Eloquently put Mr Cullen.

What has happened to the understanding of developmental learning.
The National Curriculum appears to have developed a one size fits all approach

We accept developmental learning in the crawling-walking-talking stage but seem to reject it where literacy and numeracy are concerned

Lack of understanding of a students growth and development in any learning context is as fear-producing as testing

Perhaps we need to look at teacher training as a first then provide curriculum, teachers, and resources which support childrens developmental learning

Teachers must be trained to understand the developmental heirarchy, assess the students place on that heirarchy and teach individuals or groups from that understanding.

Multiage grouping in schools was,in general, not understood but tried to provide a situation where children could flourish at their own level.

Sir,
I just sent the following comment
Kellie Tranter:

It is overwhelming.

Our young people die in Afghanistan for a PM’s opinion, a PM fixated with exams and uniforms.

What exams did she pass to qualify for the job?

Shouldn’t she wear a uniform?

In my times, in Italy, I had to wear a uniform as the PM did and so did Hitler, Stalin, and Franco.

@"The child-oriented ones, who want their pupils to turn up anxious to learn and enjoy each piece of their learning experiences, will vote for the party that will ban the tests."

Possibly, but the majority will vote for the party that they think will get their kids higher marks in tests. That's the way it is. And many of them will be asking why, if testing is so wrong, none of the things tried in the pre-testing decades seemed any better.

Many will also be arguing that the tests are long overdue to address situations in which the teachers in one local (NSW) primary school interpret the Departmental assessment guidelines as meaning that children in the first half of a two-year stage must be awarded Bs or lower while in a nearby school in less advantaged area they will not award anything lower than a B. This utterly confuses parents of both schools who interact socially and see the kids from both schools in comparable situations such as socials after Saturday sport.

In my times, in Italy, I had to wear a uniform as the PM did and so did Hitler, Stalin, and Franco.
Skeptic,
Nowadays the uniform has been replaced by meaningless educational certificates..

It seems to me our Mr Cullen has had ample opportunity to put his ideas into practice. The results speak for them selves. There aren't any.

I find that it is teachers, & education departments, not kids, that are most worried about tests.

Sure the teachers have done their best to instill the fear of tests into their students, but they don't seem to be any more successful at that, than they were in stilling the 3 Rs into them. Only a few are throwing up in fear.

Not so the teachers. They are throwing up all over the place, with verbal garbage at least. They are scared stiff that their pay master, the public, will be able to see what a damn awful job they have been doing. Hell, they can't even be bothered making sure kids aren't being belted up in the play ground.

Tests never worried anyone when I went to school. Many didn't care about results, so weren't worried. Some cared, & did a bit of study, & may have even learnt something. Teachers got a line on how kids were going, & most used this info to help many kids.

Tests helped get kids ready for life in the work force, where their performance would be judged daily, unless they worked for the education department that is.

You know, if we still had report cards which actually said this kid got 35, or 95% on some test, it might even help employers hire the right kids, for the right jobs to the advantage of both of them.

I agree with you entirely, Phil. As Sir Ken Robinson, an influential thinker on education from the UK put it, things are so bad in the Anglophone education systems such as we have in Australia, the UK and the USA, that we need revolution, not evolution, in education. The whole system needs to be overhauled to be centred on individual children's learning trajectories rather than treating them as factory products, with learning forced into them in extremely boring ways, and to nurture creativity rather than mindless conformity to standardised norms.

Why didn't Julia consult experts in the Finnish system of education, which leads the OECD countries in results, yet places little emphasis on standardised testing and is far more relaxed and flexible in its approach? For an intelligent woman she is remarkably pig-headed and reluctant to look at alternatives to the New York system which she so inexpicably favours as a model for Australia.

How to start this revolution in education?

What has happened to the understanding of developmental learning.

I watched it fail my child as the ill prepared teachers at the independent school she attended were over run by a system that placed enormous demands on the limited time available.
Developmental learning is a fantasy that requires many more resources and thousands more teachers in much smaller classes to have even a hope of working. We might all see this as the best way to do it but the economic reality is far too harsh.

Never mind criticising the long over due national curiculum or education standards that are better than ever and constantly evolving, rather take a good look at the fool in the mirror. The parents that are sure their child is being failed by the school system because they can not reach the unrealistic standards set by a parent that most of the time didn't perform any better themselves.

