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The Forum > Article Comments > Liberal doses of in/equality: Advance Australia where? > Comments

Liberal doses of in/equality: Advance Australia where? : Comments

By Linda Graham, published 28/5/2007

Australian schools and teachers have so far been plugging the gap between increasing expectations and decreasing resources: they can't do it forever.

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So much depends on the purpose of the education you are serving up. If all you want to achieve is to sort and credentialise students for the work force then you WILL perpetuate the inequalities of the system. If you want a real education system you will have to dump 150 years of baggage first.

Now everyone will jump on me for being idealistic (and simplistic) and carp on about how impossible it is, and how "this is the result of many years of development", etc, etc. Shut up. IT IS NOT YOUR EDUCATION SYSTEM. It is our children's. Stop thinking of the way it's done today, because it is obviously failing. The problems are getting worse and it will continue to get worse if you let it continue. Band aid solutions cannot give us the results we need.

With all due respect to my primary school collegues, they are failing. Many students are leaving primary school with poor literacy skills. Why? Not because the teachers lack skills, dedication, professionalism or anything else the govt wants to blame. THE STUDENTS THEMSELVES are the only ones who can improve their skills. This is clear in high schools, where lack of effort sabotages the scores of many capable students.

I don't pretend to know the answers but I'll tell you something for sure; many student's see little or no benefit in the system that is worth their effort. OK, some do, and go on and do well, but they have bought into the system (or have been bullied, cajoled or bribed into participating).

So the question would seem to be "how do we make an education system that student's will want to participate in"? Bribery, threats, discipline, consequences, etc are methods of the past. We must be honest with students and not insult their intelligence. They are smarter and more savvy than many people think. They understand power and control, consciously or not.

In the past the system has has been geared toward producing obedient, compliant workers. Is this still our purpose? If not, time for a rethink.
Posted by stonecoldsober, Thursday, 31 May 2007 2:16:34 AM
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Stonecoldsober, one way would be to make it actually worth a student's while to put in the work, starting year one. The automatic progression to the next grade is a joke. There is little real reward for effort. Achievement is of minimal worth in many children's eyes. Working hard is only for the 'nerds'. I've heard this statement. This is well and truly worked out by upper Primary School.

People are supposed to develop at different rates yet we insist that all 6yr old, 8yr old, 15yr old, etc. kids, sit in the same year class.

Especially in the early years, why are children expected to learn numeracy and literacy at a particular rate? Some 5 year olds are ready, some 7 year old are not.

It's time teaching took into account what is known about human development. We all learn to walk at different ages, yet we all end up walking in our own good time. There aren't 'better' walkers or 'poor' walkers.

It is manifestly cruel to condemn a child to a school life of perpetual 'catch-up' and therefore 'stupid'. I had this with one child. I finally pleaded with the school for him to repeat year 9 only to be told it is 'important for him to be with his peers'. He was willing to repeat. We talked about it and changed schools to avoid embarrassment. He never 'caught up' in spite of tutoring. In the end he stopped working, handed in minimal work and still went to the next grade. Half way year 11 serious depression set in. He felt overwhelmed, pressured and a failure.

The teachers are generally good. The system stinks.
Posted by yvonne, Thursday, 31 May 2007 6:20:05 PM
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Too right Yvonne! A more open ended system (a la Skinner) that allows students to work at their own pace would seem to be a less stressful, and maybe more thorough approach (for those interested in academic rigour). Ever tried to gain a belt in Judo? You have to keep practicing until you get it and the sensei is satisfied.

The current curriculum is too vague and generalised to engage students. Yet ask a poorly performing student to make a table, a chair or a chess set and watch them devote their recess and lunchtimes to producing a fine piece of work. Some are square pegs, and all of the academic holes are round.

Do you remember asking yourself (or the teacher) in frustration "Why do I have to learn this? When am I ever going to use this?" Well, students today are still asking the same questions. Maybe we need to take an approach more like a Bachelor of Arts degree. Each subject being worth X points, you need XXX points for a School Certificate, you need at least XX points of Arithmatic, XX points of English, etc.

