplished art teacher in secondary school..."
Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
- Letter to the Editor
- 40,000-year black hole in our nation's story
"John Hirst's article, "Questions of history will be answered" (Opinion, 21/8) inadvertently illustrates exactly why leaving the school history curriculum in the hands of academics and politicians is a recipe for bland servings of the same old same old."It seems our schools and universities largely ignore 40,000 years of the history of this continent because they can't be bothered learning anything about this period in order to teach others. While our students study historical events of the Ice Age, Stone Age and Bronze Age relating to European countries and political and social events from Asia and America, try finding any who can name the Aboriginal tribes from the area in which they live. Better still, try finding any who can describe the spiritual, social, cultural and scientific practices used in Aboriginal communities to maintain the integrity of their community and thrive in many different environments across Australia, as the oldest living culture on the planet.
"The great minds in Canberra continue the practice of defining Aboriginal history, culture and achievement only in the context of interaction with European culture since colonisation. And even this approach glosses over the attempts to "breed out the colour" during the eugenics period of the early to mid-1900s and the use of Aboriginal children in missions as child labour.
"We need the "bedrock" of understanding Aboriginal cultural and spiritual values to understand why communities attempted to adapt to the life imposed on them by European invaders rather than continue and build on the guerilla warfare they undertook in the beginning: much as we understand the Catholic Church's adapt-and-survive response under Roman rule where it incorporated aspects of pagan culture so as not to offend those in power and survive in some form.
"I've been lucky enough to see the response of teenagers - most of whom were alienated from mainstream schooling - in one-day indigenous cultural awareness workshops, wanting to add another day so they could learn more. The common question as the session closed was: "Why didn't we ever get taught this stuff at school?"
"The answer is that teachers do not know enough themselves to do it justice. And that is a failing of the system of teacher education and university undergraduate education. However, history teachers can educate themselves and make contact with local indigenous community organisations and individuals who would be rapt to be involved. It would also demonstrate practical reconciliation in action and ground-up rather than top-down leadership in creating a better history curriculum."
Terry Kennedy, Ringwood North
Complete Letters to the Editor of The Melbourne Age at http://www.theage.com.au/letters/
- The Sydney Daily Telegraph
- Editorial
Teachers battling balance of power
by Rod Markham
"Teachers need self-defence training. Verbal and physical abuse is a threat to people young and old and can occur outside and inside the school environment."Many teachers in primary and high schools feel insecure and threatened by violent students.
"When these incidents occur, at or outside school and where there may be an uncaring and indifferent administration, it is far worse for the teacher lacking that needed support..."
Full editorial in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
- The Canberra Times
- Teacher strikes on again as talks fail
by Kanchan Dutt
"Thursday's teacher strike over salaries is back on after ACT Education Minister Andrew Barr refused to rule out job cuts."Branch secretary of the ACT's Australian Education Union Clive Haggar warned that without a guarantee no positions would be cut, industrial action in the Brindabella electorate was back on..."
Full story in The Canberra Times at link
- The Guardian
- Qualified successes
by Estelle MorrisWhy should one student's pass mean another's failure?
"... We have to decide whether we want to go back to an exam system that is designed to allow only a few to pass, or whether we accept that far more people have the ability to achieve high academic standards..."
Full story in The Guardian at link
- The Hobart Mercury
- Push for full year's wage
by Michelle Paine
"Hundreds of Tasmanian teacher aides are forced to apply for Centrelink benefits every year.
And they have to get Education Department permission for the privilege of looking for a holiday job."A new campaign to give a full year's pay to Tasmanian teacher aides and other support staff has been started.
"The state's 2000-plus teacher assistants are only paid 40 or 42 weeks a year.
"Unions said Tasmania was the only state that paid permanent staff only during term time..."
Full story in The Hobart Mercury at link
- The West Australian
More flack for our
Photo © The West Australian
- Editorial (page 24)
An Education Minister who disdains learning
"Just when it seems Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich cannot possibly reach new extremes of foolishness, she delivers more damning evidence of her unsuitability for the job.
"This time she has come up with an unabashed endorsement of dumbing-down – that it's not important for students to know key historical dates because they can just Google them.
"It is evident from this and her outcomes-based education misadventures that we have an Education Minister who disdains knowledge and learning. A new title is in order: Minister for Social Engineering."
- Op Ed
Making of the history wars (page 25)
by Tony Rutherford
"We have public debates – in the papers, in current affairs programs, over the dinner table – about all sorts of things, all the time: interest rates, petrol prices, real estate values, immigration policy, all the usual topics.
"But we rarely have debates in public about things like the content of the school curriculum..."
"Here in WA we have had a wide and interesting debate about the whole OBE issue, about its implications for both assessment and curriculum content. And that precedent seems to point to a widely felt lack of faith in the degree to which we can no longer feel confidence in those who were once unthinkingly entrusted with educating our children.
"This unease is related to the obvious things, such as the basic skills of reading and writing and numeracy. The recent case in Victoria in which a mother sued her child's school for failing to teach him to read stands as a useful measure of this..."
"And, of course, our own WA Minister, Ljiljanna Ravlich, whose gift for effortlessly putting her foot in her mouth could win her Olympic gold. She now tells us that the chronological framework is not important, that anyone in need of historical fact can Google it..." [emphasis added]
"But perhaps the biggest problem, and the one least referred to in the [teaching history] debate, is a more basic one: the question of how well any course such as this one being contemplated will be taught.
"There are some terrific teachers of history, at schools and universities, who are no slaves to any kind of orthodoxy and who could devise and teach a basic history course that no reasonable person could object to.
"There are quite a few who could not. This would seem to be a solid barrier to the implementation of the Prime Minister's dream.
"It will be interesting to follow the progress of all this; it may have every chance of being something of a blind alley."
- Letters to the Editor (pages 26 - 27)
SIX Letters, all highly critical of Ravlich
- "After reading our Education Minister's latest fatuous remarks, this time on the value of letting Google do the learning, I await, in fear and trepidation, her valuable tips on how to engage students so they will want to learn."
Marina Foster, Menora
- Popular TV shows like Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Temptation and The Einstein Factor will fall by the wayside if we are to believe Ljiljanna Ravlich. We can, however, look forward to watching "how fast can you Google" in the not-too-distant-future.
Rhys Winterburn, Denmark
- Young minds will be subverted
"Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich's analogy of students not having to know the inner workings of a computer to be able to use it exposes the fatal flaws in her thinking (Don't learn it, just Google it: Ravlich, 22/8).
"The student is totally at the mercy of other people who have taken the trouble to learn the inner workings of the technology or process. Any nation that fails to instil its history and cultural values in the minds of its students from a very early age is putty in the hands of those who wish to manipulate its population..."
"Unfortunately, New-Age academics who have gained control of our education system have little or no knowledge themselves of their ancestral heritage and therefore see no reason to instil it in others.
"This is shown by the numbers of first or second-generation Australians now in positions of power. Far from overloading students with extra work, as some opponents to history teaching claim, we should remove much of the superficial and nebulous garbage which has been crammed into the curriculum and ensure more time is devoted to the three Rs and knowledge of this country's proud history."
Daryl Binning, Winthrop
- It doesn't add up
"Schools do not need to teach Australian children our history because they have Google. Why, then, do we have to teach them to spell or to add and multiply, because they can also do that on a computer? And they should not be taught to write or verbalise because emailing and texting with spell check is easier.
"Maybe at birth the Government should give each baby a computer, iPod, GPS, Xbox and a mobile phone with internet access and they will not need to go to school.
"The Government could offset this cost by not having to build schools and pay teachers and, more to the point, we would not need highly paid education ministers.
"Now that's progress – and I did it all on my computer."
Tony Allen, Karrinyup
- Common link
"... First it was outcomes-based education, now Ms Ravlich consigns history to the dustbins. If Premier Alan Carpenter was a strong leader he would sack her..."
"Truly, the asylum is being run by the occupants." [emphasis added]
Greg Smith, Balcatta
- Strange logic
"It has been said that if a million monkeys type long enough on a million typewriters then, by sheer weight of words, eventually a Shakespeare play will emerge.
"Do politicians work by the same logic? Ljiljanna Ravlich says to ignore the dates; just get things in context. How do we get things in context without knowing the chronology (that is, the date order, Ms Ravlich) of events? That these statements come from our Education Minister simply confirms that the patients have finally taken over the asylum. [emphasis added: seems to be a common theme today. Web]
"Keep talking (or typing), Ms Ravlich, and perhaps, eventually, some sense will emerge."
John Smith, Currambine
- Google OK, says history fan Beazley (page 5)
by Rhianna King, Canberra
© The West Australian
"Kim Beazley has backed Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich's claim that students do not need to learn significant historical dates because they can find them on the internet using Google, saying yesterday that "she was on to something".
"Mr Beazley said he loved Ms Ravlich's "Generation-X" comments, in which she also likened a lack of knowledge about Australian history to not knowing the internal workings of a computer.
