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Breaking
News: Week of 2 October 2006
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- The West Australian
- WA geography teachers back focus on facts (page 15)
by Bethany Hiatt
"Education authorities are under further pressure to make geography a stand-alone subject in the early years of high school, with WA teachers urging greater emphasis on teaching students hard facts, such as the names of capital cities.
"Mike Fazio, president of the Geography Teachers Association of WA, has sides with calls from its national counterpart, the Australian Geography Teachers Association, and the Institute of Australian Geographers for a national overhaul of geography curriculums in each State.
"Geography has been diluted by lumping it in with the social sciences in lower school," Mr Fazio said. "There is a loss of content and that is detrimental."
"IGA president Jim Walmsley recently wrote to Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop that geography teachers across Australia believed students were missing out on geographical knowledge and skills because the subject had been "distorted and reduced in rigour by the need to relate it to general statements of educational outcomes"...
Full story in The West Australian
- The Melbourne Age
- Op Ed
It's not too late for an SOS: save our schools
Government schools are ours. We should all do more to help them, writes Chris Wheat.
"The health of government secondary schools moved from serious to critical a few years ago. The private schools now look invincible, and the testy, competitive spirit that once existed between the sectors has withered."Our perceptions of what makes a good school are now fashioned by the public face of the independent schools. The rhetoric that the local drab and unkempt secondary school is a great place to send your kids because it gives students a rounder more robust education, doesn't cut the mustard.
"Many parents believe that government secondary schools (excluding a number of mostly eastern suburban and country schools) do not rise to the standards set by the private ones. A great many parents desire prestige, pride, music and robust sporting programs, as well as academic success — and they'll get them at a school with handsome gates.
"The teachers in the state system are struggling to maintain the dignity of their schools, and simplistic solutions such as vouchers or differential pay won't solve the problem any more..."
"Some government schools, just like private ones, have small numbers of poor teachers. Tolerance of them fosters cynicism among professionals who want to do better. The ambience in private schools, the generally higher morale, acts to rein in excess and stimulates effort, but in depressed government schools poor teachers find a niche because administrations can't get replacements and fellow teachers — the most powerful influence for behavioural change — are silent, sensing that nothing can be done. The circle is hard to break but if there were a greater focus on establishing a sense of school self-worth then the insidious influence created by a few might not be so damaging..."
Chris Wheat teaches at Sunshine Secondary College.
Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Schools advised to target blogging bullies
by Anna Patty, Education Editor
"Legal advice about cyber bullying has been sent to all NSW schools in response to threats against teachers and students on internet blog sites."The Department of Education has advised schools that the inappropriate use of the internet, telephones or text messages is a criminal offence, carrying penalties of up to 10 years in jail.
"One Sydney high school has sent a memo to parents asking them to monitor their children's access to the internet, after students were suspended for making threats against school staff on a website.
"The department confirmed that a year 9 student had been suspended for posting inappropriate comments about teachers on an internet site. She had apologised to staff after a two-day suspension.
"The school memo to parents, which the Herald has seen, warns that cyber bullying is illegal.
"One such blog at livejournal.com has entries from some of our students which have defamed the school and defamed and threatened staff," the memo says.
"Some students have been suspended from school for intimidation and cyber bullying."
"The principal has asked parents to sign a form declaring they have read the warning and have checked their children's internet access.
"The department has also advised principals to report incidents of cyber bullying and intimidation to the police..."
Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- The Guardian
- Ten more years to raise school standards, Blunkett warns
Press Association
"Former education secretary David Blunkett has suggested it will take another decade before the government's reforms raise standards in secondary schools in England."Mr Blunkett said the government had started to change education with reforms to nursery and primary schools, including the literacy and numeracy strategies which raised national test results during the late 1990s.
"But despite nearly a decade in power, it will take another 10 years for secondary schools to see similar improvements, he told the Teachers' TV channel..."
Full story in The Guardian at link
- A-levels no real preparation for university, say students
by Alexandra Smith
"More than 40% of students do not believe A-levels adequately prepared them for the demands of a university degree, college leaders warned today."More than half the undergraduates surveyed for a poll for the Association of Colleges (AoC) said their teachers steered them towards courses in which the school did well, rather than subjects matching their needs, and about six out of 10 said they wished they had the chance to combine academic and practical choices at school.
"The results have reignited claims that the school curriculum is too rigid for many teenagers. Universities have already complained that they cannot identify the brightest potential students because so many pupils now get A grades at A-level. This year, one in four grades awarded was an A..."
Full story in The Guardian at link
- CNN
- School gives detention to parents who get their kids to school late
"NEW YORK (AP) -- A public school is requiring detention for parents who get their kids to school late."Under the new rule at the Manhattan School for Children, parents who don't drop off their children by 8:25 a.m. have to pick up late slips from the principal's office and go to the auditorium to serve 20 minutes of detention with them.
"The parents need to make the breakfast, get the children dressed and get them to school on time," principal Susan Rappaport told the New York Post for Sunday's editions..."
Full story at CNN at link
- The Melbourne Herald Sun
- Guards hired for schools
by Milanda Rout, education reporter
"State schools are hiring private security guards in a desperate bid to stop after-hours vandalism, theft and bad behaviour.
"Some principals have reported being forced to pick up syringes stuck in classroom walls, discarded condoms and broken beer bottles on Monday mornings."Other schools have had to put up with computers being stolen, windows smashed, student-grown flower beds destroyed and arson.
"Principals have called for more money to help protect students, staff and their schools..."
Full story in The Melbourne Herald Sun at link
- Schools of hard knocks
by Milanda Rout, education reporter
"Unstable bricks crashing through classroom ceilings, broken septic tanks and termite-infested buildings are just some of the problems in schools.
"A survey on school facilities across Victoria has also found teachers and parents are often forced to play handymen and cleaners."The audit of schools in five key electorates was conducted by the Australian Education Union.
"It comes as the union launches its latest television campaign to rebuild the state's crumbling schools.
"Victorian branch president Mary Bluett said the audit revealed serious issues.
"To date we have identified a number of alarming problems -- inadequate toilet facilities, termite-infested buildings and leaking roofs and gutters," she said.
"Ms Bluett said children deserved to be taught in the best facilities and the union would be running a new television campaign to highlight the appalling state of some schools..."
Full story in The Melbourne Herald Sun at link
- The Australian
- Ex-school head jailed for abuse
by Verity Edwards
"A former Catholic school principal will probably die in jail after receiving a 10-year sentence for sexually abusing five of his students..."
Full story in The Australian at link
- Letters to the Editor
- "If there’s a $15.8b surplus why isn’t a university education affordable? My daughter is facing a $7500 a year bill for a science degree. I’m not saying it should be free but surely we can make it reasonable? How much would that shrink the surplus? And why do we have such gigantic surpluses when essential services are in decline?"
Col Harrington, Kedron, Qld
- Academic freedom waning in the humanities
"Brendan Nelson passed on a legitimate grievance by a constituent to Macquarie University ("Nelson leans on uni over ‘Left bias“‘, 30/9-1/10).
"Academic freedom, in the humanities courses in particular, completely disappeared sometime in the 1970s.
"Woe is the student who tries to disagree with the far-left dogma of the humanities lecturers and course markers. At best they will get a C-minus for their next essay, at worst they will fail the course. Almost all moderate-left to conservative students I know have had to make the hard choice of biting their tongue and towing the party line, if they want any chance of getting their degree.
"There was more academic freedom in Mao’s re-education camps during the Cultural Revolution than there is today in any so-called liberal arts course at an Australian university."
Ian Wilson, Toowoomba, Qld
"Professor Steven Schwartz of Macquarie University is right to claim that it is absolutely fundamental we safeguard academic freedom and defend the right and responsibility of academics to decide on the content of their courses. However, Macquarie University would be on firmer ground in this defence of academic freedom had it not, some months ago, forbidden law lecturer Andrew Fraser from teaching his subject after he had written an article with a controversial view of immigration. Education and not indoctrination should be a university’s basic aim, and that includes open debate of all opinions, including those that are offensive either to the Left or the Right, or to any other ideology."
John Furedy, Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of Toronto, Darling Point, NSW
"Brendan Nelson should acknowledge “academic freedom” at home before he spouts “world freedom” abroad."
Kel Joaquin-Byrne, Randwick, NSW
"I think Brendan Nelson is quite right to be concerned about left-wing bias in universities.
"But it’s not something that has just happened. Bob Santamaria said that Melbourne University in the 1930s was a hot bed of communism.
"In the 1960s universities almost unanimously backed the communist side in Vietnam and spearheaded the drive to get Australia out of Vietnam. Eventually this helped bring Gough Whitlam to power and public policy swung hard to the left thereafter on both sides of politics.
"Santamaria told Sir Robert Menzies that the Martin Report on universities was his biggest mistake. How right he was!"