The area of failure in schools at the moment is in social development. The good old days you all remember when the teachers did all, also involved a good dose of physical and psychological punishment that destroyed as many students as it made. To truly develop our social and welfare systems within our schools we need to invest into professionals who work in this area and begin developing playground programs that will help children understand and develop social skills. Teachers have enough to do trying to reach parents unrealistic expectations without having to teach their children how to behave for them as well.

I find it absurd that a federal education minister (or former minister) is held to account for the 'turbulent mess' that is school education in Australia. Schools are run by the states, whose leaders scream blue murder every time the feds suggest a hostile takeover.

Phil Cullen, a former director of primary schooling in Queensland (arguably the most widely criticised education sector in the country), was in a position to implement change and to improve education. He didn't. He officiated in a system that has a track record of failing. He is now lashing out at a system that may well fail, but has not failed yet because it has not even been implemented yet, and at a PM who has essentially said that people like him have not done a good enough job, so now it's her turn.

I have my doubts about a 'one size fits all' approach to education. I also have my doubts about the ways in which this curriculum is being implemented. As an idea, it is terrific: by the end of their schooling careers, every student in Australia will have achieved the same benchmarks. As a process, it is rushed: students are starting from different places but are expected to operate at the same level, and achieve success in the same system, within the next two years. We have our work cut out for us.

If it works, it won't be Gillard with the egg on her face - it will be the naysayers and the people who did nothing for so long - people like Cullen. If it doesn't work, Gillard will be relegated to the same pool of non-achievers as the state authorities.

The author doesn’t like an American system, yet almost 100% of software being used in the schools is from the US, and more and more textbooks are now from the US.

Most of the software and textbooks have been requested by teachers.

QLD teachers where each given a laptop paid for by the QLD public. The teachers then placed 20 programs on these laptops, all programs came from the US, with no content from QLD or Australia.

Some months later, the teachers began a series of strikes wanting more pay, and of course that extra pay had to come from the QLD taxpayer.

Priamary school teachers in QLD spend on average only 5% of their time teaching science, and 15 year old students in QLD now have the lowest interest in science in the western world.

The results are immense for our future economy, when a skilled workforce is necessary to compete in the global economy.

The current education system in QLD is probably QLD’s greatest obstacle towards forward progress.

Come on, vanna.

1) Yes, software like the Microsoft Office package is American, and is used in schools. I'm not sure what the problem is there.

2) I have yet to use an American textbook in any of my classes. A quick look at the maths, science, SOSE and English textbooks carried around by my students reveals that they are almost all local - not only Australian, but developed in Queensland to address specific Queensland outcomes and essential learnings.

3) We should be alarmed that the employer provided computers for teachers to use when preparing work, completing their administrative duties and communicating with parents and students?

4) State school teachers had one strike, not a series of strikes. Some diocesan Catholic schools also went on strike a while later - again, one strike: not a series.

5) From where did you pull your stats about teaching of science? 5% = 1.25 hours a week. I know of no primary teachers who dedicate that little time to science.

I certainly agree with your last two points and, in particular, your last point: that the current education system is QLD's biggest obstacle to progress. That and relics from this system, like Phil Cullen, who admit that it is broken but vehemently object to any change that they didn't think of themselves.

Regards problems in todays education systems:

Problem#1 In my opinion (as an employer) - appalling levels of poor literacy, including spelling and numeracy as encountered in job applicants and employees in late teens (School leavers) to mid-twenties age group.

Problem#2 Result perhaps of all this 'individual creativity' written about in earlier posts - an almost pathological inability to follow processes. You train them until you are breathless to carry out tasks, which for various reasons must be done to specific standards, then, in open view, they will invariably try to do things their way.

Problem#3 The belief it's their right to use personal mobile devices and workplace computers for own reasons during work hours. You should realise their needs and tolerate this. You should also understand when they want an early lunch with a friend, then arrive back 15 mins late or ask for changes to the rosters or want a weeks holiday after being with you 2 months ....

Problem#4 Reprimands are often effective - for five minutes! When you've finally had enough and sack them, they act surprised. How could you do this after they granted you the enormous favour of agreeing to work for you?

