A battle too important to concede
December 10th, 2009 at 12:00 pm by David FarrarStuff reports:
The Government has intensified a developing standoff with teacher unions.
After The Dominion Post revealed yesterday early plans by the primary teachers union to strike over the national standards policy, Education Minister Anne Tolley hit back, telling Parliament she was “disappointed” by the unions.
“I find it really disappointing that the unions want to stop parents getting information about how their kids are doing,” Mrs Tolley said.
“This Government is on the side of parents and we’re on the side of kids.”
Now that is not a typo. The unions are not going to strike over more pay, or smaller class sizes. They are going to strike to refuse to implement the policy of the Government, despite an explicit election mandate for it.
As far as I can tell, Anne has bent over backwards to work with the unions. She even said she’d work with them to try and stop the media publishing league tables. But they seem implacably opposed to giving parents nationally consistent and relevant information.
I say bring it on. Let this be Mrs Thatcher’s miners. The unions plans to pressure school boards to refuse to implement the standards. My response would be no standards, no funding.
All power to the union when they are trying to get payrises for their members. That is their legitimate role. But the unions seek to determine the education policy of New Zealand. They think the voters and the parents are unqualified. This is a battle over who is in charge of the education system and who does it exist for – is it the unions – or is it pupils and parents.
If you think the national standards is crap policy, then you’ll get a chance at the next election to get them thrown out. Elections should determine policy, not unions.
Related posts:
- The battle for standards
- A deal on league tables
- Audrey on National Standards
- An apology to everyone but the Minister
December 10th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
I’m not 100% sure, but I think that may be illegal to strike for that.
Start sacking them if they strike is what I say as a parent who wants to know how my child is going at school, and how my childs school is going compared to other schools.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:05 pm
Simple, the employees are refusing to carry out a direct instruction from their employers, sack em.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:12 pm
Imho, your best post this week. The passion comes through.
Good chance for Key to show his tough side.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
This leftie could not agree more.
How could national standards be bad for kids’ education?
December 10th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
I chair a school board of trustees, and mrs getstaffed is involved with supporting schools with the national standards implementation. I’ve seen the in-classroom material that it to be used as a guide, and can say that it’s of high quality, sets desired standards and offers teachers a range of examples as to how they could measure students attainment of those standards. So it’s prescriptive about achievement outcomes, but flexible about how those outcomes are assessed. It’s light years ahead of the exam-based mechanism that was apparently implemented in the UK.
I will be telling the union to Foxtrot Oscar if/when they come whimpering to our board.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:21 pm
“despite an explicit election mandate for it.”
really? cant say i was thinking about the subject when i voted.
i agree with you though.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
The teacher unions do not represent the average teacher. The teacher unions are led by the political activists who stand for office. Good teachers are far too busy to do so and seldom even attend union meetings. Teacher union leaders are invariably left wing and often members of the Labour Party. They sometimes even become teachers in order to indoctrinate their beliefs into children. They love power over young minds. They are in favour of mediocrity over the pursuit of excellence. They are implacably opposed to exposing incompetent teachers and informing parents of how children are actually faring. This results in 20% of our school leavers being unable to read and count and thus be destined for the scrapheap.
National pledged to turn this around. First we measure , then we fix.
Standards allow us to measure performance. Those who are slipping through the net need to be identified and remedied. Slips must not allowed to become falls.
This is a line in the sand. National keeps its promises.
National have promised to introduce national standards.
National will do so.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
^^^ Sounds like there’s definitely been “indoctrination” of one sort or another going on!
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 12:35 pm
“I say bring it on. Let this be Mrs Thatcher’s miners. ”
Fucking oath!
The teachers union needs to be smashed, they need to be decimated, only then can we get back to teaching our kids the basics they need to survive and contribute to our community.
Seventeen year old boys do NOT need to look at three paintings and then describe how they interpret those paintings from a feminist point of view, school kids do not need to be force fed socialism and progressive politics.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:37 pm
Agreed that policy is not for teachers and especially not for the learning direction manager pay skimmers to decide. How strong a position are the teachers in? Let them strike for a month or two if they want to – a lot of kids will applaud, a few parents will grizzle about having to find alternate childcare, and that’s about it?
It’s not as if lotto ticket sellers are threatening to strike on jackpot weekend.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
No point in sacking them. That hurts the good teachers. We need the good ones and we need motivated people, not the slobs and time wasters that infest unions.The Nats. need to find some balls and do what they should have already done and return to bulk funding and individual contracts. There is no better fight to be had than to stamp their authority on those that wish to come between the provider of services and the customer who is also the person that pays.