However, Academics should probably not be let anywhere near planning any new system. They are a product of the old system and have expectations alien to those students who really do find it difficult and who need a different approach, a preparation for a life outside of educational institutions.

Schools are too often treated, by government, parents, or society in general, as daycare centres, a way of keeping children off the streets and out of our collective hair. The children are resentful of this and will resist ANYTHING you try to do with them, until either you or they give up. For those from disadvantaged backgrounds, who see no prospect of a job or tertiary opportunity, school holds no benefit (except social interaction). Add bullying, by other students or by STAFF, and school becomes a place of fear and despair.

The problem is serious and a definite solution is needed before we lose another generation to the failure of the system.
Posted by stonecoldsober, Thursday, 31 May 2007 8:28:10 PM
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My daughter, when she was in Year 4, told me that there were so many kids in her class who were smart and they didn't even know it. They thought that they were dumb, for silly reasons like their hand writing was messy or their spelling was not up to scratch. Nothing they did at school made them feel that they were good at anything. It made them feel bad.

This daughter is an identified intellectually gifted/accelerated student, having this year started high school age 10. She struggled during the early days to cope in a system that insisted on teaching her the alphabet when it was obvious that she already knew how to read, fluently. We had to fight to find a suitable learning environment because the Education system didn't and wouldn’t to do anything to help. For speaking out and trying to find appropriate educational placement for my daughter I was deemed a trouble maker and vexatious and our family was targeted as a result.

I feel for Yvonne and more so her son. That our Government can permit a child to move through education at a level that they know will disadvantage them in the future is neglect.

Knowing about it and doing nothing is culpable neglect. Our children deserve better.
Posted by Jolanda, Thursday, 31 May 2007 9:31:48 PM
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Hi stonecoldsober,

I had to chuckle when I read your comment that academics should never be allowed to redesign the system. We're not that out of touch with reality! Not all of us anyway...

In our recent review of curriculum (Luke, Graham, Sanderson, Voncina & Weir, 2006) we actually did advocate a university style credit system for secondary school and multiple pathways with choice in academic and applied study units, and flexible re-entry points to enable students to change direction and interests easily and quickly. Basically the aim was to develop a curriculum structure where students (who didn't particularly like school or academic work) to be able to see and work towards an end-point and feel that they were getting there before they vote with their feet. Whether a system like this ever gets taken up in Australia who knows, but it seems to work extremely well in countries like Finland!

Regards, Linda
Posted by Linda Graham, Thursday, 31 May 2007 9:32:33 PM
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Jolanda,I admire your determination with your daughter. Congratulations on her being able to work at her level.

Julion is now very well settled in a full time apprenticeship in the Beef Cattle industry (as a jackeroo!). He has matured enormously and is good at what he does. In another 18 months he will have a TAFE based Certificate III.

I feel for your daughter having to learn the alphabet. My daughter could read before she started school. (We had a computer and she played endlessly with a particular kids programme, so I can't really take the credit!) She was lucky in that she went to a little school with grades 1,2 and 3 in the one class. So she could just keep on working at her level. At first she secretly read the grade 3 books. She thought she was being naughty, because the teacher had said you had to finish a series first before going on to the next!

When she was supposed to be in grade 2 she was helping with the grade 3's. She topped grade 3 work.

At no time did any of the kids have any perception that they were supposed to be grade 1, 2 or 3's. They just worked at the level of their ability at that time.

Unfortunately when we came back to the Gold Coast, she was 'too young' to 'skip' a grade. She had to be with 'her peers'. We left it at that. We've just challenged her at home with literature, she reads very widely and enrolled her privately in learning Mandarin. After 4 years she loves it still, is doing really well and now in High School is in a French Immersion class. After doing Mandarin all this time, French is a cinch!

None of my 3 children are strange or loners. They all have wide circles of friends.

Adults can stick to boring work because we know it brings in the weekly wage to pay the rent. What reason do kids have?
Posted by yvonne, Thursday, 31 May 2007 10:21:32 PM
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