Greg Byrne, Rowville, Vic
Complete Letters to the Editor of The Australian at link
- The Australian
- 'Trendy fads' not teaching
by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
"The Howard Government is concerned about the politicisation of geography classes, criticising the states for "trendy fads" and not concentrating on the facts about the natural environment."Education Minister Julie Bishop said geography should not be "political science by another name".
"Parents do have reason to be concerned about the curriculum and trendy fads that focus on pushing certain perspectives rather than ensuring students acquire a body of knowledge and a body of facts," she said on Adelaide radio.
"It is important that geography does not fall victim tothe same fate as that of history teaching, (which) has become an exercise in political indoctrination."
"Ms Bishop will meet with the Institute of Australian Geographers to discuss the problems with geography curriculums and how the Government can ensure it is well taught in schools.
"She said geography was a basic part of school education and should give students an understanding of the environment and geographic facts to explain issues such as the location of cities.
"The comments echoed the views of the mining industry, which called for a focus on geographic facts and not the politics of issues such as climate change. Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Mitch Hooke, who has a background in ecological sustainability, said geography should focus on teaching students the science of the subject and not "quasi-pseudo-socio-political views".
"He said geography curriculums around the nation presented the use of natural resources, such as mining, as bad for the environment and failed to examine the positives.
"Geography is a discipline based on facts ... it's not a political science," he said."
From The Australian at link
- Op Ed
Elizabeth Bellamy: Even basics seem beyond teachers
An Adelaide mother despairs at the lousy state of school education
"It is the last week of term three and the first written assessment of my youngest child's schoolwork for this year has come home. She is in a years 3-4 class with children ranging from eight to 10."Her entire assessment is based on one piece of work, a modest project on Greek mythology.
"It includes a "critical question: is Greek mythology still relevant today?" and a "rich task: create a poster that shows the roles that Greek gods, heroes and creatures would be seen doing today".
"The work is assessed with a rubric that, among other things, is said to examine my child's ability to "analyse history ... and relate this to present possibilities" and "write texts ... which show awareness of different audiences and purposes". The rubric is defined as a scoring guide, but my dictionary does not provide this definition.
"Apparently this form of assessment "compliments" the teaching strategies the school uses and encourages the students to "explore a topic deeper". It also leads a parent to despair. I know that I am supposed to work out that Greek mythology is only a "vehicle" for assessing areas of competence, but within minutes of receiving this assessment (and choosing to ignore the numerous inconsistencies therein) I concluded that it was nonsense. There is no mention of maths, reading and spelling, which are my main concerns.
"My other child's assessment (sorry, rubric) considers a series of "strands" and came home with a CD-ROM that had to be viewed to work out what the rubric was assessing. Well, I can do that, but what are people without computers supposed to do?
"I am one of an army of bewildered and frustrated parents who do not understand how teachers, or the ex-teachers who produce school curriculums, think. How can they produce this form of assessment and believe it is useful and valid?
"Unfortunately, I suspect that the increasingly bizarre forms of student assessment are not designed to reveal achievement but to disguise the lack of it. Parents are aware of their children's learning deficiencies and vague methods of assessment will not conceal them.
"Most parents are clear about what they want their children taught - the basics - and they've been screaming about it for years. The failure of schools to deliver the basics is seen, increasingly, as bloody-mindedness on the part of education departments. But is it? Perhaps all the waffle, political correctness and esoteric rhetoric are used to hide the fact many teachers are no longer capable of teaching the basics.
"It is not unusual to wander into a classroom and find spelling or grammatical errors on the whiteboard. (Correct them at your peril.) One of my children was taught by a teacher who never used apostrophes. I have seen a teacher with 30 years' teaching experience misspell nineteen (ninteen) and, when I assumed she'd made a simple mistake, she assured me that she'd checked it in the dictionary and it was correct..."
Elizabeth Bellamy is a pseudonym for an Adelaide mother and writer.
Full story in The Australian at link
- The Melbourne Age
- State orders review of teacher body
by David Rood
"A review of the state's controversial teacher registration body will go ahead after the Bracks Government bowed to pressure from teachers and principals."The Victorian Institute of Teaching has been intensely criticised by teachers, who claim the body has failed to promote their profession and has added to teacher workloads.
"The institute has provoked widespread discontent among teachers and principals, who question the value of the $62 annual registration fee. The institute also hears disciplinary charges against teachers.
"Since 2003, it has conducted 39 formal hearings into complaints of serious misconduct — including inappropriate sexual behaviour, incompetence and lack of fitness to teach — which have led to 17 teachers losing their registration, and three having the right to teach suspended.
"Last November, two rebel teachers were elected to the institute's council, with one winning the position on a pledge to dismantle the institute, which he labelled an "imperious parasite". The second teacher called the registration body "irrelevant" and "a sham".
"The review is likely to consider the institute's fee structures and operating costs, as well as the purpose and operation of similar bodies in other states and territories. Teachers and other interested parties will have the opportunity to make submissions.
"Mary Bluett, president of the Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union, said the institute has an important role to play in teacher registration, but the review reflected wide-ranging discontent among teachers..."
Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- In a class of their own - teaching tailored for the guys
by Anna Patty, Education Editor
"Steve Jackson gives his pupils the thumbs up when they answer correctly. Outside in the playground, he gives the "guys" a high five and teaches them how to fly kites and play games to help them develop good sportsmanship."At the beginning of the year I said we are like a football team," he said. "We are all there to encourage and support each other and build each other up."
"When playtime is over, the boys return to the classroom, where computers dominate in the teaching of literacy and numeracy skills.
"The boys-only kindergarten class at Bowen Public School in Orange is one of the first in NSW and is part of a strategy to tailor teaching to the special learning needs of boys.
"It is beneficial to the boys in terms of self-esteem not to have the competitiveness of girls in the class and the 'miss perfects' who can often be a threat to boys and undermine their self-confidence," Mr Jackson said.
"I'm exposing them to more boys' literature involving pirates, sport, trucks and camping. We've had a dads' and lads' day, and we brought in a male author to visit them."...
Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- The West Australian
- TV on school nights bad for students
[Chicago]
"Parents have science to back them when they say: “Turn off the TV. It’s a school night.” US lower high school students who watched TV or played video games during the week did worse in school but weekend viewing and gaming did not have much effect, a report in Paediatrics journal said.
“On weekdays, the more they watched, the worse they did,” study co-author Iman Sharif, of Children’s Hospital at Montefiore in New York, said. “They could watch a lot on weekends and it didn’t seem to correlate with doing worse in school.”
"Children whose parents let them watch films rated with adult content also did worse in class, mainly boys.
"The study was of 4500 students in 15 schools in the small, northeastern States of New Hampshire and Vermont..."
Full story in The West Australian at link
- The Sydney Daily Telegraph
- Editorial
Regulate the tutorial cowboys
"There are good reasons why education authorities have gone to such lengths to ensure a level playing field for the 13,000 students vying for places in one of the state's 30 selective high schools."To ensure gifted and talented students are assessed on ability - and do not make the grade because they have practised exams or memorised likely questions and answers, a plethora of well-considered rules has to be put in place.
"But despite all the security measures, it appears a number of students - aided by rogue coaching schools - are trying to beat the system.
"As The Daily Telegraph reveals, at least one tutoring college - and possibly others - has gained access to confidential past exam papers for selective education places.
"The Department of Education maintains there is no value in doing previous exams because a completely new test is set each year for both selective schools and opportunity class entrance.
"But this does not belie the reality that attempts are being made to bypass the rules - to the disadvantage of thousands of pupils all over NSW..."
Full editorial in The Sydney Daily Telegraph at link
- The Brisbane Courier Mail
- Top students can't write [lead story]
by Tess Livingstone
"Elite students at one of Australia's best science research institutes have rushed to sign up for remedial English classes.
"It follows concerns by world-leading researchers at the poor English contained in some Australian-born and educated students' PhD theses and articles for scientific journals."The problem is so bad that the Queensland Institute of Medical Research has hired a lecturer to teach remedial English to its PhD students.
"One QIMR professor has even declared that he had "students from countries like Portugal and Holland whose written English is better than that of our own students"..."
Full story in The Brisbane Courier Mail at link
- The Australian
- Syllabus breeds activists
by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
"The syllabus for a Queensland school geography course encourages political activism, aiming to provide students with values of social justice, "economic sustainability" and peace."While geographers describe their discipline as the study of the physical world and human interaction with the environment, geography curriculums advocate that students take action to achieve social justice and environmental sustainability.
"In Queensland, the optional geography syllabus for Years 9 and 10 says geography "promotes the four key values of democratic process, social justice, ecological and economic sustainability and peace".
"The draft syllabus for Years 11 and 12 goes further, arguing that the promotion of "responsible social and environmental actions and participation" in the geography curriculum is "a logical outcome" of many geographical inquiries.
