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Monday 23 June

• The West Australian
  

  • Changes to OBE English ‘are ignored’ (page 17)
    by Bethany Hiatt

    “English teachers claim the Curriculum Council has betrayed them by ignoring the recommendations of a panel of teachers hired by the State Government to review problems in the outcomes-based education English course.

    “A “teachers’ jury” last year said that the OBE English course that Year 12s sat for the first time in 2007 was flawed and required significant changes.

    “The jury was concerned that students were able to do the TEE English course without reference to books or films they had studied during the year and said the new course must have more explicit content. It specifically recommended that creative writing should not be included in the writing section of the Year 12 exam from 2009, though it should be assessed during the year.

    “The 48-member panel also recommended that students should not have to write about still images seen for the first time in the viewing section of the exam. Instead they should refer to “non-print texts” such as films which they had studied during the year.  But new sample exams designed to give teachers an idea what to expect in 2009 include both writing about previously unseen images and an option to write creatively.

    “A spokesman for the English Teachers Forum, which opposed the new OBE English course after it was introduced, said a reference group set up by the Curriculum Council to implement the jury’s recommendations was overriding them instead.  “Unless the reference group does as the jury wanted them to, it’s an enormous waste of time, money and effort for everyone involved, “he said.

    “The jury said there shall not be creative writing, for a whole range of reasons, and the reference group has said, ‘no, we know better’.”

    “Marko Vojkovic, spokesman for teachers’ group People Lobbying Against Teaching Outcomes, said the reference group appeared to be taking lessons from African despot Robert Mugabe. “They get a result from a jury they don’t like and they just ignore it and go on their merry way,“ he said.

    “Mr Vojkovic said Education Minister Mark McGowan had given a “rock solid” guarantee that all jury recommendations would be implemented in full.  “It’s time to replace the English reference group because they seem to be the last remaining problem between the old OBE debacle and some sanity coming back into the system, “ he said. [emphasis added]

    “Curriculum Council chief executive David Wood said almost all the English teacher jury’s recommendations had been implemented.  Half the reference group managing the implementation had also been members of the jury.

    “Mr Wood said students had to answer only one out of five questions in the writing section of the exam.  “Students may choose creative writing, but this is not required,” he said.  “In the viewing section of the exam, students have to refer to a non-print text studied during the year, as well as unseen static image.”

    From The West Australian
    
    
    

  • Teachers ‘expected to register’ (page 9)
    by Bethany Hiatt

    “Education Minister Mark McGowan has broken his silence on the prospect of hundreds of teachers being banned from schools for refusing to pay their compulsory registration fees, saying he expected all teachers would meet the deadline.

    “Last week, Mr McGowan refused to comment on the possibility of a dramatic escalation of the teacher shortage if more than 2000 teachers do not pay their outstanding annual $70 fee to the WA College of Teaching by the final deadline in two weeks.

    “Yesterday, he said it was a legal requirement for teachers to be registered, which also provided for compulsory criminal screening.

    “I expect all teachers will register before the deadline of July 3 as they did last year, “he said. “More than 95 per cent of teachers are already registered and registrations are pouring in at the rate of 200 to 300 per day. I urge all remaining teachers to register.”

    “State School Teachers Union general secretary David Kelly said Mr McGowan’s advisers should have prepared contingency plans against the possibility that some teachers were deregistered.  “He’s the Minister for Education, so if there’s 2000 teachers – and they’re not all in public education – I’d expect him to know exactly where these are and in what context, what contingency plans need to be put in place to make sure there are teachers in front of classes, “he said.

    “I’m sure the (education) director-general (Sharyn O’Neill) would be very conscious of the implications for the workforce.  At a time of teacher shortage already, we do not need another 200 or 300 teachers ineligible to be standing in front of a class.”

    “Mr Kelly said while the union would prefer employers to pay teachers’ registration, $70 was a minimal fee and WACOT had an important role in ensuring that only qualified educators were fronting classrooms.

    “WACOT director Suzanne Parry said the number of teachers who had not paid their fee was fluctuating. “It’s almost impossible for me to give any sort of accurate figure, “she said.

    “But she had no doubt teachers would pay by the deadline.  She said a small group of teachers had taken the opportunity to make a protest because they were disenchanted with the profession.  “They’re protesting about the whole range of things that have been happening to education, “she said. “Curriculum changes, the current enterprise bargaining agreement being unresolved – there’s any number of things.”

    From The West Australian
    
    
    

  • Letter to the Editor (page 22)
    

    • Hogwash, Minister

      “It became apparent when reading your report (Teachers Need Big Pay Rises,  Says Report 19/6) that the Minister for Education’s previous stance about the Twomey report not being released until Cabinet had studied it was a load of hogwash and to say that he has released it now as ”an act of good faith” further stretches credibility.

      “Mark McGowan has known since last December of the report’s findings on teachers’ pay and conditions.

      “He knows that to maintain and attract teachers a whole raft of measures needs to be implemented, including a substantial pay rise (not just a token amount of executive teachers to earn $100,000).

      “The SSTU and the Education Department have been in negotiations since the end of September last year to replace the old School Education Act Employees (Teachers and Administrators) General Agreement which expired on March 1.

      “If acting in “good faith “was an important factor, a new agreement would have been up and running from March 1.

