An opinion from retired Associate Professor Steve Kessell, Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University [The Sunday Times 21/5/2006]

Let's call a spade a spade

It is time for the curriculum council, the education department, the education minister and the premier to stop misleading the public. The teachers who oppose OBE are not a handful of trouble-makers and ratbags. As shown by votes (where they were allowed) at recent professional development sessions, the overwhelming majority of year 11 and 12 teachers believe the new courses are not ready. A great many believe they never will be ready. These new courses share (at least) two fatal flaws.

Firstly, there is no curriculum. Teachers are expected to develop their own to illustrate the listed outcomes. This will invite a least common denominator, one size fits all, approach. Learning about the sociology of the cosmetic industry is not real chemistry, discussing whether air bags should be mandatory is not real physics, and movie posters are not real literature. Students continuing on to university, TAFE or the workforce will be disadvantaged seriously. A “culturally-sensitive curriculum” borders on nonsense. Some cultures have no numbers larger than 20, and at least one recognises only “one, two and many”. Shall we teach mathematics on this basis?

Secondly, the “levels” proposed to measure student achievement are meaningless, edu-babble drivel. If you take a Level 5 descriptor, and add words such as “regularly, independently and fully”, you now have a Level 6 descriptor. Level 6 will get your daughter into university, but Level 5 won’t. No matter how conscientious the teacher, her subjective view of how regularly, independently and fully your daughter (one of her 120 students) performs can mean university acceptance or denial. This is totally unfair to the parent, the student and the teacher.

The minister and the curriculum council are disingenuous when they compare the proposed WA OBE courses to those in NSW. In NSW, every course has a detailed syllabus – the one for their equivalent of “maths, chance and data” is 83 pages long. The WA equivalent in 3 pages of notes for teachers – beyond that, teachers are expected to “wing it” as they go ! Furthermore, NSW uses traditional grades, not the Mickey-Mouse levels proposed here. There really is no comparison.

As a retired university professor and course coordinator, I appreciate how difficult it is to determine a university cut-off even with TEE results; with OBE, it will be impossible. I also anticipate university courses will need to be extended an extra year to compensate for students’ poor preparation. Is this what we want for our children?