Education
There’s a hidden epidemic of bullying in Australia – and it’s not in the schoolyard. The corporatisation of universities has led to an increase in students bullying their lecturers for better marks.
“It’s often the international students, whose families have sacrificed so much to send them to university,” says one lecturer in the arts and social sciences faculty at the ANU.
Dr. Janet Shepherd* admits bumping up one student’s Credit to a Distinction, because he stalked and harassed her daily via social media.
Continue reading "Fee-paying uni students bully academics for good marks" »
Anyone trying to understand the politics of the federal health takeover purely from a policy perspective is only seeing half the picture. Beyond the rights and wrong of hospital funding is an attempt to shift the political game onto Labor’s home turf.
If you wanted to beat Geelong you wouldn’t go to Skilled Stadium, if you wanted to run over the Broncos you’d stay away from Lang Park because local knowledge and crowd loyalty can have a real impact on the final result.
Likewise in politics, where home ground is not dictated so much by geography, but by the issues being fought over.
Continue reading "Home-ground advantage counts in politics" »
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Matt says:
Then go to newspoll.com.au and have a look. Do you want me to come over later and wipe your bottom for you too? Read more »
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DWest says:
@matt the link doesn’t work. Read more »
The leaks have started, the little details of the federal government’s plans to rescue the health system are starting to filter out, with stories in newspapers hailing Health’s Shot in the Arm and Rudd to Cut Away Dead Tissue.
But beneath the gushing promises of more beds and more money there are signs that the government is considering changing the way it funds hospitals.
NSW doctors support any measures that untangle the way health is currently delivered. There are too many layers of management, too much complexity in the funding, and not enough focus on patients. So we agree there are problems. But our starting point is that any solutions should be focussed on untangling the current mess.
Continue reading "How bureaucrats could step in and ruin health reforms" »
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casba says:
@ Persephone Ah Persephone! I knew I would get a response. Fair suck of the pomagranete seed (illuding to your love of the underworld)....clearly you have almost chocked on your own bile and froth….or hubris! You have totally missed my intended subtlety and opted for the typical narcissistic response. However,… Read more »
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Jack says:
Shere, I suggest you go and see your doctor immediately. Read more »
The most dispiriting intellectual spectacle of the past decade would have to be the so-called “history wars”, where academics, politicians and commentators on the extreme left and right battled for domination in telling the story of modern Australia.
The history wars were essentially an exercise both in understatement and overstatement. The right-wingers tried to pretend that Australian history was nothing other than a happy story involving the orderly and humane progression of European civilisation on these shores, where no indigenous children were ever stolen, no families ever broken up, and whatever dislocation or hardship Aborigines experienced was at worst an accident, brought about by the purest of motives.
The left-wingers retaliated by branding the conservatives as liars, and telling a version of Australian history which reads like a long string of human rights abuses, with repeated acts of savagery against a wholly peaceful indigenous populace.
Continue reading "Taking off the white blindfold and black armband" »
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Elio says:
From all the comments below it is obvious that HIstory is very subjective and should not be taught. Much more helpful would be elements of critical thinking, psychology, law, medicine and economics. Read more »
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chenholio says:
OMG Gav, lighten up! As the goddess of the underworld admirably articulates (11:15 p.m. 2/3/10) the role of Chinese medicines and indigenous creation myths appear to be valid (in this DRAFT document) when presented in context - something the media has patently failed to do. Max is right to be… Read more »
The scene is a Thursday evening in a suburban Australian home in 2018. Dad is on the biodegradable couch watching some vintage Mad Men, remastered in interactive 3D, on a fifth-generation iPad. His 10-year-old daughter throws a digital notebook in his lap. “Daddy, can you help?” she says. “I’ve done the statistical tables but I’m not sure how to justify the relationship between the variables.”
Forget emperor Nasi Goreng building the Great Wall to keep the rabbits out. The draft national curriculum released yesterday will test future parents almost as much as it does kids. Much of its maths and science content is currently the preserve of think-tanks and universities, stuff wholly alien to modern parents and even recent graduates of Australian schools.
For all the arguing about how the curriculum handles history this is primarily a document about the future. Is about building new skills Australia will need in its workforce over coming generations.
Continue reading "An insight to a future of nerdy number-crunchers" »
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Sarah says:
I’m with Coglo on this one. I went through a state high school in Victoria the 80s - good old Cain/Kirner experimental years. In Year 12, my chemistry teacher wasn’t even in the room for about half the classes. Meanwhile, my mum works in a childcare centre. She gets the… Read more »
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Leo says:
Good point Tom, Australia should be considering how the Government can spend money on training people for employment in the USA. Read more »
It’s Dominique Goode’s first day of school. She’s wearing a pretty fuchsia dress and her brown hair is in a bun decorated with a sparkly butterfly clip. She walks into her kindergarten class with twenty six new students, one line of boys and one line of girls. Inside, Dominique puts on a bright orange name tag.
“Hands up if you can see Miss Goode’s name tag around her neck?” she asks the children who sit cross legged on the floor before her. All the hands shoot up.
Today is Miss Goode’s first day as a teacher as well as her students’ first day of formal education. She graduated from university last year and this is day one at Sacred Heart Primary School in Villawood in Sydney’s West.
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6clegs says:
Enjoyed the story. but i look at Ms Goode, and i can’t help but think about the poor sods who drew the short straws and have to deal with the tribe of unruly brat-children that live next door to me? I certainly hope [for new teachers across Tassie] that the… Read more »
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Jon Dee says:
Great article Leigh - I really enjoyed reading it. It reminded me of the first day that my oldest daughter had at school. That in turn reminded me of my own first day at school - it’s funny how the milestones that your children achieve remind you of a similar… Read more »
The launch of the MySchool website has resulted in some of the most contentious debate about education in our country in a long time. It seems everyone has an opinion, with teachers, parents and policymakers all putting forward their perspectives on what is arguably the government’s first major step in identifying the discrepancies in the quality of education provided between schools.
Putting aside the pros and cons of this method of measurement of a school’s success, the one thing there is no argument about is the site’s success in igniting discussion at every level of society about education in Australia.
We have known for many years that too many students are leaving school without the skills needed to participate in the 21st century (characterised as the knowledge era). This is in part because, as Sir Ken Robinson, a leading education advisor from the UK, observed in his visit to Australia last year, our current education systems are stuck in the industrial era and are in many cases inhibiting rather than nurturing the talents students need to succeed.
Continue reading "MySchool should help us reinvent education" »
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acker says:
And those in remote areas including indigenous townships should perhaps be paid a great deal more than those teaching in well off suburban public schools. Again to attract the better more capable teachers out to them. Read more »
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acker says:
@Bruce It might also tell us better teachers need to be paid more money to attract them to teach in Cabramatta rather than Double Bay Read more »
Deciding to take a peek at the My School website was a little like tuning in to Big Brother – I knew what I was about to see might alarm me, but I couldn’t help being drawn in for a little look.
And given the huge number of hits on the site over the last few weeks, there is no doubt that education – and the quality of education – is a huge issue, although I did wonder if they were all guilt ridden mothers like me who spend too much time on the net.
Just like Big Brother, My School has proven a high rater on the shock factor. I saw schools extolled by Ministers as models of inspiration and hard work look like they’re failing.