Bring it on and the sooner the better and the swifter the better.
But of course they won’t will they? They couldn’t even sort out the shopping act after 19 years and 10 tries. Total lack of principled leadership.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
<blockquoteThis results in 20% of our school leavers being unable to read and count and thus be destined for the scrapheap.
Every parent should set their childrens’ destiny by ensuring they can read and count, starting before they get to school.
My previous post may have been unfair to a lot of teachers. It should be a requirement of any union leaders who organise strikes that they also go without pay during the strike.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
The teachers union needs to be smashed, they need to be decimated, only then can we get back to teaching our kids the basics they need to survive and contribute to our community.
Since there’s a world wide shortage of qualified teachers and most of our teachers can earn more overseas, won’t they all just leave the country if we ‘smash’ their union?
December 10th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
God forbid parents get to know how good the school is that their kids are going to…
December 10th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
“most of our teachers can earn more overseas,”
Saying it doesnt make it so.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
RRM
For the unions it is not about kids education – it is power for the unions and protection for hopeless teachers.
This is classic horse before the cart stuff and illustrates why unions are irrelavent in the modern work environment. NZ teachers are seriously underpaid and the unions seem to be quite happy with that. Weird… Teachers train for years to manage the vastly different abilities in a single class then all the bloody teachers think they are the same and must be paid the same. What muppets – sack them if they want to live in la la socialist land where we are all the same.
December 10th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
but but but … if school performance is measured then parents might choose the best school available for their kids. Imagine the trouble that would cause for school administrators. One size fits all is much easier for the dept of Education.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
Danyl Mclauchlan
If we smash their union the ones who are worth their salary will earn more – the ones who hold the rest back will either be replaced or leave. Is there a better outcome for the children than this ?
December 10th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
I don’t think that teachers have a problem with parents knowing how their kids are doing. I think some of them have real problem with parents finding out how some of the teachers are performing though.
the teachers union has been protecting the sick lame and lazy for decades and national standards will make it obvious who needs to be culled.
I say bring it on.
December 10th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
And the elephant in the room is….?
It will also expose which schools and teachers are not meeting standards.
THAT is why the Union is passionate about this issue.
December 10th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
Pete George
If the Teachers union ran Lotto then there would never be a draw to choose a winner. Can’t have a winner Pete because if we have a winner then we have loosers and that is just not good for the lotto shop owners. Imagine if a Lotto shop had never sold a winning ticket but the one next door had sold dozens – people might not shop evenly between the two shops and that wouldn’t be fair.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
This is the same old agrument as always. Unions want one size fits all state provision and state funding – why, because it gives them the maximum possible number of members. Is it good for the people who pay for and/or consume the service ??? – who cares, it is good for union membership.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
This action by the teachers has nothing to do with what is best for children and everything with covering up for incompetent teachers. All power to Minister Tolley, this parent is right behind this initiative.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
If we smash their union the ones who are worth their salary will earn more
I don’t think people are getting into primary school education for the big dollars.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Danyl Mclauchlan
So do you think it is just fine that being a primary school teacher is a job that provides insufficient income to support a family without state welfare assistance ? I don’t !
Labour must have had some long hard looks in the mirror when dim bulp Cullen’s inability to consider the reality of inflation saw 75% of high school teachers classified as rich by his tax thresholds.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I have always known how well my kids are getting on at school so far.
I am also glad that they are heading to secondary school away from this sort of rubbish that has proven such a failure overseas.
But hey maybe there is a future in faith based education, where you ignore the evidence.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
better
Kids in private school ?
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
One of my good mates is a teacher, when I ask the kids at the local high school what they think of Mr ‘X’ they unanimously reply ‘he is the man’ or ‘great teacher’.
I often tease him about working in a feminazi dominated environment, most of the time he takes this good natured ribbing well but on the odd occasion he lets his guard down and tells us what it is really like.
On these occasions we hear that he is sick and tired of carrying crap teachers, he is sick and tired of seeing good kids left behind because the teacher is a fat, lazy, hairy armed feminist who is more concerned about pushing her political views than educating our kids, he is also sick and tired of earning the same amount of money as somebody who has a quarter of his talent and ability.
He tells me that he dare not speak out about how he feels, he also tells me he has seen others do so and seen how they have had their careers ruined by the sisterhood.