Anyway in the wash up I'd say the 2 main causes are lack of proper instruction in BASICS and very poor DISCIPLINE. I don't necessarily mean the strap across the bum type (though that would be a useful option to reinstate), rather the order and self-discipline that governed schoolrooms and playgrounds when I, and even my children (aged 26 - 32), were there. (However sent kids to private school with reputation for enforcing behaviourial standards and high levels of scholastic attainment because unimpressed with Public System end products. Money well spent BTW)

My message to Educators and Social Engineers - Prioritise literacy and numeracy. Don't advance children who cannot cope with previous years work. Enforce healthy levels of discipline. Teach realistic expectations of what awaits in the workforce starting with this little mantra; "It's not just about ME"

Otokonoko,

"Year 4 students spend, on average, about 18 per cent of their weekly class time learning mathematics and about five per cent of weekly class time learning science.

The average interest of Australian 15-year-olds in learning science is well below the OECD average and among the lowest in the world. The average level of interest in Queensland is below the level recorded in all of the 41 countries participating in PISA 2006.

In summary, only 44 per cent of Queensland Year 4 teachers report feeling ‘very well’ prepared to teach science. Very few (15-16 per cent) Australian teachers report having had professional development in the teaching and assessment of science. Australian teachers also stand out internationally for their limited use of textbooks (24 per cent do not use a mathematics textbook; 78 per cent do not use a science textbook).

This observation also does not explain why achievement levels in Queensland have flat-lined over the past 15 years while achievement levels in some other states have significantly increased – for example, there has been a significant and sustained improvement in Year 4 mathematics levels in New South Wales and Victoria over this period. There is also evidence of a very recent decline in literacy and numeracy levels in Queensland schools."

http://education.qld.gov.au/mastersreview/pdfs/final-report-masters.pdf

It is difficult to understand how these declines went un-noticed for so long in the education system. I would suggest that these declines were noticed, but ignored, and never mentioned to the public by teachers before they went on strike for their pay rise.

The public is just being used by the education system.

The issue of schools importing almost everything into the class rooms means that it teaches the students to “get it from somewhere else”, but not to produce anything.

Teachers are not producing much at all except excuse making, and eventually the student will do the same.

Vanna, while we disagree on the finer details, always have and most likely always will, am I right in saying that we agree that Queensland's administration of education has been a mess for quite some time, and that it is inappropriate for one of the administrators of this mess to point the finger away from himself and at the federal government?

To clear up a misunderstanding
1. Individual creativity is not developmental learning.
Each child at any given time is operating at his/her own individual level of development and the teacher proceeds foolishly if he/she lacks an understanding of this development.
This can vary with general ability, experiences within the home or how much general preparation has been undertaken in the home or preschool both socially and motivationally
In a large group of 5 year olds e.g. a class of 25 a teacher will have children whose developmental age could, in some schools, be 3.5 years and in the same group children who have a developmental level of 6 or even 7 years...............some children come to school reading others will take months to reach that level
The same is true at each level of schooling

Mr Cullen headed up the Qld Dept in my time in the department and supported early childhood education encouraging the best practice available

Qld had an innovative and successful strategy (Reading Recovery)a few years ago where children were assessed for their level of development in reading writing and numeracy in Year two after about 18 months at school
Those children who were struggling were given an half hour daily to improve and support their skills and strategies
Extra teachers were trained to give these students the best strategies in reading writing and numeracy and in most cases it was successful.

I suspect cost was the reason for stopping the innovation.
These days teachers aides are engaged in this support.

Otokonoko,

"am I right in saying that we agree that Queensland's administration of education has been a mess for quite some time"

It is true that the fish always rots from the head down. However, any teacher in the system should have seen what a mess the education system had become, but none spoke out about it.

Instead, they asked for a pay rise. That pay rise will not fix the problems inside the education system, but will cost the QLD taxpayer nearly $3 billion over a number of years.