Continue reading "My School is a stunt if it’s not backed by funding" »
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natasha says:
Doesn’t it come back to housing, land values and the way Sydney has become a divided city and NSW a divided state? We have such blatant divisions between the rich and poor in our city/ State. This is what needs to be addressed. We need public housing, more of it,… Read more »
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Usually a Labor voter says:
Persephone, The Naplan results have always been available to parents - they appeared in school annual reports and were available at any time if requested from the school. In that sense, the My School website hasn’t provided any information that wasn’t previously available. Saying that funding is available because of… Read more »
In the mid 1990s the teachers credit union Satisfac came up with a kindly and seemingly innocent idea to celebrate the excellent work of its teacher members.
The credit union, which historically had served teachers but like many other institutions now has a wide customer base, decided that to recognise the role of the teaching profession in its own development it would establish an annual awards event called The Best Teacher Awards.
But when the awards were initially proposed the reaction from the teachers union was one of outrage and dismay. Satisfac was told in no uncertain terms to shelve the idea, with the union arguing it was the height of impertinence for a credit union – or anyone else for that matter – to declare that some teachers were better than others.
Continue reading "My School brawl exposes unions’ culture of mediocrity" »
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angryteacher says:
Without the time to read every comment, the idea of performance based pay for teachers will not work for one simple reason: no two schools, no two classes, no two students are exactly alike. How could the performance of a Year 1 teacher in a leafy inner city suburban primary… Read more »
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Jolanda says:
Greg the keeping of my kids down was by the Selective Schools Unit (SSU) not by individual schools. The SSU tampered with their test marks and school applications in order to discredit them and me (as I was making public complaints to the media and the Minister) about the neglect… Read more »
The release of My School data as part of the Rudd Government’s ‘Education Revolution’ begs the question about a key issue in improving classroom performance – teacher standards and school-based professional culture.
We should pay teachers more and be seeking to attract more of our best young people into teaching. But we also need to address what is usually un-discussable industrially: poorly performing and unprofessional teachers in some schools.
When the Education Minister, Julia Gillard, reviews the data on classroom performance, more funding should not be the only response to target underperforming schools. Helping Principals shape high performance professional school culture will be just as important.
Continue reading "Why should teachers remain unaccountable?" »
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Maria Rattray says:
I can’t say I have read all these responses, but I’d like to steer the debate away from teacher-slanging and accountability if I may, and perhaps open another perspective to the debate. . Let me preface this by pointing out that today’s classrooms are a far cry from those experienced… Read more »
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Tizzanne says:
National curriculum, standardized teaching methods, accountabillity by teachers and relevant curriculum are the most important factors in educating our kids. A teacher who cannot spell properly or write legibly cannot teach the kids to do so. A testing system used across the country for kids who follow different curriculums cannot… Read more »
This is a message to the 80, 000 or so high school graduates who will later today log onto the UAC site and find out whether or not they received a place at an Australian university for 2010.
Whatever happens don’t panic. Especially if you have spent the entire Christmas break avoiding the questions of (well meaning) relatives asking what you want to do with the rest of your life.
It is absolutely 100 per cent OK if you (a) you don’t want to go to university or (b)fall into the 30, 000 or so people who will miss out on a place this year.
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MF says:
@Christina - the reason being that some Australian universities are currently trying to mimic the US system where you are required to take a certain number of credit units from outside your faculty. There is much more to this degree restructuring than Arts students taking Science subjects (or vice versa),… Read more »
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Christina O'Connor says:
I recall reading news articles last year which said that some universities are considering making Arts units mandatory for Medicine and Law students in their early years. There must be a good reason for that. P.S. Yes, and I am an Arts graduate. Who has been accepted into the 2010… Read more »
I hope we win the World Cup bid but I really want us to win the bid to host the SKA. If you haven’t heard of the SKA project then it is time to tune in.
On a similar scale to the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland, the Square Kilometre Array radio telescope (SKA) is an international mega-science project of mind-boggling dimensions. It will be fifty times more powerful than the most powerful radio telescope array currently in existence.
The data recorded by Australia’s SKA pilot project – the Australian SKA Pathfinder – will in one week exceed all the information that is currently on the World Wide Web.
Continue reading "Is there anybody out there? Let’s find out" »
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phil says:
They keep it quiet as to not upset the religious fundies so that they can’t organise a protest movement before it’s too late to stop the project. Science and especially astrophysics has rendered any god thought up by man thus far so inconsequential that those who think they believe in… Read more »
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6clegs says:
I didn’t even know about SKA! and I bet I’m not the only one. Thanks. Read more »
This week I was struck by the story of an 18-year-old Victorian student who was among 48, 594 young people to receive their Year 12 results and find out that they’d completed their Victorian Certificate of Education, or VCE.
Jack was by all accounts a model student in his senior years at school: he loved the subjects he was studying, and even stepped up to the role of house captain.
But in his early years at secondary school, it was a totally different story. Jack didn’t want to be at school, had no interest in his class work and didn’t feel like he fit in with classmates at all.
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Jolanda says:
Saintsister you do not have 150 kids in your class at the same time - it is only 25 kids. If it is not possible for a teacher to appropriately teach 25 kids in one hit then why aren’t the teachers bringing this up with the Education Department and explaining… Read more »
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Saintsister says:
Jolanda, I don’t know a single a teacher who fails to, as you put it, “nurture the children, talk to their students, be an adult, set standards of behaviour, provide access to appropriate information and set a good example.” My colleagues and I do that every day, but I teach… Read more »
Australian school principals say that they need to have more control over what happens in their schools as a natural extension of school performance being transparent for all to see on the new MySchool website.
They are dead right, and the Coalition continues to hold to the belief that local school principals and parents (through the school’s governing council) know more about what is best for the school than faceless bureaucrats in Education Departments – number crunchers whose interaction with students is non-existent.
The strange thing about the debate on principal autonomy is that the Minister, Julia Gillard, says she’s in favour of it too – even though every action she has taken as Education Minister gives a lie to this claim.
Continue reading "Labor ties school principals up in knots" »
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avaidaEldek says:
Howdy ya’ll! I am most likely the first to say this, but most likely not the last: Seasons Greetings!!! avaidaEldek automated software Read more »
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D'oh says:
Meh, no one is forcing anyone to do anything persephone. Values listed on the poster: Care & Compassion Doing your Best Fair Go Freedom Honesty & Trustworthiness Integrity Respect Responsibility Understanding Tolerance & Inclusion Can’t have our kids learning about these nowcan we, how evil…. “And a poster quoting an… Read more »
A funny thing happened on the way from the last week’s Principals Forum with Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard.
Listening to subsequent media reports describing the National Conversation as a ‘firestorm’ and a ‘showdown’, I began to wonder whether I’d been at a different forum.
My role was as moderator. I did consider wearing a flak jacket.
Continue reading "Teachers are in the mood for seeing league tables" »
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iansand says:
acker@2:30 You seem to be having trouble distinguishing between your daughter and a school. (Hint: The school is probably made of bricks and mortar.) The league tables will not rate individual children, but schools. If you think that Sunshine and Toorak will not be compared you should get out more. … Read more »
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acker says:
@iansand The two disciplines you mention “literacy” and “numeracy” form the foundation of just about every thing taught at school’s All the Australian children in grades 3-5-7 & 9 do the same test. It offers a true snapshot on how your child is traveling compared to others at the same… Read more »
This is an emotional week. It started with the National Prayer Breakfast in the Great Hall of Parliament House where the keynote address was from Gemma Sisia, the founder and continuing driver of the school of St Jude in Arusha in Tanzania.