"Geographical education ... involves taking responsible social and environmental action against, or in support of, decisions by organisations, governments or other bodies," it says..."
"In its statement of what students should know at each stage of their schooling, the NSW syllabus envisages that, by the end of Year 10, students will be able to "influence and direct decision-makers" and "take considered social action on issues related to ecological sustainability, their community, equity and social justice"."Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop is concerned geography is becoming an exercise in political indoctrination and that the curriculum is championing political activism instead of teaching geographical facts..."
Full story in The Australian at link
Editorial
Don't know much about geography
Another school subject is hijacked by politics and fads
"It's been decades since borders, bays and capes were the sole questions covered in geography class. Which is as it should be. When properly taught, the subject should, as the world's first geography professor, James Fairgrieve put it, "train future citizens to imagine accurately the condition of the great world stage and so help them to think sanely about political and social problems of the world". Yet far from reaching this lofty ideal, in geography classrooms around Australia the subject has become little more than a stalking horse for hard-green ideology. And with the exception of NSW, which has always treated geography as a separate subject, and Victoria, which has recently reinstated it as such, geography has been folded into the same broad umbrella of Studies of Society and the Environment that has ripped the teaching of other disciplines such as history from its moorings. This shift opened the door to faddish politics and greatly reduced the chances that a trained geography teacher would actually teach the subject. Even in NSW, where geography is a separate required subject, students are taught to view mining, development and land clearing in an entirely negative light. (A more balanced approach would note that such activities generate wealth for Australia, give a growing population places to live and provide food for domestic and foreign markets.) Human rights and reconciliation are also taught in NSW's geography classrooms."It is bad enough that Australia's geography curriculums have been so blatantly politicised and that students are encouraged to translate their lesson plans into political activism. Inaccuracies abound as well. Water is described as a "finite resource" in a draft curriculum for Year 11 and 12 students in South Australia - despite there being a more-or-less stable amount of the stuff on the planet. And as in history and English classrooms, a warmed-over Marxism, with its stultifying obsession with power relationships, dominates. In Queensland, the curriculum is charged with educating students about social justice, sustainability, peace and "environmental justice". Education Minister Julie Bishop is concerned that geography "does not fall victim to the same fate as that of history teaching, (which) has become an exercise in political indoctrination". Unfortunately, in much of the country this has already happened.
"The decline in geography teaching mirrors a similar descent into the standard-free swamps of postmodernism and political correctness that has already devastated the teaching of English and history. Rather than grounding students in the basics of the discipline and giving them a foundation from which to explore more advanced theories later in their academic careers, teachers leapfrog the essentials and indoctrinate students with theories that will very likely be out of favour by the time their charges enter university. Which is a shame. A solid grounding in the location and behaviour of the world's rivers and resources goes a long way towards helping one grasp the history of human conflict. True understanding of the science of natural processes allows students to evaluate urban sprawl and climate change for themselves and come to their own conclusions - not just be spoon-fed them. And answers to timeless questions, such as why some societies succeed while others fail, can be found within geography. Polluting the discipline with such nebulous concepts as "social justice" and "ecological sustainability" encourages students to turn their brains off and instead parrot the approved, politically correct answers demanded by the curriculum. As with history and English, geography teaching desperately needs to be returned to its roots."
From The Australian at link
Editorial
Throw the book at 'em
Government must tread carefully when restricting jihadi texts
"Officials from the University of Melbourne and the Howard Government are on collision course over freedom of speech – or more specifically freedom of research. Two books written by a man described as the "Godfather of Jihad" have been removed from the university's library, with a third facing the same fate, and on Monday evening's Lateline Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said that those who display, hire or sell the books – which have been refused classification – could face criminal charges. Even downloading the works from the internet could be illegal, Mr Ruddock warned, potentially placing the jihadi tracts in question on the same plane as child pornography. This present dispute is only the latest in a series of controversies concerning academic research into the field of terrorism. The Australian Research Council was criticised last month for spending $24 million on what critics said was a simplistic, blame-the-West view of terrorism..."
Full editorial in The Australian at link [scroll down a bit]
Similar story in The Sydney Morning Herald
The Australian's Higher Education Supplement, 15 articles including:
- Overseas stints are new lure
by Bernard Lane
"As focus groups show rising interest among Australian students in studying overseas, federal Education, Science and Training Minister Julie Bishop plans to dramatically expand loans and improve income support so that many more can do so..."
Full story in The Australian's Higher Education Supplement at link
- Early shift sets stage for needy
by Elizabeth Farrell
"For underprivileged high school students with Ivy League aspirations, there is good news. Less than a week after Harvard University announced it would discontinue early admissions, Princeton has declared its intent to dismantle a similar program. The day after, Columbia announced it would provide full grants, not loans, for low-income students."Columbia's policy change, which allows students from families with incomes of $50,000 or less to graduate debt free, has an objective similar to that behind the changes in admission policies at Harvard and Princeton, both of which already have similar grant programs. Officials at each of the three institutions say they are striving to level the playing field for low-income and minority students..."
Full story in The Australian's Higher Education Supplement at link
- The West Australian
- Staff lessons as watchdog probes TAFE (page 16)
by Anne Calverley
"An investigation by the State’s corruption watchdog into government employment contracts may serve as a wake-up call for publicly funded bodies employing staff in the future.
"The Corruption and Crime Commission is investigating whether senior management at Central TAFE deliberately avoided government red tape to speed up major administration changes."Counsel assisting, Jeremy Gormly, told the commission hearing there was evidence of splitting contracts, postponing starting dates and failing to disclose critical information to competitive bidders to streamline the tender process..."
Full story in The West Australian at link
- Expert urges history for six-year-olds (page 13)
by Dawn Gibson
"Compulsory history lessons should be introduced in primary schools so children as young as six are taught the cultural significance of important events such as Gallipoli, a WA history expert says."Bill Leadbetter, a senior lecturer in social education and history at Edith Cowan University, said the Federal Government’s plan to make Australian history a stand-alone, compulsory course for Year 9 and 10 students was commendable but too late in the education process.
"He said early childhood and the primary years were an ideal time to foster an interest in history, which could be done through teachers setting aside some time each week to narrate an engaging story about a significant Australian event..."
Full story in The West Australian at link
- Shakespeare to the manner born for a day (page 13)
by Eloise Dortch and Rod Moran
"Teachers and cultural leaders want a national Shakespeare day to celebrate the contributions of the playwright and poet."The call follows a campaign in Britain backed by British Home Secretary John Reid and Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell for a national celebration of the Bard on his birthday, April 23.
"WA artist Robert Juniper "thoroughly endorsed the idea", having been steeped in Shakespeare at school.
"Anyone of Anglo-Saxon descent without some basic sense of Shakespeare is seriously illiterate," he said.
"Perth International Arts Festival artistic director Lindy Hume agreed.
"Show me another English writer who has contributed so much to the theatre and literature," she said. "There is just nothing in the same stratosphere.,,"
Full story in The West Australian at link
- Voluntary drive to stop truancy fails (page 5)
by Ben Ruse, Canberra
"A voluntary Centrelink program aimed at cutting truancy at Halls Creek has failed, leading to calls for the return of a tougher "no school, no welfare" policy that lifted attendance rates among Aboriginal children in the town last year..."
Full story in The West Australian
- The New York Times
- Early Repairs in Foundation for Reading
by John O'Neil
"ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Children with severe reading problems usually struggle for years before getting the help they need. But a growing number of neurologists and educators say that with the latest diagnostic tests, children at high risk for these problems can be identified in preschool and treated before they ever begin to read."The newer tests, available in computerized versions, measure a child’s fluency with the skills that are the foundation of reading: the ability to recognize differences between sounds, the knowledge of letters and the accumulation of basic vocabulary and language skills. The National Early Literacy Panel, a committee of experts convened by a consortium of federal agencies, has found that these tests, when given to 3- and 4-year-olds, predict later reading problems as effectively as they do when they are given to kindergartners and first graders, said the panel’s chairman, Dr. Timothy Shanahan of the University of Illinois in Chicago. The committee plans to recommend increased preschool screening when it publishes its findings later this year.
"The panel also will recommend some shifts in teaching techniques, said a panel member, Dr. Susan Landry of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. These include having at-risk children spend more time in small groups that address their specific weaknesses; emphasizing skills like blending sounds (C + AT = CAT), which have been found to be good performance predictors; and training parents to reinforce school lessons.
"The point is to identify and attack the problems early, when they are easiest to correct..."