      “Instead, obfuscation and muddying the waters have been prime department tactics.  Referring the case to arbitration further delays an eventual agreement.

      “If the process should take 12 months (as some reports suggest), will the new agreement be backdated to March 2008? If not, then the Government has, in effect, partly paid for new salaries and conditions by employing the stalling process of arbitration and saving on pay increases which should have come into effect more than three months ago.

      “A cynic may also be tempted to believe that it is expedient for the Government to immediately grant department heads and bureaucrats quantum pay rises because this keeps those people onside and parroting the Government line.

      “Of course, there are only a few of them and a few huge top-up costs less than adequately rewarding thousands of teachers (and yes, nurses, policemen and public sector employees).”

      Kevin Milligan, Carine
      
      

    • In Short
      
      "The gas crisis would possible bring any normal State government to its knees. Not so in WA. Quite remarkably, the Labor Cabinet managed to hold the fire hose with one hand while simultaneously finding, reading and releasing the Twomey report with the other. Well done."

      Frank Mulligan, South Perth
      
      
      

• WACOT Media Statement
  

  • Non-paying teachers to be deregistered
    
    Teachers whose annual membership fees have been outstanding since April will be deregistered by the Western Australian College of Teaching, effective on July 4.

    At an extraordinary meeting last night, the College Board agreed to deregister non-paying members, many of whom had left the teaching profession or left the State.

    College acting chair Jacqueline Varris said that the majority of the College members had paid their fees on time and only about five per cent had failed to pay.

    She stressed that many of the teachers who would be deregistered were no longer working in Western Australian classrooms, or had left the State, and had simply failed to notify the College of their intentions.

    Mrs Varris was confident that the majority of the remaining non-financial members would follow the same pattern as last year and pay the fee before they faced cancellation of their membership and deregistration.

    “The College Board urges those who have not paid to do so in order to minimise the disruption that deregistration would cause to schools and the wider community,” she said. “Re-registration is a costly and time consuming exercise for teachers.

    “Teachers have a system of registration similar to other professional groups such as doctors, nurses and midwives, dentists, accountants, lawyers and psychologists. There is a legislative requirement for teachers to pay an annual $70 fee for registration.

    “Teachers have a membership card clearly stating the March 31 expiry date of their financial membership of the College. They are sent an invoice in February and the majority of our 45,000 members pay on time.

    “The College Secretariat sends a reminder letter in April and if the membership fee still goes unpaid, there is a follow-up reminder notice in May, along with a letter from the College Director forewarning of deregistration.

    “All of this requires a lot of extra administrative work for the College Secretariat and this process cannot go on indefinitely.

    “All non-financial members will be sent notices tomorrow advising that deregistration will be effective from 4pm on Friday July 4 if fees remain outstanding by 4pm on July 3.

     “In some instances teachers may have changed address and will not have received an invoice.  Numerous measures have been taken by the College to contact these teachers even though it is their responsibility to inform the College of their contact changes.”

    As the teaching profession’s regulatory authority, the College works to ensure that teachers in Western Australian classrooms are suitably qualified, are competent to teach, are of good character and have satisfied the requirements of a criminal record check.

    Teacher registration has been in place in Western Australia since September 15, 2004. All Australian States and the Northern Territory now have teacher registration boards.
    
    
    

• The Age
  
  
  • The Monday Education Section is online !  and has 10 articles, including:
    
    
    • Have we learned our lesson yet?
      by Tony Thompson
      
      "The real story about the looming teacher shortage in the state system has nothing to do with the imminent departure of the baby boomers. It is a far less predictable tale. Teachers are simply quitting.
      
      "Generation Y can't see the point of a long career in teaching and Generation X still can't figure out why they got into it in the first place. Opportunities do appear. Private schools regularly seek out state-school teachers for a quiet chat. Overseas postings are advertised weekly in The Age.
      
      "I have had friends leave for all kinds of professions. A teacher who had a big influence on me in my early days at Princes Hill now writes detective novels. Another former colleague sells Viagra. Yet another plays music professionally.
      
      "What they have in common is the sense that they made the right decision. They were all excellent teachers and they all say they miss the kids but there is no regret. This raises big questions, I believe, that have not been entirely answered by the recent agreement negotiated by our union. I used to think it was money but there is a bigger issue: respect.
      
      "Another friend of mine who left the profession last year made a very telling comment recently. She said that she felt, for the first time in her working life, like a grown-up. What does this mean? This is about respect.
      
      "To work in the state system these days is to feel like Winston Smith in George Orwell's 1984. The Inner Party or the "department" looms threateningly over those of us in the Outer Party, "the schools". The Department of Education is interested in "accountability" and the sense that teachers are doing something wrong is widespread. Our leaders cannot be satisfied. The day before Melbourne Cup Day in most businesses is a holiday. No questions asked. The Education Department has other ideas. We must do 7.36hours of extra work throughout the year.
      
      "Now most teachers do twice that amount of extra work every week but this is not recognised. It is clear that we don't deserve that day. The community isn't happy. Our holidays are already too long. The Government is tired of our griping and the "department" has to take a stand.
      