It was inspirational. A rigorous selection process of children who are 5, 6 or 7 (not 4 ½ or 8) as Mrs Sisia emphasised, are selected on the basis of intellectual ability, work ethic and poverty. If they get in they get 14 years of free education. The aim is to produce a professional class of doctors, engineers, and architects etc, who will lead the Tanzaman nation. That is they will stay in Tanzania and help their own people.
Mrs Sisia, an Australian, who now obviously lives and works in Tanzania seeks financial support from all over the world with her last big donor being American.
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Vanessa Browne says:
The reason why most of the politicians in charge of funding don’t care about the fate of Kingsdene is that they are completely ignorant about the degree of disability affecting our students. How long would your local state school cope 17 year old 6 foot tall hyperactive boy who does… Read more »
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Use ya brain! says:
What I find interesting about these comment blogs is that once people who REALLY know what they are talking about add their comments, the twits and the knockers lose interest. Read more »
Colleges are being blamed for a culture we didn’t create. The focus is always on our worst behaviour. That’s understandable – it can get very bad, as events at Sydney University have shown.
But you can’t blame “college culture” and “tradition” - this is a youth culture which extends far past these privileged quadrangles.
The ‘tight and white’ wet t-shirt party could have been held at any backpacker hostel or suburban pub.
Continue reading "Colleges don’t cause misogyny in young men" »
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stephanie says:
I don’t think I can stand to read through the rest of these comments (20 or so, will have to suffice) so I apologize if the following suggestion has all ready been made… If this subject has struck a nerve, I invite each of you to visit: oneinfourusa.org I attended… Read more »
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iansand says:
Only because there is no way this statement will reported: STATEMENT FROM ST PAUL’S COLLEGE 18 November, 2009 As the Warden of St Paul’s College, Dr Ivan Head immediately made clear in his initial statement issued on 11 November, the Council of St Paul’s College deplores the sentiments reported to… Read more »
Imagine our disgust the other night when we went to the Marconi Italian Club only to discover the joint has been overrun by wogs.
“Table for four, signore?” the lippy waiter asked incomprehensibly, so I shot back: “Don’t signore me champ, this is Australia and I didn’t come here to be insulted with your jibber-jabber.”
Speaking slowly and a little bit more loudly to help him understand, I explained that all we wanted was a quick tea - nuggets and chips for the kids, a steak for me and a bowl of spaghetti bolognese for my lady wife.
Continue reading "Speak English and just bring us the damned gelati" »
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Garry says:
Having grown up in the Northen Hemisphere my two language lessons were English and French, becuase French was seen as the other European language. I regret not having the choice for speaking Spanish as this to me is a little more universal than French in Europe. Now here I would… Read more »
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Robyn says:
I think every school should be ‘bilingual’, it is great for children - and everyone. However, there should be choices - to say ‘you must learn Indonesian or Chinese’ is unfair and a little biased. Read more »
Each year during Orientation week at Sydney University, boys from St Paul’s invite women from the all-female colleges to their bar, the Salisbury, for the “Tight and White” party.
The night pretty much does what it says on the tin. The tighter and whiter the clothes the better. Especially when the girls are soaked in water on arrival, their clothes now transparent and sticking to their bodies.
And even more so when they lie down on the bar while men drink shots of spirits off their bodies, off their bare stomachs, breasts and thighs.
Continue reading "Inside our sexist college culture, and how to fix it" »
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Elle says:
I can’t believe how many people actually disagree with this article . How do you know what really is going on there? these women are so insecure and want to belong they would do anything. And these men are seriously screwed up. Read more »
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Leah says:
There are plenty of college students, male and female, who choose not to participate in these activities, and they still manage to have good reputations, friends, and a social life. Yes the guys involved in these activities are fostering a sexist attitude but that’s about it. Nobody is assaulting or… Read more »
Perhaps the elite all-male college at Sydney University, St Paul’s, needs to get some rugby league players to talk to its members about respecting women.
The ranks of the elite who would decry league players as “boofheads” and would have been most vocally repulsed by the exposure of player attitudes to the opposite sex have been revealed as nurturing a virtually identical culture of the sexual objectification of women.
Rugby league teams aren’t known for being overrun with players who are also top-flight academics but they could probably teach the boys at St Paul’s a thing or two. The students are supposed to be high achievers but for outright misogyny it’s pretty hard to beat setting up a Facebook group that basically endorses rape.
Continue reading "League players might teach rich boys a thing or two" »
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Tom says:
So these days setting up a crassly named football team is tantamount to rape? And when people figure that it was a football team, not a pro - rape site (besides, do you really think anyone would be stupid enough to publish such views on Facebook, if they were to… Read more »
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alex says:
tall poppy much? Read more »
Are there four syllables in the English language to strike fear into the hearts of men and women across Australia than – high school reunion. Hell, that’s five syllables. There you go – I was no good at either English or maths. And I just know everyone I went to school with knows it.
Panic grips you in the days before the reunion. Just what the hell have I been doing with my life? How can I spin it so I appear successful/rich/happy? I call this the Romy and Michele Method (after the movie Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion starring Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow who decide to make up a life for themselves at their reunion as the inventors of Post-it Notes.
Or maybe the high school reunion is a perfect chance for a cheap group therapy session and calls for four hours of brutal honesty. Why pay a shrink several thousand dollars when for fifty bucks you can, over ten beers and some bad finger food, cut to the chase, strip back your life to its foundations and expose just what you have become and who you really are. And all this with the people who deep down know you the best – your old school friends (and enemies).
Continue reading "Romy and Michele and Duncan’s School Reunion" »
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stephen says:
My dear, forget the apostrophe on ‘boys’. Read more »
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Lisa says:
My dear relative was a senior member of Sydney Boys’ Grammar teaching staff. His general level of intellect (Professor of two subjects) and his level of expectations for his students put my own country government school education not in the shade, but in complete and utter darkness. Read more »
On the table, a hundred cups and saucers (arranged neatly, ten by ten). The university has pegged its hopes on this meeting, emailed the entire student body three times, plastered the campus with large, full-colour posters asking – begging – students to attend.
The meeting is an attempt on the part of administration to give students direct input into proposed campus redevelopments. The idea: have a cup of tea with members of the university’s Strategy and Space Planning department, air your grievances, and put forward your vision for a better campus. As they tell us repeatedly, desperately, “We’re listening.”
I count three students. (Hannah and I don’t count – we’re student journos. We have to be here). Anne, who’s in her fifties, is a mature-entry student who volunteers at the library. Gunter is an ageing hippy who’s been drifting in and out of campus for the past thirty years. The final ‘student’, Angus, doesn’t even attend the university.
Continue reading "To a degree, it’s the end of university conversation" »
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Glenn says:
The biggest problem with University administration is they fail to acknowledge that the students are Customers. As someone that pays his fees up front, I continually roll my eyes when dealing with the administration level of the university. They seem to resent the students as an inconvenience to their job,… Read more »
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RhysM says:
I came here essentially to write the same thing as Clare - they’ve scheduled it in the middle of SWOTVAC. I was interested in attending, but I had an exam on the first saturday, and the rest in the first week, and revision sessions scheduled at the same time as… Read more »
I love going to schools, especially primary schools where children are eager to talk of their hopes and dreams for the future. I’m always presented with a rich tapestry of ambition, a divergence of views and that laconical smirk or quick wit that so defines the Australian sense of humour.
