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The Forum > Article Comments > De-schooling Australia > Comments

De-schooling Australia : Comments

By Chris James, published 14/11/2008

Kevin Rudd’s heavy hand of authority could see his 'education revolution' become the de-schooling of Australia.

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"The latest proposal is parents will be punished if their children truant from school."

This is perhaps one of the best innovations of Kevin Rudd. Education is serious business and is best left to teachers and those on the front-line -- the instructors, lecturers, professors, those that come in touch students on a daily basis.

The fewer advice the teachers have from education psychologists, "professors of education", and pedagogy "experts". the better
Posted by Philip Tang, Friday, 14 November 2008 4:33:38 PM
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that's britain, all right. and oz, except we have a better climate.

"you get the government you deserve" encapsulates the notion that if people are willing to tug their forelock, the 'uppers' will give them plenty of opportunity to do so. in fact, the uppers will teach the commons from earliest days that it's right that uppers rule and commons obey.

worse, when the result is endless war, frequent economic disruption, crime, poverty and ill-health- that's not the fault of the uppers, the commons did it. or at least, it's unavoidable. so they say, and you seem to believe it.

"you get the government you deserve" means if you swallow the notion that politicians should rule you, you're a sheep, not quite human.
Posted by bill broome, Saturday, 15 November 2008 5:56:32 AM
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The Post-Modern era of schooling has only served to undermine the lower class and empower the ruling class protecting their domination of the system. Outcomes based education only means that many young people now have no understanding of many basic concepts of reading, writing and arithmatic. For those who will not go on to higher education this is a sad thing. The inability to comprehend societies basics means that they do not have the skills to better themselves or recognise exploitation. While some of the old ways are best left in the past educational basics should not be one of those which is.
For hundreds of years the standard system turned out some of history's greatest minds. Let that not be lost in this system which tries to remove failure ill-preparing students for the realities of life.
Posted by Darron C, Saturday, 15 November 2008 6:46:09 AM
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Whenever I went shopping for schools for my children, all the brochures and open days ever had to say was that they were committed to ‘excellence’. With only one notable exception, no one ever asked me if excellence was what I actually wanted for my kids – indeed, whether it’s what my kids wanted for themselves.

The one exception was a dirt-poor, independent, alternative community school, which was the only education institution I ever encountered that was more concerned about whether my kids would be happy and relaxed during the 6 hours a day they spent there. They got my business. More importantly, my kids got thousands of wonderful learning memories to take through life.

Darron C

‘For hundreds of years the standard system turned out some of history's greatest minds.’

Not necessarily. A lot of people in earlier centuries were schooled at home or barely schooled at all.

The great unadmitted truth about education is that it’s not the system that turns out great minds – it’s genetics. Kids who have been blessed with high IQs (or the equivalent, like artistic or athletic talent) have successful school careers, which mostly (but not always) translate into successful life careers. Other factors - like drive, ambition and good connections - are desirable for success, but not as essential as innate ability.

Ultimately, schools have little to do with creating academic success but love to take the credit – as any awards night in the suburbs will attest. All schools really do is create an environment of learning. If kids had any say in the matter, they would probably prefer a school to be at least a halfway decent place to spend a huge chunk of their childhood.
Posted by SJF, Saturday, 15 November 2008 8:47:49 AM
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Darron C has it about right. If the system ain't broke don't fix it. The education system in my day worked well and allowed plenty of opportunity for minds and bodies to develop in fruitful ways. Competition, both academic and sporting was encouraged and discipline was maintained, when necessary through the appropriate use of corporal punishment.

We were taught to use our brains to both retain information and to work things out and I would say most pupils (students) who wanted to (and many who didn't particularly care) ended up pretty literate and numerate with a reasonable general knowledge. In high school there were one or two subjects that had a direct bearing on possible career paths but most were core subjects such as English, maths, science history or geography.

I would say the great majority of teachers enjoyed their job, teaching, because they were able to devote most of their time to just that and little of it in complying with the bureaucratic admin overload that they have to face today. They also were not faced with the behavioral problems that are now so prevalent in our modern society.

I could go on but basically what I am saying is that it worked and today it does not. We must be doing something wrong to have broken what was once intact.
Posted by kulu, Sunday, 16 November 2008 11:19:33 PM
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I wonder which planet darron C lives on?

Formal mass schooling only began in the 19th century and its sole aim was to pacify the population at large---mass crowd control.

It was never ever about providing the masses with the necessary intellectual and other tools for finding about Reality, Truth and The Beautiful.

It was always only about mass indoctrination to suit the needs of the captains of industry and the system altogether. Both of which were completely indifferent to the welfare of the masses.

Meanwhile in 2008, with rare exception, everybody's primary form of "education" or en-"culturisation" is via TV and associated electronic media.

You/we become what we put our attention on and/or with what we associate.

How many hours a day does the ususal normal infant/toddler/child/adolescent spend watching (that is being propagandized by) TV etc?

TV "culture" rules OK.

Thus we have the situation described in this references.

http://www.ispeace723.org/youthepeople4.html
Posted by Ho Hum, Monday, 17 November 2008 9:33:13 AM
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