      "I often try to picture these people, these people of the "department". I assume that most people in education administration are former teachers. Why did they leave the classroom? Was it too stressful? Was it too easy? No, they left because they wanted more money and to be recognised for their work. Unfortunately, they seem to have forgotten this and seem determined to punish those of us who do not wish to leave the classroom. I have never met even one of these people so I am generalising. I just find their attitude mystifying.
      
      "Many teachers feel as though they are jumping through a burning ring every morning when they enter the school but this is not interesting to our keepers. They decide on the hoops and hurdles. If we go through the annual review process, then we need to do a curriculum audit. Then it is time to do some kind of professional development project. And boy, do we need professional development. It is clear that most of us have a lot to learn. The Victorian Institute of Teaching suggests 100 hours; about one hour a decade is enough for me but that is simply not good enough. Repeat - I am a bad teacher, I must develop professionally. I could be the assistant manager of a retail operation and make more money but it is clear that I have a sentence to serve. And I will serve this sentence by listening to education gurus tell me that my style of teaching is wrong and that I have to change. My lessons are not "inclusive" enough. I need to give the students more "ownership" of the process. My knowledge of my subject can impede student learning. They must be challenged to seek out information on their own. God forbid that I answer a question. I need to be a guide, not a sage. I should use "scaffolding". I still don't know what this means.
      
      "Most parents I deal with are very supportive. It is time for them to get angry. The people who put their children in state high schools are heroes. I suspect that many of these parents could afford a private school.
      
      "They choose us because they like what they see and desire a more democratic environment for their kids. The level of trust is high but they have to know the truth. They trust us but our employers don't and morale is at breaking point. Most companies have finally realised that treating employees properly is just good business.
      
      "Creating an atmosphere of suspicion and accusation can only lead to a drop in productivity.
      
      "Maybe the retirement of the baby boomers is significant for another reason. I always ask them how they have hung in there for so long and the answers are generally based on a commitment to an ideal and the belief that teaching can change the world.
      
      "I'm not sure this is enough to sustain me through another 20 years. I know that my experience and my perception of the situation is not universally shared but I believe that it is time to talk about something other than money and short-term fixes. The state system in Victoria must be preserved. Let's start with those at the front lines."
      
      Tony Thompson is an English teacher at Princes Hill Secondary College.
      
      From The Age at link
      
      
      
    • Universities face up to double threat
      
      An ageing university workforce and fierce global competition for top academics pose some of the biggest threats to the prosperity of Australia's higher-education sector, according to a national discussion paper.
      
      
      
      
• ABC News
  
  
  • Regional teacher search heads to Scotland
    
    "The Department of Education has begun interviews in Scotland to find more regional teachers for Western Australia.

    "It is the second recruitment drive in the United Kingdom this year, with a third expected to take place in October."Already 52 teachers have been recruited from London and Ireland to begin work in WA schools at the start of 2009."The department's Allan Blagaich expects to recruit a further 50 teachers from Scotland.

    "Yes we are seeing the fruits, we're getting people through, it started slowly last year, this year I know that with the 52 we have added we have over 100, 120 people on our books ready for appointment in Western Australia," he said."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    
  • Police told to prepare for bitter pay dispute
    
    "The President of the Western Australian Police Union has predicted officers will need to fight an extraordinarily bitter pay dispute when a new enterprise bargaining agreement is negotiated next year.

    "Mike Dean has told the Police Union's annual conference that the Labor State Government has a fascist pay stance, where it draws out negotiations and then takes pay disputes to the Industrial Relations Commission to get a favourable result.

    "He says the current negotiations between the State Government and the State School Teachers' Union are an example of the Government's inability to bargain in good faith. [emphasis added]

    "However, Mr Dean says officers are prepared to do whatever is necessary to get an appropriate pay rise.

    "Meanwhile, the Police Commissioner, Karl O'Callaghan, has told the conference police stations across the state need urgent upgrades.

    "He also said the Government was not providing enough officers to enforce new child abuse laws.

    "Commissioner O'Callaghan says mandatory reporting of child abuse cases needs 30 more detectives to be enforced.

    Industrial action

    "Meanwhile, the Police Union has threatened to take industrial action if the judiciary fails to jail offenders who assault police. "The State Government recently increased maximum penalties for police assaults from 10 to 14 years jail, but refused Opposition and union calls for mandatory jail terms for serious offences. "Mr Dean told delegates attending the conference that the courts must ensure people who seriously assault police are always sent to jail. "He says police officers will take industrial action and hold rallies the next time a court allows an offender to walk free. "The reality is the Government governs this country, courts are there to carry out the will of Governments," he said.

    "The Judges and the Magistrates are not the ones that are out on the streets dealing with the daily violence."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    
  • School maintenance more important than solar panels: Opposition
    
    "The Queensland Opposition says maintenance work on school buildings should be a higher priority than installing solar panels.

    "Premier Anna Bligh has promised a three-year, $60 million program to place solar panels on every state school roof."Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg says that money should be spent on urgent repairs first."If the Government actually fixes the fundamental maintenance issues in those areas in our schools then of course we can move to solar panels," he said.

    "But the mums and dads out there with their kids at schools and the staff in the classrooms are asking for electrical safety switches, painting and basic drainage and plumbing work to be done."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    
    
• WA Today
  
  
  • Teachers resign as leave refused [22 June]
    by Vanessa Williams
    
    "Teachers in need of a break are handing in their resignations as the Education Department refuses to grant unpaid leave.
    
