Oztennis your services are required
Feb 23rd 2004, 11:04 pm
#1
Dugongidae Member
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2002
Location: Wimbledon, England
Posts: 441
Oztennis your services are required
I don't want to tell tales but I have just left the Returning to the UK forum and there was a thread going on in there rubbishing the aussie and kiwi education systems and claiming the Uk one was far better.
quick, don the cape, your services are required to right this wrong.
quick, don the cape, your services are required to right this wrong.
Feb 23rd 2004, 11:26 pm
#2
Banned
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 4,432
Re: Oztennis your services are required
Originally posted by dugongs
I don't want to tell tales but I have just left the Returning to the UK forum and there was a thread going on in there rubbishing the aussie and kiwi education systems and claiming the Uk one was far better.
quick, don the cape, your services are required to right this wrong.
I don't want to tell tales but I have just left the Returning to the UK forum and there was a thread going on in there rubbishing the aussie and kiwi education systems and claiming the Uk one was far better.
quick, don the cape, your services are required to right this wrong.
Feb 23rd 2004, 11:55 pm
#3
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Scotland
Posts: 7,949
Re: Oztennis your services are required
Originally posted by dugongs
I don't want to tell tales but I have just left the Returning to the UK forum and there was a thread going on in there rubbishing the aussie and kiwi education systems and claiming the Uk one was far better.
quick, don the cape, your services are required to right this wrong.
I don't want to tell tales but I have just left the Returning to the UK forum and there was a thread going on in there rubbishing the aussie and kiwi education systems and claiming the Uk one was far better.
quick, don the cape, your services are required to right this wrong.
Dugongs
The perennial education debate and which system is superior!
Some (eg Mrs D) have posted figures from OECD or Times Ed supplement (or somewhere else) which purport to show that the Australian system outperforms the UK system NOW (not when 'we' went to school) in that it was higher up a 'league table'.
I remember having a number of exchanged posts with someone who compared Australian secondaries now with English secondaries 15-20 years ago and used this as evidence that the latter system is (was?) superior! I still hear 'you can't beat a good Scots education, best in the world' (was, possibly?)
Some have posted anecdotal evidence by comparing their children's recent experience in UK schools compared to Australian schools and they come down on either side as being superior.
I don't have very recent first-hand experience of Australian education. I can only go by the experiences of my brother's 3 children (1 at primary, 2 at secondary); my brother himself who is a university lecturer and head examiner of a secondary subject in Victoria and some of my friends who I see each year who teach in secondaries and primaries.
I'm going to disappoint everyone by saying it is impossible for me to come down in favour of either system (because I haven't taught in Oz schools in recent years). Of course it also depends what you are looking for - 3 'R's', social skills, broad based education, specialising in subjects, small class sizes, use of I.T, etc, etc, etc,
This one will run on and on if feel.
One thing I will say is that I feel standards are slipping in both systems - how else can you accommodate a much higher % of youngsters attending tertiary institutions if it isn't by lowering pass marks, more lenient marking etc? My 'gut feeling' too is that the standard of behaviour is declining in both systems. On a positive note we seem to be much better at identifying and helping those with learning and behavioural difficulties (no one was dyslexic when I went to school - I think not!) and class sizes are falling slightly and classrooms are better equipped.
Now, I don't have time to check this so don't pour thru' lookin' for mistooks pleaze folks.
OzTennis
Feb 24th 2004, 12:15 am
#4
Dugongidae Member
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2002
Location: Wimbledon, England
Posts: 441
Re: Oztennis your services are required
thank you, i'll make sure the definitive response is put on record to set matters straight.
cheers OzTennis.
cheers OzTennis.
Originally posted by OzTennis
Dugongs
The perennial education debate and which system is superior!
Some (eg Mrs D) have posted figures from OECD or Times Ed supplement (or somewhere else) which purport to show that the Australian system outperforms the UK system NOW (not when 'we' went to school) in that it was higher up a 'league table'.
