British Expats - education system

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Re: education system

What I have always wanted for my children, since they have been at school, is to know what is expected of them, given their individual abilities. With this information I can then work, with their teachers, to help them achieve their potential. I don't think this is unreasonable and do not understand why some teachers find this approach so threatening. I can't think of any other circumstance where I would hand my children over to a "professional" without first having a dialogue with them.

Re: education system

Quote:

Originally Posted by Safin (Post 6971212)

It surely makes sense that any decent parent will choose the school - and by definition the teachers - they think are the best able to provide the education for their child(ren) they believe most suitable. And one way of assessing this is by the general level of results that those teachers (and therefore schools) achieve as this is what gets them first jobs and uni places. That goes alongside the ability to think critically, an interest and willingness to learn, a sense of responsibility for their own futures, a broader understanding of social skills etc etc etc

I agree that it is useful for parents (and indeed for teachers looking for jobs) to have published results so they can assess how good the school is in that way. The problem with this, IMO, is that this sort of testing and publishsing of results puts pressure on teachers to get good test results which is not the same as teaching their students well. Unfortunatley many kids then end up being taught to pass the test and not educated. It's for this reason that I don't think these sorts of results should be published.

NAPLAN results for your own child though- I think parents have the right to that if they want it.

Re: education system

I can see the danger of being taught to pass tests not educated but do you really believe that simply not publishing the results will achieve this. I would say this is very naive.

Getting good test results are not mutally exclusive to teaching students well.

Re: education system

Quote:

Originally Posted by Safin (Post 6971699)

No I don't believe that simply not publishing achieves good education, but I do believe that publishing them can lead to students being taught to pass the test- I hope you see the distinction here.

Good test results are certainly not mutually exclusive to good teaching and learning (and I hope my students get both- they certainly get the good results part, I cant really comment on my own teaching without sounding arrogant ;). However nor are they really a particularly good indication that students are taught well- certainly not things like NAPLAN or SATs anyway.

Like I say I know parents like the results to compare but I firmly believe that at many schools in the UK the introduction of published SATs results has had a terrible effect on students education (in some schools for instance year 9 science from xmas onwards is SATs revision). With NAPLAN not being published fewer (not none unfortunately) schools are going down this path.

Re: education system

Well I think my sons may have been one that has suffered as they spent ages working specifically towards Naplan.

Re: education system

Quote:

Originally Posted by hereshoping (Post 6971933)

The difficulty is that the UK's use of assessment was so flawed that people often think that assessment should be avoided at all costs.

I've just been into school today and I have to say that I left with a great feeling of contentment in that the classrooms are fantastically decorated with children's work and helpful hints, the teachers are very friendly, helpful and clearly hard-working and my children are immensely happy at school.

Yet there remains this niggle that if it wasn't for my own teaching of maths to my own children, then I would have no idea what they know, what they don't know, what their potential is and what gaps in their knowledge exist. And despite professing that maths is taught everyday, it isn''t!