Dear George,

Thanks for your kind words.
They are appreciated.

Dear Hasbeen,

My children went through a similar experience
as yours. Their so called "Modern" male teacher
fell very short of the mark in maths and science.
We ended up having to hire a private tutor with
the end result being that one child caught up,
but the other hates science to this day - although
he's good at maths - thanks to his previous
"Old fashioned" teacher.

A few years ago I went to a conference where I was presenting, and wandered into one of the other sessions. This one was on education and someone presented a table with educational incomes and expenditure per head.

The thing that struck me was that the best outcomes were being gained by some of the lowest spending education systems. These were in countries like Japan, Korea and Singapore where they have larger class sizes than here, and less opulent facilities.

It was impossible to tell from the tables, but I speculated that a couple of things were probably happening. One was that larger classes meant that teaching was more traditional, and I suspect in science and maths that probably works better than some more modern free-form styles. The other thing I suspected was that teachers could be paid more because they were being twice as productive (literally when you have a class of 50 compared to 25).

This is speculation, I've never checked that out, but it fits my prejudices,which are that traditional teaching styles work better than more recent ones; and that if you pay good money you will get better teachers, and the smaller the class size the harder it is to afford higher wages.

Graham,
While agreeing that the traditional style of teaching is more likely to produce better results because of the focus on basic concepts, I think that educational success in Japan, Korea and Singapore may have more to do with the general attitudes and family ethics of these cultures.
A child who learns well in any culture is almost always the recipient of much support and encouragement in their home. They usually have access to materials and information outside of school hours - their parents are more likely to be their educational mentors, even if they are not specifically aware that they have taken on that role. In this situation there develops a reciprocal idea between the parent and child that certain efforts and responsibilities are expected from each party - and this is not lost on the child who carries this attitude to school.
So, while it is in the best interests of society to have the very best quality teachers to mentor our children at school, it is imperative that parents take an equal interest in the education of their children.

A Primary School Principal once told a group of parents that you can have all the knick knacks and electronic gadgetry in the world but if you have an exceptional teacher they can do so much more even with a piece of chalk and a blackboard under a tree.

Curriculum is important but we shouldn't forget the importance of quality teaching staff.

I didn't think the science curriculum looked too bad.

http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/static_20100305123951/docs/Science%20curriculum.pdf

Pelican

Many thanks for the link, I thought it worth reproducing the aims of the proposed science curriculum.

<< The aims of the Australian Curriculum: Science are for students to develop:

· an interest in science and a curiosity and willingness to explore, ask questions and speculate about the changing world in which they live

· an ability to investigate questions about the world using scientific inquiry methods, including questioning, planning and conducting experiments and investigations based on ethical principles, collecting and analysing data, evaluating results, and drawing critical, evidence-based conclusions

· an ability to communicate their scientific understandings and findings to a range of audiences, to justify their own ideas on the basis of evidence, and to evaluate and debate scientific arguments and claims whilst respecting alternative viewpoints and beliefs

· an ability to solve problems and make informed, evidence-based decisions about current and future applications of science while taking into account moral, ethical and social implications

· an understanding of historical and cultural aspects of science as well as contemporary science issues and activities and an understanding of the diversity of careers related to science

· a solid foundation in science knowledge and understanding of the biological, physical and earth and space sciences, including being able to select and integrate science understanding in order to explain and predict phenomena, to apply that understanding to new situations and events, and to appreciate the dynamic nature of science knowledge. >>

High aims, yes, a disgrace? No.

To facilitate such goals requires quality teachers, and I agree that a good teacher can do more with simple chalk and board than a poor teacher with the latest technology

Thanks for putting up the science curriculum Peli. Ok, its only a draft but it looks reasonable to me too, even the "science as human endeavour" component.

I think we all recognise that the 'quality' of the teaching staff is a priori. Nevertheless, how do we do that given the 'shallacking' teachers in general, and scientists in particular, have been getting over the last few years?

Obviously, putting the money back into education is a must, but as I alluded to before, there is a more fundamental problem our society must address.

Graham identified cultural differences, I think Poirot explained it well. It is more to do with a culture's expectations rather than their teaching style or class size. We all know about the stresses that various Asian students live with if they don't succeed academically, even here in Australia.

Having a good curriculum is one thing, how to teach it and providing the resources is another - neither will be any good unless we can change our laissez-faire attitude to the importance of education. Indeed, there does seem to be a concerted effort by some to 'dumb-down' the masses - their efforts in anti-intellectualism most pronounced in science, this is a travesty.