Full story in The New York Times at link
- The Washington Post
- At the Head of Some Classes, Desks Dismissed
Coming Out From Behind the Furniture Helps Interaction, Some Teachers Say
by Jay Mathews
"Years ago, in a classroom that had chalk, blackboards and students seated in neat rows, teacher Lee Dorman had a desk of her own. But she found herself constantly roaming to oversee projects and answer questions. She never used the desk, so she got rid of it"I just never figured out how on earth to teach sitting down," said Dorman, 58, a veteran teacher at Kenmore Middle School in Arlington County. She calls herself "a walker and a stalker." She carries what she needs in her pockets and keeps students in what she considers a useful state of alertness because they are never quite sure where she is going to be.
"Here and there, a small but growing number of teachers is following Dorman's example, educators say, abandoning the traditional classroom power center. To them, a desk is really a ball and chain, distancing them from students..."
Full story in The Washington Post at link
- CNN
- Bush administration planning conference on school violence
"... The Bush administration plans to bring education and law enforcement experts together for a conference on coming to grips with the problem and discuss federal action that can help communities prevent violence and deal with its aftermath, White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters..."
Full story at CNN at link
- The Melbourne Age
- Steiner program for state schools
by David Rood
"Alternative education, such as the Steiner approach, will be allowed for the first time in state schools, drawing criticism from some parents and school councils that it will undermine public education."The new policy permitting Steiner and Montessori programs is a significant shift for the Bracks Government, allowing parental choice in education.
"The policy, outlined in a Department of Education memo, allows the alternative programs provided they meet strict guidelines. The programs also need department approval.
"The Steiner system is based on the teachings of Austrian educationist Rudolf Steiner. Among its distinguishing features are that children do not start reading until age seven and have the same main teacher for the first eight years of school..."
Full story in The Melbourne Age at link
- Education Supplement [reactivated this week, first time in 3 weeks !] includes 14 articles, including:
- Sorry I'm outta here
"Many students leave school early even though year 12 is increasingly the benchmark for employers. Lisa Mitchell finds out what happens to the education system's failures..."
Full story in The Melbourne Age's Education Supplement at link
- Bishop backs full fees despite unfilled places
by Adam Morton
"Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop is backing full-fee degrees for Australian students as demand for university places declines, saying they make the system more equitable."Ms Bishop said as full-fee places were available for overseas students, they should be offered to the small number of Australian undergraduates - more than 16,000 in 2004 - prepared to pay to ensure a place in their first-preference course..."
Full story in The Melbourne Age's Education Supplement at link
- The Brisbane Courier Mail
- Editorial
Literacy basis of education [based on an article in yesterday's Courier Mail]
"The success of Queensland Institute of Medical Research scientists and other local scholars in seeing their work published in the world's leading journals is evidence of their outstanding scientific achievement.
"It also underlines the importance of clear communication, especially good writing skills, in world-beating science. Be it writing up their findings so that others can follow their lead, explaining their research to doctors and the public or applying for millions of dollars in research grants, good communication skills are essential. For these reasons, QIMR director Professor Michael Good has shown strong leadership in giving his PhD students the chance to improve their writing skills with remedial writing workshops. He is to be congratulated for identifying a need and meeting it effectively. It is also to the students' credit that they have signed up in good numbers to attend. Doctoral students at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland also recognise the same need and have asked for a writing course as part of their career development program. As such students are the cream of the crop and have already experienced at least 16 years of formal education, it is clear that serious deficiencies have been creeping into the system over recent decades."More broadly, the revelations express starkly some of the concerns in a long-running, complex and sometimes bitter debate over the education curriculum. That especially applies to English, in which the results of a pre-school to Year 10 review are eagerly awaited and another review looking at senior English is about to start..."
Full editorial in The Brisbane Courier Mail at link
- The Adelaide Advertiser
- U.S. in shock over classroom killings
by Nedra Pickler
"America's children are under attack, and a nation hardened by violent crime has been stunned by the slaughter of its young."The madness of another school shooting yesterday, and the tragedy of another four young lives lost has so frightened the world's superpower that it is being treated as a national crisis.
"The Bush Administration will host a conference next week to discuss the violence across the United States. Three schools have been hit by attacks in the past week and yesterday, four girls died after a crazed gunman opened fire in an Amish school in Pennsylvania. He then took his own life..."
Full story in The Adelaide Advertiser at link
- The Canberra Times
- ACT to change teaching model
by Elizabeth Bellamy
"The ACT Department of Education has dumped some of the "essential learning achievements" in its new curriculum after concern it was weighted too heavily towards social science subjects.
"In a new curriculum to be rolled out to all Canberra schools in 2008, students will be asked to meet the requirements of 26 achievements, a backdown on the 36 suggested previously.
"The new achievements range from ensuring students can read and write effectively, to requiring them to "manage self and relationships" and "understand and value artistic works".
"Gone, however, are the requirements that students "understand the effect of humans on the Earth", "visualise, and create and use visualisations", "act on values reflecting empathy and integrity" and "demonstrate enterprise".
"Department deputy chief executive Janet Davy said yesterday a review of the model earlier this year had revealed an over-emphasis on the social sciences.
"There seemed to be more [essential learning achievements] that had been created for the social science area than there were for any other area," she said.
"There was a lot of duplication ... and overlap."
"Parents had expressed concern the number of achievements addressing the self and well-being far outweighed those relating to science and the environment.
"However, the revised model contains just two science-related learning achievements, fewer than the four set out in the social science-oriented studies of society and the environment.
"The new curriculum will be tested from next term at about 20 Canberra schools. [emphasis added]
"Students will be expected to meet "markers of progress" as they move through four "bands of development", which range from pre-school to Year 10.
"The territory has attracted criticism for its pursuit of an outcomes-based approach, which describes what a student should be able to achieve or do at the completion of a subject or year, over a traditional syllabus, which details at the start of a unit specific content to be studied and learnt."
From The Canberra Times at link
- Equality in schools makes boys feel less secure, report shows
by Elizabeth Bellamy
"Increased gender equality in schools is opening up new opportunities for girls, but boys feel increasingly uncertain about their futures, an education academic warns."In a six-year study tracking the attitudes of high school students to 2001, University of Melbourne faculty of education professor Lyn Yates found an emphasis on equal opportunities had yielded some positive effects, with both sexes now more likely to be studying the same subjects..."
Full story in The Canberra Times at link
- The West Australian
- No school, no dole plan is back (page 11)
by Ben Ruse, Canberra
"The Government is considering stripping welfare benefits from some parents whose children do not attend school, Employment Minister Kevin Andrews confirmed yesterday."After seeing the poor results from a voluntary trial of mainly Aboriginal parents at Halls Creek School, Mr Andrews said that the Government was considering tying some welfare payments to school attendance to make parents take responsibility for getting their children to go to school.
"He said this would apply to all parents, not just those of indigenous background.
“We saw that in the pilot more than half the children actually attended school less than half the time. Now that’s just unacceptable,” he said.
“A fundamental human right of every child is to get the best start in life. The best start in life involves schooling and adequate education.”
"The voluntary trial at Halls Creek School replaced a tougher “no school, no welfare” scheme last year which was abandoned after concerns were raised that it was illegal under current welfare laws.
"The scheme, where parenting payments were stripped from parents who did not take steps to improve their children’s school attendance, saw attendance rates at Halls Creek School lift from 54 per cent to 80 per cent over two months."But the voluntary scheme involving intensive assistance from Centrelink workers failed to improve school attendance, although it did lead to some of the parents finding paid work.
"The scheme will not be extended and a report into it found that it would be too expensive to roll out in other troubled towns.
"A teacher at Halls Creek School, who did not wish to be named, said yesterday that teachers had hardly been aware that the voluntary trial was on, and said cutting welfare benefits had led to improved attendance at the school.
"He said that official truancy figures underestimated the real situation and that in one class, only about six of the 28 children attended regularly. He said teachers were struggling to deal with the huge social problems among Aboriginal people in the town and that he supported the idea of building a hostel in the town where students could stay .
"Education Minister Julie Bishop would not comment on the issue yesterday but has previously supported the “no school, no welfare” trial.
"The Federal Government is also looking at removing exemptions on looking for work for people on welfare in remote areas to try to end the culture of passive welfare."
From The West Australian at link
- Editorial
Timid failure on truancy betrays children's hope
"Lo and behold, the soft-option program for combating truancy at Halls Creek has failed. It would be surprising if anyone seriously expected a different result.
"It was doomed to failure from the start because it was based on the politics of convenience, rather than practical policies that work. Now, because of political correctness and timidity, Halls Creek is back to square one with appallingly low rates of school attendance..." The terrible irony is that the community had an anti-truancy scheme that worked, but was perversely abandoned.
"That scheme, devised in the Halls Creek community and widely supported by its leaders, was simple but effective. Parents faced the threat of cancelled welfare benefits if their children did not go to school..."
"And it was an undisputed success. School attendance rose from 54 per cent to 80 per cent in the two months in which the "no school, no welfare" scheme ran last year.
"Now the school has an average attendance of 58.4 per cent – much lower than the WA average and lower than that of other schools in the East Kimberley..."