I remember having a number of exchanged posts with someone who compared Australian secondaries now with English secondaries 15-20 years ago and used this as evidence that the latter system is (was?) superior! I still hear 'you can't beat a good Scots education, best in the world' (was, possibly?)
Some have posted anecdotal evidence by comparing their children's recent experience in UK schools compared to Australian schools and they come down on either side as being superior.
I don't have very recent first-hand experience of Australian education. I can only go by the experiences of my brother's 3 children (1 at primary, 2 at secondary); my brother himself who is a university lecturer and head examiner of a secondary subject in Victoria and some of my friends who I see each year who teach in secondaries and primaries.
I'm going to disappoint everyone by saying it is impossible for me to come down in favour of either system (because I haven't taught in Oz schools in recent years). Of course it also depends what you are looking for - 3 'R's', social skills, broad based education, specialising in subjects, small class sizes, use of I.T, etc, etc, etc,
This one will run on and on if feel.
One thing I will say is that I feel standards are slipping in both systems - how else can you accommodate a much higher % of youngsters attending tertiary institutions if it isn't by lowering pass marks, more lenient marking etc? My 'gut feeling' too is that the standard of behaviour is declining in both systems. On a positive note we seem to be much better at identifying and helping those with learning and behavioural difficulties (no one was dyslexic when I went to school - I think not!) and class sizes are falling slightly and classrooms are better equipped.
Now, I don't have time to check this so don't pour thru' lookin' for mistooks pleaze folks.
OzTennis
Dugongs
The perennial education debate and which system is superior!
Some (eg Mrs D) have posted figures from OECD or Times Ed supplement (or somewhere else) which purport to show that the Australian system outperforms the UK system NOW (not when 'we' went to school) in that it was higher up a 'league table'.
I remember having a number of exchanged posts with someone who compared Australian secondaries now with English secondaries 15-20 years ago and used this as evidence that the latter system is (was?) superior! I still hear 'you can't beat a good Scots education, best in the world' (was, possibly?)
Some have posted anecdotal evidence by comparing their children's recent experience in UK schools compared to Australian schools and they come down on either side as being superior.
I don't have very recent first-hand experience of Australian education. I can only go by the experiences of my brother's 3 children (1 at primary, 2 at secondary); my brother himself who is a university lecturer and head examiner of a secondary subject in Victoria and some of my friends who I see each year who teach in secondaries and primaries.
I'm going to disappoint everyone by saying it is impossible for me to come down in favour of either system (because I haven't taught in Oz schools in recent years). Of course it also depends what you are looking for - 3 'R's', social skills, broad based education, specialising in subjects, small class sizes, use of I.T, etc, etc, etc,
This one will run on and on if feel.
One thing I will say is that I feel standards are slipping in both systems - how else can you accommodate a much higher % of youngsters attending tertiary institutions if it isn't by lowering pass marks, more lenient marking etc? My 'gut feeling' too is that the standard of behaviour is declining in both systems. On a positive note we seem to be much better at identifying and helping those with learning and behavioural difficulties (no one was dyslexic when I went to school - I think not!) and class sizes are falling slightly and classrooms are better equipped.
Now, I don't have time to check this so don't pour thru' lookin' for mistooks pleaze folks.
OzTennis
Feb 24th 2004, 8:46 pm
#5
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2003
Location: Scotland
Posts: 7,949
Just to bring this to the top again a government report on Mathematics in secondary schools in England and Wales was published yesterday and featured in the news bulletins. Essentially it said that not enough pupils are choosing to pursue Mathematics beyond GCSE, that standards were falling, that they couldn't attract new graduates into teaching the subject and that youngsters are less able at working out percentages, interest rates etc (eg original price £20, 25% discount, how much is the sale price stumped most).
Of course a further study has been commissioned to come up with recommendations and initial thoughts are that the government might opt to pay Mathematics teachers more and courses could be changed to make them more relevant to the real world.
OzTennis
Of course a further study has been commissioned to come up with recommendations and initial thoughts are that the government might opt to pay Mathematics teachers more and courses could be changed to make them more relevant to the real world.
OzTennis