Anyway, yesterday he rang me and asked me if I would not mind providing a reference for him, of course I agreed, I then asked him what school he was going to teach at and what value I could provide given that I have nothing to do with teaching. He replied that he was applying for a job as a sale rep, he has had a gutsfull of the politics and enough of the ‘bullshit’ that goes with the job.
Apparently the staff room is dominated by discussions about how they can thwart the govt’s desire to see standards introduced, we simply cannot afford to see teachers of his quality driven out of the profession by feminist union scum.
Mrs Tolley must see this war through to the bitter end, she must make sure that nothing less than the total destruction of the union movement is achieved, we simply must be able to rid our education system of the crap teachers and pay the good ones far more than they currently recieve.
December 10th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Principals seem to be really exercised by the national standards .I wish they were as passionate about kids failling in the system…….oops sorry can’t use the F word as it labels them and we mustn’t hurt anyones feelings……until they drop out of secondary cos they can’t read .
Vote:I agree bring it on .
December 10th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
Yesterday the Southland times had a story about a primary school near Queenstown where they are bringing in new names.
The receptionist will be called “The Director of First Impressions”
Teachers will become “expedition leaders”
and so on………..
Proof positive that we certainly do need a new set of standards
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 1:27 pm
Correct, but much of this information is already known to the ministry. I’ve just helped mrs getstaffed with some ministry destined assessment data, gathered from 5 primary/intermediate schools which she’s been working with recently. The decile rating of the schools are 1,3,5,9,10.
While student non-achievement is more marked overall in the lower decile schools, the largest swing between poor and top performance is driven by the quality of individual teachers, irrespective of the school’s decile rating.
The unions are terrified of this sunlight. I say bring it on.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
Smashing a Union sounds like fun.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
“I don’t think people are getting into primary school education for the big dollars.”
Then why would they chase the big dollars overseas? Either they dont care about money or they do.
Personally I think that a teachers salary is VERY attractive to many school leavers. Especially to young women who expect to have children in a few years or who have small children at the moment.
The problem at the moment is that bad teachers are paid the same as good, with no ability to weed out the absolutely terrible ones. Which means all teachers are paid less in aggregate and on average.
You need to think about the argument differently to the way you traditional have. Dont think of getting rid of the unions, or reducing their power, as just a means to reduce the pay of teachers (which isnt what most of us want anyway), think about it as a way for us to pay the teachers who are worth more a salary that is comensurate with their value to us.
Here I will say it explicitly.
I WANT TO PAY GOOD TEACHERS MORE.
But to do that I need to know who the good teachers are.
December 10th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
So now we DO measure teacher performance, it’s just never been public info? Is it just not quantified/quantifiable, or what?
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 1:46 pm
I don’t mind this move by the unions – all it will do is piss the parents off who voted for National Standards and increase the awareness to the general public of unions stepping well outside of what their actual role is.
they are like the most spoilt of children – why can’t they accept that they lost the election and aren’t in govt anymore?
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
At the moment I am well informed about how my kid is doing in school compared to New Zealand norms. I know this for maths, spelling and writing (year 3). I believe that info is commonly given out in schools once kids get to year 3 (before that kids don’t have enough skills to make testing and discrimination easy although broad descriptions can be given).
One of the things that the ERO people do is look at how school identify kids with literacy issues, record keeping on literacy issues (similarly maths). You just have to read the ERO reports to go and find how your school is matching up. (The ERO reports can tell you a lot about a school. )
The only thing that is new about this stuff is the way the data is reported. Parents get a black splodge above or below a line (an example was in the newspaper). What type of improvement is that over talking to your kid’s teacher!!!
Reporting this stuff back to the MoE is just a way for the MoE to get control over schools and bludgeon them into behaving the politically correct way at the risk of losing funding.
All this norm testing originates from the States where it’s also being used as a tool to try and lessen the power of teacher unions in the guise of rewarding good teachers (as if students are randomly allocated to teachers and any such stastics have any comparabillity) and good schools (as if students (and teachers) are randomly allocated to schools and any such statistics have any comparability).
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 2:00 pm
I don’t give a toss about National Standards (they should be administered privately by institutions that stand or fall on their reputation), but I am all for smashing the NZEI and the PPTA.
That would also go some way to restoring my faith in a government which has thus far acted like a pack of commies.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 2:03 pm
This could be a watershed in the debate whether the children are the responsibility of the parents or the state. Many schools have been addressing this for some time and the results are promising. Some pupils need remedial work to get them up to speed and they can only be identified by assessment.