"Six months have gone down the drain and the interests of disadvantaged children have been betrayed because of fear of offending the supposed sensibilities of the politically correct. [Federal Employment Minister Kevin] Andrews should do right by the children and reinstate the original program without further damaging delay."
Full editorial in The West Australian
- ABC News Online
- WA moves toward compulsory year 12
"Western Australian Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich says the Government is already moving toward making year 12 compulsory for students."Federal Labor backbencher Craig Emerson is calling for students around the country to be forced to stay in school.
"Dr Emerson says children who drop out of school early to work in the resources sector will be left unemployed and with no qualifications when the resources boom ends.
"Ms Ravlich says students in WA will be able to undertake training in their final years of school.
"We are moving to introduce a whole range of vocational education and training options in years 11 and 12," she said.
"By 2008, students will be able to undertake trade training in any trade in the building and construction industry, in the automotive industry and in the hospitality industry."
"Ms Ravlich says students will be able to apply to the Minister to enter the workforce earlier..."
Full story at ABC News Online at link
- The Australian
- School's out with teenage job rush [lead story]
by Patricia Karvelas and Alana Buckley-Carr
"The resources boom is sucking teenagers in the west away from education and into the workforce, prompting a push by Labor to make school attendance compulsory until Year 12."In a speech to be delivered tonight, influential Labor backbencher Craig Emerson argues that teenagers who leave school early to take up jobs in the boom economy will be left behind when the economic tide turns.
"His warning came as figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the skills shortage is having a profound effect on the choices of 15- to 19-year-olds in Western Australia, where the school participation rate has fallen from 75.5 per cent in 2000 to 69.7 per cent last year..."
Full story in The Australian at link [Story also carried in The Sunday Times Online / PerthNow]
- Gifted student's mum passes court test
by Annabelle McDonald
"The mother of a child genius who was denied the opportunity to start high school at age nine - three years ahead of her peers - has beaten the Queensland Government in the Supreme Court."Up against the state's top legal minds, including Crown Solicitor Conrad Lohe, mother of four Robyn Malaxetxebarria - an "amateur" to the law - convinced Queensland's Supreme Court the Government might have discriminated against her daughter on the basis of her age.
"Twelve-year-old Gracia Malaxetxebarria, who is on track to enrol in a university medicine degree by the time she is 14 after finishing Year 10 this year, welcomed the finding yesterday..."
Full story in The Australian at link
- The Sydney Morning Herald
- Vocational colleges compete with unis for degrees
by Harriet Alexander, Higher Education Reporter
"Private colleges are rushing to upgrade their status so they can offer bachelor's and master's degrees, pitting them against universities."Higher education providers - private institutions that offer degree courses - are taking advantage of the Federal Government's offer of student loans for full-fee paying students.
"This has spurred vocational colleges to upgrade themselves to offer courses at the same level as higher education providers.
"Critics say the changes the colleges have to make to become eligible for their new status require them to act like public universities, increasing the competition for students among providers..."
Full story in The Sydney Morning Herald at link
- The Independent
- Leading article: We need one exam system for all
"Andrew Boggis, chairman of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC), warned this week about the danger of independent schools breaking away from the traditional GCSE and A-level exams because they do not believe they are challenging enough for their pupils. Boggis, headmaster of Forest School in east London, believes that there should be a single national system of exams that all schools support - not a separate system of elite exams taken by private schools.
"Dozens of independent schools have abandoned GCSE exams for international GCSEs because of concerns that GCSEs do not stretch the brightest and rely too much on coursework. Others are considering dropping A-levels in favour the International Baccalaureate, which is regarded by many as offering a broader and more challenging curriculum. A new challenge to the traditional A-level - The Cambridge Pre-U - which is supported by top independent schools - will also be on offer from 2008. It has been developed by the private school sector because of fears that A-levels no longer provide a rigorous method of selecting pupils for university. Teachers from Eton, Winchester, Westminster and other leading private schools have produced a traditional exam that will require pupils to give oral presentations or vivas, write extended essays and solve long problems in maths and sciences..." [emphasis added]
Full story in The Independent at link
- The New York Times
- City Considers Plan to Let Outsiders Run Schools
by David M Herszenhorn
"In what would be the biggest change yet to the way New York City’s school system is administered, officials are considering plans to hire private groups at taxpayer expense to manage scores of public schools..."
Full story in The New York Times at link
- The West Australian
- Education hijacked by left-wing says Bishop
"Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop will call today for a common national curriculum, claiming left-wing ideologists in State governments have hijacked what is being taught in schools, with some themes coming "straight from Chairman Mao".
"She says State governments have failed to protect the interests of young Australians from trendy educational fads, forcing the community to turn to the Federal Government to take action.
"In an explosive speech, she will ask why standards have slipped so far that "we have gone from teaching Latin in Year 12 to teaching remedial English in first-year university".
"We need to take school curriculum out of the hands of the ideologists in the State and Territory education bureaucracies and give it to a national board of studies," she will tell the History Teachers Association of Australia conference in Fremantle.
"The proposed board of studies would comprise educators from the "sensible centre".
"Ms Bishop says parents are right to be concerned that students are deconstructing Big Brother rather than learning Banjo Paterson or Shakespeare. "And students should not be forced to interpret Shakespeare from a feminist or Marxist perspective," she says.
"Some of the themes emerging in the school curriculum are straight from Chairman Mao - we are talking serious ideology here."
"But the Victorian Government, Federal Opposition, teachers and principals immediately dismissed the idea of a national curriculum as ill-informed bullying that would not improve educational standards.
"Her call for a national curriculum puts her in conflict with her predecessor as Education Minister, Brendan Nelson, who once described it as a "prescription for mediocrity".
"Ms Bishop will claim the community wants a "commonsense curriculum" with agreed core subjects such as Australian history and a renewed focus on literacy and numeracy.
"A common national curriculum would be made more accountable because of greater public scrutiny. This would give parents greater confidence in what was taught in schools.
"Ms Bishop will stress that her attacks are directed not at teachers but education bureaucrats. She will also tell of her frustration at the States' inability to reach agreement on a common school starting age and a national Year 12 certificate."
"Prime Minister John Howard has rejected a push to make it compulsory for students to complete Year 12.
"In a speech to be delivered tonight, federal Labor backbencher Craig Emerson will argue the current mining-driven jobs boom is creating a false future for school leavers.
"Dr Emerson has also supported school-based apprenticeships, saying the curriculum for senior high schools should be widened to incorporate trades.
"Mr Howard welcomed Dr Emerson's focus on school apprenticeships but said it should not be mandatory to complete Year 12.
"I don't think you should force everybody to stay to Year 12," he told ABC Radio in Adelaide.
"I think we should expand the choices, I'm very much in favour of doing that.
"Not everybody is suitable for a university education and we have to get back to the time when a prized and valued technical qualification was as important to somebody's future as a university degree..."
From The Australian
at link
"The debate about skills shortages-obvious for a year, and becoming worse-has taken a different turn with a contribution from former adviser to Bob Hawke and Labor backbencher Craig Emerson (School's out with teenage job rush). The Labor MP has taken an entirely new tack on the skills debate and has prompted an immediate response from the Prime Minister (PM rejects compulsory year 12 push).
"It demonstrates a refreshing look to the future on a greenfields issue from Labor, instead of appearing to do the hack work for the unions on construction sites and running xenophobic campaigns against Chinese and Indian workers. Emerson, who has a doctorate in economics, has leapt over the current debate about importing foreign workers, safety standards on construction sites and the efficacy of 457 visas for foreign workers and kicked off a debate about the next skills shortage. In a speech to be delivered tonight, Emerson argues that the current mining-driven jobs boom is creating a false future for school leavers. Year 12 retention rates in high schools around the country are dropping as young people take the choice of a well-paid job rather than further training at colleges or university..."
From The Australian
at link
"All Australian students would follow the same curriculum set by a national board of studies under a new Federal Government proposal.
"The plan, to be announced by Education Minister Julie Bishop today, calls for an end to ideological hijacking of school syllabi by the states.
"Some of the themes emerging in school curriculum are straight from Chairman Mao," Ms Bishop will tell the History Teachers Association of Australia in a speech, published in The Australian today.
"Ideologues have hijacked school curriculum and are experimenting with the education of our young people from a comfortable position of unaccountability."
"The Government would take curriculum away from the states and hand it to a national board of studies, raising learning standards and accountability and reducing $180 million in unnecessary duplication, she said.
"There are currently nine different year 12 certificates across Australia, each backed by separate curriculum developed by eight different education authorities," Ms Bishop said.
"Is it necessary for each state to develop a separate curriculum?" ...
From The Australian at link
"Stand-alone schools for years 11 and 12 have been identified as the quickest and most effective way of increasing the number of students who complete secondary education.
