Category Archive

I like John Connell’s blog because he is someone who keeps me up-to-date with news from different parts of the world related to my line of work. Also, I get an occasional glimpse into happenings in Scotland, something I wouldn’t get otherwise.

Today I read in my feed reader just one example of John Connell’s blog keeping me informed. It was of an interesting set of survey results from the United States, which suggest that parents believe schools there do not prepare students for working in the modern world.

The results suggest that parents do believe there is a place for “basic skills”, but unfortunately (in their opinion), 21st Century skills necessary for competing in a contemporary global market are being neglected; to the detriment of students. I must say that I agree with them. Not in their assessment of the US Education System per se (overseas education systems are not my field of expertise), but their assessment of education and schooling in general at this time.

Of course, teachers and school administrators have their part to play in this.  Yet, behind this, there is also a political cloud that looms.  “Basic Skills” are apparently what the electorate want taught in schools.  Now, when the electorate has a conservative tendency (as is typical here in Australia, for example), that’s hardly surprising.  Yet, if all we’re going to teach are “basic skills”, then I can only imagine we’re preparing our children to work in a particular working world.  The problem is, the jobs they’ll be prepared for won’t exist here in Australia (or the US or UK for that matter), because as Thomas Friedman makes clear in The World is Flat, they’re far cheaper to do elsewhere.

Read the media release about the survey.  Make sure you scroll down to view the results summary and key messages in the .doc and .ppt files.

OK, I’m catching up now: I’m really typing this on Thursday; not typing over the weekend and not getting around to posting until Thursday.

I didn’t get much work done after school this afternoon, and I don’t think I will most Thursdays for a while.  The Creative Arts Expo after school rehearsals have begun.  Like their previous incarnation in preparation for Wakakirri (in 2005), there’s an infectious buzz around them and through the school on those (increasingly colder) Thursday afternoons that’s hard to resist.  I’ve agreed to assist next week with preparing some old Wakakirri backdrops for a new life in our water-themed performance.

Walking around the school this afternoon soaking up the atmosphere left me thinking.   Why don’t we always have this buzz?  Why can’t Religious Education, English, Maths, and all the other KLAs gather so much interest?  Why is it that we’d never be able to get dozens of children to stay behind after school to do extra schoolwork?

We clearly have a big challenge as teachers around the whole issue of student engagement.  Not only do we owe it to children to provide such a stimulating learning environment, but we owe it to ourselves as well.  Disengaged students often become misbehaved students.  Unfortunately, though, it’s often easier to attribute blame to the student; “they don’t listen”, “they won’t give things a go”, etc., etc.  It’s easier to believe the problems lies with the students themselves rather than be confronted with the possibility of our teaching being a contributing factor.

Or at least we think it’s easier to apportion blame on the disengaged student.  I’d rather put the effort into reinvigorating my teaching than trying to manage (which is the best you can hope for in such situations) students who can’t see a point to what they’re doing.