"His support came after Ms Ravlich criticised a Federal push for a new Australian history curriculum which puts emphasis on dates and facts, saying on Monday that learning context was more important than dates, which students had at their fingertips thanks to the internet.."
"Ms Ravlich had said the advent of Google meant important dates were at students' fingertips..."
"Mr Beazley said Ms Ravlich was more in touch with contemporary education tools than Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop..."
"Ms Bishop, who sparked the debate by calling for Australian history to be compulsory in Years 9 and 10, said she was astonished and disappointed by Ms Ravlich's stance.
"These comments reveal Ms Ravlich is hopelessly out of touch with parents, educational experts and the broader community," she said.
"She also rejected claims that States were left out of last week's Australian history summit. WA was invited to contribute to the summit but did not, Ms Bishop said."
Full stories and letters in The West Australian (none of these available online)
- The Australian
- States' history stand weakens
by Justine Ferrari and Tony Koch
"The states' opposition to teaching history as a stand-alone subject faltered yesterday with Queensland Premier Peter Beattie pledging to introduce a compulsory Australian history subject if re-elected."The West Australian and Tasmanian governments also indicated they would look at how history was taught in schools, with the Carpenter Government not opposed to teaching Australian history as a separate, compulsory subject in years 9 and 10.
"But West Australian Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich dismissed the importance of students knowing historical dates, saying they could use the internet..."
"Ms Ravlich dismissed the knowledge of key historical dates as unimportant and was reported yesterday as saying it was akin to not knowing "the internal workings of a computer".She said the advent of the internet and search engines, such as Google, meant students had those dates at their fingertips.
But Ms Ravlich went on to say that in terms of making Australian history a compulsory subject in years 9 and 10, "I don't have a problem with that necessarily"... [emphasis added]
Full story in The Australian at link
- Op Ed
Gregory Melleuish: Missing ingredients in history's stew
A key history summit participant laments that a great opportunity has been wasted
"History, as we all know, consists of a range of competing stories and interpretations. Over the past few days there has been an almost indecent rush to ensure that an official narrative of last week's history summit in Canberra be established in the public arena."But, of course, there are many stories that can be told, and interpretations made, of what happened at the summit. Historians in the future will read the Prime Minister's opening remarks and the final communique and puzzle over how the one relates to the other.
"They will read the communique and note how, after weeks of previous discussion of the idea of narrative, the word narrative was omitted from it. They will wonder at the ambiguous language in which the communique was couched and compare it with both what was intended before the summit and the eventual outcome..."
Gregory Melleuish is associate professor of history and politics at the University of Wollongong.
Full story in The Australian at link
The Higher Education Supplement has 13 articles today, including:
- Principals lose their job appeal
by Lisa Macnamara
"A leadership crisis is brewing in Australian schools as teachers turn their backs on moving up the ladder to take on the boss's job, new research reveals."The once coveted role of school principal had taken a battering during the past two decades, with fewer people wanting a job that was more akin to a chief executive than an education provider, according to Deakin University academic Karen Starr..."
Full story in The Australian's Higher Education Supplement at link
- Milestones on the road to history
by Tony Taylor
"For the media, history horror stories are a good fallback on a slow news day. It's a simple enough set-up. Send a reporter down to the local mall and ask innocent passers by some history questions. Result guaranteed. Answers that range from the bizarre to the wildly inaccurate. Editorial fulmination. Collapse of civilisation as we know it."However, there is one genuine Australian history horror story. Not so much about the trivia of Australian history but about its teaching. Australian history in many schools has simply gone missing. And that is what Anna Clark and I found when we prepared a paper for the Australian Government's August 17 summit on the very topic, "What has happened to Australian history in schools?" ...
Full story in The Australian's Higher Education Supplement at link
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Op Ed
A lot to learn about education
by Tanya Plibersek
"When Brendan Nelson was minister for education, he would tell the story of a woman waiting at a bus stop outside a Queensland university who told him she didn't see why her tax dollars should be spent to subsidise the education of the students inside."Presumably the story was allegorical, but his message was clear: education should be user-pays.
"Yet education is one of the most important investments a country can make in the wellbeing of its citizens and long-term economic prosperity. The students benefit by preparing for better-paid, more interesting, more secure jobs..."
Tanya Plibersek is a Labor member of Federal Parliament.
Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- The London Times
- Students told to ditch 'soft option' A levels
by Alexandra Blair, Education Correspondent
"Leading universities are warning teenagers that they will not gain admission if they study “soft” A levels in the sixth form."The universities are insisting that pupils take traditional subjects if they want to be considered for degree courses. Those applying with A levels in subjects such as media studies or health and social care would rule themselves out..."
Full story in The London Times at link
- The Guardian
- Students happy with courses but raise complaints about marking
by Alexandra Smith
· 80% of students satisfied with courses overall
· 40% not satisfied with assessment and feedback
· Oxford, Cambridge and Warwick boycott survey
Eight out of 10 students are satisfied with their courses overall, but only 60% are happy with the assessment and feedback at their universities, the second annual National Student Survey reveals.
Full story in The Guardian at link
- Many parents lack skills to help with homework
by Rebecca Smithers, education editor
· Survey finds seven in 10 wary of helping children
· Adults urged to brush up basic maths and English
"Many parents admit they are baffled by their children's homework and lack the confidence to help out as much as they would like, according to a survey published today."Nearly one in five parents said they were regularly surprised by the difficulty of the work their children brought home to complete, the survey commissioned by the Department for Education and Skills found. And nearly seven out of 10 said they would spend more time helping with homework if they were more confident in their own abilities in maths and English..."
Full story in The Guardian at link
- The Sydney Daily Telegraph (and other papers)
- Phone porn 'a wake-up call'
"An incident in which a primary school student showed classmates nude photos on his mobile should act as a wake-up call for parents about children's vulnerability, NSW's peak parents' group said today."An 11-year-old boy has been suspended from Castle Hill Public School after downloading nude photos from the internet and taking them to school on his mobile phone..."
Full story in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
- The West Australian
A day of more "feedback" for our illustrious
Google turns up a bummer of a web page
"History buff and former teacher Barry Markey thought he'd get into the swing of Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich's fondness for Google as an information tool.
"Thinking of a subject close to Lil's heart, Barry chose her squeeze, Treasurer Eric Ripper.
"Searching only Australian web pages, Barry, of Claremont, typed in Ripper and came up with 420,000 entries.
"Number three on the list was of course the Treasurer's own web page.
"But what had Barry chuckling was the entry above it – Bung's Ripper Fart Page.
"It's got the ripper farts of the year and you can listen to them," he told IC.
"Puts a new meaning on politicians and hot air."
© The West Australian
Letters to the Editor (page 16)
Question: "Discuss the significance of Gallipoli in creating an Australian identity."
Answer: "In 1981, Mel Gibson and another fast runner went to South Australia to make a film called Gallipoli. They were shot by Peter Weir, a famous Australian director, after the arrogant English generals told them to attack some Turkish people. Gallipoli is significant for Australia because Mel Gibson and Peter Weir went on to make a lot of really popular movies even though Mel was actually an anti-semantic from New Zealand."
Reference:
Marko Vojkovic, Bayswater
"We have been subjected to many of Ljiljanna Ravlich's gems since she became Minister for Education but surely "Google it" takes the bag (Don't learn it, Google it: Ravlich, 22/8).
"As an Australian I have had to learn to accept and appreciate migrants and respect their history and culture. I have learnt that they have a strong knowledge of their history and heritage and have been forced to leave their countries for all sorts of reasons. I have often thought how great it would be if Australians could have the same knowledge of and respect for our heritage and history and have worried that perhaps with our rapidly growing multicultural community we may lose any possibility of achieving this.
"How dare Ms Ravlich pass off our history as something to find on Google."
Terry Baker, Kensington
"Thanks to Ms Ravlich we no longer have to burden ourselves learning trivial information. This means that I should be able to set up a medical practice as a doctor. When Ms Ravlich comes to see me as a patient she obviously won't mind if I type her symptoms into Google for a diagnosis, then I can Google the drug companies for a treatment. If she wants a second opinion, I will use the Yahoo search engine. The only problem I can see here is that any crackpot can provide information on the net, but I'm sure the Hon. Minister for Education knows that and is prepared to take the risk."
Neil George, Gooseberry Hill
"I took up Ms Ravlich's challenge and Googled a name into the computer. I had heard that some 16-year-olds were asking who this person was, so I thought I would see whether Google could give me the answer. Hitler came up with 52,100,000 hits. I then decided to use a little more knowledge that I happened to pick up over the years and refined my search to "Hitler, German, 1930-1945". This time I had 28,000 hits, including things like three or four books for sale, something about jet engines and gas turbines and the history of Brazil – all in the first 10 hits.
"Children need basic facts and dates so that they can refine their searches and know what they are looking for."