However I’m also confronted with hopelessness and despair, with children from unhappy homes, children with challenging behavior and in some cases children having been subject to abuse and harm. One school in my electorate with 800 children has approximately 25% of these children assessed as at risk.
My wife, who was a high school teacher before we started our family, made the comment recently that her last class of 30 students only had six students who still lived with their Mum and Dad. Without commenting on the societal impacts of family breakdown, I think it is fair to say that children are adversely affected by such events.
Continue reading "Is ideology threatening a crucial service in schools?" »
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brad j says:
This program was just part of Howard’s evil agenda to take tax money from everyone and give it to religious fundamentalists to buy votes. Welcome to Howard’s redneck Australia. Racist, radically religious and unethical. Time to take the piggy snout out of the pork barrel people. Read more »
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Phil says:
Non-religious chaplains are allowed presently to be chaplains, so if non-religious ones want to get involved, what’s stopping them? It’s just that this is something which religious people have already been doing for a long time, so it has been easier for them to run with it. Furthermore, chaplains are… Read more »
The Coalition will not support the Rudd Government’s planned changes to youth allowance while they retrospectively punish students who took a gap year based on advice last year from Government agencies. It’s that simple.
Young people, who on the advice of guidance counsellors, Centrelink and teachers have opted to take a twelve month gap year, working to earn enough money to qualify for independent youth allowance under the current rules with plans to study next year, will have the rug pulled from under them because of the Government’s changes.
The Government’s own figures show there are about 26,000 of them.
Continue reading "Killing off the Gap year will open up an education gap" »
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guenstiges hotel says:
Matter Great,define note damage including one quarter actual transfer reform area identify client engine video political art affair minister since deal sense creation race request which claim settle we resource responsibility belong neighbour industry food band period left play we often commitment factory area advantage contact concern mountain herself success… Read more »
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Murray says:
Anna, Check the website. It says that Masters programs are approved for YA (well some, and since MArch is full time and very intense, I’m hoping that it will be approved.) Also UQ has had a 3yr Bachelor and 2yr Masters system for a couple of years now to come… Read more »
Deputy PM and Education Minister Julia Gillard joined us today on Punch TV on Sky News, discussing asylum seekers, school league tables, the economy and the next election. We also asked her about the tensions within the Left Faction over the future of frontbencher Laurie Ferguson whose seat has been abolished. Watch it here.
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Nonr says:
Trust Labor and suffer, thats the way it has always been and that is the way it will always be. Read more »
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RT says:
Don’t worry, Old Clive, the bar at the RSL club is open now. Read more »
This is pop star Miley Cyrus’s little sister Noah at a Halloween party last weekend. It’s not the first time little Noah has been sent out on the red carpet in an outfit that is, ahem, a little old for her.
And not surprisingly it drew a pretty quick knee-jerk response from commentators right around the world. OUTRAGE! But is it really that bad?
The Punch decided to ask the people at the coal face of the battle against the growing sexualistion of children, mothers with young daughters, what an image like this did to their efforts to stop their little girls growing up too fast.
Don’t miss our body image special on The Punch tomorrow morning. You won’t believe your eyes.
Continue reading "What mothers say about a 9-year-old dressed like this" »
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Tereen Hough says:
Eric; Ah, yes, you speak to another important issue in Australia: the devaluing (or under-valuing) of the role of fathers. Read more »
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hugh says:
one could say that noah cyrus puts the “trick” in trick or treat Read more »
We are in the process of creating a generation of neurotic freaks.
Parents and teachers are drowning in an excess of information and spasming in paroxysms of fear. And they’re taking it out on the kids.
It starts with horror show antiseptic ads warning of imminent germ avalanches and culminates in ridiculous overarching decrees.
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Kia says:
@Jolanda - Your blog sets out your complete denial that your children have not lived up to your expectations academically and the intense desire you have to hold someone accountable. I think you’ll find that what most people find a “hoot” is your behaviour. Your poor, poor children…You have their… Read more »
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Jolanda says:
@Jay - my blog sets out a families fight to be afforded procedural fairness and natural justice in order to get justice and protection for children who are being systematically bullied, neglected, viliifed and victimised just because thier parents spoke out about the failures of the education system. It is… Read more »
Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall,
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the King’s horses and all the King’s men,
Helped to make Humpty feel better again.
Continue reading "Scrambling Humpty Dumpty, and other travesties" »
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Rick says:
What about King Canute? Has he been superceded by King KRudd?? Read more »
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kate says:
I have been busy reading the kids (kindergarten) old nursery tales along with modern versions of them same. What surprised me the most was how much they liked the older versions. I kept seeing th sexism, racism, brutality and people getting away with all sorts of things (that they would… Read more »
Politicians talk and write about a range of subjects. Over the past couple of weeks I’ve spoken about the defence industry, mining, renewable energy and climate change, universities, infrastructure, investment and exports, science, law and order, arts, and multiculturalism.
But a few months ago, a pre-school educator said to me that we seldom hear our male politicians talking about early childhood education and development.
She was right. So here goes.
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Jon Bruce says:
This is the problem with (some) politicians writing articles for “The Punch”. Someone like Mike Rann will exploit a media forum like this for all its worth, especially when it’s only 4 months out from an election. His writings sounded just like one big long labor party advertisment. I prefer… Read more »
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H says:
Sound like some good programes Mr. Premier, well done to you and your cabinet for implementing them. The other side of child development - which is of great concern - is the underresoucing of chid protection services for neglected and abused children. Could you please consider an article outling the… Read more »
Any day now researchers can be expected to conclude the best thing parents could do for children is to have none in the first place.
It wouldn’t be all that surprising amid the deluge of useless advice thrown at parents on how best to raise their kids.
The latest tip for mums and dads, in draft federal government guidelines reported this week, is that children should not watch television until they’re two years old.
Continue reading "Time to study the bad advice given to good parents" »
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Bitten says:
Intelligent people know the only thing you MUST not do as a parent, is treat your kids like sh*t. Apart from that, just strap a pillow around the kid and hope for the best. Read more »
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Lucy says:
It’s not just studies on children, it’s everything. One minute I’m told to drink cows milk (‘it’s natural’), then I’m told that I should drink soy milk because cows milk promotes allergies and soy milk can prevent problems associated with female hormones as I get older. The next week I’m… Read more »
Dear HSC English Syllabus, so I guess we are coming towards the end of what has been a long and volatile 6-year relationship.
We have seen each other grow from the simple seeds of Year 7; talking about ‘themes’ like ‘love’ and ‘relationships’ and ‘evil’; to the Year 10 hypocrisies of ‘prejudice’ and the evils of ‘appropriation’, and the importance of punctuation (please disregard poor grammar - it comes with time and patience, none of which I have at this moment).
Now in Year 12, there is an understanding that an ultimate truth and knowledge, in itself, probably doesn’t exist - but we all belong so, hey, it’s cool.
Continue reading "Dear English Syllabus, you’re so dumped" »
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Isabella says:
Reading this a couple of weeks after the last comment, I still feel impelled to comment. I am an English teacher and am genuinely saddened by the views expressed here about the syllabus and by extension, those who teach it. I have taught many HSC classes and my aim is… Read more »
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BananaBrett says:
I agree with Sophie She’s so funny in fact, i think Sophie for president better yet, Sophie for school vice captain Read more »
Australia has a desperate shortage of young people enrolling in science and maths at our schools and universities.
