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The Forum > Article Comments > The illusion of schooling > Comments

The illusion of schooling : Comments

By Phil Cullen, published 27/2/2012

When it comes to teaching, teacher knows better than anyone else.

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I help out in my kids' state school, and I have nothing but admiration for the hard work teachers do. For those critical of teachers, if you have the time, I would encourage you to volunteer at your local school on a regular basis - you can be part of the solution, and I am sure you will be amazed at challenges teachers face every day - things have changed since I was a student - some better, some worse.

From what I've seen of the new curriculum in QLD, the brightest students will do great; those kids with parents who help with homework or show an interest in their schooling will do fine. However, I have seen kids in Grade One who can't remember their alphabet when their peers are already writing in sentences - these are the ones who are be in big trouble. Due to the pace of the curriculum, there is little or no time for revision during class. Many of these kids who are falling behind don't do their homework as they need but don't get the help from their parents at home - as the children are not yet able to read.

Within the school system there is some (but minimal) support for kids with Intellectual Impairments, or who are on the Autism Spectrum. But absolutely no help for children who have disorders such as Dyslexia or ADHD. These are the children I fear who will fall ever further behind. And I don't see anything being done to prevent this.

For the naturally academic students who can concentrate and have good memory retention, there is learning taking place, but those children who can't keep up are being left behind. And for them it is an illusion of schooling and the education department, teachers and parents etc, need to work together to sort it out ASAP.
Posted by BJelly, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 1:21:52 PM
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I don't agree with Sir Ken Robinson's simplistic explanation of schooling (and his amorphous description of creativity) but he does raise important questions about first world education and schooling.
See this clip to see what he is saying: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U
Posted by Rainier, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 1:30:09 PM
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Apologies, rational-debate,

I'm usually rattled when a teaching professional pushes the line that parents are "unqualified" to instruct and guide their children. That particular maxim is one of the reasons many parents find the school edifice so intimidating.
Posted by Poirot, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 1:55:47 PM
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Rainier you have got it all wrong. Schools are not a place for teachers to indulge in their personal ideas of education, it is a place for them to do what the education system has decided is best. If as is often the case, this is not the best, they have to work towards changing it for all, not a class, school, or even district.

Perhaps if you had gone to 14 different schools, in 3 states by the time you were 14, as I did, you would have some better idea of what has to happen in schools, & it is not for teachers to indulge in their creativity.

With our population even more mobile than at any time in history, it is critical that all schools across Oz are teaching the same segments in the same week, everywhere.

It is totally unfair to have kids find they have missed whole chunks of their grounding in an important subject, just because some teacher was having fun, in the school they moved to, or from.

We have to give kids a chance at school.
Posted by Hasbeen, Tuesday, 28 February 2012 2:02:22 PM
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I will start by saying (and, before I do, acknowledge that I say this as a teacher) that teachers tend to have a better idea of what's going on than many participants in this forum tend to give them credit for. We did learn a thing or two at university, and sometimes that learning comes in handy. And, in many cases, we spend more time with children than their own parents do. That's not an attack on parents - it's a sad reality in our time-poor world. But that doesn't necessarily mean that we know best. After all, that time is shared among 20-30 kids, while parents have quality time with their kids. They have a relationship built on trust, love and understanding. To try to build a similar relationship as a teacher would be a serious overstepping of the line.

Where that relationship comes into play is that parents know their kids. They know what their kids need, they know what their kids like and they know what their kids want. This is valuable knowledge that should be contributed to the educational sector.

In the past, I've suggested that the idea of 'more parent involvement' is a silly one - after all, so many parents don't turn up to parent-teacher interviews, school functions and P&C events. If they want to be involved, they have the chance and don't take it. I think I'm beginning to see another side to this story, though. Perhaps parents don't get involved because their involvement can only be tokenistic? Because they have no real input into pedagogy, curriculum or discipline - the things that they really care about? For many parents, their only contact with the school is when their kids do something wrong. This is hardly an open invitation. Maybe if parents had a sense that their contributions meant something, they'd be more willing to make contributions. And maybe if they were more regularly involved, they'd see that their kids are (in the main) in quite capable hands.
Posted by Otokonoko, Wednesday, 29 February 2012 12:12:08 AM
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Finland has the best performing school system in the world. Several of its features are:

1) Highly paid, highly qualified teachers. It is easier to get into med school than teaching. 2) Small average class sizes 3) A loose curriculum framework, not lock-step delivery, which teachers translate in each school 4)Public schools, none private, with equity for the disadvantaged. 5) A non-competitive environment with no national testing or public comparisons of schools.

Essentially, the whole system is run on public trust. Teaching is a profession held in high esteem.

Education in Australia is run by educrats in the thrall of whatever new wave pedagogy or organizational structure is in flavour of the month. They hitch a ride on such stars and teachers are left to pick up the pieces in the super-nova that follows, by which time the clowns are onto the next big thing. There is no accountability at the leadership levels of education for catastrophic failure and the public perception is that the teachers, who had no say in it, are at fault.

After weeding out poor performers, giving teachers a go at running education will make teacher bashing to be a fair pursuit if they get things wrong. All we risk is ending up like Finland.
Posted by Luciferase, Wednesday, 29 February 2012 2:09:51 AM
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