Barbara Hobbs, Kojonup
"On the strength of the Minister's statement I put Google to the test with the words "stupid statement minister" and received a possible 7,060,000 in 0.3 seconds. I then put in "stupid statement minister education" and received a possible 5,020,000 in 0.67 seconds. The main trouble was the dates in sorting out all those possible answers. I guess history will prove her right, but then nobody will bother to record it because they will be able to Google it."
Neville Browne, Carlisle
"After reading your front-page report (Don't learn it, just Google it: Ravlich, 22/8) my firth thought was that Ljiljanna Ravlich was talking nonsense.
"But then again, perhaps it is not nonsense. Maybe her ministry is simply a vehicle for another scam by the hordes of social engineers that cling to the Labor Party like sheep with their noses in the trough. Let's face it, under Labor, both Federal and State, we have witnessed a lowering of standards in almost all areas of our lives. Look at what is happening with our respect for one another, our lowering of moral standards and family breakdowns.
"So now the next area for further "social change" is in the criteria for achieving a standard of education in which no understanding is required, simply go to a machine to get the answer you need. My 14-year-old boy is a good kid, bright and courteous. However, his spelling makes me think he attends school in Thailand where they are trying to learn a second language. He has never been shown how to use an index in a book to search for answers to questions he is trying to solve.
"He does not know about Australian Federation or the history involved in reaching Federation. It is not his fault, the poor kid, and I try to help him as much as I can. Having discussed certain issues with my friends in relation to education, we are grateful for being taught in an era of slide rules, logs and Shakespeare.
"We are also grateful for being tested using one standard for all. The system, although hard, was fair to all and you knew what standard you had to achieve for success. There were no tricks attached because you had to achieve a certain standard to pass. I guess it was a true OBE system back then.
"If the Opposition could get its act together maybe we could have an OBP (outcomes-based politicians) system at the next State election to rid ourselves of Ms Ravlich and her mates." [emphasis added]
Roland Bee, Doubleview
Reality may put end to Carpenter's hyperbole
by Robert Taylor, Inside State
The Premier's unbridled praise for his Cabinet team becomes hollow as minister after minister reveals shortcomings
[A hard-hitting look at the Premier defending poor-performing, bumbling, inadequate, foot-in-mouth ministers, including John D'Orazio, Alannah MacTiernan, Sheila McHale, and of course Ljiljanna Ravlich...]
"... His confidence in Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich to overcome objections to outcomes-based education saw the matter drag on for months before he was finally forced to take control away from his Minister..."
Full stories in The West Australian [none are online]
- The Adelaide Advertiser
- Teacher shortfall critical
by Xanthe Kleinig
"Teachers are being re-trained in key areas to cover staff shortages, with the Education Department advertising 30 positions for teachers to train in mathematics.
"Almost 60 teachers have already been trained to teach senior and middle school mathematics this year, and another 11 are training in technical studies..."
Full story in The Adelaide Advertiser at link
- The Australian
- Teachers 'scared' of maths and science
by Selina Mitchell
"Forget the history summit. The sorry state of mathematics and science teaching needs our attention, according to the president of the Australian Academy of Science."Maths and science needed to be part of every child's daily primary school education, Kurt Lambeck said yesterday.
"Teachers were scared of teaching the subjects because they did not fully understand them.
"We have a generation of teachers that themselves have not been adequately taught," Professor Lambeck said.
"The result was students who could not add, subtract or multiply in their heads and who could not recognise when computer-generated solutions were wrong.
"My students can operate programs on a computer but they have stopped thinking and can't make judgments," he said.
"We will only be solving problems for which we already have the solutions."
"Professor Lambeck said a summit such as that held recently in Canberra on history teaching in schools was not necessarily the solution. "Those kinds of things are full of do-good statements, but I am not sure a lot comes out of them," he said..."
Full story in The Australian at link
- Op Ed
There goes the neighbourhood
by Ian Davidoff and Andrew Leigh
On the real (estate) cost of a public education
"With the drift to private education, parents' preferences for schools are under the microscope. Nearly 35 per cent of Australian school students attend non-government schools and the rate has been steadily rising. A common perception is that many more parents would go private if only they could afford it."Implicit in the last claim is the notion that when it comes to deciding on their child's education, parents face a clear choice: send your child to an expensive private school or a free public one. But is this characterisation accurate? Are public schools really free; and, if not, how much are parents willing to pay for them?
"To find out how much public schools really cost, we recently looked at the relationship between house prices and school quality in Australia for the first time. The answers are illuminating for parents and policy-makers alike.
"As any real estate agent will confirm, when parents with school-aged children look for a house to buy, the quality of local public schools is often a key consideration. Just as house prices are higher when they are close to good parks, transport nodes and shops, they should also be higher when the quality of nearby schools is better. The question is: by how much? ..."
Ian Davidoff is a recent graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. Andrew Leigh is an economist at the Australian National University. Their paper is available at: http://econrsss.anu.edu.au/~aleigh/
Full story in The Australian at link
- Letters to the Editor
- History summit has led to something worthwhile
"What a contrast the two articles in The Australian yesterday on the significance of the recent history summit presented."Tony Taylor ("Milestones on the road to history”, Higher Education) reflected on the significance of the outcome – a milestones-and-questions approach to the history curriculum in Years 9 and 10. The summit working party will now consider how this approach to understanding Australian history might be teachable, doable and sustainable. This outcome means that something really worthwhile has resulted from the summit.
"In contrast, Greg Melleuish’s account ("Missing ingredients in history’s stew”, Opinion, 23/8) is clouded by his personal view of an Australian narrative history. Is it simply because he didn’t get his own way that he derides the questions-based approach as the selected ingredients in a historical stew? Melleuish needs to think about the end result.
"In The Historian’s Craft (1944), Marc Bloch wrote, “when all is said and done, a single word, understanding, is the beacon light of our studies”. Future generations of Australians need some understanding of their history to be effective regional and global citizens and to make the world a better place. The milestones-and-questions approach is the first step in seeking this understanding."
Dr Deborah Henderson, Chair, History Educators’ Network of Australia
- "Thank you, Janet Albrechtsen ("Asking the Right questions”, Opinion, 23/8) for speaking the unspeakable and pointing out that the history warriors are the heroes.
"Notice how few of them are on the public payroll. Some, such as Keith Windschuttle and Michael Connor, are self-funded. Others are funded by organisations such as the Institute of Public Affairs and Quadrant that are themselves funded by private donations and subscriptions. Notice how few of the publicly funded academics did what we pay them to do – pursue the truth. Notice how few stood against the tsunami of unscrupulous ad hominem and vilification that descended on the history warriors from those comfortably embedded in publicly funded institutions. The history warriors were outnumbered and out-funded to an astronomical degree. If they have won against such odds, it speaks of heroic integrity and effort. And of their one advantage – that they were right."
John Dawson, McKinnon, Vic
Complete Letters to the Editor of The Australian at http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/letters/
- The Guardian
- Panic over languages 'freefall'
by Alexandra Smith
"New ways of teaching modern foreign languages must be found to stem the increasing number of pupils ditching GCSE languages, teachers' leaders warned today..."
Full story in The Guardian at link
- The Independent
- Head calls on schools to limit number of GCSEs
by Richard Garner, Education Editor
"The head of one of the country's leading independent schools is calling on all schools to cut the number of GCSE exams taken by pupils."Richard Cairns, headmaster of the £20,400-a-year Brighton College, claims exam league tables "are encouraging heads to enter pupils for exam after exam quite unnecessarily".
"His call - on the day when 600,000 pupils are due to receive their GCSE results - comes after his own school took the decision to limit the number of exams entered by pupils to nine - down from 11. In addition, Oxford and Cambridge universities have told the college they believe there is no need for a student to do more than eight GCSEs..."
Full story in The Independent at link
- The Washington Post
- Students Have Voice in How Schools Are Run
by Sarah Horvitz
Sarah Horvitz, 17, of Silver Spring, is serving this school year as the 29th student member of the Montgomery County Board of Education. Horvitz, a senior at Springbrook High School, was elected in the spring by county public school students.As a board member, she has the authority to vote on all matters except those concerning finances and negative personnel actions. Horvitz writes about the issues she thinks will be top priorities during the school year.
Full story in The Washington Post at link
- The Melbourne Herald Sun
- 32 male teachers sacked
by Jane Metlikovec
"Male teachers are being sacked for inappropriate conduct at five times the rate of females.
"Dozens of male teachers have lost their right to teach in the past 2 1/2 years for inappropriate student relationships, sex offences, misconduct and incompetence."Men make up about one third of the teacher workforce, according to Victorian Institute of Teaching records.
"The Herald Sun can reveal 32 male teachers have been stripped of the right to teach since 2004.
"Of those, 20 recorded criminal convictions for sex offences or child pornography offences and were automatically struck off the register. A further eight lost their registration after being found guilty by a VIT disciplinary panel of serious misconduct, while another two were found guilty of serious incompetence and lost their right to teach..."