Encouraging kids to embrace careers in science will be critical to Australia’s economic and social development.
Improving the scientific literacy of Australians – as well as the science savvy of business and political leaders - will also be crucial if our nation is to compete and prosper.
Continue reading "Science is too important to leave in the lab" »
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Max Bolton says:
It’s bit rich for Mike Rann to be lecturing us on the benefits of science being used in policy decisions. All his policy decisions are based on what he thinks will win him the most votes at the next election. Science doesnt even enter into it! I’d like to know… Read more »
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MF says:
@yornup - Yeah, I know how it goes. I was lucky enough to find a postdoc straight out of my PhD (which is entirely industry funded - and they can pull the plug at any minute should their finances turn sour), but at the same time, I know some who’ve… Read more »
In 1995, La Trobe University student publication Rabelais ran a feature entitled The Art of Shoplifting, which highlighted student poverty a decade before it became an election platform. Now it and student media publications around Australia are facing relative poverty themselves.
Since Voluntary Student Unionism was introduced by the then Liberal Australian Government in mid-2006, Australian student media have been starved of funds.
VSU was introduced with the aim of removing the obligation for tertiary students to pay for and be members of student unions. The Punch interviewed representatives from three student publications and the response was the same: VSU has curtailed the potential of student media to add to a vibrant university culture.
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MFS says:
The media often refer to VSU as some kind of Howard imposed evil. The fact is, VSU is the right to decide whether or not you join a union. Workers enjoy this right and so should students. I was heavily involved in student politics in WA during VSU under the… Read more »
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Ziggy says:
In my youth I was national President of The Students Union. I can attest, with some authority, that these bodies are a collection of wankers who use the funds for their own petty, irrelevant causes that are far removed from the best interests of all students. Student newspapers only meaningful… Read more »
The world changed for our universities with the release of the Bradley Review earlier this year.
One of the most significant changes is that universities will have to meet targets to increase their ‘participation of low socio-economic status students’. In other words, they must increase the number of kids from disadvantaged backgrounds gaining university degrees.
This will put pressure on the way universities traditionally select school-leavers for courses – by ranking every Year 12 student on a percentile scale with a system called the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank, or ATAR.
Continue reading "HSC could be the saviour of our university entry system" »
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bella starkey says:
Rob M your logic is deeply flawed. 2 Units of HSC English are not the equal of a GCE A-Level in English Literature Firstly, Isn’t preferable that student are exposed to a greater variety of subjects in years 11 and 12, not only so they have options when they are… Read more »
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Meghan says:
To my understanding, the HSC, like the VCE (which I took) is not based entirely on exam results; it is based on a combination of coursework throughout the year AND exam results. Requiring students to sit exams at the end of their final year of schooling is a fair assessment… Read more »
High school students in NSW may not know how they are judged by prospective universities and the admissions system needs a review – according to the man who designed it.
The scheme’s founder is calling for an inquiry into the university admissions system arguing recent changes have led to the loss of transparency for students and parents.
In an interview with The Punch, Professor George Cooney listed a series of changes by universities to the admissions process that he believes are undermining openness in the admissions system.
Continue reading "Giving school leavers a fair suck of the uni sauce bottle" »
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tim says:
In reality it has a lot to do with student numbers and capitalism that has crept into the education system. I got into my Uni before I even had my UAI entrance mark although my mark would have got me in anyway. The first year was extremely boring as it… Read more »
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Jolanda Challita says:
I do not see a problem with bonus points for achieving certain outcomes so long as they dont take it to far, especially with the sport. Many Universities also give points if you got a certain band in a certain subject, like for instance a band 6 in Business Studies… Read more »
Here’s a Punch quiz.
What do Foxtel’s Kim Williams, RMIT Vice Chancellor Margaret Gardiner and Victorian Opera supremo Richard Gill all have in common?
Yes, yes, they are all bright sparks and high achievers but it wasn’t until I became the Member for Bennelong and started to develop strong links with all my local schools in the north west of Sydney that I realised that this talented trio were all graduates of Marsden High School.
Continue reading "High school now bears no resemblance to 50 years ago" »
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lobi says:
The reason so many were steered toward metalwork and home economics is that most people do not have the intellectual capacity to otherwise contribute to society. The ‘no child left behind’ mindset of contemporary education betrays those of superior intellect that could truly advance human progress. This system of lowering… Read more »
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Stephen Hill says:
Barbs, Asian-Australians are getting better HSC marks because they work their arse off - because they have a commitment to education that is unfortunately sometimes neglected by complacent parents and governments alike. Having tutored some of students in Maxine’s electorate I can assure you that these young people are going… Read more »
Over the last couple of weeks the Deputy Prime Minister has been plugging two developing holes in a massive dam wall.
The first has been caused by the waste and mismanagement associated with the Julia Gillard memorial halls debacle. A programme wasting so much money that a school in Sydney is going to refuse free money.
The second hole in the dam wall is growing quickly and relates to her changes to the industrial award system and her promise that neither workers nor small business would be worse off with her changes to the industrial award system. A promise she knew couldn’t be kept.
Continue reading "Julia: full-time worker or part time spinner?" »
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cat says:
delperro, the liberal government had an annual grant that schools could apply for, for anything they wanted. When labour came into power they shut down this grant in order to pay for those laptops all school children were to receive. Where are those laptops now? Read more »
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RD says:
What is funny is that it would appear that Kevin Rudd thinks Julia Gillard can perform both jobs better herself than to assign her a single portfolio, and pass the other one to another member. This government is going to suffer greatly as it is relying on popularity to promote… Read more »
Yesterday was personally one of the toughest days I have had since I was elected to the Senate. It ended with me confronting a demon which I have lived with for 48 years.
That demon is that I have a specific learning disability, which means I’m not always the best public speaker or speller.
This is something which I don’t like talking about as it cuts pretty deep. I don’t want people to feel sorry for me; rather I more want people to understand who I am and how you can still be successful even if you have problems articulating yourself.
Continue reading "Lost for words: my secret battle with language" »
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Bitten says:
@Nicholas James - I’m not sure that your response really addresses my question at all. Do you think it did? I didn’t specifically target Senator Fielding, my question related to all politicians. When they slip up, all of them seem to wring their hands and claim that they’re only human… Read more »
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Paul says:
my one question Steve, is do you read all the bills etc that come your way? or do you have to have someone read it out to you. Because in my opinion, you shouldnt be in the position your in unless you understand EXACTLY what your doing, and I don’t… Read more »
Christian Senator Steven Fielding is copping a day of derision after he tried to clarify his position on fiscal policy with a read-my-lips clanger. Asked this morning whether he’d in fact said “physical” when he meant “fiscal” the Family First Senator spelt it out: “I will make it quite clear…F..I..S..K..A..L.”
His disastrous impromptu spelling bee drew giggles from the press pack and a wave of ridicule across the digital space with punters declaring him more idiot than idiot savant.
But Fielding’s explanation as to how the gaffe happened - where he revealed a lifelong learning difficulty - is worth thinking about. He told Fairfax Radio that he only got 29 out of 100 for English, but 99 out of 100 for maths, and studied both engineering and an MBA at uni.