    "In a report released in March last year, which reviewed the teacher recruitment practices, a growing number of teachers believe the Education Department is letting them down by not recognising the benefits of offering unpaid leave in place of resignations.
    
    "Shadow Education Minister Peter Collier said that figures obtained from the Department show approved leave requests continue to fall and that Education Minister Mark McGowan has failed to see the decline as an issue.
    
    "This government continues to ignore the advice from the reports and taskforces it commissions," he said.
    
    "Areas where real change can be made continue to be identified but no action is being taken."
    
    "According to the report, only 27 per cent of the 258 applications filed for unpaid leave were approved as the number of teacher resignations increased from 314 in 2003 to 908 in 2007. 
    
    "Compare this with figures from 2003 which showed out of 660 applications, 97 per cent or 645 teachers were granted leave without pay," Mr Collier said. "This level continued in 2004, with 555 teachers out of 573 allowed to take a well earned break from their duties."
    
    "After speaking to a distraught teacher who was refused leave and had been in the profession for over 27 years, Mr Collier said the inflexibility of the Department was a major letdown for hard working teachers who need a well-deserved break.
    
     "A fundamental shift is required in the way the Government and Department view teachers, otherwise we will continue to witness the dramatic shift away from this profession."
    
    From WA Today at link [also see the Hansard Question and Answer of 17 June]
    
    
    
    
• The Sunday Times online / PerthNow [late midday update on 22 June]
  
  
  • Children safe from strikes
    by Paul Lampathakis
    
    "Children and parents have a temporary reprieve from planned teacher strikes that were to hit WA schools within weeks.
    
    "The WA State School Teachers' Union says its executive decided on Friday to comply with orders by the WA Industrial Relations Commission that teachers not have rolling-half day strikes over pay and conditions.
    
    "But the union says this does not rule out future strikes because it will appeal the commission's decision.
    
    "As far as we're concerned, that doesn't rule out future industrial action entirely, in that we're going to seek to vary the orders of the IRC and appeal," said Union general secretary David Kelly.
    
    "Mr Kelly also said the union's "directive one" remained in place for teachers not to do any unpaid tasks, such as after-school activities.
    
    "He said this measure was also being tightened up. For example the Education Department would now have to provide cars for teachers to move between schools when they needed to, rather than teachers using their own cars as they had in the past.
    
    "The union would continue to confer with its legal team as to the best time to go back to the commission for such an appeal, he said.
    
    "Earlier this month, the union voted at its state council meeting to roll out half-day strikes over pay and conditions and had planned to do so before the end of term on July 4.
    
    "The Industrial Relations Commission took over arbitration of the pay deal this month because the WA Government and the union could not reach agreement after more than eight months of wrangling.
    
    "Union president Anne Gisborne previously said a survey completed by members had favoured half-day strikes and the state council had endorsed these.
    
    "Ms Gisborne said teachers were disillusioned and angry with a government that was being obstructive, rather than constructive.
    
    "She said the arbitration process the Government had chosen would mean every clause in teachers' agreements -- about 120 in the union's log of claims -- would "need to be fought for piece by piece''.
    
    "It would take between six and 12 months for the union and the department to make their cases.
    
    "Ms Gisborne has said the union would try to give parents as much notice as possible of any strikes so they could prepare for them.
    
    "The commission previously fined the union $1500 for refusing to call off a February stop-work meeting that closed 35 schools.
    
    "The union is pushing for a 20 per cent-plus pay rise over three years.
    
    "It wants smaller classes, more preparation time for primary teachers and "appropriate'' administration time for principals and their deputies.
    
    "The Government's last offer, which it withdrew, was nearly 14 per cent, rising with allowances and other factors."
    
    From The Sunday Times online / PerthNow at link
    
    
    
    
• The Sydney Morning Herald
  
  
  • Products get a gig at schools
    by Harriet Alexander Higher Education Reporter
    
    "Corporate giants have broken through one of the last bastions of advertising-free ground to pitch their products directly to schoolchildren.

    "Mobile phone companies, hair product companies, video game manufacturers, magazines and youth websites have jumped aboard an event that showcases bands and runs sessions on careers in the music industry.
    
    "Boost Mobile Rock The Schools, powered by Schwarzkopf Taft FULL ON and LIVE Colour, as it is officially known, is touring 70 schools around Australia.
    
    "And its $1 million bill is being picked up by its 14 sponsors and partners in exchange for an opportunity to advertise their wares directly to the lucrative teen market.
    
    "The event follows moves by the health-care giant Johnson & Johnson to advertise in textbooks and McDonalds's sponsorship of Football NSW's "Kick it Kids" school development program.
    
    "Last week Rock The Schools visited St Patrick's College, Burwood Girls High, Bowral High and St Ignatius' College, Riverview in NSW.
    
    "The shows are prefaced with an advertisement from each of the major sponsors, and some include iPod and phone giveaways.
    
    "Simon Hakaraia, the director of the event, said he hoped eventually to run it with government funding, but it was currently a "win-win for everyone".
    
    "The sponsors really feel that they're doing something worthwhile with their marketing spend, the bands get exposure … and the kids in the school get a huge amount of value from having people come in and open their eyes to everything in the music industry," he said. "Some people argue that selling Boost mobile phones or Schwarzkopf hair products is not a good thing to be taking into schools but we would argue that kids are all aware and we're comfortable with the sponsors."
    