Full story in The Melbourne Herald Sun at link
- The Sunday Times Online / PerthNow [plus the lead story on all TV Evening News and radio stations]
- Ex-police minister forced to quit ALP [4:50 pm]
by Adam Gartrell and Denise Cahill
"Former West Australian police minister John D'Orazio has been forced to resign from the Labor Party after Premier Alan Carpenter decided the MP's "grossly inappropriate" misconduct made his position untenable..."
Full story in The Sunday Times Online / PerthNow at link
- Disgraced D'Orazio: I'll stay an MP [4:00 pm]
AAP (Andrea Mayes and Adam Gartrell)
"Former police minister John D'Orazio has been sacked from the WA Government, but intends to remain as an independent member of parliament."His sacking from the Labor Government follows his involvement in a Corruption and Crime Commission inquiry.
"Mr D'Orazio's name surfaced during a CCC examination of Perth panel beater Pasquale Minniti, who is accused of using police connections to have speeding fines and traffic infringements withdrawn for friends and family.
"The MP was secretly taped and filmed meeting with Mr Minniti after the panel beater, an acquaintance of 20 years, contacted him offering to help Mr D'Orazio out over several speeding fines he had incurred.
"I asked him (Mr D'Orazio) for his resignation and Mr D'Orazio has agreed to the request,'' Mr Carpenter said.
"The Premier said Mr D'Orazio's conduct had been "grossly inappropriate'' and his position in the Labor Party was now untenable.
"He left himself exposed and showed a lack of regard to the government . . . He should have rejected any meeting with Mr Minniti outright,'' Mr Carpenter said.
"I therefore decided that Mr D'Orazio should not remain in my government even in his role as a backbencher.''
"In my view Mr D'Orazio's behaviour constitutes serious misconduct,'' Mr Carpenter said.
"Mr D'Orazio showed appalling judgment by agreeing to meet Mr Minniti to discuss his traffic problems, no matter what the outcome of those discussions.''
"Mr D'Orazio's subsequent phonecall to a police officer referred to him by Mr Minniti was also grossly inappropriate.
"His actions left himself exposed and showed a complete disregard for the government, the Labor Party and his colleagues.''
"However, Mr D'Orazio told PerthNow late today that he had no intention of resigning as an MP and will continue to remain in parliament .
"Yes, I will be an independent,'' he said.
"Earlier, Mr D'Orazio appeared at a Corruption and Crime Commission (CCC) inquiry where he denied engaging in any wrongdoing with a man at the centre of a corruption probe who he was secretly filmed meeting.
"The CCC hearing was played secret recordings of phone calls made by Mr Minniti to Mr D'Orazio on May 8, in which the panel beater tells the MP he can ``help'' him with his political problems.
"Mr D'Orazio had been stood down as police minister earlier that day after it was revealed he had been driving without a licence for several months.
"He resigned from cabinet the following day and moved to the backbench..."
Full story in The Sunday Times Online / PerthNow at link
- The West Australian
Government in Crisis [front page headline]
Premier shuts down Parliament as pressure mounts over Labor’s woes
D’Orazio emerges as a key figure in another Corruption and Crime inquiry
Damning report shows DCD failed to protect foster kids against abuse- Carpenter's crisis (front page)
by Robert Taylor, State Political Editor
"The Carpenter Government was plunged deep into crisis yesterday when the Corruption and Crime Commission unveiled a recording of former police minister John D’Orazio agreeing to meet alleged serial fixer Pasquale Minniti to discuss the Labor MP’s speeding tickets.
"That bombshell landed as the Government released a flood of bad news in an attempt to divert attention from a damning report into foster care procedures within the besieged Department for Community Development.
"At the end of a horror week for Alan Carpenter, the Government closed State Parliament early rather than risk further debate on the D’Orazio revelations.
"Describing it as a black day for WA, a furious Opposition Leader Paul Omodei accused the Premier of going into hiding.
“We have the unprecedented situation where the Premier of Western Australia comes into Parliament and with a flimsy excuse has run for cover on this whole issue and closed the Parliament down,” Mr Omodei said.
"Mr Carpenter told Parliament that he had complete confidence in the CCC and warned that he would not tolerate any misconduct by any member of his Government. The Government then shut Parliament 1 1 /2 hours before its scheduled finish time..."
Full story in The West Australian at link
- Follow-up stories: It was a good day for Alan... to bury his bad news
- D’Orazio filmed meeting Minniti
- WA ‘out of step on abuse reports’
- Consultancy fees top $26m despite ALP vow
- New assets loophole for ministers
- More pay for MPs faces defeat
- Late save after Libs drop chance to add to Government gloom
- [Note: The Alston cartoon appears to be missing the "Ravlich carbuncle"...]
- Letters to the Editor
EIGHT about the Minister for Google, one on hopeless ministers in general, one on early childhood reading problems, and one on Aboriginal students.
- Big cover-up
"... Everyone is ducking for cover and pointing fingers, with no one prepared to take responsibility in the death of a defenceless child..."
"The public are not fools, Mr Carpenter. If Ms McHale is one of your most "outstanding ministers", Mr Carpenter, standing alongside the quality of John D'Orazio and Ljiljanna Ravlich, then the State is in a great deal of trouble..." [emphasis added]
Cameron Davis, Welshpool
- "If the Minister's advice is "don't learn it, Google it", perhaps we can do away with the Education Department and its Minister altogether."
Robin L Reid, Attadale
- "May God save Ljiljanna Ravlich, because no one is going to save the education system in this State with statements like that. Has she thought about the people who can't afford the internet or who would rather play sport than sit at a computer desk or read, may I say, a book? And what about the kids in the outback and on stations? Maybe she could Google "how to educate kids properly". It is no wonder they can't spell, add up or write properly – or does Google teach these?"
Kerry Rogers, Canning Vale
- "How sad that Ljiljanna Ravlich feels Google is all WA children need to know about our history. I am sure her parents' homeland would approve of its struggles and achievements being learnt, if at all, with the stroke of a key. It seems that governments, State and Federal, want to rub out the past and start history anew with a greater ethnic diversity. Again, how sad."
Barry Cameron, Middle Swan
- "While help my daughter with a homework assignment I was seeking the date of the Port Arthur shootings, so I Googled it and was inundated with postings of government cover-ups, conspiracies, pro-gun lobby groups pushing their case, claims of foreign powers attempting to disarm Australians ahead of a mass invasion and all other bits of information. In Google we trust, the rest is history. Thanks, Ms Ravlich, I am much better informed. Remember that societies that fail to study history will repeat the mistakes of the past."
Rob Howes, Geraldton
- "I Googled the name of the Minister for Education, Ljiljanna Ravlich. I got 36 responses. Yes, 36. By comparison, I got 3.7 million responses when asking about the availability of 6mm fixing screws. Yes, 3.7 million. Now tell me who deserves the most attention or respect. I rest my case."
Paul Hubbard, Bassendean
- "May God save Ljiljanna Ravlich, because no one is going to save the education system in this State with statements like that. Has she thought about the people who can't afford the internet or who would rather play sport than sit at a computer desk or read, may I say, a book? And what about the kids in the outback and on stations? Maybe she could Google "how to educate kids properly". It is no wonder they can't spell, add up or write properly – or does Google teach these?
- Out of date
"I am surprised at the emphasis The West Australian has been putting on the date 1788. I suppose it's not that hard to remember, coming just before the French Revolution – a date that is of far greater historical significance – but it is not that important to West Australians. Of interest to us might be 1826 (Frederickstown) and 1829 (Swan River Colony), but the only date that is really important to any Australian is 1901. If we are going to learn a couple, they should be relevant to us. The First Fleet is about as relevant to WA as the Ballarat gold rush: of minor interest, but not vital."
Rob Bannister, North Perth
- I disagree
"... I am a teacher and I have seen scores of times Aboriginal kids with no packed lunches for school and we never see parents on parent-teacher nights or any parent activities. What's your solution? Blame the Government?
"Why not, it's a lot easier than putting the blame on yourself."
Michael Hocking, Belmont
- Ravlich is right
"Ljiljanna Ravlich has a problem. She is ahead of her time. Her comments about using Google to get specific information are correct. Of course, we still need to teach history, but do our students need to spend their time memorising specific dates of events? I don't think so. Should our exams be focused on how good our memory is? No.
"Students need to understand the historical events and their ramifications. The specifics are available, if required. More importantly, they need to be able to solve problems using a structured approach. This is what should be taught in schools. The information available to students today is exponentially greater (and growing) than it was when I went to school in the 60s and 70s. You can't learn everything but you can learn problem-solving techniques and how to find information to solve a problem."
W. Smith, Parkwood
- Out of touch with reading reality
"Since when did Bettina Arndt become an expert on children learning to read? Her column (System to blame for kids who can't read, 21/8) was so biased and so sadly out of touch with reality.