Continue reading "Fiscal impediment may mask a beautiful mind" »
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Peter Carnovale says:
Migrants are required to pass an English test in order to obtain their citizenship, shouldn’t Senator Steve Fielding have the appropriate qualifications to enter parliament and reason in English, how does he arrive at most of his decisions? Read more »
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Paul says:
Why, if you had a learning disability that causes you to spell words incorrectly, and on ocassion use the wrong word, would you in a smart arse gesture (to an annoying reorter, sure) attempt to spell the word that you previously stuffed up. Idiocy is a leaning disability. Read more »
As a union organiser for teachers, Gary Zadkovich found himself counselling emotional public school principals forced to sack bad teachers. Years later he remains vehement bad, or ``under-performing’‘, teachers in public schools must be identified, and removed if they cannot lift their standards.
This could require professional support for up to 10 per cent of teachers. Those who fail to improve would be dismissed.
An industry description of under-performers as either ``can’t do or won’t do’’ could well apply to his union, the NSW Teachers Federation, with its image as an oppositional force to educational change. Under intense political pressure for national school league tables, Zadkovich has emerged as a public education advocate also prepared to publicly refute the Federation’s image as a defender of every teacher at any cost.
Continue reading "Teachers unionist who wants to sack bad teachers" »
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Gavin says:
Why does the ed dept cover up incidents that result in injury to children and why are they still allowing the same person, who takes primary children for a ride in his car alone “to settle them down”? to be in a position of leadership. If we talk about bad… Read more »
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Noel says:
I only encountered one bad teacher as my 3 children went through the public system in Queensland. The final straw came when he failed my 13 year old second son in English, his best subject. When I met the teacher and politely asked how this mark was possible he went… Read more »
Noted US Professor of Economics James Heckman is a much quoted figure by the Australian Labor Party.
In these times of economic upheaval and challenge his message has a unique and appealing social angle – essentially his work outlines the economic benefits of investing well in early childhood education to address social disadvantage.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has quoted Heckman extensively in the past, and did so again this week in his Burgmann College Address , saying:
Continue reading "Big Brother Rudd ignores the family in education" »
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Albion No More says:
My best friend at school was raised by an arty farty left loving lesbian, who was prohibited by law from marrying her long-time partner. My friend is a Christian who has been married for twenty years and has children of his own. I’m glad to see you would support official… Read more »
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Joe says:
Now that Rudd is talking about being preventative (well he is on things like ciggies and booze that he can tax the hell out of) it would be much more efective to support familmilies, preventing family break down and the need for DOCS services, removing children and such support. Read more »
The bashing death at school of a 15 year old boy in Mullumbimby last week is a symptom of a much bigger statewide problem in schools.
Put simply teachers now have little control. The consequences for students of bad, even violent behaviour, are now so insignificant students simply don’t care.
A teacher cannot restrain a student at all, they can’t yell at students or else they will be accused of emotional abuse. A teacher must simply say “please don’t do this” and then hope they are obeyed. Step outside this rigid set of rules and you risk being “EPACed” - every teacher’s worst nightmare.
Continue reading "Teachers are powerless to stop schoolyard violence" »
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GB says:
I am a current secondary student, and i think that it is rediculas what we can do and get away with, and from what i understand it isnt just my school. We have been told by teachers/staff members that they cant even expell students now, unless the directly physicaly assualt… Read more »
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ready to give up says:
Teenagers today have nothing to fear. They laugh at detention, laugh at suspension and if they are expelled (in very, very rare cases) they just go to another school and start all over again. They are vexacious bush lawyers who seem to know every loophole and get away with everything.… Read more »
By all accounts Jai Morcom was your average Aussie high school kid. The 15-year-old student had a good circle of friends who describe him as a peaceful and happy young man.
Last Friday, Jai found himself at the centre of what sounded like a fairly routine schoolyard squabble, a fight over who was allowed to sit at a lunch table.
The result of this squabble was anything but routine. Jai Morcom is dead. He was bashed so savagely – possibly because he was trying to break up the fight – that he died of massive head injuries on Saturday morning.
Continue reading "Should Jai’s death force a rethink of bullying strategy?" »
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Kel says:
I went through both the public and private school systems and have to say that I found bullying to be rampant in both. The only difference between the two from my experience was that the bullying at the state school was far more overt. It went on just the same… Read more »
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Liz says:
Kids and parents need more boundaries.Is excluding a kid from school a punishment or a reward?Chickens have come home to roost for the education system and parenting styles,sadly for this family, but it could have been any family with a teenage kid. Read more »
What will journalism look like in twenty years? Will newspapers still exist? Punch research journalist Kelly Simpson and four of her fellow students from the University of Technology Sydney gaze into the crystal ball…
Kelly Simpson – Postgraduate journalism student, UTS: How did you hear that Michael Jackson had died? That we’d lost the Ashes?
Print is dead, I’ve been assured. I’ve missed the glory days. There’ll be no ink smudged copy for me, no physical front page, no morning AND evening editions of the newspapers.
Continue reading "Degrees of uncertainty for students of journalism" »
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Bill Bartmann says:
Hey good stuff…keep up the good work! Read more »
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jstevens says:
Eric, if you have seen what goes on in a newsroom, then you might change your view. If you don’t believe journalism is a public good, then everything would have shut down years ago and we’d all be brainless morons just walking around being spoonfed all we need to know… Read more »
As the climate change debate held centre stage in Parliament last week, I found myself at a nearby primary school wrestling a chicken for the cameras. With kids milling around, my task was to casually hold this hen (the kids had named “Roast”), while the photographer from the local paper took pictures.
As we struck our pose with beaming smiles, Roast pooed over my new suit confirming the old piece of advice to never work with kids or animals. But of course to take that advice in politics would deprive pollies of 90 per cent of our photo-ops.
In this case, the kids were central to the event at hand: the launching of CarbonKids at Forrest Primary School, Canberra. In equal measure, even though they may not yet realise it, these kids are also central to the debate raging on the Hill.
Continue reading "How a chook helped teach kids about the planet" »
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null says:
The first couple of lines offered so much promise! I thought you were going to talk about how kids learned that if they decide to eat “roast” they get one great meal, but if they nuture her they get an egg every day for a couple of years. (Lesson: Consider… Read more »
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stevorocks says:
Didn’t the heat wave in Brisbane last week break the records from 50 years ago? Wow.. I guess there was some other ‘man made’ issue going on 50 years ago we don’t know about… Read more »
Close examination of the Rudd Government’s much-touted childcare reforms brings to mind the wonderful quote by Milton Friedman “the government solution to a problem is usually as bad as the problem”.
In this case, it may in fact be worse.
Labor’s proposals for more highly qualified staff in all childcare services, and lower child:staff ratios in the name of “quality care” are, on the face of it, very worthy. What self-respecting human being doesn’t want the very best for our children? How can an emphasis on “quality” be anything but laudable?
Continue reading "Future of childcare: where have all the parents gone?" »
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pdev says:
Bec I agree with you completely. Have 2 children now 15 and 12. They spent 2-3 days in long day care from ages 1-5. Still talk fondly of their carers, the food and their friends, Most of the stay at home brigade are lazy, poorly educated and have very limited… Read more »
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Lisa says:
Personally, I think the nuclear family is great. I love my mother-in-law, but having to live with her 24hours a day? No, thank you. I’d rather visit you at Christmas, (and look after my own kids in the meantime). Read more »
In a world of escalating costs of living, ever-rising unemployment and fluctuating economies, one group stands to be hit harder than any other.