"Education consultant and former principal analyst with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development education directorate, Richard Sweet, said Australia was one of the few countries in the world that persisted with combined campuses for years 7 to 12 and had one of the lowest proportions of 17-year-olds studying among OECD countries.
"He said students who left school before Year 12 were more than twice as likely to be unemployed than those who completed secondary school, one of the worst rates in the OECD.
"But in the ACT and Tasmania, where separate senior high schools have been adopted, Year 12 retention rates have improved enormously. In the seven years following the introduction of secondary colleges in the ACT, rates rose about 10 percentage points, and in 2004 the ACT had the nation's highest rate with 88 per cent of students finishing Year 12..."
From The Australian at link
"The Howard Government is concerned about the politicisation of geography classes, criticising the states for "trendy fads" and not concentrating on the facts about the natural environment. Education Minister Julie Bishop said geography should not be "political science by another name".
"Parents do have reason to be concerned about the curriculum and trendy fads that focus on pushing certain perspectives rather than ensuring students acquire a body of knowledge and a body of facts," she said on Adelaide radio.
"It is important that geography does not fall victim tothe same fate as that of history teaching, (which) has become an exercise in political indoctrination."
"Ms Bishop will meet with the Institute of Australian Geographers to discuss the problems with geography curriculums and how the Government can ensure it is well taught in schools.
"She said geography was a basic part of school education and should give students an understanding of the environment and geographic facts to explain issues such as the location of cities.
"The comments echoed the views of the mining industry, which called for a focus on geographic facts and not the politics of issues such as climate change. Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Mitch Hooke, who has a background in ecological sustainability, said geography should focus on teaching students the science of the subject and not "quasi-pseudo-socio-political views".
"He said geography curriculums around the nation presented the use of natural resources, such as mining, as bad for the environment and failed to examine the positives.
"Geography is a discipline based on facts ... it's not a political science," he said..."
From The Australian at link
"Julie Bishop is making a political feast of the disaffection of parents and others with State school systems. As the Federal Education Minister, she knows she can't go far wrong in criticising the States for their failures in education.
"Indeed, it's fair to say that when she does so, she gives official voice to widespread community worries about declining standards and the pap that has invaded the curriculum in schools engulfed in political correctness. She is fully justified in her criticisms, particularly when they are applied in WA.
"But whether she does anything about the egregious faults she has identified is entirely another matter. Ms Bishop has a reputation for being good at producfing fine words - which often resonate with the voters to whom they are ultimately directed - but going missing when there is a call for action.
"It's all very well to raise issues for debate, but ministers also have responsibilites beyond talk to achieve improvementsin their portfolios. Few people would dispute that there is a need for vigorous debate on the issues raised by Ms Bishop. But if at the end of it all nothing changes, then the Minister hasn't done her job.
"In tis case, she has argued that there is a need for a common national curriculum under a national board of studies. But she seems disinclined to do anything to put this idea into practice - probably beacuse she knows the States won't wear it.
"In many ways, that is just as well. If State systems can be subverted by ideologists pushing trendy education fads, as she asserts, then surely it would be a huge risk to create one central cource of curriculum decisions for the whole nation. Anyone who thinks a centralised curriculum system would be a good idea would have serious second thoughts if he or she could imagine what would happen if, for example, WA's inept Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich were put in charge of it - the mayhem she has caused in State education would become a national catastrophe.
"There are strong arguments to be made for better co-ordination of education services among the States and for academic standards that schools should strive to achieve across the range of subjects to be set at national level - if only to embarrass wayward States into focusing on genuine educational accomplishment, rather than on social engineering in classrooms.
"Ms Bishop
is right to be worried about educational standards, particularly in
WA where dumbing down is being institutionalised under outcomes-based
education. She would become an effective minister if she accepted that
stating a problem is not solving it; action is needed as well as words."
"She has been condemned by education groups for calling for a common national curriculum and claiming leftwing ideologists in State governments had hijacked what was being taught in schools with some themes "straight from Chairman Mao".
"State School Teachers Union president Mike Keely said Ms Bishop's comments were absurd and educators across Australia were sick of politicians mouthing off about education. Ms Bishop was always throwing up ideas that often coincided with criticism of the education system.
"Where's the follow-through? It's a big noise, it's a puff of smoke that magically appears and then disappears," he said. "We don't have a problem with moving towards consistency. But Australia is such a diverse country, the schools are so diverse . . . the detail has to be local."
"WA Council of State School Organisations president Rob Fry said he was disappointed with Ms Bishop's "offensive" comments.
"Since becoming Education Minister in January, Ms Bishop has called for Australian history to be compulsory for all Years 9 and 10 students, pushed for merit-based pay for teachers, called for a national approach for maths and science education and said religious studies should be given renewed emphasis in State high schools.
"State Education Minister Ljiljanna Ravlich said WA would lose out financially if a national curriculum was imposed on the State.
"What Julie Bishop needs to do is sit around the table with the States and Territories and talk some of these matters through rather than announcing policy positions on the front page of newspapers..."
"The Howard Government seeks to transform the politics of education with its campaign to reform school curriculums and achieve more uniform national standards.
"The initiative by Education Minister Julie Bishop yesterday unveils a bold new agenda replete with risk and opportunity. It invests the Coalition with the initiative in education policy, and is anchored in the deep professional and parental alarm about the values and quality of school curriculums.
"Bishop's speech reveals much about the nature of the Government in its fourth term. This initiative involves a willing resort to use central government powers against the states.
"It constitutes a new cultural assault on the ideological Left and the teacher unions. And it will divide Labor between the choice of popular "back to basics" reforms and its powerful supporters in the educational and teacher union lobbies, who will insist on a showdown with the Howard Government.
"While the Labor states will protest and threaten resistance, they recognise the need to make some concessions on curriculums. This process is under way.
"The critical line in Bishop's speech was her claim that the politics of education was moving from staff and student ratios to a "new frontier" of teacher quality and curriculums.
"This is a shift from a Labor to a Liberal agenda. A shift in the ideas that dominate education policy in Australia. And it is an ominous warning to Labor that in a policy area long deemed to be Labor's political domain, the Government intends to set the future agenda.
"The new ideas outlined by Bishop are raising school standards, a greater national curriculum consistency and a new system of accountability for what happens in schools.
"She invoked the recent declaration in this newspaper by Professor Ken Wiltshire that the states had failed to maintain the quality of school education.
"The problem for state governments is their subjugation to education theory that undermines traditional disciplines and politicises curriculums. The states cannot win this argument at the bar of public opinion. Asking 15-year-olds to write about Shakespeare from a Marxist perspective or deconstructing Big Brother won't fly with the public. The litany of examples is exhaustive.
"The states may fight Bishop's pledge to "take school curriculum out of the hands of ideologues" by campaigning on state rights. Given his cautious instincts, John Howard will not want a confrontation with the states. But Howard has prepared the ground for this cultural battle.
"Pivotal to Bishop's reform agenda is her ability to persuade the teachers. Hence her commitment to performance-based pay and compulsory professional development. Her strategy will be to entice individual teachers but penalise the union. It will be a difficult task.
From The Australian
at link
"Compared with the rest of the world, Australia's curriculum is second rate. Not only are we in the second 11 when it comes to the results in international maths and science tests, as measured by the Trends in International Maths and Science Studies, but, as documented in Why Our Schools are Failing, our curriculum is dumbed down and politically correct.
"The solution? One answer is to have a national curriculum based on the methodology being advocated in the US. After dumping the outcomes-based education model, the US approach to curriculum is firmly based on the academic disciplines, politically impartial, succinct and teacher friendly and benchmarked against international best practice.
"While a national approach to curriculum has much to endorse it, judged by the attempt already under way, represented by the Australian Statements of Learning in maths, English and civics, there are dangers in imposing a national approach.
"Take the national Statements of Learning for Civics and Citizenship, endorsed by Australia's education ministers at their August ministerial meeting, as an example. First, the good news. The proposed civics and citizenship curriculum does ask students to develop "an understanding of, and commitment to, Australia's democratic system of government, law and civic life" and "the capacity to clarify and critically examine values and principles that underpin Australia's democracy".
"There is even an attempt to illustrate what such principles refer to when the documents suggest students learn about "the common good, separation of powers, government accountability" and "equality before the law, presumption of innocence". Unfortunately, such details prove the exception and the bad news outweighs the good.
"Overall, the document fails to make explicit the values, principles, historical events and people central to Australia's development as one of the world's oldest continuous democracies.
"Under Historical Perspectives, Year 5 students are asked to "investigate the influence of significant individuals and events on the development of democracy in Australia", Year 7 students are asked to "explore the impact of people, events and movements of the past on Australian identities and democracy" and Year 9 students are asked to "reflect on the influence of past international events on governments in Australia".
"In line with the present inability or unwillingness of those in charge of Australian curriculums to make explicit judgments about what all students have the right to learn, such statements give no direction as to what individuals and which events should be given priority.