"Children need many things to be able to read and it starts with the formative years in the home. Positive parenting with healthy modelling and lots of play, both structured and unstructured, and lots of being read to certainly help built a sound foundation for children to read.
"However, there are many children who have developmental gaps that impact on the brain integration so that so matter how well they have been parented, they will have delayed readiness to read – and this difficulty will be present at school, too.
"There is research to show how ineffective school remedial programs are regardless of whether they use phonics or whole language approach. There is also new research that shows that an aptitude to read is carried in our genes
"Learning to read is not a simple issue. Early-years education in Australia is full of talented and hardworking teachers who struggle with challenging children with poor listening and concentration skills and they teach and are responsible for more than 25 children at a time. So please stop throwing blame for low literacy rates on how teachers teach and one approach over another.
"There are always going to be children who will struggle with literacy through no fault of their parents or their teachers and that is just because humans are not created perfect or live in perfect worlds. I still struggle with spatial things like left and right, but I don't blame either my parents or my teachers. Leave literacy with those who work in the field every day, Bettina, and give them more credit and acknowledgment."
Maggie Dent, Nedlands
From The West Australian
- Other media reports on the "Carpenter crisis"
- ABC News Online
- Former police minister appears before crime commission
by David Weber
Transcript from the AM program
- D'Orazio tells inquiry of call to police officer [3:42 pm]
- Carpenter drops D'Orazio amid CCC probe [5:44 pm]
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Principals change direction on A to E grading system
by Anna Patty, Education Editor
"Primary school principals are threatening to withdraw support for the controversial A to E school report cards in a move expected to unnerve the State Government."The Government faces growing opposition to the grading system, personally endorsed by the Premier, Morris Iemma.
"High school principals meet today to consider stepping up their opposition to the A to E grades. And the NSW Teachers Federation last week threatened industrial action if any members were disciplined for failing to complete the reports as required.
"More than 1800 primary school principals, who until now have supported the State Government mandate for A to E grades, will meet next week to consider overturning their position.
"The change of heart is in response to confusion about the Federal Government's position in accepting descriptive equivalents to the A to E grades..."
Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- Letters to the Editor
- In praise of success off the sporting field
"Congratulations to Terry Tao ("A boy genius who played his numbers just right", August 23), the first Australian to win a Fields Medal.
"There is no Nobel Prize in mathematics and this prize has the same high distinction. Even more, in fact, since the recipient must be under 40 years of age when it is awarded. That means the person must have done the work early enough for the impact to be well acclaimed and undisputedly great.
"If our country is to compete in science and technology into the future, we need personnel trained in mathematics.
"Our mathematics teachers need role models for their students. Thank you, Terry, for being one. Where is the shouting from the rooftops? It is time to brag."
Ross Street, Turramurra
"Professor Terry Tao's mathematics award scored page 5 in the Herald (behind more on Telstra and doping in league on page 1). This is a better result than on the ABC news on the same date, when he was mentioned last in the news after a report about the Australian men's basketball team's loss to Greece. It was an uninspiring report, essentially his CV with a background of unintelligible mathematical symbols - there was no interview with him or with a colleague or teacher.
"Imagine the difference if this was a world-class sporting result. For many days we'd have interviews with the person, coaches, friends, schoolmates. In sporting terms, Professor Tao's work is the equivalent of a world record, but it is more important.
"Australians love their sport, but please let us acknowledge those who achieve in other areas. It is the variety of our achievements that defines us, inspires our children and constitutes our future."
David Roxburgh, Lismore
Complete Letters to the Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald at http://www.smh.com.au/letters/
- The Independent
- GCSE Results: Government blamed for 'catastrophic' decline in numbers studying languages
by Richard Garner, Education Editor
"A "catastrophic" decline in the number of pupils studying modern foreign languages emerged in yesterday's GCSE results..."
Full story in The Independent at link
- National Curriculum: Government accused of trying to hide poor results from primary school tests
by Richard Garner, Education Editor
"Reading standards in UK primary schools have fallen, national curriculum test results for 11-year-olds revealed yesterday."They also showed that standards in both maths and English amongst seven-year-olds had dropped, too.
"The figures were released at 9.30am - precisely the same time as GCSE results - prompting speculation that the timing was yet another attempt by New Labour to bury bad news..."
Full story in The Independent at link
- The Melbourne Age
- School accused of rough play on young athletes
by Michael Bachelard
"One government school has lost its entire year 10 girls' volleyball team to scholarships offered by Haileybury College, and another has been forced to disband a champion side because of the independent school's seven-girl poaching spree."The Age has learned that Haileybury has been shopping for elite junior volleyball players at government schools, taking girls who play in the national and state squads on scholarships worth up to $18,000..."
Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
- Haileybury's job offers 'unethical'
by Michael Bachelard
"It is not just students that Haileybury is recruiting to set up its new Girls College — the school has also been accused of "highly unethical" behaviour over its job offers to teachers."Christine Jenkins, principal of Korowa Anglican Girls School, has told The Age that Haileybury employed two of her staff without informing her as required by the code of ethics agreed between independent schools.
"Ms Jenkins was angry because the teachers are leaving in October, seven weeks before the end of the year, and before some of their students have sat their final exams..."
Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
- CNN
- Pluto gets the boot
Pluto no longer a planet, say astronomers
- The Australian
- Anthem to return in schools [late edition]
by Cath Hart
"[Queensland] Children would be made to sing the national anthem once a week and honour the Australian flag at all school assemblies under a Coalition plan to boost pride."Under the scheme, it would be mandatory for primary school children to study Australian geography and citizenship.
"Even secondary school student would also be made to study Australian history, opposition education spokesman Stuart Copeland said yesterday.
"The "Pride in Nation" scheme would cultivate pride in being "a Queenslander and an Australian", Mr Copeland said. "Sadly, a lot of our young people know more about events and people in the US than they do about their own state and country. The problem is twofold: Our children are increasingly exposed to a large diet of Hollywood-derived images and messages at home; and in the classroom, the teaching of Australian history and geography has taken second place."
"On Monday, the Coalition announced it would make history lessons compulsory for students in Years 9 and 10. English would also become compulsory for students in Years 11 and 12.
"Mr Copeland said students would also mark national events, such as ANZAC Day, and be given the opportunity to participate in a state-wide heritage essay and project competition."
From The Australian at link
- Letter to the Editor
- Narrative history still best
"After reading Deborah Henderson’s eloquent defence of Tony Taylor’s social studies approach to the study of Australian history (Letters, 24/8), I did a Google on the History Educators’ Network of Australia (HENA) that Dr Henderson chairs. I found that the vice chair of HENA was none other than Dr Taylor and that HENA was supported by the National Centre for History Education run by, yes, Dr Taylor. A little more internet research revealed that the National Centre was funded under the Australian Government’s Commonwealth History Project but that its funding is due to run out in December 2006."Regarding my “personal” view on narrative history, it was always my understanding that this was what the Australian History Summit was meant to be discussing. This is what the Prime Minister said in opening the summit: “I do not believe, and the Government does not believe, that you can have any sensible understanding, and therefore sensible debate, about different opinions of Australian history unless you have some narrative and method in the comprehension and understanding of history.”
"There were people at the summit, including apparently Dr Taylor, who did not believe in narrative history but in the social studies approach to history. That their view came to dominate the summit’s communique is the greatest tragedy of the summit. John Howard originally called for the root-and-branch renewal of the teaching of Australian history. This is a matter not only of ideas but also of institutions. We cannot hope for any change if we rely on the old tired institutions of the past and their commitment to lowest-common-denominator, social-studies history."
Greg Melleuish, School of History and Politics, University of Wollongong, NSWComplete Letters to the Editor of The Australian at link
Saturday – Sunday, 26 – 27 August
- The West Australian
- UWA delivers vote of no confidence in OBE (page 4)
by Bethany Hiatt
"The roll-out of outcomes-based education to Years 11 and 12 has been dealt another blow after the University of WA told schools it had no confidence in the way students would be rated in English under the new “levelling” system.
"In a letter to schools, UWA vice-chancellor Alan Robson said the university had abandoned its plan to accept students with an OBE level six in English and would revert to the traditional entry requirement of a scaled score of 50 or more.
"The institution said the level system would only be considered for entry once it was “sufficiently clear to satisfy UWA’s selection procedures”.
"The entry requirements will affect students now in Year 11 who started studying the new OBE English course this year and who hope to enter university in 2008. All students must demonstrate English competence to qualify for university.
"Students graduating from high school will receive a level between four and eight as well as a scaled mark out of 100.
"UWA deputy vice-chancellor education Jane Long said UWA had set a minimum requirement of level six but was now not convinced that it matched the required scaled mark.
“While there’s a process of testing, determination of the equivalences between levels and marks in the new system, to avoid any confusion we thought it best to state our requirements as a scaled mark,” she said.
"Marko Vojkovic, co-founder of the lobby group People Lobbying Against Teaching Outcomes, which has strongly opposed the implementation of OBE, said it was a vote of no confidence in the system by a significant tertiary institution.