Unlike other groups, this one will not be publicised by media, found protesting or walking off the job, or be seen throwing in the towel any time soon. Instead, far from it, university students around Australia and indeed the world will continue to front classrooms every day, opening their minds to the knowledge and pathways available to secure a sustainable future free from debt and money woes.
But, just how hard is it to attend university and what financial impact can students expect to be facing both through their studies and at the completion of the educational yellow brick road as they begin their dream career?
Continue reading "It’s a myth that everyone has access to tertiary study" »
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Terry says:
I completed an MBA part time whilst starting a new business and paying all the usual household bills. Whilst studying there was no extravagant spending, never ending socialising, travelling or complaining about how “unfair” it all is. I wasn’t on HECS or entitled to PELS so had the to fund… Read more »
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ej says:
Why would anyone bother getting a degree in this country. Australia is not a country that values learning or education. My husband works in recruitment, and the amount of people right now with business, commerce, even MASTERS degrees who are applying for jobs like data entry and admin. is astounding. … Read more »
THE proposal by education guru Ken Boston to shut down failing schools, sack their principals and replace their teachers is the scholastic equivalent of what’s known as “Ben Tre” logic, from the Vietnamese town of the same name where an American major famously reasoned that “we had to destroy the village in order to save it.”
The people who will be the most outraged by Ken Boston’s radical but welcome suggestion, made at an Australian Primary Principals Association forum on Monday, are the self-styled defenders of public education in the Teachers Unions.
It’s time that someone rang the school bell on the intellectual contribution these unions make to the quality of the public education.
Continue reading "Defenders of public schools are their worst enemies" »
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lion says:
David Penberthy’s original article says that the public Teacher Unions are the only opponents of league tables. Check back and he will find that the principals associations of public, independent and catholic schools as well as other interested bodies including the NSW Liberal Party oppose what the Telegraph and similar… Read more »
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iansand says:
Here you go. http://www.isca.edu.au/html/funding_main.htm Who subsidises whom? I am aware of the source. Can anyone disprove the figures? Read more »
A peculiar thing about the Puddin’ was that, though they had all had a great many slices off him, there was no sign of the place whence the slices had been cut. ‘That’s where the Magic comes in,’ explained Bill. ‘The more you eats the more you gets.’ - Norman Lindsay’s The Magic Pudding
Generations of Aussie children have been captivated by Norman Lindsay’s classic story centred on the exploits of Albert, a somewhat devious pudding who had the magical quality of being anything the eater desired and, fortunately, limitless in quantity.
It’s no wonder Albert appeals to children of all ages - he epitomises the hedonistic and naïve dream of “having your cake and eating it too” (literally).
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Elizabeth says:
Perhaps Mr Rudd, Mr Swan and Ms Ellis would like to visit regional Australia and find for me - a working mum of two - these childcare vacancies. I have looked…and I can not find. Thank you Sophie. Read more »
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Numble says:
Very good article. Please can we hear more thoughtful articles like this one from Liberal politicians? Tony Abbott’s written a few lately too. Take the fight to the spin, take the fight to The Government, but do it on merits. Read more »
Recently, a private boys’ school in Queensland took the progressive step of incorporating emotional intelligence into its syllabus. Bravo.
In Western society, we have for too long adopted a blinkered approach towards education, focusing heavily on the development of cognitive skills, such as writing, reading and counting, and not those associated with a child’s emotional development.
Research and early childhood literature has shown that children who possess well-developed emotional and mental skills, have a greater likelihood of being successful later on in life.
Continue reading "Putting self-esteem on the school syllabus" »
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flower child says:
Maybe I’m missing something, but why is the school responsible for a child’s emotional development? Surely that’s entirely the role of the parents. I’m all in favour of kids participating in a range of activities, but I don’t see that playing a sport or joining the camera club necessarily contributes… Read more »
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stephen says:
I once met some of these boys from Kings, and I can honestly tell you they don’t need leadership studies, because they already think they’re top sh.t. (And to sound completely cynical, you cannot learn emotional intelligence from direct instruction ; the only way is by trial and error from… Read more »
Much has been written about the Rudd Government’s commitment to introduce a new era of transparency into our schools. As important as bricks and mortar or computers are, the Education Revolution is about more than infrastructure.
If some are to be believed the educational sky will fall in should the Government, and more importantly parents, be given simple information about the performance of schools in their neighbourhood and around the nation.
Some on the other hand, particularly in the NSW Parliament, is nothing more than base political manoeuvring. It has certainly seen some bizarre political marriages of convenience.
Continue reading "Parents deserve more information about schools" »
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Generationmatter says:
Commission United,away food spend die water executive ever material editor artist management could home free parent move yard glass selection victim worker bottle civil grant previously care typical competition order editor someone advance represent people action despite spring enter without hill boy step surely general minute race labour comparison book… Read more »
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Steve says:
I am a service technician with an electrical back ground and 25 years experience. Julie says” In almost every other professional field you’d expect the performance of an organisation to be scrutinised.” I have never heard of an assessment for professional trades, where the “performance of an organisation is scrutinised”. … Read more »
Last weekend marked the launch of the sixth in the now eight-part movie saga that is Harry Potter. As is surely apparent by now, the movies sit not as a substitute for the books but a complement to them. They succeed where they can visualise magic that cannot be done in words - the creatures, the castle and a large part of the action. But they fail where the books have their most significant: in the complex characters and the deeper moral issues.
But in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince one of those deeper but unstated moral issues arose neatly and somewhat humorously in the movie: the role of academia. It came in the form of Professor Slughorn, a marvelously imagined character who is a teacher who cares only about the best in the class and seeks them out to the exclusion of all others. He, in turn, is a character that is perhaps the most instrumentalist of at least the “good” guys in the saga. Slughorn, at various points, commits self-interested acts claiming “academic purposes”. For instance, he is caught removing valuable leaves from a plant, claiming their scientific merit but we know being motivated by the black market value.
That, however, is not where this issue comes to the fore. It is hard to describe it without giving away too much of the plot but Slughorn cites the very same “academic” disclaimer when handing over clearly dangerous knowledge to a young Voldemort. Slughorn later clearly realises his error and attempts to cover his tracks but the message is clear: there is a danger to the academic shield.
Continue reading "Harry Potter’s uneasy relationship with academia" »
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MF says:
Nick - I never suggested peer review was flawless. There is incredible amounts of academic politics involved. But that’s the way it is, and despite all the critics of the peer review process, nobody (yet) has come up with a better suggestion. Read more »
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Nick says:
MF, but peer review is a failure if they ignore a piece simply because there’s no “Dr.” or degree annotation after their name, as you earlier said they do. Read more »
[*Ed’s note to Gen Y: that isn’t a typo in the headline. It’s a cool joke, and Lucy explains it further down.]
I think I realised I was different when I corrected the grammar of my extremely attractive barista.
It was a Monday morning; he was frothing milk as we chatted idly about the drunken antics of our respective weekends. All the usual stuff - the people we knew in common, the places we had almost run into each other, the quality of the cocktail jugs at various Sydney locations. He might have been carefully watching the temperature gauge rise on that little jug of milk, but we both knew where the real heat was. Just as I was about to casually invite him to a rock gig he dropped a clanger.
‘Yeah I like World Bar. Dave and me were there last Thursday.’