Vote:Some teachers (or in the case of The Remarkables Primary next year, “expedition leaders” ) will also need help, remedial training or another job but only if they can be exposed to the light of the real world and identified. School is like life, not a rehearsal but the one chance, and should be treated with the importance bound up in that premise.
December 10th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Danyl – If that’s so then they won’t move overseas to earn more like you suggested in your earlier post.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
The union is motivated to protect the less well performing teachers because they are really the union’s raison d’etre. Good teachers can manage fine with or without a union. Unfortunately some things benefit unions more than they benefit the but not the individual workers who belong to those unions. Smaller class sizes, and therefore more need for teachers, are another one, creating downward pressure on teacher salaries while increasing union membership. I don’t have a problem, in general, with strikes over opposition to government policy, but it has to be something where workers’ interests really are adversely affected.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 2:17 pm
The student performance is recorded by ages and levels. So where more than one teacher shares/overlaps* curriculum coverage it’s not easy to derive individual teaching performance. In that sense the measurement is implicit or anecdotal, rather than empirical. But the ministry has plenty of information that can be used to identify the teaching stars… and also the ones who should be encouraged to try other occupations!
*In-school load sharing does vary from year to year with the usual situation being 1 teacher per set of ages and levels… while teacher performance generally does not vary so much. So the margin of uncertainty in assessing teacher performance drops the longer they’ve been in the profession.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 2:32 pm
these lefties teachers are scared witless of being judged and found wanting. Unlike most workers who are regularly assessed to determine their ability these pieces of precious pond life are anal retentives who believe they are too superior to be judged and tested.
Whilst they judge and test the children they teach the 2 faced pricks refuse to tested.
They say Oh the parents dont understand the system Like hell the parents are entitled to know.
They are a pox and have always been a pox. Time to break them and their Union and teach them the parents are the boss and they dance to the parents and taxpayers tune
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Burt, not private schools at all.
The education system has been serving my kids and others well. Obviously not all kids but I think most of them.
But I really don’t see how weighing the cow makes it fatter.
This post seems more traditional Nat union baiting/bashing yawn.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
And was the mandate for National Standards? or was it for changing the ETS? or was it for the Super City? or for just not being the Labour led government of the time?
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 3:24 pm
better
If the education system was serving most kids well then it would welcome the introduction of measurement to prove that. I’m less inclined to accept the word of the teacher and less inclinded to allow random outcomes to be the norm than you. Bring on the measurement – you can’t manage what you can’t measure.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Union smashing is like porn to me
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
Burt, Do you have kids at school? Have the teachers not been keeping you in the loop about how they are getting on?
I would agree not all teachers are great, but they usually seem more than adequate, some of them have gone off on Fulbright scholarships after teaching for a couple of years, and I will trust my judgement on that and remain involved with the education of my kids.
I want the teachers teaching my kids, not proving to Anne Tolley that they are.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
The unions ought to be ensuring that the measurement system accurately reflects all the factors that go into achieving educational outcomes rather than standing Canute-like, trying to stop this.
It’s been introduced in Victoria and is available to anyone online.
There are quite legitimate concerns about “league tables” that simply measure pass/fails. But there are also working systems that produce results while taking other factors into account.
But the article the unions really ought to take a long hard look at is this one: “Poorer Schools Outshine the Rest”:
Get the tests right and the good schools – and good teachers – will be obvious. And so will the handful of bad ones. Yet the unions want to protect the minority of useless teachers while holding back the majority of competent ones and denying them the recognition they deserve.
The price of solidarity is mediocrity.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Better
I do have kids at school. I have had kids at state (mediocrity rules) schools and I have had kids at private schools. In the state schools they received “achieved the expected level” on all their reports. They complained they were bored at school and attempts to get them extended failed because the school decided that extension was not a good thing. Same kids shifted to a private school (in absolute frustration with one size fits all socialist clap-trap) have achieved remarkably well.
Reports now come how with “Excellent, Merit, Above expected level” etc.
But the real test is their results in the NSW assessments that are optional in mediocrity rules environments. Being kids that were a problem to the teachers who wanted an easy life in the state schools they did these exams and got reasonable results. Same kids in the private schools are getting excellent results.
Sure I could have said that “achieved the expected level” was a good result, but really, better, without some formal comparison ‘achieved the expected level’ means absolutely nothing. Who’s expected level ? Compared to what ?