The extent that teachers and principals have used taxpayer's money to purchase imported equipment, textbooks and software is also inexcuseable, as it shows no interest in generating industry inside the state, or retaining wealth inside the state by using localy produced items.

avanna

The fish rots at both ends in my experience

As an administrator in the public system I was appalled at the amount of Black line masters which were taken directly from books often with little reference to the matters being taught especially in language teaching. Discussion with teachers failed to stem the flow of this stuff. Blackline masters became the teaching strategy in fact. Im not sure what this said about teachers but I suspect the act of teaching and motivating had taken a step back....easier to use the BLM strategy

Language progams like the Mt Gravattt Reading Scheme were excellent but required a great deal of preparation and also supported individualisation. This was a Qld scheme well researched and the methodology was appropriate in indigenous schools

We seem to throw out the baby with the bath water. Research gives us pretty good idea of how children achieve strategies and skill but we persist with outdated methods

vanna,

I appreciate your concerns about the apparent silence of teachers when it comes to the 'rotten' system. I think you'll find that there are many teachers who have spoken out, and continue to speak out. The trouble is, if they speak out in public, their complaints aren't considered newsworthy or are blown up as 'more teachers whingeing'; if they speak out within their system, they are silenced by many layers of bureaucracy. I also appreciate your concerns about our claims for a payrise. I think we did have a case, though - certainly on my current payrate, I will never be able to afford to own a house or enjoy any of the luxuries enjoyed by other friends who spent less time studying and spend less time working. That said, I got myself into the job knowing that teachers are underpaid, and will continue to work in the profession knowing that. I will, however, take what I can get. I think the argument - that paying teachers better will attract more into the profession so we don't have to take inadequate teachers - does have some validity.

As for the concerns about teachers repeatedly using out-of-date resources (like blackline masters), one of the issues is the lack of funding within schools. Until recently, I worked in an English department with an annual budget amounting to approximately $7.00 per student. Take out $1.40 per year for task sheets, a further $1.40 per year for scaffolding and planners for assessment, and we were left with $4.20 per student - to cover any other photocopying, textbook purchases, professional development, IT supplies, chalk and any other expense that comes along. No wonder we were still using textbooks published in the late 1970s. This is not Mr Cullen's fault - he was a director of primary schools - but it is certainly a sign of the fish rotting from the head down. Despite our desire for more up-to-date resources and better PD, we simply couldn't afford it.

Otokonoko,
Pay rates do not necessarily bring about productivity gains. Some of the biggest financial collapses of companies have occured with very highly paid people at the helm.

Systems of measurement and accountability bring about productivity gains.

I have 2 jobs, but one company I work for (shift work) measures and reports on just about everything, from consumables coming in to the number of waste skips that leave each week.

It also measure the productivity of each employee on each day, and that goes into a report that is reveiwed in a face to face meeting with the company manager 4 times a year.

The wages for each employee are determined from those meetings, with company bonuses also given if the entire company meets performance targets.

Each employee is on staff (with no union backup) and is basically on call 24hrs a day 7 days a week. The annual wage from that job is about average wage in Australia, and teachers think they have it tough.

Otokonoku and Hasbeen. You're right. I am a failure. You devils you.
I wrote this article trying to draw attention to the dangers of a politically-motivated, learning-destructive, unilaterally-decided conversion of a school learning-based system to a hard-data one....and what sort of response did I get ? Fish smwlls...bureaucratic bungles...back to basics...schoolyard discipline...pay rise...'when I went to school' stuff.
It was a real failure. Except for some comments from some serial commentators and two new-comers to OLO, no interest was shown. Two of the seven serial writers were vitriolic. See above. Overall, it seemed to illustrate that disinterest in schooling is very, very high. At least it gave Oto a chance to converse with Vanna on topics that were not connected to this particular patch.
As GlenC said, "That's the way it is." Teachers and parents will probably vote the way they are used to voting; and I am wasting my time trying to get them to think deeply about the effects of testing on the future of this country. My short CV from the later end of my working life was no help, as it gave you both a chance to indulge. No sweat. As one of 'them', I'm hard to hurt.

Flip,

You were very lucky not to be paid according to performance. There would not be one area of education in QLD that shows any signs of improvement.

Teachers and education administrators are also lucky that litigation has not commenced on this education system for its massive failure to adequately educate, although litigation is being talked about by some university students regards the quality of their university education.

Personally I would think it a good thing that class action commenced regards the education system.

That short, sharp shock may be enough for individuals in the education system to really have a think about what they have created.