"But Professor Long flatly denied the move was a rejection of the new system.
“It would be absolutely incorrect to read UWA’s clarification on this issue of detail as us stepping away from support in broad principle for the reform of the curriculum,” she said. “We look forward to there being a little greater clarity on the equivalence between levels and scaled marks in the future.”
"Information provided by the Tertiary Institutions Services Centre in June said UWA would accept a final standard of at least level six as a demonstration of English competency. Murdoch, Curtin and ECU said they would accept level five.
"Curtin University yesterday backed UWA’s stance,
"Curtin pro vice chancellor academic Jane den Hollander said Curtin would change the advice it gave TISC on its entry requirements and revert to the scaled mark because people did not understand what a level five was.
"Curriculum Council chief executive David Wood said UWA had taken a practical approach, given that the new courses and associated standards were still being refined."
From The West Australian at link
- Teachers miss our on leave: union (page 72)
by Bethany Hiatt
"Teachers are being denied long service leave and leave without pay next year in a clear sign the State school system is failing to retain enough qualified staff, the teachers' union says.
"State School Teachers Union president Mike Keely said more leave applications were being knocked back than in previous years because the Education Department does not have staff to replace those on leave.
"Teachers are entitled to long service leave but leave without pay is up to the discretion of the department.
"Many teachers who have applied for leave are getting letters saying their application has been turned down because of "workforce requirements".
"The principal of a big metropolitan school said 55 per cent of teachers at his school who applied for leave without pay for 2007 had been refused. In previous years most had been accepted.
"Mr Keely said a staffing crisis has been looming for years as teacher recruitment failed to keep up with resignations and retirements.
"It is true that the department is placing pressure on teachers, where it's finding it difficult to get a replacement, to defer long service leave," he said.
"And while the department had been sympathetic to leave without pay requests in the past, Mr Keely said more applications were now being refused because there were not enough qualified teachers.
"It's getting impossible in some cases for the department to fill vacancies which have occurred," he said. "If they are not able to staff schools in quite desirable locations then that clearly indicates that however many teachers are being trained, there aren't enough to put in front of students in the classrooms."
"Department of Education and Training human resources director Alby Huts said applications for leave without pay were being considered on a case by case basis and 32 per cent of applications had been approved. Some teachers had been asked to change the dates of their long service leave but 98 per cent of applications had been granted this year. At the start of this school term 54 teaching positions were vacant.
"Shadow education minister Peter Collier said staff shortages were almost at a crisis in country schools."
From The West Australian
- Parents get to compare school tests (page 10) [PLUS large sidebar with sample questions]
by Bethany Hiatt
"Parents of students who have just finished spelling, reading, writing and maths tests should be able to compare their school’s results with others across the State when results are published online for the first time later this year.
"Nearly 110,000 year 3, 5 and 7 students in public, Catholic and independent schools sat for the WA Literacy and Numeracy Assessments this month. Year 9 students spent a week taking the Monitoring Standards in Education (MSE 9) tests in mathematics, English and science."Children in Year 5 had to fix the incorrect spelling in words like “comunacate” and “sumtimes” while Year 9 students were asked to write an essay about why they were lucky to live in Australia.
"The West Australian has obtained copies of this year’s assessments and published some maths questions to give parents an insight into the standards expected of their children.
"Earlier this year, Education Department director-general Paul Albert said every school would have to publish its results in reading, writing, spelling and maths tests on a department website so parents could see how individual schools fared, sparking strong opposition from the State School Teachers Union.
"SSTU president Mike Keely said that each year about 25 per cent of teachers boycotted administering the tests because they did not believe the results should be counted as one of the few measures of a school’s success.
"He said publishing results on-line would put more pressure on teachers to teach to the test.
"Department educational measurement manager Jocelyn Cook said teachers used the tests to help identify students’ strengths and weaknesses so they could adjust their programs accordingly.“If the union’s concern is that there may be instances where teachers slavishly train up students on past tests, we don’t believe that is widespread,” she said.
"Yesterday, Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop announced that Willandra Primary School in Armadale had won a national literacy and numeracy award and $10,000 for its success in improving students’ literacy. Five WA schools also were highly commended."
From The West Australian at link
- In a day of appalling judgment, Carpenter calls the kettle black (page 8)
by Robert Taylor, Political Sketch
[last paragraph] "The fact that Mr Carpenter not only did that but ignored all the warning signs until the weight of evidence simply became overwhelming calls his continuing ability to manage the State into serious question."
Full story in The West Australian
- School figure big plus for maths wiz (page 56)
[Human interest story on Terry Tao winning the Fields Medal, including his starting university at age 9...]
Full story in The West Australian at link
- The Hobart Mercury
- ELs useful but onerous
by Kathy Grube
"Teachers support the aims of the Essential Learnings curriculum but want assessment to be simplified, an Australian Education Union survey has found."AEU state president Jean Walker announced the major findings in a joint press conference with Education Minister David Bartlett yesterday, but refused to provide the full survey results.
"She said the 2600 teachers that responded from 90 per cent of government schools said they found ELs a "useful approach" but said the workload of assessment and reporting was too much. "The general opinion of teachers is that there are many good things with the Essential Learnings curriculum that they want to retain, but they are also telling us that they want a reduction in the workload in the assessment and reporting requirements," she said.
"Teachers saw that assessment and reporting needed to be greatly simplified, made clearer, less jargonistic and less onerous.
"They believe that the number of key element outcomes need to be reduced and that the standards and progression statements need greater clarity and need simplifying and reducing.
"They also believe there is a need for a greater number of gradations in assessment to more accurately represent student progress."
"Students between Kindergarten and Year 10 are assessed over five standards or levels, each of which is divided into lower, middle and upper categories -- providing 15 different assessment levels in total.
"Ms Walker said there were concerns that students might be stuck on a level for more than a year and teachers wanted to be able to show student progression using smaller gradations.
"Mr Bartlett said he would take the survey findings into account in his overhaul of ELs, which could be released as early as next week.
"It confirms for me what classroom teachers have been telling me, which is that we have moved forward with Essential Learnings but there are areas, particularly around reporting and provision of syllabus, that need addressing and that is exactly what I will be doing," he said.
"I will be listening to the union and listening to classroom teachers and mapping a way forward."
"Ms Walker said the union executive had agreed not to make the survey results public because raw data could be "confusing and misrepresented and misquoted".
From The Hobart Mercury at link
- ABC News Online
- Carpenter to spend 'whatever it takes' to protect children
"The Western Australian Premier, Alan Carpenter, says he is prepared to spend whatever it takes to ensure the Department of Community Development is protecting children deemed to be at risk..."
Full story at ABC News Online at link
- PerthNorg Online News [Users invited to post news items and comments]
- UWA unhappy with OBE style levels
by "Darren"
"UWA has joined the ever growing rank of people dissatisfied with the new OBE style courses of study. The University will insist that students will require a scaled percentage score of 50 or more and not a “Level 6”.
"Schools have been sent a letter by Alan Robson (UWA vice-chancellor) outlining the Universities new requirements."The OBE controversy has raged in WA schools for over a year now and it was only 8 weeks ago that the State government were forced to back-down over the introduction of 17 proposed “Courses of Study” that would have all used the untested levelling system for University entrance.
"Last week a letter sent to all teachers and parents of Year 10 students in WA by the Minister of Education, Ljiljanna Ravlich, extolled the benefits of OBE at a cost of $57000 to taxpayers. The letter neglected to mention that the level awarded for the English Course of Study would not be used by the states universities."Minister Ravlich continues to back the Outcomes Based Education system despite the massive opposition it continues to experience from teachers and parents."
From PerthNorg at link
- Reader Comments (same link)
- "Spot on Darren. English will be the first new OBE subject that students have done for uni entry in 2008. Wait until the rest kick-in for 2009 entry: the unis will demand REAL MARKS, not Levels, for those too. The proposed WA OBE - Leveling system is an utter disaster. The sooner it, and the Education Minister, are gone, the better."
Steve Kessell, Willetton
- "Parents should also be getting suspicious by now. Anything needing so much money to "sell" to the public, has to be shonky, and we have seen non-stop propaganda from the Education authorities for OBE . Tax-payers are footing the bill as expensive ads are placed in newspapers, and glossy brochures are mailed out to parents. Money seems no object (unless we ask for a survey of teachers to be done!)
"Why is all this needed if the product is so great? What are they trying to hide? Where, exactly, are all those successful OBE-style educationsystems we keep being told are thriving overseas and interstate?
"For my child, OBE is dreadful. In some "Learning areas" the teacher has taken such a back seat, (literally) that he may as well not bother. Yr 10's have been told that "Society and Environment", which is covering 20th century themes, is to be researched in groups and presented to the class by the groups, TILL THE END OF THE YEAR! My child will either be pretending to research or pretending to listen to other groups, for lesson after lesson, and the teacher has NO PLANS TO TEACH THEM ANYTHING! After each group presentation, the groups have to test the class, by whatever amusing method they choose, so the teacher doesn't even have to assess! He won't even intervene when racist comments are made! He is not doing his job! This is not effective learning."