I know all schools are different and I know that some kids will excel with [x] teacher while other kids fail with that same teacher. But if your grounds for assessing that the state school has served your child well is a ‘reasonable’ result on a state school assessment then I think you fall into the category of the perfect parent for the one size fits all system. The administrators love people like you.
Oh, just to round that off – my partner is an x-teacher who left from frustration at being told to teach to the middle of the class because there was not enough time to extent the high achievers or try and catch up the stragglers. Class sizes are a big problem and when a school has funding based solely on head count rather than any other metric don’t expect anything to change in the interests of the children rather than the administrators.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
@ Rex 4.15
The article your first link sent me through had this telling quote:
>blockquote>Principal Rhonda Knight, at Coburn Primary School in Melbourne’s western suburbs, said her school was used to working with data and she did not expect the report would tell her anything she did not know about the school’s performance.
And that’s a major consideration with this data gathering obsession that just panders to the rednecks and the ignorant (I include the Minister and the Prime Minister in those aforementioned categories: has John Key actually ever formally rescinded his previous claim that global warming was a hoax?).
The second article is really about a system that is a different kettle of fish to that being imposed over here.
I hear what getstaffed, above, is saying about it being different to systems that have been either criticized (Britain) or abandoned (Japan), but if that is truly the case then professional educators (non-teachers) surely would have been more willing to adopt it. Instead, the rejection is unanimous.
Can getstaffed point to any online info (eg reports, studies from education professionals) so we can judge this system for ourselves? Or are we parents too stupid to be provided with this?
And just a quick reply to the usual anti-teacher venom posts like this supply oxygen to, the fact is that national standards are welcomed by mediocre teachers. “Teach to the test” relieves them of a lot of responsibility.
I know how dedicated most teachers are – and yes, there are always the bad apples – but national standards will likely provide succour to the very teachers we want to weed out.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
So Luc, a single principal knows how well her school is doing. So what? If thats the best you have you’re better off not commenting again.
And are you really saying that when we set educational standards, that bad teachers become better? You arent doing you case any good if you are.
If you arent saying that (and I dont really think you realised you were) then would you accept the corrolary? That if we remove standards, bad teachers would become better? I dont see how that can be justified, but if you think you can make a rational argument for it go ahead.
How about good teachers? What would happen with them if standards are introduced? Will they suffer because they cant meet the standards? What makes them good teachers if they fail to teach well?
I dont think you have any cogent argument at all, just a bunch of twaddle and guff.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
Luc:
That’s my point. Why aren’t the unions holding up a better system with better data as an alternative to Tolley’s (which I don’t think is very good, but is betetr than nothing) rather than standing opposed to anything which shines a light on how well their members are performing?
If they were saying “Tolley’s proposal is flawed, let’s follow the Victorian model” I’d be supporting them. But they’re scurrying like cockroaches when the kitchen door is opened, trying to remain in the shadows. That makes me suspect their motives.
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 7:23 pm
OK, fast forward the pap and look where we are going.
ACT policy is clear on education. There also isn’t a lot of wiggle room in some previous answers Rodney provided to taxation policies that should be introduced.
So what’s the hold up ? Bring the kids home !
Vote:December 10th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
Big Brov at 1.24 p.m.
Vote:Your contribution is chilling. I thought I was the only person who knew ex teachers like your mate.
December 10th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
Rex,
Tolley hasn’t put up a model, just an ideology. We do have a good model in place, one that was instituted only eight years ago and one that has, regardless of the ignorant criticism, delivered top class results according the OECD tables. We rank from memory about 22nd in spend/GDP but sit 4th overall in achievements. You should go to the OECD research and check the facts.
Kimble,
I think you will find that principal is a representative sample of the principals the reporter talked to. In fact, I would say it is representative of most principals, worldwide.
Just an aside, but it is Interesting that you then take the totalitarian standpoint of suppressing dissent. One armed or one eyed?
And just so you know, standards do currently exist. Our newspapers tease out the comparison tables every year. We already know which schools perform well and vice versa. Go check ERO reports.
The people who know best who are the best teachers generally are, as they should be, the principals. Reward for performance, although not raised by your good self, is an issue that deserves to be addressed with careful research.
Just like standards.
Vote:December 11th, 2009 at 12:18 am
Luc – Generic info is here. I’m not sure of the status of standards books mrs getstaffed showed me. They may have been draft – it was two months ago. Even as a non-educational professional I was able to read through each of the standards and understand their intent and then see how the assessment examples worked and/or could be customised.
