Posts Tagged ‘Education’

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Lessons to be Learnt from the Sticky Tape Incident

November 14, 2010

I was disturbed to read of the alleged incident involving a teacher accused of sticky taping students’ mouths shut in dealing with unruly students.  Whilst I am horrified at the alleged incident, and the teacher involved, if found guilty, will get a justifiably serious penalty for her actions, I think there are other issues worth considering in relation to the case:

The report says that, “the school has been aware of previous occasions where the teacher has struggled to manage her students.” If that is the case, what was done to support this teacher?  If a teacher is struggling to deal with the management of their class, it is up to the school community to support the teacher.  When a teacher struggles to manage their class, it can have a very negative effect on their self-esteem and can make them impatient and irrational.  Whilst that in no way excuses unprofessional behaviour, it is a sign that the teacher requires some assistance and support.

Teachers, more often than not, join the profession to make a difference to the lives of their students.  They often have the best of intentions and a selfless approach to their job.  However, they soon realise that it can be a very difficult and under-valued profession.

Studies often show that teaching is among the most stressful of occupations, with difficult parents, students, school boards and staff members all factors in pushing teachers to the limit.  While I again stipulate that there is no excuse for acts of aggression against students, it is important to have structures in place that help teachers that are suffering from some of the difficulties that come with the job.

 

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Television and Body Image

November 12, 2010

It seems that television has an incredibly strong effect on our kids’ body image.  Television, especially advertisements, depict a world of wafer-like slim models that lead impressionable children to measure themselves against what they see on the screen.

A landmark study, recently brought to my attention, was conducted by Harvard Medical School focussing on Fiji.  Prior to the introduction of television in Fiji body weight was seen as sensual thing and hardly something to be anxious about.

The Harvard Medical School visited Fiji to evaluate the effect of the introduction of television on body satisfaction and disordered eating in adolescent girls.

In 1995, television arrived and within three years the percentage of girls demonstrating body dissatisfaction rose from 12.7 per cent to 29.2 per cent.  

Dieting among teenagers who watched TV increased dramatically to two in every three girls and the rate of self-induced vomiting leapt from zero to 11.3 per cent.

I am not advocating against the right for advertisers or television executives to sell products and make the kind of entertainment that sells.  I do however, request that wherever possible, all involved make responsible choices and consider the effect their content has on impressionable children.

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Finally, a Voice of Reason!

November 11, 2010

It is my vision that both private and public schools should be looked after and properly funded.  I am tired of the private vs public school debate over funding.  If our Government is really serious about education, they will invest in private education to ease the burden on the taxpayer whilst also ensuring that our public schools are appropriately funded and given every chance to thrive.

In steps a voice of reason.  Dr Kevin Donnelly, the Director of Education Standards Institute, makes the following points in defence of funding our private schools:

The facts are that non-government schools have been underfunded for years. While state school students, on average, get $12,639 in funding from state and federal governments, non-government students only receive $6,606. Schools and parents have to pay the rest.

The saving to governments is about $6,000 a year for each student, adding up to a saving of about $7 billion a year. It’s also true that the state school system would collapse if it had to enrol all those thousands of students currently in non-government schools.

Critics like the AEU argue that non-government schools are drowning in government funding. Wrong. Wealthier non-government schools like Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar only get 13.5 per cent of the cost to government of educating a state school student. Even less well off non-government schools only get 70 per cent of the state school cost.

Let’s put the non-government vs government school debate to bed, and focus our energy on making sure that all of our schools receive the appropriate amount of support.

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Pay Attention to our Principals

November 10, 2010

Just a week after the damning State of our Schools survey that shone light on some of the challenges faced by teachers and schools, a new survey has surfaced. Actually, the survey which shows that principals thought students were being dumbed down by poor resources, red tape and stressed principals, is not new at all.  It was completed in 2008 and summarily ignored by the Victorian State Government.

The report was so bad the Government swept it under the carpet for two years until it was leaked to the Herald Sun this week.

In the 220-page report, principals complained of:

RED tape being a huge hurdle in teaching kids.

SCHOOLS crippled by a lack of resources.

UNDERSTAFFING being a major issue in more than half of schools and extreme stress affecting 42 per cent of principals.

A CHRONIC breakdown in Education Department decision-making and support for teachers.

PRINCIPALS being worn out by the pace of change forced by bureaucrats.

It is time politicians stopped talking about how passionate they are about education and started taking decisive action.

Don’t talk!  Pay attention and fix the problem!

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Jamie Oliver to the Rescue

November 9, 2010

Just what we needed after last weeks downplaying of our childhood obesity problems.

British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver launched his “Ministry of Food Australia” scheme on Monday, aiming to teach people “down under” how to cook and eat more healthily.

“Today will be a landmark day in the history of Australia’s fight against obesity,” Oliver said in a statement.

As you may know, I am so passionate about this issue, I have written a novel featuring a boy grappling with body image issues.  It is great to see that Oliver’s successful British campaign is now coming to Australia.