"The danger is that many schools across Australia will ask students in history and social studies classes to do projects on Peter Brock or Steve Irwin on the assumption that learning should be immediately relevant and contemporary.
"While good teachers can make figures such as Arthur Phillip, Caroline Chisholm, Edmund Barton, Henry Bournes Higgins and Robert Menzies accessible and lively, many teachers will take the easier option.
"Given the left-leaning nature of Australia's education establishment, it should not surprise anyone that the Statements of Learning for Civics and Citizenship present a politically correct approach to issues. Students are told to value the "heritage of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples" and, when arguing the need to teach narratives, the example refers to "Dreaming stories". Students are also asked to learn about the "uniqueness and diversity of Australia as a multicultural society", to "explore Australia's cultural diversity" and asked to "contribute to environmental sustainability in local to global contexts".
"In line with the cultural Left's belief that education must be used to create "mini-me" social activists, Year 3 students are told to "participate in positive civic and social action" and Year 5 students are told to "participate in appropriate actions as environmental stewards or participate in other civic action to effect positive change".
"Unlike the US, with its proud record of teaching civic values and founding documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights, Australia has a history of failing to teach the values and the narrative on which our democracy depends. With the exception of NSW, the way history and politics is taught reflects a dumbed-down and politically correct approach. Instead of celebrating what we have achieved as a nation, students are taught to feel guilty about the sins of the past and that Australian society is riven with inequality and social injustice.
"Instead of students being taught the grand narrative associated with the rise of Western civilisation and Australia's foundation and growth as a nation, they are told that doing history is more important than learning history, and studying the local community and PC issues such as the environment, multiculturalism, gender, futures and world peace take priority.
"On these
pages in the past year or two there have been repeated examples of how
subjects such as history, mathematics, science, geography and music
have been subverted by the cultural Left and dumbed down by an adherence
to outcomes-based education. Sadly, the recently endorsed Statements
of Learning for Civics and Citizenship proves that little has changed
and that the devil is always in the detail when it comes to developing
a national approach."
Kevin Donnelly is director of Education Strategies and author of Why
Our Schools are Failing.
From The Australian
at link
"Two ancient languages are sparking an unexpected revival in the increasingly lost arts of punctuation and grammar in the nation's schools.
"A revival in the popularity of classical Greek and Latin and ancient history is teaching high school students something that many are failing to grasp in modern day English classrooms.
"I have a greater grasp of grammar because I learn (classical languages)," said Year 12 student Samantha Taylor, one of about 200 students who will sit Latin for the HSC in NSW this year.
"I understand verbs, clauses and nouns."
"Ancient history, Latin, philosophy and classical Greek dominate the suiteof HSC subjects Ms Taylor is studying at the Sydney Church of England Co-educational Grammar School (Redlands).
"Ancient history is a popular pathway into classical languages and for the past two years enrolments in this subject - now the seventh-most popular for the HSC in NSW - have overtaken those in modern history in that state.
"There is little doubt that the study of classics is no pushover: it is intellectually demanding and requires the reading of texts in Latin and ancient Greek.
"Experts argue that is why the skills it engenders in students - analysis, argument, presentation - are so useful in the workplace. And employers know it.
"But that is probably not why students are drawn to classics.
"Lecturer Alastair Blanshard said the exoticism and colour of the ancient world appealed to students and offered an escape from the mundane.
"It's a world where all the things that you would want to happen are happening," he said.
"There's a lot of appeal about the politics. When you see current politics and you see the endless senatorial inquiries and the things drowning in red tape, it's quite nice to imagine a world where it's all sorted out by daggers on the senate floor."
"In a classical world, things were much clearer; leaders could conquer a world that was less constrained by Christian morality. There was more sense of adventure, more sense of play.
"The Australian National University's classics convener, Elizabeth Minchin, said the increase in popularity of the classics was creating stronger demand for those subjects in universities. She said 16 universities now taught classics to some degree. Some such as Monash, had reintroduced it after closing courses in the wake of 1996 budget cuts.
"Sydney University is among those institutions experiencing rapid growth in the classics.
"Its undergraduate enrolments in ancient history and the classics now stand at 1417, a 22 per cent increase on 2004."
From The Australian
at link
"For many decades, the French national curriculum has been held up as an example of how to stultify a school system. Highly centralised and authoritarian, it defined what to study, when and for how long. It is not an exaggeration to say you could look at your watch and know what every child in France was working on in school at that moment.
"One size fits all" creates a lockstep approach that denies teachers a chance to respond to individual children or to local circumstances and needs. It ignores the growing knowledge of contemporary teachers who study their subjects and pedagogy seriously and have much to contribute to developing curriculum and keeping it updated.
"To have an informed debate, some understanding of the principles of writing a good curriculum would be useful.
"Curriculum is not just a list of "content". It outlines compulsory subjects, those that may be chosen and the balance between the two. Curriculum not only selects the content and resources of each course but also implies ordirects pedagogy to be used, for example how much experimental science is required or the importance of achieving higher-order thinking skills.
"Assessment is an essential element of curriculum that shapes everything done in the classroom. However broad a curriculum might be, teachers will necessarily teach to the test because they, too, understand accountability.
"To understand what the result of any curriculum document will be, assessment must be taken into consideration. Defining what will be taught in schools unavoidably communicates the social values of our community. Values are therefore an unavoidable part of the curriculum, whether clearly spelled out orimplied.
"The most successful curriculum results from wide consultation with subject experts through universities and professional organisations such as the History Teachers' Association or the Primary English Teachers' Association.
"Classroom teachers must be engaged in developing curriculum and ensuring it is well focused on the subject and the needs of the local community. A curriculum that is not accepted by teachers at the "chalkface" and by parents will falter at every step. How a national board of studies will achieve convincing consultation and responsiveness across the nation is hard to imagine.
"Schools - government, Catholic systemic or independent - are a state or territory responsibility, as federal Education Minister Julie Bishop constantly reminds us. That she is not actually responsible for any schools is apparent from some of the arguments she uses. How is it that a national curriculum would be more open to scrutiny than eight different curriculums with closer local audiences who have easy access to their state or territory minister? I don't get it.
"The minister is no doubt correct that some money could be saved in avoiding some duplication of expenses. The professional development benefit to teachers that comes from fomenting discussion at the local level where they can be genuinely heard is invaluable back in the classroom.
"Recent trends in education do not "lower the educational bar ... instead of raising it to aspire to excellence", as the minister claims. Curriculums today recognise that students have varying capabilities. No student wants to be a "failure". Many, however, will resign themselves to being failures if they are told that is their label. Students don't fail; we fail them if we do not respond to their needs, including in the curriculum. Professional teachers are stretching the measuring bar at both ends to respond to every student's ability and needs.
"I admire the stance of Harold Bloom and his Western Canon. I would probably join his lament on the death of literary study in Australia. But is high school English so influential on universities that it can cause the end of literary studies? This is the cart before the horse. Universities have produced our English teachers and their influence on thecurriculum.
"A major issue in every discussion is the crowded curriculum. What to include and what to exclude is a vexed question and a source of continual tension. How can we teach it all? One school system can't, but eight systems come a lot closer.
"The history of innovation in Australian curriculum is characterised by one board of studies influencing another, pushing further or pulling back, always seeking a balance between new understanding of best curriculum design and traditional but still valuable concepts. This corrective ebb and flow is essential if we are to avoid a self-righteous, head-in-sand ossification of our education system.
"At present Australia as a whole has a rich "biodiversity" in school curriculum and its content, as each of the eight boards of studies establishes its own view of what to select for teaching. A skill, knowledge or cultural shortage in one state has a good chance of being patched in elsewhere. Individual students may not benefit but we as a nation do, through having a wider, richer resource in our educated populace. Put simply, we are a more interesting, powerful and varied nation because of the differing study programs.
"Enforcing
uniformity across the entire nation would lose great strengths Australia
enjoys now. The federal minister holds a big funding stick, as we saw
in the argument over A to E reporting. She can make things happen but,
with such poor motivation, it is hard to see how a good curriculum can
arise."
Judith Wheeldon is former head of two private girls schools in Sydney:
Abbotsleigh and Queenwood.
From The Australian
at link
"Incoming national mathematics standards expect 10-year-olds to be able to add and subtract numbers in their thousands and deal with fractions in their hundredths.
"But in Western Australia, the curriculum demands much less, requiring students only to recognise simple fractions such as halves and quarters.
"A comparison of the West Australian maths course with the national standards reveals a huge variation in the knowledge expected of students, reinforcing the call yesterday by federal Education Minister Julie Bishop for a national curriculum.
"The mathematical abilities required of students in Western Australia is well below national standards, with the state slipping even further behind in the past two years.