Continue reading "Mind your language if you’re making a parse* at me" »
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Rebecca says:
This article’s great! I loved the ‘purse’ and ‘preposition’ remarks. I’m also a Grammar Nazi, and people hate me for it; but it’s fine because I hate them for deciding various words require a plural (Heys!, Sorrys!) and thinking that saying ‘would of’ rather than ‘would’ve’ makes sense. I have… Read more »
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Whitewall says:
‘job *insecurity*’ Other than that, congratulations for flying the flag. Standards should be upheld! Read more »
There are currently some 700,000 university students in Australia, which I would estimate represents 145,478 cases of Chlamydia, 49,678 one-night stands and 4,567,099 packets of instant noodles consumed in the last calender year.
We have institutions aplenty (39 at last count) which are excellent at pumping out graduates who have gained little beyond a vague understanding of post-structuralism and an impressive repertoire of drinking games involving Sambucca.
But Julia Gillard thinks we need even more university students: 300,000 more to be precise. All part of the Education Minister‘s plans to give the higher education system a bit of a face lift.
Continue reading "Tune in, drop out, get drunk, become a hairdresser" »
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JD says:
tafe course for hairdressing… NO!! do a 4 year apprenticeship so you can actually BE a hairdresser when you finish! Read more »
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Ash says:
Heather there is something about the tone and the content of your post that makes me think you are deploying your aptitude for believable lies. You also sound smug and self righteous. For example ’ HD’s in two.. two what topics.. degrees ? And these degrees distance education and night… Read more »
Kevin Rudd needs more Pink Floyd. The Floyd’s classic lyrics from The Wall album denigrate the standard of teachers and curriculum as “just another brick in the wall”.
I’m sure David Gilmour, Roger Waters and other band members would be amazed to learn that thirty years later Australia is attempting an Education Revolution based wholly on bricks in the wall. Okay, maybe I oversimplify it. It’s not just bricks, there’s a range of other building products going into Kevin and Julia’s fabulously named ‘Building the Education Revolution’ program.
Now I don’t mean to overload on dark sarcasm. But isn’t an education revolution far more than bricks and mortar? How about first class curriculum? Higher teacher standards? Modern learning tools? Smaller class sizes? Advancing both the vocational and the academic?
Or, how about a controversial three C’s for our education system – competition, choice and control? These factors, which can empower families, parents and students while encouraging excellence from teachers and schools, seem to be sorely lacking in any current revolutionary discussions.
Continue reading "Viva the voucher based education revolution" »
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Caz says:
I have lived in the UK for the last 15 years, teaching in London schools. We have done some serious investigating into the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ programme and those behind the Academy Schools agenda in the UK. What we have come up with is disturbing indeed. The head… Read more »
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iansand says:
Parents deciding the direction of education? Creationism here we come. I was once an office bearer for a P&C. The choice of spending a chunk of budget came down to spending money on library books or funding the part time employment of a junior sports instructor. Guess what the parents… Read more »
Thank goodness Julia Gillard and Verity Firth don’t coach the Wallabies. If they did they would be looking to the minnows of world rugby – Canada or Samoa – for ideas on how to improve Australia’s rugby performance rather than a powerhouse like New Zealand.
This is exactly the approach they have taken to our education system. Their big new idea has been the introduction of League Tables, basically the crude ranking of individual schools on basic testing.
Continue reading "Why conservatives don’t support school league tables" »
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Ben says:
As a teacher in training, I can tell you that the opposition that teachers have to the publication of league tables has nothing to do with its effect on teachers. League tables can only serve to further reduce the self esteem of the most disadvantaged students and also reduce their… Read more »
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Charlie says:
For gods sake why doesn’t this website put the author’s affiliations on the same page as the article. It’s ridiculous that the casual reader has to click through to another page to discover taht the author is a sitting member of the Nationals. Read more »
In the latest incarnation of every child wins a prize, or in this case, no child wins the top prize, NSW and the ACT have joined the rest of the country in bringing to an end the chance for school leavers to get a mark of 100 in their HSC.
While in this case there is a statistical argument for closing the doors of the prestigious 100 club, I can’t help but lament the passing of the chance for some children to be considered, if not perfect, simply better than the rest.
Continue reading "If there’s no losers, it is hard to find the winners" »
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Andy from Khao Lak says:
I remember reading a story about kids playing football (soccer) and if you scored more than 4 goals, you were stood down from playing because,’it wasn’t fair to the other kids who hadn’t scored a goal’. How f..k’d is that! No wonder most kids these days spend more time on… Read more »
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lulu says:
One of the problems is the misunderstanding between HSC scores and the UAI/ATAR. The ATAR is a rank, not a mark and that means that if you got 100 (now 99.95) you are ranked at the top of your peers. It doesn’t mean that you got a perfect score in… Read more »
Over the past 18 months I have regularly been presented with two opposing yet pretty extreme views on the issue of sports funding.
On one hand you have the sport die hards who set the sky as the limit; you know the argument - give sport whatever it takes to win gold, gold, gold or whatever dollars is needed to beat the Poms at everything and anything!
Then there is, quite literally, the other side of the coin. Why should we use taxpayers money to fund those athletes that are already exceptionally well paid to fly around the world to play games when the money could be better spent on…please insert policy priority of choice.
Continue reading "Should successful athletes have to pay back the AIS?" »
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R says:
I believe that’s a great idea that they pay back the AIS, tax payers shouldn’t have to fund sport! The AIS could reinvest in future athletes with these repayments by past AIS sportsmen and women. Read more »
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Claire says:
The percentage of athletes who go on to win gold medals and gain big endorsements is very small. More than anything else, choosing to be an elite athlete is choosing to live a live of asceticism and sacrifice. Even winning a gold medal will not set one up for life.… Read more »
It’s a shame to dredge up more dreck about this drongo but it seems the fallout from the Matty Johns saga has at last done the rounds.
We’re in the middle of a sexual etiquette renaissance.
HR seminars at businesses across the country are in overdrive, Sex-Ed classes at schools have ramped up just to remind everyone: “Hey guys BTW it’s not cool to sexually assault people… Cheers Thanks.”
Continue reading "Cover your humps in lycra to keep the boys at bay" »
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janet says:
How quickly some women forget what their mothers told them. If you are going to dress like a tramp you will be treated like one…under no circumstances would I allow any of my children to dress inappropriately. Sorry, but the truth sometimes hurts. Read more »
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John Greenfield says:
Besides, modern etiquette demands that a gentleman discreetly pass the lady his stash, so she may repair to the more salubrious surrounds of the ladies loo to powder her nose. Read more »
Here’s my guilty admission. I sat through Samson and Delilah and I wanted it to end.
The violence, the petrol-sniffing, the exploitation – white and black, and the indifference were all confronting.
But it wasn’t my squeamishness that had me longing for the closing credits. What did me in and left me feeling completely bombed was that for much of the movie you are placed in the shoes of Aboriginal young people who have seemingly little to live for.
Continue reading "Finding love and salvation amid poverty and despair" »
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shannyn says:
So has the movie highlighted the need for better policy for indigenous people Maxine, colonialisation hasnt worked for them and neither will the intervention, these people need to be part of their recovery, they need to be able to assert their will and to direct us as to what they… Read more »
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Geoff says:
As superb and uncomfortable as this movie is 2 quibbles about your comments Maxine. 1. star crossed lovers? Hardly. and 2. while the end does show the strength of spirit of aboriginal women the ending could not/would not happen. What was this girl doing seemingly devoting herself to this by… Read more »
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