"mia"
"I just wonder where the whole concept of 'democracy' fits into this. The drive with which Ravlich and her cohorts are foisting this on the West Australian people is almost unbelivable. In fact it is down right scary - and Carpenter's tacit approval puts him right in the firing line.
"I just think these social engineers have utterly miscalculated how serious people would take the education of their children.
"Even more confusing is the oppositions failure to register any hits with this - surely if they came out and said they would abandon OBE and roll it all back - they would win in a landslide?"
"Em""But the question remains, what more can be done? Despite the huge swell of opposition the Government seems determined to instill OBE to WA education."
Bronwen Clune
"Bronwen
"If push comes to shove, I guess we have to elect a different government.
"I've already heard of a "Put Ravlich Last" campaign."
Steve Kessell, Willetton
This story is FUNDAMENTALLY INCORRECT. The requirements have not changed. The story's actual quotes from UWA representatives, make clear that it supports OBE and the introduction of new courses of study.
Citizen journalism is great in theory-- but I suggest all of us should read beyond the completely misleading headlines in the West...
The story as I read it, says that the university is waiting for further information regarding levels, but that it supports the direction of the overall package-- Curtin Uni of Technology as well. Hardly 'UNHAPPY" ,as written by Darren!
"mack"
Mack, a little careful reading shows that the UWA representatives are careful in what they say - no mention of OBE, but "reform" of education is on the agenda.
Diplomacy leaves open the question of reforming what. Can OBE be called a reform, or is it the old and descredited system needing reform.
UWA is being careful, levelling is not acceptable - and what is OBE without levelling? Not OBE that is for sure.
"Gregs"
The problem is not the CONCEPT of OBE, but the half-baked, third-rate implementation that is being foisted on WA students, parents and teachers.
If you go to the PLATOWA website http://platowa.com/ you'll see they don't object to a decent implementation of OBE, only to the shonky non-content and Mickey-Mouse "Levels" being shoved down everyone's throats. At the top of their home page, it says:
"We support, and have always supported, the practice of adopting outcomes that set quantifiable standards in academic skills and subjects, whose accomplishment by students can be verified through objective testing.
We absolutely condemn the setting of pseudo-standards that are vague, not academic or practical in nature, and therefore cannot be verified through objective testing.
We also condemn the installation of overclaimed and unproved educational methods, whose only merits are their novelty and the evangelism by which powerful, bureaucratic non-practitoners seek to impose them."
Steve Kessell, Willetton
- The Sunday New York Times
- In Schools Across U.S., the Melting Pot Overflows
by Sam Dillon
"Some 55 million youngsters are enrolling for classes in the nation’s schools this fall, making this the largest group of students in America’s history and, in ethnic terms, the most dazzlingly diverse since waves of European immigrants washed through the public schools a century ago."Millions of baby boomers and foreign-born parents are enrolling their children, sending a demographic bulge through the schools that is driving a surge in classroom construction.
"It is also causing thousands of districts to hire additional qualified teachers at a time when the Bush administration is trying to increase teacher qualifications across the board. Many school systems have begun recruiting overseas for instructors in hard-to-staff subjects like special education and advanced math..." [emphasis added]
Full story in The Sunday New York Times at link
- Sunday USA Today
- Tutoring promise proving hard to keep
"WASHINGTON (AP) — Sandra Senda wanted a free private tutor for her kids, just like the No Child Left Behind law promised. She had no idea the deal came with a big headache..."
[This Bush Government initiative (No Child Left Behind) is proving to be a "No Child Shall Live in Poverty" promise. Web]
Full story in The Sunday USA Today at link
- The Sunday Times / PerthNow
- Childcare rules a no-no (page 19) [very similar to article by same title in The Sydney Sunday Telegraph (below)]
"Childcare workers are being instructed not to use the words "no" and "don't" because it is feared they will stunt a child's development."The terms "good boy'' and "good girl'' are frowned on as they are considered sexist.
"The rules - taught to childcare students - have angered Australian Family Association campaigners, who say it's another example of out-of-control political correctness.
"The controversial rules are part of the nationally accredited TAFE Certificate III in Children's Services.
"Australian Family Association state secretary Angelique Barr said: "I think people are always looking for new rules to bring into justify their jobs. My son's first words were 'no' and 'don't', and he's a well-adjusted child.
"I don't think it hurts a child at all to be told 'no', particularly if you explain to him or her why they shouldn't do something."
"They are always trying to say the old ways to raise children are not right, but the reality is there is no set way to raise a child, providing they are loved and cared for."
From The Sunday Times
- The Sunday Melbourne Age
- It pays to stay true to your school
by Deborah Gough
"A Melbourne girls school will introduce a loyalty program in a bid to retain its brightest students."As the storm over Haileybury College's scholarship scheme continues, Mentone Girls Grammar School plans to cut the final-year fees of long-term students to help prevent poaching.
"The school will offer a cut of up to 1 per cent a year to a year 12 student's fees, based on the number of years enrolled at the school. The cut would mature in the last term of year 12. Parents could save about $1800 if their daughter attended from preschool to year 12.
"A student enrolled from year 7 to year 12 would save $900. Year 12 fees were $16,400 this year..."
Full story in The Sunday Melbourne Age at link
- Why students made the move to Haileybury
Letter to the Editor by Haileybury College Principal Dr Robert Pargetter
"In response to recent articles regarding scholarships (20/8), Haileybury wants to set the facts straight. The students admitted were outstanding young women chosen on merit. Each student was asked to carefully consider the wisdom of transferring at the senior level. We were struck by the maturity and a careful decision-making process the students had used. In each case, parents gave unqualified support to the student's decision."The reasons given fell into two categories: benefits they saw at Haileybury, and problems they had at their current schools. Some of the problems included program limitations and very restricted subject choice which led to disadvantages for tertiary pathways. Some students found their classes at current schools to be large and disruptive and in some cases Haileybury was closer to home.
"Reasons students cited for wanting to come to Haileybury included our small class sizes, parallel education, wide choice of subjects and subject combinations, availability of sport and co-curriculum program and program design such as our three-year VCE.
"Many schools in the Haileybury area have changed the gender restrictions on their students. In many cases these moves involve a scholarship program.
"Haileybury now has a strong reputation for excellence and innovation in both teaching and development. On some occasions our innovations have challenged existing orthodoxies and some of the cosy practices that exist among some independent schools including agreements which verge on restraint of trade and ignoring privacy rights. Haileybury takes its role as a national leader in education seriously."
[No link as the Letters to the Editor page has a generic link, meaning it gives only that day's letters.]
- The Sydney Sunday Telegraph
- Saying no becomes a no-no
by Hannah Davies
"Childcare workers are being instructed not to use the words "no" and "don't" because it is feared they will stunt a child's development."The terms "good boy'' and "good girl'' are frowned on as they are considered sexist.
"The rules - taught to childcare students - have angered Australian Family Association campaigners, who say it's another example of out-of-control political correctness.
"The controversial rules are part of the nationally accredited TAFE Certificate III in Children's Services..."
Full story in The Sydney Sunday Telegraph at link
- The Weekend Australian
- Premier kicks out disgraced D'Orazio
by Amanda O'Brien and Paige Taylor
"West Australian Premier Alan Carpenter has sacked his former police minister John D'Orazio from the ALP, citing "serious misconduct" and "grossly inappropriate behaviour"...
Full story in The Weekend Australian at link
This story serves to represent very similar stories in other daily newspapers [which will NOT be repeated here].
You can also listen to the D'Orazio audio tapes and/or view the Channel 9 video at the Sunday Times website.
- How bungling left little Wade to die
by Amanda O'Brien
"... The almost unbelievable display of incompetence, blunders, negligence and disregard that preceded Wade's death has snared two premiers, one minister, backbenchers, bureaucrats and an entire department..."
Full story in The Weekend Australian at link
Again, this story serves to represent very similar stories in virtually all daily newspapers [which will NOT be repeated here -- it's in fact the "Shock Headline" in several News.com papers]. It certainly demonstrates the amount of national attention being given to the Carpenter Government's problem of incompetent ministers.
- Teachers safe from litigation under act
by Cath Hart
"Teachers disciplining students in Queensland classrooms would be protected from litigation as part of a "vision of excellence" in education policy launched by the Coalition yesterday."The plan also includes a "renewed emphasis on phonics" in an effort to improve literacy rates.
"Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg and education spokesman Stuart Copeland yesterday unveiled the plan in Toowoomba.
"Mr Springborg said the Beattie Labor Government had failed to deliver on "10 out of 12" national education benchmarks.
"Under the proposed Teacher Protection Act, teachers and principals trying to maintain discipline in the classroom would be protected from liability provided they did not engage in reckless or criminal conduct.
