Banksia

Two letters in recent editions of the Sydney Morning Herald may be worth considering.

"In 1994, a writer in New Scientist commented on the stultifying effects of a national curriculum on the teaching of science in Britain. It is encouraging to see that Australia continues its tradition of waiting until a policy has palpably failed overseas before adopting it here.

Brian Cade Epping

Brian Cade (Letters, February 2-3) has good reason to be concerned if Australia follows educational practices of Britain.

After spending a year on teacher exchange, just outside Oxford, I can assure you that, though there is some teaching happening, even at times, good teaching, there is little or no learning going on anywhere within the state secondary education system.

In Britain children are subjected to a national policy of inclusiveness (of every behavioural problem imaginable); testing procedures covering a curriculum which alienates many within the school population; and where the school is tied to every possible statistic in an attempt to quantify education. It only assists in continuing to stifle any attempt at improvement within the school. Good students are forced to tolerate a classroom where disruption is the norm, at every level.

Surely, in Australia, we will not blindly follow a system which is not only flailing but is dead in the water.

Janice Creenaune Austinmer"

Discuss.

sammyg

yep, sounds like exactly what i have to deal with every flippin day in an INFANT!! classroom

so many children with challenging behaviour are disrupting other children's education. It's not working and it's not fair!!

(very 'un -pc' by the way for me to say that but i'm physically tired and my job doesn't seen as rewarding at the moment....and i'm off to aus in 5 weeks so i'm speaking my mind)

JenniGee

Personally, as a mum who regularly had to visit my daughter's school to take issue with the teacher who allowed the girls in the class to regularly be referred to as "******s" by a certain group of boys, only to be told I had to have more tolerance for children who came from less fortunate families, the sooner I get my kids out of this ridiculous system, the better!

esperanza

I would be the first to agree that the British education system has its problems, but to sweepingly announce that "there is little or no learning going on anywhere within the state secondary education system" is ridiculous, and makes me question anything else that the author offers as fact or opinion.
Of course there is still learning going on in the state system. And to claim that spending one year outside Oxford (or anywhere else) gives him omnipotent knowledge of the minds of all state school pupils is utterly ridiculous.

So there!

asher

as the mother of a past challenging behaviour child I hated inclusiveness with a passion my kid was so traumatised in his early exposure to bullying he tried multiple suicide attempts he is autistic, this came to a head when the big boys tried to drown him in a puddle by holding him face down in it.
taunts of spastic and many other horrible things gave my son a total distrust of other children.That was at infant school!

put special needs kids with like children so that they have friends.
I was told at my sons educational review that he should be kept in the local area to foster peer relationships!! They refused to listen to my pleas that his peers were his tormenters not his friends.

sammyg

Exactly! teachers and teaching assistants do not have the specialism in SEN that some children need. I have worked with children with Autism, but in a mainstream classroom with 28 other children i felt that they were not accessing everything they should have been!

In a Specialism school they have smaller classes and work is pitched at the right scale.
Life skills are far more important to SEN children than learning about the qualities of shapes!!!!!

God it's frustrating!!