    "The NSW Department of Education is not involved and does not give or receive any funding from the event. But it does offer companies the chance to sponsor activities for events such as the Premier's Spelling Bee and the Premier's Reading Challenge. Sponsors for these include Fairfax Media, publisher of the Herald.
    
    "The NSW Greens education spokesman, John Kaye, said corporate sponsorship gave students the impression teachers endorsed particular products. "Corporate sponsors are trying to cash in on the intellectual authority of schools to create the illusion of official endorsement."

    From The Sydney Morning Herald at link

  
  
  
• The Australian
  
  
  • Stem cell website for students
    by Justine Ferrari, Education writer
    
    "The contentious issue of stem cell research will enter the nation's schools with the launch of an interactive website for high school students.

    "The Australian Stem Cell Centre is taking the debate over the use of stem cells in medical research and treatment to students with the development of the Stem Cell Channel, described as a first in the world.
    
    "ASCC chief executive Stephen Livesey said the centre received about 15 phone calls or emails a week from school students seeking information on stem cell research, which is an elective in some state science courses.
    
    "Professor Livesey said most of the information available on stem cells was highly scientific and dry, making it difficult for teenagers to understand.
    
    "There is no resource like this anywhere in the world," he said.
    
    "We believe it is vital that the public understand the vast promise of stem cell research, balanced by the ethical and scientific challenges, in order to commit their support and consent for the field to advance."
    
    "The website, funded by the Victorian Government and launched by Premier John Brumby at a biotechnology conference, Bio 2008, in San Diego last week, contains questions answered by short video clips."

    www.stemcellchannel.com.au
    
    From The Australian at link
    
    
    

  • Letter to the Editor
    
    
    • Teachers are still underpaid.
      
      "May I correct Christopher Pearson’s latest offerings on teachers ("Vivid memories of 1973’’, Inquirer, 21-22/6)? Victorian teachers on the top subdivision have won a well-deserved 15.4 per cent pay increase (not 15.2 per cent), which gives them hardly more than pay parity with NSW teachers and which still leaves them $18,702 worse off than they were in 1979. "Teachers on the 10 middle subdivisions have won only 4.9 per cent - and that is after a pay freeze lasting 18 months. These increases are to be paid from May 11, not over three years.
      
      "Teachers at all levels have failed to regain the working conditions stolen from them by the use of retrospective legislation in 1992, while the average secondary school still has five teachers fewer than it would have had under the 1979 staffing ratio.

      "The reversal of the 12-minute cut made to the secondary instructional day in 1991 is not laughable. It will add eight days of teaching time in a year, or a whole term over the six years of secondary schooling. We all know that a further 12-minute cut would not be so downplayed but would lead to an outpouring of teacher-bashing invective.
      
      "The Victorian pay deal is the best in 25 years, but that just tells you how badly teachers have done in pay and conditions in the long term."
      
      Chris Curtis, Hurstbridge, Vic
      
      
      

• The Guardian
  
  
  • Oxford launches new educational assessment centre
    by Anthea Lipsett
    
    "The University of Oxford, in collaboration with the publisher Pearson plc, is to launch today a new centre specialising in educational assessment.

    "Assessment is seen an increasingly important part of teaching and learning. Ministers have earmarked £150m over the next three years on the "assessment for learning" project to help teachers assess children regularly.

    "Pearson has donated an "undisclosed sum" to fund and support the new centre, and a Pearson professor of educational assessment - Gordon Stanley - who is also the centre's inaugural director, for 10 years initially.

    "The centre will bring together research expertise in Oxford's Department of Education with Pearson's international expertise in educational assessment.

    "The centre, based in Oxford's education department, will have postdoctoral scholars and doctoral students, and research staff associated with the research programme as it evolves and will work with existing staff interested in assessment.

    "There will also be a formal association with researchers specialising in psychometric testing at the University of Western Australia. [emphasis added]

    "Stanley said: "We look forward to working collaboratively with other researchers and agencies on the challenges confronting education systems in the quest for global qualifications and standards.

    "The research will look at new approaches to educational assessment to help improve the understanding of different types of learning processes and outcomes.

    "It will examine the opportunities offered by recent advances in learning and assessment technologies, and the challenges presented by the increasing requirement for global qualifications and standards."

    "Prof John Furlong, director of Oxford's education department, said: "This is a very important new development for Oxford and for education systems around the world.

    "Assessment is a key part of learning at every level of the education system; it is vitally important to parents, teachers, governments, as well as to learners themselves.

    "This new centre will help to ensure that our assessment systems in the UK and internationally are underpinned by the highest quality research."

    From The Guardian at link
    
    
    
  • Disabled are urged to become teachers
    
    A major campaign to recruit more teachers with disabilities is to be launched by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA).
    
    
    
  • School sex clinics fuel debate on promiscuity
    
    Condoms, pregnancy tests and morning-after pills are being offered in schools to hundreds of thousands of children, some as young as 11.
    
    
    
    
• The Independent
  
  
  • Scrap diplomas and go back to the drawing board, urges CBI
    
    Britain's employers have withdrawn their support for the Government's new diplomas, urging ministers to go back to the drawing board and concentrate on improving GCSEs and A-levels instead. The CBI's move comes just months before the new qualifications were to be introduced in schools this autumn.
    