Otokonoku. Oops. I needed to say more. May I dismiss the bureaucratic rhetoric? When I was an inexperienced, struggling teacher, Oto, I treated all of 'them' with fear and suspicion, too; so I know where you are coming from. Your study of the Queensland system, though, seems impressive. I was there once, of course, and was proud to be a Queensland State School teacher. They are the best in the world. I'd be surprised with your knowledge of the State, that you didn't come to the same conclusion.
As you have, I'e seen many and varied examples of 'developmental learning' [as GAJ called it] and of the less effective kinds as well, sadly. I've been truly privileged to have been in ones that GAJ and Deborah L would have liked. Except for some in England, I haven't seen as good in seven other countries. There's the totally aboriginal school on the Gulf of Carpentaria where the pupils [about 60] turned up at 7.30 a.m. and had to be chased home at 5 p.m. because they liked all the 'achievement stuff', as they called it. There's the larger [200] school in a coastal town where 'mastery' was the catch-word. There's the large [800] school in Brisbane suburbia where 'thinking' promoted a love for doing well at all learnings. Literacy and numeracy reigned supreme in these cultures of achieving, mastering and thinking.
My schools during my 24 years at the chalk-face were not in the same class. Later, in the pilot seat, I tried to spread the word. If you read BACK TO DRASTICS [prophetic, I would boast] you will know why things did not go as well as they should....political posturing, restructuring management on a non-school business model, plumbers used as mechanics; and fair-dinkum-on-the-spot quality control banished.
Oto ! I've been there. Primary teaching is a wonderful, exciting, busy, productive occupation.

Please keep writing on these issues, Phil. There are people passionately concerned about the way education is heading in this country who are not teachers. In my case, an interested mother of young children, one about to enter high school and one due to start primary school next year (in NSW).

I for one would love to see your response to the critic who questioned how you promoted an alternative model of education in your time as a top bureaucrat working within the system and the barriers you may have encountered in this attempt. As someone who has not been in this system as an educator I don't know how it works, but am interested to know, because I can't understand how the bureaucracy (not just Gillard but all the senior administrators, curriculum writers and policy developers) continues to ignore the compelling evidence for education that is child-centred, encourages creativity and avoids standardised testing.

Also, I was sincere in asking how a revolution may be started in education. What are your thoughts? How can the system be changed in response to Gillard's reforms?

Professional development and support are essential components of strategies like developmental learning (this idea is well understood by good early childhood teachers) and this has been sadly lacking in the Qld system..........plenty of superficial stuff but not indepth embedding of the concepts and practical activities.

Learning at ones level of growth/development isnt merely a fantasy/good idea/lets see if it works concept............... it is the basis of ongoing learning....and it doesnt finish there as it also is relevant in High School but i suspect there are few HS teachers who acknowledge it in their teaching

On another tack:
Having had a grandchild "do" year 11 and 12 last year........... watched the ghastly assessment procedures which at times seem so irrelevant and pointless...treated derisively by students who seemed to gain very little from the testing and assignments, I despaired at the system and the torture it inflicts on students.

I dont see many children who are helped by the current system and wish we could have a revolution for the sake of sanity
Places like Finland have best practice methods which we could use and adapt............why isnt it happening?

We orchestrated our own revolution and decided to homeschool.
It gave me the greatest of pleasure earlier this year "not" to register my son for the NAPLAN tests - as we are able to choose our own methods of evaluation.

My children are able to attend a progressive democratic school which opts out of NAPLAN and has a wonderful learning environment (no tests at all, multi-aged classrooms with small class sizes, lots of free play, art and music, plenty of tree climbing, bare feet, lots of excursions, no busy work for the sake of it). But all children should be able to attend schools like this, and there is no high school available like this in Sydney. And I too despair when I look at the antiquated HSC and its ridiculous focus on rote learning and spewing out facts to pass exams. This is not learning, it is just memorising.

Thanks for responding, Filip, and thanks for causing me to go back and reread my posts. You are, after all, a human being - and my references to you weren't as respectful as they should have been. I apologise for that.

Now that you are a part of the discussion as well as an article writer, could you please explain why it is that you feel it is right to point the finger at Gillard who, in your byline, you blame (or thank) for the 'turbulent mess' that is school education. When you dig below the 'vitriol' in my posts, that is the fundamental question. What was it that prevented you from fixing the mess (or progressing towards fixing the mess) when you were director of primary education, and how was the federal minister responsible for this? GAJ indicates that you were responsible for some innovative practices - what happened to these? Why did they never take off, and why were they never given an opportunity to get education back on track?