"We're providing the protection to teachers so that they know they have the capacity in the classrooms to be able to offer the discipline that they can in a complete and absolute way without any concern that they may be litigated against," Mr Springborg said..."
Full story in The Weekend Australian at link
- Letter to the Editor
- Vested interests resourceful in repelling teaching reform
"Increasingly, it’s beginning to look as if last week’s Australian History Summit was a debacle that has effectively endorsed the status quo, an outcome that may well explain the recent shift in opinion among the states ("Defiance of history crumbles”, 23/8). Perhaps, as they say, the fix is in."Supporting efforts for reform in this area makes one a target for attack, especially if one works in the tertiary education sector, and one wonders how long people such as Wollongong University’s Greg Melleuish ("Missing ingredients in history’s stew”, Opinion, 23/8) will be able to sustain their role in the campaign for the reform of history education in Australia.
"In Melleuish’s case, he was subjected to thinly veiled dismissals of his efforts in connection with last week’s summit in Tony Taylor’s article in the Higher Education section ("Milestones on the road to history”, 23/8). Deborah Henderson (Letters, 24/8) has also outrageously impugned Melleuish.
"The vested interests controlling history education have proven very resourceful in repelling all efforts at reform and can make life very uncomfortable for those who oppose them. Even my own small contribution to the debate ("History never retreats”, Opinion, 21/7) drew accusations that I was a Nazi and prompted one wannabe investigative journalist to send me an ultimatum demanding personal information for an expose he planned to publish on crikey.com.au.
"After all, this battle has been going on now for 20 years, ever since planning began for the Australian Bicentenary in the mid-1980s. There have been various media campaigns over that period, with The Australian playing a leading role in calling for reform, but literally nothing has been achieved and the problem has only become more entrenched.
"That the summit was a debacle appears clear from its communique, from the various articles published in The Australian during the past week, written by summit participants and other commentators privy to its proceedings, and from other material in the press and on the internet. These reveal that it produced a joint communique by capitulating to the lowest-common-denominator approach advocated by certain of the participants, notably those with a vested interest in perpetuating the present ramshackle situation where history is taught (if at all) as a random set of fashionable issues, rather than as a coherent narrative that provides students with a clear idea of how our society developed.
"Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop has taken the lead in attempting to reform the system. It is very important that she doesn’t allow herself to be hoodwinked into thinking that what the victors at the summit are proposing in the communique is actual change, rather than a surreptitious endorsement of the status quo."
Merv Bendle, Senior lecturer in history and communications, James Cook University, Townsville, Qld
- "... Perhaps, in light of the Howard Government’s plan to recruit an extra 2600 soldiers ("Budget lift will take army to war footing”, 25/8) army recruiters should be hitting our campuses with promises to pay students’ HECS fees in return for them signing up."
Con Vaitsas, Ashbury, NSW
- I was amused but not surprised by Ian Mackay’s letter (25/8) about a young shop assistant using a calculator to multiply
3 by 10. As a person with some arithmetical ability, I’m constantly frustrated by the fact that no one believes my calculations. The prevailing orthodoxy seems to be that it can only be right if a machine does it."
David Markham, Latham, ACT
Complete Letters to the Editor of The Weekend Australian at link
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Wage deal puts heads' salaries into six figures
by Anna Patty Education Editor
"Head teachers at independent schools will receive salaries of more than $100,000 by 2010 and maintain existing award conditions under a wage deal completed yesterday."The Association of Independent Schools NSW had originally proposed reducing award conditions in exchange for hefty salary increases, but has reached a new agreement with the private school teachers' union.
"The deal, which was posted on the Independent Teacher Union's website yesterday, includes a revised version of the association's proposal and a new award.
"Most of Sydney's richer schools are expected to choose the revised model over the award system. They can also devise their own wage deals."The revised model proposes performance pay rises that would bring the salary of a senior teacher currently paid $72,386 to $87,099 by February 2010.
"It would reduce the 13 salary levels under the current award to three bands. All teachers at the top of the scale and department heads would go to Band 3.
"The department head salary will rise from $83,999 to $100,710 by February 1, 2010. And the starting salary for teachers would increase from $49,684 to $61,476 over the same period..."
Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- Op Ed
Give me a child until he is … five
by Adele Horin
"When it comes to explaining the roots of social problems, the focus has turned to the early years of childhood. In the aggressive or unfeeling behaviour of toddlers and preschool-aged children lie the seeds of future school failure, reckless driving and criminal activity, researchers warn. The latest Australian research, which traced a group from infancy to the early 20s, showed it was possible to predict at age five those most likely to be heavy drinkers at age 22..."
Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- The Sydney Daily Telegraph
- Teachers paid on performance
by Bruce McDougall
[Following on from the SMH story, it notes: "... that a special accreditation authority will be set up in the independent system through which a panel will assess teachers' performance before they can qualify for more money..."]
Full story in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
- The Brisbane Courier Mail
- Prep class aide pledge
by Rosemary Odgers and Tess Livingstone
[Remember there is a State election on 9 September]
"Teacher aides would work full-time in every Queensland prep class as part of a wide-ranging education policy unveiled by the Coalition yesterday.
"There will also be extra assistance for schools failing to meet literacy and numeracy standards, and teachers will have more protection from legal action if they crack down on unruly classroom behaviour. Schools would also have to foster national pride in students, ensuring they understand the importance of events like Anzac Day, sing the National Anthem at least once a week and fly the Australian flag."Announcing the education policy in Toowoomba yesterday, Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg moved to trump the Beattie Government over the controversial issue of teacher aide time.
"The Government plans to allocate 15 hours of teacher aide time a week to a typical prep class of 25, prompting fears of teachers being left alone with demanding 4½-year-olds for half the week..."
Full story in The Brisbane Courier Mail at link
- The Melbourne Age
- Op Ed
Ask what the school can do for you
by Leanne Di Stefano
"Modern education seems to be moving away from the ideals of the past and reflecting more and more a competitive, commodity-driven model."The value of the child appears to be understood in what the child can bring to the success or life of the school. The question ought to be, what will the school bring the life of the child?
"Curriculum and reporting systems are driven by political agendas and the competition for university places is fierce..."
[Leads into the poaching issue]
Leanne Di Stefano is principal of Killester College.
Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
- Church to probe poaching scandal
by Michael Bachelard
"The Uniting Church is launching a "thorough investigation" into Haileybury College, its elite affiliated school, after complaints from other schools that it has poached their students."The private principals' organisation has expressed disappointment that the activities have "created an impression of conflict" in the organisation..."
Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
- Letters to the Editor
- Poacher's shame
"Most Australians have a "fair go" approach to life. I would like to ask Haileybury principal Robert Pargetter whether he is giving Korowa Anglican Girls School students, who are now left without a teacher at a crucial time of the year, a fair go? Is he giving Upwey High School's volleyball team a fair go? I hope that other schools don't adopt his un-Australian, arrogant approach to poaching students and teachers. My daughter attends an independent school and I would support them if they decided to boycott any involvement with Haileybury. Shame on you, Dr Pargetter."
Gail Pullen, Hampton
Golden rule required
"What a cheek! Poor Billanook College is complaining of having students poached by another school ( The Age, 25/8). Would this be the same Billanook College that is running a campaign to entice students from the small town of Marysville with offers of scholarships and bus transport? A campaign that, if successful, will have a deleterious impact on the local secondary college at Alexandra. Given that Billanook is a Uniting Church school, perhaps it could adopt a new motto: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you."
Keith Fletcher, Alexandra
- Tacky tactics
"Poaching from private schools is causing an outcry. The Education Minister is also buying into this argument. She would do better to look at her own schools where unsavoury tactics have been in place for many years to recruit/take children from neighbouring schools. Tactics include rumours of schools' closures and imminent loss of funds. I am a retired principal with 20 years' experience in that position. In my experience, the Education Department supported these tactics by rewarding schools with increased enrolments with positive feedback in the schools' annual reviews. No one is prepared to openly discuss this problem for fear of reprisal and bad publicity."
Lydia Hamilton, East Doncaster
Complete Letters to the Editor of The Melbourne Age at link
- The Washington Post
- With a Changing World Comes An Urgency to Learn Chinese [lead education story]
by Lori Aratani
"... The U.S. government flew 10 teachers to Washington from China this month and gave them a five-day crash course in Dupont Circle on how to teach -- American-style -- before dispatching them to schools across the country. Although the number may seem small, the scramble to recruit and train these teachers for the start of this school year underscores the urgency the Bush administration is placing on establishing Chinese programs in U.S. classrooms.
"After years of insisting that the world speak English, of grants and initiatives that established foreign language programs in fits and starts, Americans have awakened to a far more global playing field and the need for specialized languages, economists say. And nowhere is that more evident than with China..."
Full story in The Washington Post at link
Related story in The (UK) Telegraph
All Alston cartoons are © The West Australian Newspaper
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This page last updated 29 May, 2008 9:32 PM