    Related story on BBC News

 

Tuesday 24 June

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Teachers ban 2009 courses planning (page 3)
    by Bethany Hiatt
    
    "State high schools could be thrown into chaos by a teachers’ union decision to push ahead with a ban on the implementation of more than 30 long-planned Year 11 courses next year.
      
    "Just weeks before Year 10 students choose which subjects they wish to study next year, the State School Teachers Union has directed members to ban the implementation of a range of new courses, including maths, geography, history, literature and physics.
      
    "The union’s State council proposed the ban two weeks ago and the union’s executive endorsed the ban on Friday and notified all teachers yesterday. The directive says: “Planning and preparation for implementation of the 2009 new courses of study is to cease.”
      
    "Union president Anne Gisborne said there were issues around general resourcing and preparation of materials in the time available.
      
    "Ms Gisborne, who also sits on the Curriculum Council which is in charge of rolling out the courses, acknowledged there could be huge problems if private schools implemented the courses next year but State schools did not.
      
    "But she said the Department of Education and Training had to ensure its schools were appropriately resourced.
      
    "It appeared that teachers were now working two jobs, running this year’s curriculum at the same time they were preparing for next year, she said. The courses were important and needed to be introduced properly.
      
    "Teachers have said they can’t prepare programs, lesson plans and assessment items for the new courses during normal school hours. Under the union ban on unpaid overtime, which has been in place since the start of the year, teachers cannot do the work after school.
      
    "Education Minister Mark McGowan said if the union executive went ahead with a ban on preparing the Year 11 courses it would hurt students and anger parents.
      
    "Marko Vojkovic, spokesman for teachers’ group People Lobbying Against Outcomes, said the ban was unfortunate because so much work had gone into revising the courses to make them workable.
      
    “But unfortunately, due to the Government’s attitude towards teachers, it has become a workload issue and, as such, I support the ban,” he said." [emphasis added]
    
    From The West Australian at link
    
    
    
  • Letters to the Editor (page 22)
    
    
    • In Short
      
      “Why am I still reading about this parody of a bureaucracy called the Curriculum Council (Changes to OBE English are ignored, The West, 23/6). I thought the Minister promised last year that he was going to dissolve the dysfunctional organisation and create a new group to look after what is taught and assessed in our schools.”

      Patrick F. Whalen, Yokine
      
      

    • I Disagree
      
      “As a student in my final year of high school, I have found it appalling to have read recent letters responding to the current mistreatment of teachers issue (Bring Back Cane, 20/6). These articles say that corporal punishment is the long-awaited answer to troubled students and that forceful discipline is the only way teachers, and parents for that matter, can have a healthy relationship with teenagers.

      “This is where I start to think, how can I, with only 17 years of life experience, have more common sense than those many adults who agree with this statement?

      “Surely they should be able to see that the bringing back of corporal punishment and enforcing more discipline and restrictions on to modern day teenagers is the worst possible solution for their issue. The fact that they can’t only highlights their inadequacy with living in a modern society.

      “Having been educated in a public high school for the past five years, I have seen a number of student – teacher relationships; both good and bad. I have noted that most students, regardless of what they say, how they act, actually have an enormous amount of respect for their educators.

      “But in order for the student to want to develop a healthy relationship with their teachers, there has to be an equal amount of respect from both parties. Students will not want to help or learn from teachers who show their lack of enthusiasm with their job, or openly display no trust and belief in their students.

      “How can students develop a healthy relationship with adults who constantly have such a negative attitude towards them? Out of my six subject teachers, I am most likely to work harder for those who continually encourage me, and treat me as an equal human, more like a friend or acquaintance, rather than an insignificant child. I have found myself wanting to please those teachers who put in the same amount of effort as I do.

      “How can I become a successful adult if all my childhood I am given the impression that I am not equivalent when compared to those older than myself?

      “To those who may think that this is purely a rant from a naive teenager who holds a grudge  against the elderly; you couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, the teacher I most respect is a 64-year-old woman who, despite growing up in a very different generation, still connects with today’s youth and tries to learn from them, and work with them.

      “The call for corporal punishment to be brought back into schools is utterly ridiculous and would only encourage students to rebel more. It is easy for students and teachers to work together and for a healthy relationship to form; you just need both respect and trust. Methods that used to work in the past will not work in our modern-day society.”

      H. Passmore, Waterford
      
      

    • I’m sick of the bleating

      “I am sick of hearing the constant bleating from really silly people that if we use corporal punishment on our children we invite more violence. Hello ... we have removed corporal punishment and now we are a more violent society than ever before.

      “A good slap never hurt anyone. I was bought up in times when schools gave you a few good whacks with a strap on your hands. Believe it or not I am a law-abiding citizen with two wonderful law-abiding children (both now adults). They had gentle slaps while growing up.”

      Antoinette Cameron, Jane Brook
      
      
      

• ABC News
  
  
  • WA to reap iron ore royalties
    
    The Treasurer, Eric Ripper says a near $700-million royalty windfall will be spent on infrastructure projects rather than funding pay increases for public servants, such as teachers.
    