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Proper Reward for our Teachers

November 8, 2010

AUSTRALIA needs a more professional approach to evaluating and rewarding teachers than the promise of bonuses for just 10 per cent of staff in any year, according to a leading United States researcher on teacher performance.

Drew Gitomer, a director of Educational Testing Service in New Jersey, says policymakers should trust teachers to develop professional standards, rather than imposing standards and bonus schemes on them.

I’m not a big fan of bonus payments to teachers.  I prefer an across the board payment rise.  I think that the bonus system is flawed for the following reasons:

  1. It creates unnecessary competition amongst teachers.  Teachers are supposed to work together and collaborate, not compete against each other.
  2. What fair method can one possibly use to measure how good teachers are?
  3. Where did they come up with 10%?  What kind of message is that sending to the rest of the teaching fraternity?  Are they not worthy of extra pay for their time and dedication?

Teachers do a difficult job.  Many get burnt out.  Some leave because the pay is insufficient to meet cost of living expenses.  It’s time to stop using teachers as a scapegoat when dealing with the academic results of our children, and support them with a framework that helps them excel.

 

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Posted in Teachers Salary | 1 Comment »

Downplaying Childhood Obesity

November 7, 2010

Dr Jennifer O’Dea from the University of Sydney claims that Australia’s childhood obesity problem is an “exaggeration”. An exaggeration?

Dr O’Dea also said the scale of this problem for Australian children has become increasingly overblown.  “People have to stop exaggerating the numbers about childhood obesity – that’s not to say that it is not an issue but you know, hysteria, fear campaigns and exaggeration are not very scientific … In children and teenagers, obesity has been stable really since the late 1990s … and around Australia, it is still about six per cent.”

Whilst I don’t subscribe to hysteria or fear campaigns it is my experience that obesity is still an area of deep concern.  Whilst the numbers may have stabilised in recent years it has not sufficiently decreased.  This isn’t about “blaming and shaming and finger pointing and focusing on how the parents have failed,” as Dr. O’Dea asserts, it’s about taking enough of an interest to help tackle the problem rather than sit on our hands.

I agree with Dr O’Dea that a junk food tax is not the answer, but I find that downplaying the problem beacause it isn’t getting worse is simply not responsible.

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Single Sex vs Co-Ed

November 6, 2010

According to a Courier Mail report, there is an increasing preference towards single sex classrooms. Education experts say the trend of single-sex classrooms for young students is gaining momentum and works, but the State Government has left the matter up to principals as the debate heats up in primary schools. Personally, whilst I realise that the data shows that single sex classrooms are more inclined to deliver favourable academic outcomes, I think that the classroom is supposed to be a microcosm for the outside world. A co-ed class gives students much-needed experience in  repect and appreciation for different cultures, genders and nationalities. Besides, I prefer teaching co-ed classes because I like a diverse and multi-faceted classroom.

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Posted in Teaching boys | 3 Comments »

What’s Up With Detentions?

November 5, 2010

According to a ntnews.com report, 20 young children have been given detention by their school because they refused to swim in a pool.  Apparently, the pool was too cold for them.

Eva Lawler, NT Education Department Executive Director for Central Australia (now that’s a mouthful!), defended the school saying that, “In accordance with the school’s Code of Conduct – which is well-known to all the students – students who do not complete expected work during class time … are expected to attend … afternoon detention.”  Ms Lawler said all the students involved were aware that if they did not wish to take part then they needed to provide a note from their parents.

Sometimes I feel like schools are way too trigger happy when it comes to giving out detentions.  Swimming programs are supposed to be fun for the kids.  If they refuse to get in the water, chances are the conditions and/or program is not up to scratch.  No detention is going to suddenly make them want to brave the cold.

Detentions are for enforcing fundamental school rules.  If you hand out detentions for not providing a note from parents, detentions become trivial and lose all meaning.  I remember getting detentions for forgetting to bring my sport uniform and once for sneezing too loudly (I had a cold and shouldn’t have been at school).

I hope I never have to give a student a detention for nothing more than a reluctance to swim because the water is too cold.


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National Curriculum Proves Rocket Science

November 4, 2010

It seems that Science is the most challenging subject for curriculum officials to agree on as they endeavour to complete the national curriculum.  We teachers have been waiting for a while to find out what the completed national curriculum looks like, but at the moment all we have available to us is a rough draft.

The chairman of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, Barry McGaw, said the curriculums for maths, English and history were ”essentially done and dusted” but more work lay ahead to achieve agreement on the science curriculum.

”Comparisons show Australia is in the top five countries in science by the time students are 15. But we’re in the bottom 10 to 20 out of nearly 60 nations in how much our kids like science, how important they think science is for their futures, and how important they think science is for the national future,” he said.

”So we’ve got students who are good at a subject but are not engaged with it and thus not likely to continue to engage with it.”

It sounds like ‘spin’ to me.  I’ve heard that the draft science curriculum was panned for being too difficult for teachers to effectively implement.  The national curriculum has been marred with bad publicity, and teachers are starting to get a bit edgy.

I just hope the final product is worth the wait.

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