A few posters stated that Jonathan is allowed to post here. I have strong concerns about these types of articles.

I’d like to draw your attention to an article in today’s ‘Australian’ by Bryan Appleyard. It is timely and discusses the concepts I have mentioned on what was academic protocol until blogosphere came along. The link is:

http://australianit.news.com.au/articles/0,7204,21600950%5E15388%5E%5Enbv%5E,00.html

Appleyard expresses my concerns articulately, being that blogosphere allows anyone to write anything on any subject, justifying this often lack of appropriacy under the perception of freedom of speech. In the article, the author Andrew Keen describes blogosphere as‘the cult of the amateur … it’s all about digital narcissim, shameless self-promotion’.

Oliver Kamm (The Times) also hits the nail on the head with ‘blogs … do not add to the available stock of commentary: they are purely parasitic on the stories and opinions that traditional media provide’.

I believe blogs on teaching, amongst other subjects, attract what Appleyard describes as ‘aggressive males who use the internet to spew their vitriol’, and Jonathan Feedland of ‘The Guardian’ describes as ‘abusive, vitriolic [of] nature … appealing chiefly to a certain kind of aggressive, point-scoring male’.

Appleyard’s article also uses the example of a young college drop out by the name of Ryan Jordan, who ‘exploited the trust structure of the internet … to pretend he was somebody else, to steal the authority of academe’.

At this stage I’d just like to communicate to Simon Templar that I never gave a reason for why I send my children to a private school.

I've finished with this thread. But before I go, I'd like to finish praise the reasoned and intelligent responses to this article by the teachers who posted here. If you guys are indicative of the caliber of people attracted to teaching, then I’m proud to be part of the profession.

And to Yvonne and Ena. May every P&F Committee be administrated to by other good-willed parents such as yourselves, who pave the way to successful relationships between schools and parents.

This has been a most interesting thread. I think it a pity that not more parents/guardians have participated.

After more than 12 years communicating with teachers who taught my children, I can say, that, yes, there have at times been disagreements, but I've never come across a teacher who wanted any of my children to fail.

The content of curriculum, assessment methods and insistence of children progressing to the next year level regardless of achievement, not to mention school reports, I at times greatly puzzle over. As I understand it all teachers have to teach and work within these parameters. The contents and lessons I've found to be more or less the same in both private and public schools. So, it seems hardly fair that teachers at the coalface, so to speak, are made to bear the brunt of an allegedly failing education system.

My eldest just finished school doing the International Baccalaureate. We decided on this solely on the broad based curriculum content and method of assessment. I'm very pleased with the outcome. Same teachers, just maybe better quality material to work with.

Teachers, as any professional, should be paid whatever is fair and reasonable.

I cannot get my head around how paying individual teachers differently is going to improve the educational outcome for my children. Children are in the educational system for 12-13 years and encounter a different teacher each year, a different teacher for each subject. Or is there going to be an option for parents to be able to chose a higher paid and therefore supposedly better teacher for their child? Are parents going to get access to teachers' Performance Ratings? If not, than how is this scheme going to benefit my child? What absolute nonsense.

Well I have been involved in issues with Education for many years http://jolandachallita.typepad.com/education/ what I have found is that although only the minority of teachers were really bad at teaching the majority of teachers did not stand up for their students against the bullying and neglect by the system and not against the bullying in the playground. It is as if they were scared. To me that is failing in their duty of care.

So many times the teachers have seen my children being victimised, discriminated against and neglected by a system that targets those that speak out and although they have confided with me that what was being done was wrong, they said they couldn't do anything to help. They did not have the courage to stand up against the 'big guns' to stop what was happening to innocent children.

Although I appreciate that the reason that they said nothing was because they were gagged (I was told this directly) and because they believed that they would be targeted if they spoke out, they should have protected the children. That is how you gain respect. That is just my humble opinion.

"An expert is a person who avoids small error as he/she sweeps on to the grand fallacy." Benjamin Stolberg

And for those who use public education, care about its efficacy and achievment, and see it's central focus as the students and their families who use it: "We are made to persist. That's how we find out who we are." -Tobias Wolff, 'In Pharaoh's Army'

Brevior saltare cum deformibus mulieribus est vita

Sounds like contempt to me Simon Templar. Looks like contempt. Now your retreat into Latin confirms it.

Here's an aphorism - in English. He who has the least to say on a subject can be relied upon to say it most often.

Simon

I would find it hard to believe you could get any kind of woman to spend time with you.

Give up attempting to take a leaf out of Ryan Jordan's book. You're not as smart as him. You're not convincing anyone. Back to your books young man.