Nicely said Tom. Long ago I wondered about why we should seek to emulate Singapore which is quite socially different from us, yet not emulate Finland which is more similar socially. And once again, I am heartened to hear someone pointing out how much of what is imposed on schools is used as ideological tools. The problem is systematic and I am not sure any more if the politicians who get involved are even aware of what they do. Perhaps it is the bureaucracy below political level that maintains that ideology. I wondered in my last years of teaching if there was a feedback loop of upper bureaucrats and politicians who maintained what I regard as poor beliefs about teaching, that kept those beliefs alive despite evidence, similar to what was so humorously portrayed in the BBC TV program 'Yes minister'.
Hi Mark, thanks for sharing your thoughts! Yes, I also find it strange when we try to emulate the education systems of countries that are vastly different from ours.
I think I would agree with you in general regarding politicians, however I am holding out hope that Jason Clare has a bit more to him than previous ministers. Nonetheless, as you say the feedback loop is very strong between CIS, Grattan and the federal government. I was hoping that it would be less so in a Labour government, but so far have been sadly disappointed!
I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately and the roll out of the new curriculums.
There is so much focus on content and ticking off what students need to be able to do, but surely we should be looking towards skills such as curiosity, problem solving and critical thinking just to name a few? Reading and numeracy is important but should be informed by different means of real life data collection.
I hear you Vanessa, and I am becoming to believe that it is up to educators to work together to discern the "must-haves" here, what is truly important to "tick off" and what is important for their particular communities.
Focus on performance may improve student performance in particular outcomes, but will it improve education? Naive to assume it will in my perspective.
Nicely said Tom. Long ago I wondered about why we should seek to emulate Singapore which is quite socially different from us, yet not emulate Finland which is more similar socially. And once again, I am heartened to hear someone pointing out how much of what is imposed on schools is used as ideological tools. The problem is systematic and I am not sure any more if the politicians who get involved are even aware of what they do. Perhaps it is the bureaucracy below political level that maintains that ideology. I wondered in my last years of teaching if there was a feedback loop of upper bureaucrats and politicians who maintained what I regard as poor beliefs about teaching, that kept those beliefs alive despite evidence, similar to what was so humorously portrayed in the BBC TV program 'Yes minister'.
Hi Mark, thanks for sharing your thoughts! Yes, I also find it strange when we try to emulate the education systems of countries that are vastly different from ours.
I think I would agree with you in general regarding politicians, however I am holding out hope that Jason Clare has a bit more to him than previous ministers. Nonetheless, as you say the feedback loop is very strong between CIS, Grattan and the federal government. I was hoping that it would be less so in a Labour government, but so far have been sadly disappointed!
I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately and the roll out of the new curriculums.
There is so much focus on content and ticking off what students need to be able to do, but surely we should be looking towards skills such as curiosity, problem solving and critical thinking just to name a few? Reading and numeracy is important but should be informed by different means of real life data collection.
I hear you Vanessa, and I am becoming to believe that it is up to educators to work together to discern the "must-haves" here, what is truly important to "tick off" and what is important for their particular communities.
Focus on performance may improve student performance in particular outcomes, but will it improve education? Naive to assume it will in my perspective.