Even if nobody else is, this vitriolic serial commentator is interested to know.

Deborah L.,
Thank you for your gracious comment. While I fear for the future of our kids, Deborah, I reckon that standing up for them is futile. The ballott box is the only place to encourage politicians to think squarely, but Public Schooling, mankind's greatest invention, is shockingly ignored. Heard 'SCHOOLING'or 'NAPLAN'or 'KLEIN METHOD' mentioned in the electioneering skits yet ?
I am aghast that the government and the alternative governments care little to nothing about children at school. I can't see any alternative for me but to vote informal this year after having voted mostly Labor for over fifty years. I used to think that such a course was cowardly; that one should join a party and fight for democratic action. I tried that. Also, I used to think that principals and teachers would never let their kids down on major professional issues. I'm tired of waiting. The silence is too deafening, and, sometimes, I hope that Dante was right when he wrote :"THE HOTTEST PLACES IN HELL ARE RESERVED FOR THOSE WHO, IN TIMES OF MORAL CRISIS, MAINTAIN THEIR NEUTRALITY." Maybe we can form a party called The Informal Party for the Reps and vote Carers Alliance for the Senate.
Yes, Deborah, I still have a vision as expressed on http://primaryschooling.net It's not well understood, so I shall need to tidy it up. Please keep in touch through venues such as this.

Vanna,
I wish that I had been paid the way that you suggest. Wow. We will use any measure that you approve.
By the way, your uni studes must have spent a long time in high school. I retired 22 years ago.
Onya

Having voted with our feet out the school door - I'm also planning to vote informal in this election, Filip. Like you, I'm a long time Labor voter.

Flip,
"We will use any measure that you approve"

Then go through the Master report, and find even one area of education in QLD schools that shows any improvement.

http://education.qld.gov.au/mastersreview/pdfs/final-report-masters.pdf

The QLD education system is a system in free fall, with major declines not only in maths and science, but possibly in English also.

It became a system whereby teachers did whatever they wanted and called it “education”, while at the same time calling for more and more public funding (most of which they spent on equipment, software and textbooks imported from other countries).

An absolute mess indeed.

Vanna,
There was no Master report that I recall, even in the early nineties, when things started to go pear-shaped. Geoff Masters from ACER, the Melbourne measuring business, wrote one a couple of years ago. I have it here. Check your maths. I don't disagree with the point that you are making, at all...that pupils need to be taught certain essentials... how to do it is the issue. Not sure about the origin of your Queensland reference. It was meant to be personal in some way or other, wasn't it? Have fun.
Vanna, I love confrontation. Sam Thaiday is my role model.I try to run at the mindless politicians throwing their weight around carelessly. I'm not doing too well.
Sorry Sam. It's the late tackles and listless support. I'm heading for the bench.
P.S.for Poirot. "Why vote normal ? VOTE INFORMAL." Agree?

Some kids survive the torture of schooling
The grandchild in question received an OP1 had her year 12 art hung in GoMA, has taken a year off, worked as a carer and has saved suffient to take herself to America for several months
Unfortunately she was more intelligent than many of her teachers and mature so her situation was even more complicated. Oddly enough she wasnt alone in her group

This teacher issue is a difficulty for administrators and head office.
I have encountered hundreds of teachers in my career and have seen so many dedicated thoughtful ones who give children such a zest for life however there are many who take the easy way out,many who refuse change because it requires effort or they dant have the intellectual rigour to adapt, many who are there for the money and some who dont even like children

The English syllabus in Qld was one which I liked very much but required a shift in methodology.
I saw it implemented with finesse and hard work by many teachers however within a decade it had disappeared and I could see tons of BLM being pushed through the machine.
The research into how children learn to read has been prolific but many still cling to the massive role phonics plays in that process ignorinig the valuable insights already available
While htis is a teacher problem I understand that the support for change has to come from the top.
Mr Cullen to give him his due supported many initiatives but take his hand out of the bucket, the water calms down and reverts to the easiest possibility

Filip,
"when things started to go pear-shaped"

Any system will go pear-shaped if nothing is put into place to adequately measure the performance of the system, and then address shortfalls.

Looking at the Masters report, QLD education is now below average for comparable countries in almost every area of education.

That comes about from spending large amounts of money for minimal accountability.

And who wanted to spend the large amounts of money for minimal accountability?