Those who can - do. Those who can't - teach.
Easy to say, that.
Despite that being in some respects, arguably, true - the process of education needs be sustained.

Heard a manager from SYD U. school of Medicine the other day talking about cost overruns and lack of technlogical progress being caused by the 'guilds'.

He submitted that progress in medicine cannot happen because of such 'interest'.
He suggested that professional stakeholders kept progress from happening.

I'd submit, other than some basic training, that I'd be able to teach youngsters very well without any sort of degree.

A trades qualification should do that job well into secondary school standard.
Comments?

I too have a horror story, involving a femnazi primary principal and funding mis-directed, when I spoke to her I was subjected to a tirade based on my being a male sole-parent, and about as far from reality as it was possible to get, so I pulled the kids from the public system and went private, a good move as it turned out. Once they hit HS I returned them to the public system, as there were no good private HS's in my area(Sthn Adelaide), and the Public was a recognised "centre of excellence", an agricultural high, and then moved my daughter into an even better one, Urbrae, a move that made her life!
There is good and bad,schools and teachers, public and private, and I spent many years on councils and committees, trying to make a difference, with mixed results. Half my family are teachers, so I have some insight on both sides. The root of all the problems is, IMO, a dependence on "experts", both in curricular and management, the schools no longer reflect reality, it's far too "PC",the teaching is "lowest common denominator", and the teachers are loaded up with so much BS that they are lost in a storm of paper, it's ludicrous!
I agree, a few good teachers from the real world, "trade qualified", would work wonders, it's not rocket science teaching primary!

Thank you Johnj, it's nice to know I'm still fast at something.

Robert, may you, & your son continue to be lucky. I did not suggest that they are all bad. I don't think you can blame the technology, I went to school in Townsville, in the 40s, in hot rooms, with 45 in a class, with only a black board, & chalk, but we all learnt to read.

Our older 2 both had great teachers, in a little 3 then 4 teacher school, in the sticks. It was only when we moved to a large, near city centre, that we found a large percentage of dead wood. Our youngest had a teacher in first class, who has never taught anyone anything. Only those who were taught at home learnt anything under her. If the perents did not see what was not happening, & take over the teaching, the kids learn't nothing, & then struggled for years. However, she is still at it, stuffing kids chances, 10 years later.

When we had our little coaching group going, for the senior kids, I asked the them to bring their maths C, & physics test papers home. We wanted to use them to find their individual weaknesses. We were told they the kids were not allowed to bring them home.

These kids wanted good OP scores, so some pressure was applied, until we got them. We heard the maths master was quite annoyed, as he now had to write a new test. He had been using that same test for 6 years, & didn't want the hassel of writing a new one, so did not want it out in public. He thinks he's worth more money, too.

That was not a bad school, it was I think, one of the better ones, & had a very good head master. However, he had both the union, & the department, making sure he could not make the changes required to improve the results for the kids.

Can I please ask for some advice,

I moved here three years ago and my own kids finished up at a local public school. The boy, always going to do well no matter where he went. The girl, never was, trust me.

But now I have another teen, with baby in tow, coming to stay.

Schools in the area are being looked at but higher powers are saying she should only go three days a week (she wants to go five quite desperately and is bright). Private schools don’t seem to be supportive of the idea of a three day week while the public schools say they can cope.

I do not understand the school system here, the public schools in my area do not have a particularly good name. Socially I think she may not be looked on favorably within a private school and socially that does matter to teenage girls.

Can I ask for suggestions? She is in year nine right now.

Hasbeen,

Your second post is quite interesting. You note that the headmaster did what he could to help out, but his hands were tied. I agree that the Teacher's Union is a bit of a dud, and counterproductive when it comes to achieving educational outcomes. The other body you blame - the department - is not made up of teachers. Sure, there are some former teachers in there, but nobody in EQ regional offices sets foot in a classroom these days, apart from the occasional publicity stunt.

I've actually thought a lot about your argument - that there are bad teachers thrown in way beyond their depth who then cost their students the results they deserve. It is very true. In Maths C, Physics, hell - even my colleagues in the English department make embarrassing spelling mistakes and some can't string a sentence together to save their lives (I know this wasn't a particularly good sentence, but I'm in a bit of a rush here). Do you really think, though, that cutting pay would solve this problem? If you're good at maths and physics, you can get a pretty good pay packet in many other fields, so why teach?

One thing that hasn't been publicised in the recent media coverage of the pay issue is that the union was pushing for a step towards performance based pay. They wanted to introduce a 'professional pay bracket' for those teachers who are good at their job and also go beyond the call of duty, committing themselves to extracurricular activities and to improvement of standards within the school. The department would have none of it. Certainly this does not address the issue of underperforming teachers, but it does provide a carrot of sorts for those of us who are competent AND committed to making a difference in our students' lives.

I am not sure performance pay for teachers would work even though in principle it may seem like a good idea. How do you deal with the vastly diverse demographics, curriculums and social issues from one region to another? How will you rate performance taking into account all these factors?

The problem is that we as a group have not respected the profession of teaching for some time. When I went to uni, the college down the road had accepted students into teaching who actually failed matriculation. If we respect the role of teaching we need to pay teachers more and ensure that the bar is raised for entry into education courses. Why do we expect lawyers to gain an entry score (UAI) of over 95 yet a teacher (vastly more important in my view) need only get 70 in some cases.

To attract the high achievers and the literate you have to raise the standards and the salary - simple as that.