"Under the outcomes-based education system in Western Australia, students are graded at eight levels of achievement, which span all years of school.
"Two years ago, students were expected to have reached level four by the end of Year 5, which in maths would mean being able to rewrite 0.35 as 35/100 and knowing that 3/4 is less than 7/8.
"But revised targets mean today's Year 5 students are expected to reach between levels two and three.
"Students at level two can divide into equal thirds, recognise and write 1/3, 1/5 and 1/7 but cannot consistently write 2/3.
"The national standards expected are still more demanding, requiring the 10-year-olds to add one-quarter to one-half and describe 2.12 as two and twelve hundredths.
"Ms Bishop said the differing expectations clearly demonstrated the inconsistency and falling standards that had prompted her call for a national curriculum.
"It's even more reason for us to focus on raising standards and making curriculum accountable," she said.
"Ms Bishop said the states and territories had come a long way towards a national curriculum with an agreement in August on National Statements of Learning that set out the core and essential elements in five subjects.
"The statements of learning for students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 were approved by all state and territory education ministers and must be incorporated into their individual curriculums by 2008 as a condition of federal funding.
"In addition, a common national literacy and numeracy test will be introduced from 2008, replacing the individual tests the states and territories now set."
From The Australian at link
"History teachers seem such a polite bunch. I've been in Perth appearing at a forum for the Australian History Teachers Association conference, which is where Education Minister Julie Bishop announced her plan for a single national school curriculum.
"Bishop doesn't trust the States - she thinks much of the current history being taught in school comes "straight from Chairman Mao" via "ideologues experimenting with the education of young people from a comfortable position of unaccountability".
"It was hard to detect the Maoists in the audience but they gave the minister a polite hearing - one woman grimaced and walked out during the middle of Bishop's address, but she may simply have been going to the loo.
"Not a parent or teacher in the land would be troubled by a serious debate about the standards of school education. And anybody who has shifted states understands the frustrations of different starting ages, courses and reporting procedures.
"But there would be plenty of concern about a system which encourages the federal government - which doesn't employ a single school teacher - to call the shots and hints at politicians determining what should be taught in the classroom.
"Brendan Nelson made lots of headlines and career headway belting the states over school standards during his stint as education minister, and Bishop is following suit.
"Does she have a point? Are standards as low as many parents and critics suspect? Would a national curriculum be feasible and/or desirable?"
Replies to Matt Price.
Mary
06/10 at 08:24 PM
As an Australian teaching The British National Curriculum in an International
school - Lets not go there! Every child being taught the same thing
at the same time, leaves no room for Teachers' professional judgement
or creativity. It is so bad in th UK that the Literacy and Numueracy
hours are so prescriptive that a minute by minute plans must be adhered
to - and don't forget that plenary at the end! Interesting to note that
the UK have just scrapped the concept of these specific hours, which
were introduced in the first place to try and raise standards!
ko
06/10 at 08:30 PM
ln consultation with a body of prominent educators representing all
states the federal government should be able to satisfy every parent
in Australia that a uniform curriculum nation wide should be the correct
option.
"Professor Barry McGaw, the architect of the NSW HSC, who became a world-leading education authority, says Federal Government claims that national literacy and numeracy standards are falling are wrong.
"And the federal Department of Education admitted it had no data on national literacy standards beyond 2004, raising questions about the Government's claims of falling standards.
"The department refused a freedom of information request from the Herald for current data on national literacy and numeracy standards on the basis that it did not exist. The most recent figures available are more than two years old.
"The Prime Minister, John Howard, yesterday backed calls by the Minister for Education, Julie Bishop, for more consistent curriculum standards across the states and territories and national leadership to improve falling literacy and numeracy.
"I don't think at the moment we have sufficiently high standards in relation to basic literacy and numeracy to the extent that we at a Commonwealth level can provide leadership in doing that," he said on ABC radio.
"We are not arguing that the Commonwealth take over everything to do with education.
"We want uniformly high standards in schools throughout Australia. That doesn't mean to say you have to have exactly the same curriculum in every state and every school at the same time."
"Professor McGaw, a former director for education at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, welcomed debate about national curriculum standards but dismissed calls for a return to the basics of numeracy and literacy as out of date.
"There has been a substantial attention to particularly literacy but also numeracy in recent years with state and national assessment programs and curriculum reform," he said.
"The international comparison shows we are not doing too badly at all in those domains."
"Gordon Stanley, who heads the NSW Board of Studies, rejected any suggestion that the NSW syllabus had been captured by an extreme group or narrow view.
"We would be really concerned at the view that our curriculum is dominated by a Maoist perspective," he said.
"Our syllabus documents are widely regarded for their richness of content, scholarly nature and high standards."
"Professor Stanley said the independent, Catholic and public schools were all helped with the development and delivery of the NSW curriculum.
"The NSW Minister for Education, Carmel Tebbutt, rejected the Federal Government's claims of an ideologically driven curriculum in NSW, and its attempt to take over the curriculum.
"It is politicising education and the curriculum in a way that is concerning," she said.
"The idea that the Federal Government is an ideology-free zone is laughable.
"The president of the NSW Secondary Principals Council, Jim McAlpine, said a national approach to the curriculum was sensible. "But it should not be driven by ideological nonsense from the right in Australia," he said.
"There should be proper research, good sharing of ideas and consultation across the country.
"We should learn from the mistakes made in other countries such as the United States, where the George Bush program No Child Left Behind has not resulted in improved learning and has increased inequity in schools."
"The president of the English Teachers Association NSW, Mark Howie, said the Federal Government had ignored the fact that Australian literacy was second only to that of Finland.
"The Federal Government's own inquiry into the teaching of literacy concluded that Australian students compare well with students in other OECD countries, with only a minority not acquiring acceptable levels of literacy," he said.
"In the areas of literacy and critical thinking, Australian students outperform students from England and the US, two countries that have centralised the curriculum and legislated drilling in the basic skills."
"Clive Hamilton, of the Australia Institute, said the Federal Government was on "an ideological jihad against schools".
Bishop denies education takeover plan
"Federal Education Minister Julie Bishop has moved to clarify her plan to create a national curriculum for high schools.
"Ms Bishop attracted heavy criticism from the states last week when she announced a plan to wrest control of curricula from the state and territory education boards.
"But this morning she said states would be keenly involved in drafting any national curriculum.
"I'm not talking about a Commonwealth takeover," Ms Bishop told ABC television today.
"My concern is in raising standards in education in this country, about greater national consistency in schooling and also making curriculum more accountable."
"Labor's education spokeswoman Jenny Macklin says Ms Bishop said "one thing about a national curriculum on Friday and another thing today".
"Ms Macklin will hold a press conference later today on the alleged contradiction.
"But there was no contradiction, Ms Bishop said.
"I'm exploring options including a national board of studies that would develop model curriculum.
"If the states could get their act together they could have pooled their resources, put together the best educators the country has to offer and developed a nationally consistent curriculum but the states don't do anything in this regard unless the commonwealth forces them to do it."
"Ms Bishop reiterated her early argument that all parents were sick of alleged left wing bias in high school curricula.
"Parents are sick of left wing ideology in curriculum just as I would suggest you don't need right wing ideology, let's have a sensible centre in education."
"Last week, Ms Bishop was reportedly going to compare some state curriculums to those set out under communist dictator Chairman Mao.
"But she never delivered that comparison in the speech after it was removed from the draft.
"Ms Bishop defended the comparison.
"I tweak my speeches
right up from the moment of walking into a room until I deliver it and
I had already drawn attention to the fact that students were being forced
to interpret Shakespeare through feminist and Marxist perspectives."
"Sweeping cuts to GCSE coursework were announced yesterday in response to widespread fears that it has allowed students to copy from the internet or to get their teachers and parents to complete projects for them. Coursework completed by pupils at home will be scrapped in English literature, foreign languages, history, geography, classical subjects, religious studies, social sciences, business studies and economics for courses starting in 2009.
"Instead, the examinations watchdog, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), said that there would be more external exams and controlled assessments carried out in the classroom under strict supervision and marked by teachers.
"Coursework will continue in art, music, design and technology, PE and home economics. No final decision about English language and information technology has yet been made.
"The details followed an announcement last week by Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, that coursework would be cut from GCSE maths from next September.
"The announcement was accompanied by new research findings showing that the majority of teachers were not overwhelmingly worried about the use of the internet for coursework.
"Four in five (82 per cent) of the 100 subject heads surveyed for the QCA disagreed that their students made too much use of the internet for their GCSE coursework.
"English and music teachers were most likely to view coursework positively; religiousstudies teachers were the most sceptical about its value.
"A far bigger problem with coursework, as far as the teachers were concerned, centred on the burden or marking coursework and the extra work it generated for students who have to meet project deadlines for a large number of different subjects all at the same time."
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This page last updated 14 August, 2008 1:41 AM