    
    
  • Sense of urgency leads to early election speculation
    
    There are more signs the State Government is clearing the decks for an early election, with a number of Bills being rushed through the Upper House.
    
    
    
  • Education Dept unable to explain student exodus [McGowan can't find them either: see the next story]
    
    "The Education Department says it cannot explain why 39 school students have left a remote Kimberley community at the centre of a coronial inquest.

    "The ABC understands many of the children's parents have left Oombulgurri, in northern Western Australia, believing tougher liquor laws may be introduced after the state coroner hands down his findings into five alcohol-related deaths in the community.
    
    "One of Oombulgurri's six teachers was sent to Wyndham to teach 10 secondary students who moved there last week.
    
    "The Kimberley district education director, Bill Mann, says he cannot explain why just 15 of the 54 students enrolled at the Oombulgurri Remote Community School are currently living there.

    "I think it was to do with sporting stuff, I tried to find out whether there was any particular reason, because I think the families move and where the families go the kids go with them and on this occasion 10 of the kids had moved between Oombulgurri and Wyndham," he said."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    
  • Minister unsure of location of missing students
    
    "The Education Minister, Mark McGowan, says he believes 29 students, who have left a remote Kimberley community that was the focus of a coronial inquest, are still attending school.

    "Thirty nine of the Oombulgurri Remote Community School's 54 students have left the community.
    
    "The Education Department says ten of them are attending school in Wyndham but Mr McGowan says he is unsure where the remaining 29 students are.
    
    "The informal advice I've had is they're going to other schools," he said.
    
    "Now people move around a lot and what schools they're going to I'm not aware of."
    
    "The Opposition's Child Protection Spokeswoman, Robyn McSweeney, wants parents' welfare payments quarantined if their children are not attending school.
    
    "The State Government had it in Halls Creek and it had an 86 per cent success rate and then they pulled it," she said.
    
    "Ms McSweeney says immediate action is necessary from both the State and Commonwealth governments.
    
    "I would invoke the welfare to school rule so that at least these children have a chance," Ms McSweeney said.
    
    "This is negligence on the Commonwealth Government and the State Government's part."
    
    "Mr McGowan says the State is assessing the merits of the idea but will not be forced into a knee jerk response to the problem of truancy.

    "Oombulgurri is at the centre of a coronial inquest into five alcohol related-deaths."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    
  • Stressed teachers on compo
    
    "It has been revealed 488 people working within Tasmania's education system have lodged workers compensation claims in the past 12 months.

    "The Premier and Education Minister, David Bartlett told a budget estimates hearing in Hobart last night, that 14 per cent of those were due to stress related conditions.

    "Mr Bartlett said during the same period, 4 people had their employment terminated.

    "He told the hearing two were dismissed because of serious misconduct, one did not comply with probation conditions, and another was unable to perform their duties."
    
    From ABC News at link
    
    

  • Union angry at timing of pay increase
    
    "The Northern Territory branch of the Australian Education Union says the timing of the Government's pay offer - as the bells rang for the last time before school holidays - shows it is not serious about ending industrial negotiations with teachers. [Will McGowan pull the same stunt? Web]

    "The commissioner for public employment is offering teachers a 12 per cent pay increase over three years, an increase of one per cent on the Government's previous offer.

    "The union is pushing for a 20 per cent rise over the same period.

    "The union's Nadine Williams says the Education Minister is wrong to think an agreement will be reached before school returns in a month.

    "The unfortunate thing about this offer of course is its timing - 3 o'clock on a Friday afternoon, the last day of the school term, is not a very good piece of timing by the commissioner for public employment.

    "We have no capacity to ensure every single member of the union, let alone all staff who are covered by the agreement, are going to get to see it because they are legitimately and quite properly on what's called stand down leave because the school holidays are well and truly known in advance."

    "The union expects to have a meeting with the Education Department during the holidays."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    

• The Australian
  
  
  • Resources export boom just got louder: ABARE
    by David Uren, Economics correspondent
    
    "The China-led boom will boost Australia's export revenue by at least $58 billion in the coming year, equivalent to almost $3000 for every person in the country.

    "In forecasts made before mining giant Rio Tinto last night won a record jump in the price paid for its iron ore exports to China, the federal Government's commodity markets adviser ABARE predicted mineral exports would soar 50 per cent in 2008-09 to $178 billion.

    "However, that figure is believed to be based on a smaller rise in the iron ore price than themassive increases secured by Rio last night and likely to bematched by its rival BHP Billiton. It is understood Chinese steel mills will pay Rio 85 per cent more for its iron ore in the coming year, generating an extra $20 billion in export revenue for the nation's iron ore exporters.

    "Analysts expect the surge in exports to bring Australia's international trade account back into surplus for the first time in six years. UBS chief economist Scott Haslem said improved commodity prices should translate to an additional $4 billion a month in exports, enough to deliver a surplus within months..."
    
    [Sorry, Mr Carpenter, "crying poor" won't wash. Web]
    
    Full story in The Australian at link [similar stories in virtually all daily newspapers]
    
    
    

  • Sick kids holding back indigenous education
    by Tony Koch
    
    "Teenage children from Cape York communities are often unable to read, write, tell the time or even know the days of the week, according to a doctor who has spent 12 years working with indigenous children.

