Hello Kevin, It is indeed a very long march back to regain the initiative within our institutions.
A silly question; Are you related in ancestry to Ignatius Donnelly?
A publication of this author is located here;
And book mark the site. http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/e
It is a Gold mine.

Dear Mr Donnelly,
re:
"The fact is I taught for 18 years, enjoyed it very much and put a lot of effort into being with kids and teaching them something about English."
Posted by Kevin D, Saturday, 4 November 2006 9:27:46 PM

But you haven't put this on a timeline yet. Was it, say, 8 to 26 years ago, or 18 to 36 years ago (assuming an uninterrupted career)?

I'm not seeking the sort of tedious detail posted on the Wikipedia entry on Ignatius Donnelly. At the very minimum, I'd just like to read the conventional 4-digit code for last year you taught (eg 1994), and maybe whether you ever took any roll in a school parent's group.

In Victoria at least, outcomes based education is not left wing. It was officially introduced by the Liberals after the public had been softened up by the right wing Institute of Public Affairs. Under the current Labor Government, it includes content. It includes academic standards. It has a very rigorous grading system. It retains traditional disciplines. Below is the content part of my school's Year 8 History course, which is based on the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (our version of OBE):

'A student should:

'1.show knowledge and understanding of medieval societies:
1.1 daily life, the role and work of various groups, the division of labour between men and women, education, rituals and family, clothing, housing.;
1.2 the values and beliefs of medieval societies through their religions, myths and legends, and their social and political structures;
1.3 the ways that medieval societies were governed, political features and the nature of the political system, the dominant groups and how they established and maintained power;
1.4 key events and significant individuals (the fall of Rome, the Viking raids, the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror);
1.5 the influence of trade and contact with other cultures.

'2. know and use historical concepts:
2.1 time - chronology and sequencing, change and continuity, the ability to locate periods within a time frame;
2.2 cause and effect.

'3. compare key aspects of medieval and present societies;
3.1 aspects of 1 in medieval and modern times;
3.2 influences of medieval societies on contemporary societies; for example, the origins of written law, democracy and the calendar; the limitations on the power of the monarchs (through the rule of law and the writ of habeas corpus); and the origins of major world religions;
3.3 key concepts of democracy, governance, the rule of law, justice, religion, liberty, authority, leadership, culture;
3.4 key individuals' contributions and legacies.'

Rainier,

You are right in saying that Kevin Donnelly has a political motive. But that is equally true of the educationalists you refer to. The issue is not the political motive itself, but the extent to which that motive affects the way arguments are put forward.

Hi,

In relation to Australia's adoption of OBE, anyone familiar with William Spady's works and the Keating Government's national statements and profiles will know that OBE is new-age and left-wing. That is why the 1993 Perth meeting of education ministers decided not to endorse the national curriculum. Each state and territory then went its own way - NSW, as a result of the Eltis Report, maintained a focus on a syllabus approach, whereas states like Tasmania and WA went progressive and adopted OBE in a purer form. In Victoria, the CSF and CSF II adopted elements of an OBE approach and what in the US is called a standards approach. VELS, while not being as OBE focussed as Essential learnings still has elements of OBE.

Kevin

Quite so Kevin. Of course over here in WA we are still well and truely under the Outcomes Based influence, right through our school years. Even the year 11 & 12 debacle which has the government supposedly backing away from OBE, our Curriculum Council still wants to refer directly to the outcomes in assessment policy rather than assessing students on their progress against the soon to be introduced syllabii.

It is a problem over here as a result of the Liberals in government introducing OBE and some politicians, now in opposition, being loath to admit that it has been a failure. I am quite sure that the introduction of OBE was undertaken with the best of intentions. So I am puzzled that when it is now clear that good intelligent young school leavers can't spell or write a report and cannot do simple mental arithmetic calulations and other basic things, these same politicians cannot admit that it hasn't worked and it is time to move on get back to building academic success once more. The current facts are that many young people on leaving school "don't know much" and "can't do much".

The whole argument is not really political, but because the changes that are needed can only take place through government action, a political campaign has to be waged. I am quite confident that as more parents and grandparents recognise the harm that is being done to their children and grandchildren the government will get the message and act.

It is pleasing that NSW and Victoria are not so affected by negative impact of the purist OBE model that has been implemented here in WA.

Rainier, it is all very well to get a good chuckle out of Professor Read's demolition of Donnelly's work, but I'm afraid that rather misses the point.

The point is this: With no disrespect intended, who reads the Journal of the Science Teachers of Western Australia, except for West Australian science teachers?

The point is also this: With no disrespect intended, and with grateful acknowledgement to their contributions to the field, who outside of educational circles has heard of Doug White, Bill Hannan, Bob Connell, Dean Ashenden, Simon Marginson and Allan Luke?

It matters little if the educational establishment don't take Dr Donnelly seriously. They are not his audience. The public are, the politicans are, and they are listening to him.

It was not a West Australian science teacher or any of those eminent academics seated by the Minister's hand in that TV studio. It was Dr Donnelly. It was not a West Australian science teacher or any of those eminent academics pushing their barrow in The Australian for the last two years. It was Dr Donnelly.

Dr Donnelly's political agenda may be obvious to you and I. But what is also obvious, at least to me, is his sincerity and commitment to his agenda. While I count myself proudly as one of his most vociferous public critics, I can take nothing away from his dedication to the task.

Proponents of progress in education need to engage the public, not each other, with their arguments. Now. Preaching to the choir is a waste of time.