Quality education is one of the few areas on which the two of us see eye-to-eye. Let’s give this initiative a chance. My sense is that it would be a pity to let this become partisan football.
Vote:December 11th, 2009 at 2:34 am
Get government out of education. Right out. There is no other solution.
Vote:December 11th, 2009 at 10:01 am
All the principals and teachers are asking for is a trial and for some proper, inclusive policy formation to occur.
It looks like the vast majority of principals and not the teachers will be the ones not to implement this poorly thought out, unclear and frankly silly policy in February. They’ll have the unequivocal support of the teachers. The teachers and principals in turn have near total support from educational academics, including this morning on Kathryn Ryan’s show that of John Key’s annointed educational expert John Hattie. The huge majority of Boards of trustees will follow the advice of their educational experts, their teachers and principals.
Anne Tolley doesn’t appear to grasp that to govern requires the consent of the governed. She seems blithly uncopncerned that the entire education sector is about to raise the banner of revolt against her. What does foolish women expect the outcome to be? She says she can act under the education act. Really? Does she really think she she can shut practically every school in the country for who knows how long?
It is a well known phenomena that usually interaction with a profession or institution raises peoples respect for it. People who have been in hospital cannot speak highly enough of the doctors and nurses, people who have been helped by the police think they do a magnificient job, everyone loves firefighters, etc etc. Good parents are engaged with their schools and by and large respect and like the teachers and administrators of their children. They are engaged with the education system. Does Tolley really believe they back her and not the teachers?
I thought the NZEI was quietly manoeuvering Tolley into a corner where it is Anne Tolley & the Kiwiblog commentariat vs. the entire education secotrs and parents. Now it seems there is no need to try and out-manouvre this stupid woman, she is blundering along the road to confrontration despite all the signs that say “GO BACK!” “HERE BE DRAGONS!” “STOP!” and “DON’T SAY WE DIDN’T WARN YOU!”
Vote:December 11th, 2009 at 11:48 am
Here is an interesting article I found about this new policy from the perspective of a parent of an autistic child. The issues don’t just relate to autistic kids but to any kids who start from a position of learning difficulties.
Vote:http://humans.org.nz/2009/11/27/will-national-standards-fail-autistic-students/
December 11th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
Burt @ 4.24. My experience mirrors yours. I have 2 boys who are anything but average (in different ways) and the teachers are not interested in adapting their methods to suit their learning style. Result- the work is either ridiculously easy or totally incomprehensible to them. They are totally bored.
Vote:I suspect the new tests will say they are either very smart or very stupid. either answer is unlikely to motivate them. If they think they are smart they will think they don’t have to try. If they think they are stupid they will see school as a waste of time.
Are standardised tests going to help me get the teachers stop wrote learn teaching them and stop them teaching to the test? I doubt it.
December 11th, 2009 at 11:35 pm
“Let this be Mrs Thatcher’s miners.”
Mr Key is no Mrs Thatcher.
Vote:December 12th, 2009 at 12:15 am
bchapman – They shouldn’t be wrote learning teaching them now! Teachers should be using stage-driven enquiry learning, followed up with formative assessment. That might be a bit sweeping, mrs getstaffed will probably tell me off. Anyhow, research those terms a bit and then challenge the teacher about his/her approach. If no change, go to the principal. If no change go to the Chair of the BOT.
Perhaps National Standards need to include some training for parents… so we know what to ask of, and expect from those we charge with educating our kids.
Also, National Standards don’t involve standardised tests or exams. Teachers can and should design assessments that suit the student/culture etc.
Vote:December 12th, 2009 at 12:28 am
bchapman
You raise a valid issue, we can’t stop schools teaching to the tests. But that as a justification for no measurement of schools is hard to grasp. There is already a measurement system of students in place, it is used by teachers. Are the teachers already teaching to that but we don’t know what ‘that’ is? Do the teachers already just rig the appropriate distribution of merit, distinction, achieved, participated grades now?
The problem is not really a lack of measurement tools, or that they are not used. The issue is a fear of accountability.
Vote:December 12th, 2009 at 12:31 am
getstaffed
So we can code in ‘she’ll be right’ configurations in the national standards. How Kiwi is that!
Vote:December 12th, 2009 at 7:25 am
burt – yeah, that was my concern. Mrs getstaffed tried to easy that concern, telling me that it would be ok because, wait for it … there is a peer-review process built in! I guess we await leaked emails and ‘Standardsgate’
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