Posts by Jolisa
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Lucy, I think a parental boycott would be awesome, and might - given how small NZ is - actually work. Done here, it may save the occasional kid but generally winds up punishing the schools, because of how tightly and punitively funding is tied to test results.
It depends very much on the school, too. (Note to self, must blog this properly).What we found over here with the old school was that their very borderline test scores meant for year-round drilling in an effort to get the scores up. Officially, of course, teachers only "taught to the test" for the month before the test. Unofficially, I could count on one hand the number of class activities and/or homework that was NOT somehow related to the tests or delivered in test format. It was repetitive, banal, occasionally just plain wrong or stupid, and the cumulative stress on our bright kid was horrible to witness. Also, recess was cut back to two days a week, and field trips were cancelled so children could get in a little extra maths practice, that sort of thing.
The one glimmer of leverage was that the school was anxious to retain every kid who could possibly pass the test without problem. As we discovered, they were terrified at the thought of parents keeping home the "smart" kids on the days of the test. Unfortunately the teachers were so strung out by the testing and its impact on their own careers - if scores drop below a certain level, schools are taken over or shut down, people lose jobs - that there was no possibility of common ground for broader action. So, no real parental leverage there. And of course test results were used to funnel kids into the gifted programs, so by boycotting the test you effectively forfeited any access to educational enrichment. Nice, eh?
The new school (although also a public school) is composed almost entirely of children of the professoriat, which means the kids don't need to be drilled on test-taking all year long, and the test itself is way less of a hassle. I mean, it's still a hassle, but the kids can treat it as a game and/or a joke and/or challenge. Meanwhile, they also get recess every day, and learn Chinese, and work towards elaborate musical pageants and generally do all that cool stuff that excites the learning brain, which was not a feature of the old school, where any "enrichment" activities were a) planned by parents and b) done after school hours.
The short version is that a national standards testing regime at the primary level takes a class system and entrenches it. The fight to get into high decile schools will only be fiercer, and children in low decile schools can pretty much kiss goodbye to any kind of fun, curiosity-driven, open-ended learning at school. The best they can hope for is creative ways of memorising material or approaches that will be on the test.
I feel so strongly about this because I saw what it did to a group of children (and teachers) I had hung out with for three years and cared passionately about. I managed to get my little lad into a lifeboat, but the others are still out there bobbing around in an ocean of statistics and reports, along with the teachers, who want to do their best but are hamstrung at every turn. It's a mess, and a heartbreak.
So, yeah. Bring it on. Boycott. Walk-out. Whatever it takes.
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Speaking of democracy, I see Anne Tolley is deploying the famous "bring 'em on" manoeuvre that worked so well for George W.
Having seen what the testing regimes have done to public schooling (and my kid) in the US -- and what teacher boycotts achieved in the UK in response to similar tests -- I expect NZ teachers and schools to go all out on this one.
If not, we've learned nothing.
On topic: our cat is a mouser, and either lays out his trophies whole for our approval, or devours them leaving behind only a curious green organ, licked clean. I forget what it's called but a friend who, uh, "works" with mice in medical research was able to identify it for me.
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Let's just say that a cravat was involved,
As you were, then. Anything with a cravat is fine by me.
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I gave a guy a handjob once and then found out he was a member of the Young Nats.
This should win the 'most perfect sordid story in one sentence' award, I think.
Or perhaps the 'most redundant sex act' award? (Not to belittle your generosity or anything, Joanna).
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Wow, Sofie. I debated that guy! He was cute, back in the day. In a dangerous dirty blond sort of way. And a fairly decent first speaker, IIRC. (His team won. It was generally considered prudent for the judge to award the debate to the "home team", as it were, so as to avoid being shanked on the way out.)
Hmm. For me, sordid/pleasant/funny never overlapped in satisfying ways; less Courtney Love, more courtly love. But kudos to those who have managed all at once.
PS Tom, are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting? And did you get to the bottom of the page?
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I am disappointed that this is not as I hurriedly surmised a thread lamenting Bob the baby's departure back to the fertile plains of the mainland.
Hee. I read it that way too, except I thought Russell had written "See you, Latte Bob." Quite the sophisticate, that wee lad.
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Oh, what a film. Managed to see it the other night. Gorgeous acting, great story, hot clothes, beautifully shot. I loved it.
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I note the book is still for sale on several overseas websites, and listed as being shipped from NZ; Penguin might want to send an update to its retailers.
In today's ODT, a very gentle thinkpiece by Prof Lawrence Jones.
The key quote:
Theft involves the calculated attempt to deceive, while probably the most Ihimaera can be accused of is carelessness about sources, excessive haste, and maybe taking a few shortcuts.
Weirdly, after reading this sentence I was suddenly overcome by an urge to re-watch Goodbye Pork Pie. (For our overseas visitors: also a classic NZ tale of carelessness about sources, excessive haste, and maybe taking a few shortcuts).
And elsewhere, a positively glowing review by Cathie Koa Dunsford. Blimey, did we read the same book?
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Only one degree of separation... and the title of the thread suddenly seems rather ominous. Has Dr H gone into hiding yet??
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Yes, I believe that technically Penguin only has jurisdiction over those bits actually written by their own author.
I'd have been tempted to say "All right then, just tell us which bits on which pages we are allowed to quote."
It would have saved me an hour or two.