Why NAPLAN does not work
Stephanie: Naplan is a symptom of the current trend in thinking that education is all about results that can be measured in standardised tests. Every teacher knows that these tests measure about a fifth of what students learn. I think this emphasis on proving results and gains places an artificial stress on teachers and students alike. Funnily enough, I think if there was more of a focus on supporting teachers and rich learning activities results would improve even more.
Peta: Instead of looking at education systems that are not having good outcomes for students, like the US and modelling our system on theirs, we should be looking to the countries having great outcomes. Many of the Scandinavian countries are seeing tremendous educational gains and have gone the opposite way and scrapped standardised testing.
Damien: NAPLAN data is anything but meaningful. It measures only what some students ‘did’ on that one day, not what they actually know or understand. How is such a limited data set truly useful for anything other than politically-motivated misrepresentations of student ability and teacher efficacy? Short answer, it isn’t, was never meant to be, and never will be.
Stop work action suspended due to major breakthrough in talks
Margaret: Fabulous news. The IEU has worked so hard to achieve decent and fair working conditions for its members. We must always be vigilant so that just conditions are not dismantled. The unions have worked so hard in the past, to get us basic human rights.
Why teachers should wear their Union badges when a principal said they should not
Greg: As an ex-principal in Catholic schools, none of this surprises me at all. I’ve seen the contempt teachers have been treated with building up for a number of years. I have been at CEO meetings where teachers are spoken about in disgraceful terms. I’m glad I do not work for them anymore.
Vince: So now the Catholics are in bed with the Murdoch press. Nothing would surprise. Laughable. Wear the badges teachers.
Wendy: Olay, as long as the Catholics take down any Catholic insignia– deal.
Danielle: I’d like to see Parramatta Diocese try that at my school. They’d be lynched.
School children being used as pawns by the CCER
Stephen: Simply don’t vote for such an agreement. Isolate the right wing views. Christ was inclusive!
Chris: Unions have absolutely no credibility. Nothing but thugs with a license thanks to Labor.
In reply:
John Quessy: The great thing about our country is we tolerate people having views like yours, even if we find them ignorant and reprehensible.