Posts by Ian MacKay
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Tim: Great learning program! Enjoyed it muchly. Teaching/learning should be fun and meaningful. I do know many teachers whose enthusiasm is catching like yours, but have the feeling that the so called accountability over the last ten years has diminished that excitement. As for testing to standards what a disaster that would be!
Someone above reckoned that the policy (Truancy or Testing?) was prepared by the Min of Education?????
The long history of innovation in NZ Education has been driven from the classroom upwards. Huge strides in consttuctivism like Tim's program have come from the troops. Nearly all downward spirals like "behaviourism" have been driven from the top down. And they have failed. As for Politicians deciding Health decisions (Pharmac), or classroom practice (Testing) they must fail too.
Taxpayers should demand that Private Schools should be subject to the same testing as State Schools---taxpayers money! -
Graeme: The repeal of S59 did not want to put definitions in because this would give licence for some punishments to be interpreted as OK. ( Ideally it would read "No child should be hit ever.)
For the Truancy thing there are good reasons for truancy like bullying, gay baiting, abject failure, and these things are not necessarily within the control of parents. (My youngest disliked College intensely and wagged some of the time. He is now just completing his degree over Summer School, in spite of College.) -
giovani: Or John Key's kids in State school?
Bishop Paul Reeves is a past pupil of a State School and said he believed it was a great platform for success. -
It would be a serious blow to education if Private Schools continue to be exempt from ERO inspection, and now excused from Testing Standards.
Be very interesting to know exactly what the % of competency is. One could say 20% are below par but unless you can state what par is it becomes an arbitary figure perhaps set by politicians. There have always been kids who are going to score low because not every child is capable of being clever.
Then take into account the starting point. Some kids come from low socio-economic families and their progress can be massive but way behind the priviledged. Imagine the exodus of teachers from low decile schools because they will be judged to be failures. -
Jolissa: What a great post re your 7 year-old. I always subscribed to the belief that "children were not vessels waiting to be filled (Testing) but fires waiting to be lit." How much killing of your child's fire can he/she stand? And of course there is no research showing that homework enhances learning especially for the under 11's! Home work which causes kids to drill holes in paper and cause stress in parents, is of course counter-productive. Puts them off learning for ever. Am so sorry for him/her.
Politics and Education do not mix, as will be shown currently in NZ. -
Is Pharmac is a Public Service? Didn't National believe that Politicians should stay out of the Public Service? Must have been dreaming. Mmmm
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Giovanni: I think it was Farrar originally writing in the NBR. Checked. And was surprised that he had stepped out so far. Where is Craig with a colourful opinion?
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Peter: Scary stuff on No Child Left Behind. It seems to be predicated on Political Solutions rather than Eduacational ones. I wonder where the Nat/Act Policy came from? Ummm?
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Peter: How do feel about some sort of annual test which measures your child against a hypothetical average?
The only justification for testing children is that it is an appropriate test which does no harm, and only given if it will help the child to learn better. Standardised tests do not achieve any of the above.
I think that in Scotland the Annual testing had to be done on a certain date. In some schools the Principal would encourage certain kids to take the day off. Better School scores. Less damage to kids who would already know that they were going to "fail." -
Testing Standards in Schools? Where in the world has this been shown to have a positive effect? A negative effect? Certainly negatives in Britain and USA.
As well there have always been a group of kids who will never be clever enough to meet an "average level". They deserve support and confidence at their level of competence.
With the testing currently available and being used what a pity that the kids identified as being underachievers, are not supported. Every teacher knows who these kids are but early failures, peer pressure (better a riot in class than to be seen as dumb!) and pressure of class numbers means that these kids slip out and become truants. Use the money from National Testing instead on support for underachievers. Sad!