it gets on my goat that.....

One of the disadvantages of being an avid newspaper reader is that I periodically get hot under the collar about one (or more) of the topics the journos write about. When this happens, I do one of three things. I can either have a good rant at an available ear, mail off an outraged letter to the editor or I can fill my blog full of ranty goodness. Today I am choosing the blog route.

Don't say you weren't warned!

The bee in my bonnet, this time, is over education. In the last week or so there have been several articles about the effectiveness of our public schooling.

There was concern expressed by the staff at local universities about the falling competence of new students in the maths and science departments. They suggested that calculators should be banned for, at least part of, the exam process. They claim our kids are becoming technology smart and numeracy poor.

Yesterday it was written up that a collective of principals had proposed a new marking/reporting/testing system. Apparently the current method causes undue distress in some kids because they are doomed to fail. Those poor kids that labour strenuously to achieve a mediocre C are being made to feel second-rate by the kids that sail through to an easy A with minimal effort. The principals want to eliminate ABCD marks, get rid of exams, report in this new (truly appalling) levels method and have an aptitude test for uni entrance.

Today it is reported that the curriculum council wants to introduce super duper new calculators for high school maths. It seems the "new" graphics ones that were introduced a decade ago are now superseded with something better (and probably much more expensive).

In all of these reports, there is no suggestion that any of the proponents have consulted with any of the other experts involved in the field. There is also no indication that they have liaised with their consumers.

It seems to me that most "experts" in the education field have forgotten two basic principles.

The first is that they are public servants. They are there to serve us and our needs and wants. They are not there to engineer our society into their concept of a better place. They are there to serve.

Rather than experimenting with new education methods (that have often been trialled and rejected abroad), perhaps they should stick to the tried and true system of actually teaching our kids to function is society, as it is, with competent literacy and numeracy. They should listen to their bosses, the parents, the future employers and instructors, and give the ABCD reporting that is requested. The public pay their salaries and, therefore, should be able to demand they supply the service for which they are paid.

The second principle that seems to have gone by the board is the that all people are not created equal.

Although it is politically incorrect to say so, there are still dumb bums out there. Equally, there are super bright kids. There will always be extremes in ability. Just as there are natural athletes, or prettier kids, there are also natural mathematicians and linguists. No amount of social engineering will change this.

Making kids feel good about themselves is all well and good but we are supposed to be preparing these youngsters for the world outside school. The real world.

The world where nobody cares about your self-esteem. Where they care about your ability to read, write, add without a calculator and do what you're told. Where higher education doesn't slow down for them to catch up. Where your ability to pay the rent and feed your kids depends on your bosses demands. Where those nerd kids that got the easy As will be their bosses.

The same principle has also been forgotten in consideration of the teachers themselves. Like every other strata of society, there are shades of grey, the good, the bad and the mediocre.

There are some totally amazing teachers out there. Equally, there are some that are truly abysmal. Some for whom teaching is a calling and a passion and some for whom it is just a job. Odds are that most kids will be taught by teachers that are competent but, by no means, outstanding. Some will be taught by the worst. A rare few will be blessed with a truly great teacher at their blackboard.

All these new and (supposedly) wonderful teaching methods rely on the coalface teachers to implement the changes. These overworked, adequate but uninspired teachers cannot be asked to change the whole academic ethos. Most teachers are battling to instruct their 30-40 kids in the basics. Few, particularly those at high schools with only 4 or 5 hours of contact time with each class, have the luxury of actually getting to know the kids they teach. (The only kids they notice are the exceptionally good and the discipline problems.)

So, what we end up with is some wonderful theory being presented in a half-baked, ill-prepared manner in the classroom. The good teachers will do it well, but they are very much the exception.

I am not slanging off at teachers. All I am saying is, that like the rest of the world, they represent all points on the parabola. If they were all paragons, with infinite time, they could make a go of any teaching method. As the average Joes most of them really are, they will make a dog's dinner of all those grand theories.

There is an old adage "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". We have had successful education of the vast majority of our kids for many generations, using a tried and true method. It wasn't broken so why are they trying to fix it?

It seems to me that all they needed to do was, rather than change the world for every student and teacher, find a method of catching the kids that fell through the cracks of the existing system.

And, maybe, admit the politically incorrect idea that some kids are just never going to shine and need to learn to live with it.

Now, don't even get me started on the abortion that is OBE....