    "Lara Wieland said the poor health and hearing difficulties of many children in the communities meant they could not learn, and a high proportion were not encouraged to attend school.

    "Addressing an education conference at the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba yesterday, Dr Wieland, who spent three years as resident doctor at Kowanyama community in Cape York, said that education and health went hand in hand.

    "She said Aboriginal children were every bit as bright as non-indigenous children if given a proper start in life.

    "I see indigenous kids who reach high school unable to understand the most basic of concepts or even able to read road signs, not knowing what day of the week it is," Dr Wieland said.

    "What choices will they have in life?

    "I have become absolutely passionate about the importance of providing these capabilities and facilitating choice for indigenous people.

    "I have seen far too many bright people become essentially crippled by their inability to choose lives they have reason to value, and I've seen far too many of them dangling from the end of a rope."

    "Dr Wieland said poor nutrition and hearing loss were the two most critical factors inhibiting indigenous children's learning. "Poor nutrition and iron deficiency are associated with impaired motor, intellectual and cognitive development," she said.

    "Malnourished children are less engaged, less active and have shorter attention spans, score lower in school and have less emotional control.

    "There is no doubt that poor nutrition impacts on brain development, but I suspect that the contributing factors are far more complex."

    "Dr Wieland said the cases of iron deficiency and malnutrition that she saw were a result of children "simply not being fed enough, or enough of the right foods at the right times".

    "In many cases, parents were uneducated, unemployed, living in an overcrowded house where at least one family member had substance abuse or gambling problems and there was some form of domestic violence, she said.

    "Many of them are very young, inexperienced parents too, and I am seeing more of these courtesy of the baby bonus," Dr Wieland said.

    "Virtually none (of the children) have books in the house, or much in the way of toys, let alone educational toys.

    "You'd be amazed how few of the young parents I see understand how important it is to interact with your child, to go to play group, to get your child into preschool, or to read to your child.

    "And indeed, many of the parents can't read anyway, perpetuating the intergenerational disadvantage that comes with poor education."

    From The Australian at link
    
    
    
    
• The Guardian
  
  
  • UK degrees are 'arbitrary and unreliable', says watchdog
    
    Degree classifications in the UK are "arbitrary and unreliable", the universities' watchdog has claimed.
    
    Similar story on BBC News
    
    
    
  • Video games degrees: 95% fail to hit skills target
    
    Nearly all degree courses in video gaming at British universities leave graduates unfit to work in the industry, campaigners warned today... A new campaign - Games Up? - which is backed by most of the UK's gaming companies, urges the government to address a serious skills shortage in the sector that could see the industry move abroad to find more talent.

 

Wednesday 25 June

• The West Australian
  
  
  • Legal bid to stop teachers' ban (page 3)
    by Bethany Hiatt and Kate Campbell  
    
    “Education Minister Mark McGowan has vowed to punish the teachers’ union by taking it back to the industrial umpire for the fifth time this year in a bid to overturn the union’s decision to ban the implementation of all new Year 11 courses next year.
    
    “In deepening hostilities between the Government and State School Teachers Union, Mr McGowan yesterday also called on union president Anne Gisborne to resign from the Curriculum Council, which is in charge of introducing more than 30 new courses to WA schools next year.
    
    “He issued instructions on Monday night to start legal action in the WA Industrial Commission to force the union to lift the ban.  The commission has already ordered the union not to take any more action while a new pay deal is being arbitrated.
    
    “So their (union) actions might already be infringing one of the IRC’s rulings,” Mr McGowan said.
    
    “He blamed the union’s executive for the ban, saying he did not believe classroom teachers wanted to take such action, which was another example of “industrial thuggery” which would cost them public support.
    
    “On each occasion the IRC has ruled in the Government’s favour... all they (the union) are doing is damaging education and not enhancing the interest of their members,” he said.
    
    “Mr McGowan said if Ms Gisborne had integrity she would resign from the Curriculum Council.  “It’s a bit strange when we entrust the SSTU to have some say in these matters and then they decide not to implement the courses,” he said.
    
    “Many courses under threat, including maths, physics, literature and history, have already been postponed twice over concerns about outcomes-based education assessments and lack of content.
    
    “Ms Gisborne hit back at Mr McGowan yesterday, saying the union would not be intimidated into backing down from the ban if the Government continued to ignore its demands.  She maintained there were not enough resources or time for teachers to prepare properly for the 2009 courses.
    
    “She said Mr McGowan was again “attempting to divert community attention” away from the Government’s neglect of teachers.  She would not quit the Curriculum Council’s executive committee and denied she had a conflict of interest. [emphasis added]
    
    “Ms Gisborne admitted going to the IRC was not an ideal option and it would be better if the two parties resolved the issues between themselves.  But she said teachers were already struggling with the new courses implemented this year.
    
    “Mr McGowan said it would not be viable to allow courses to go ahead in private schools next year while delaying the introduction to State Schools.
    
    “Department of Education and Training director-general Sharyn O’Neill said the department had asked five schools to continue preparing for the new courses while it sought legal advice.  She said the courses ban was counter-productive and could compromise students’ learning. [emphasis added]
    
    “Catholic Education Office director Ron Dullard said it would be impossible to run a dual system in which private schools introduced the new courses and state schools ran the old TEE courses.  He criticised the union for tis strong-arm tactics, but said IRC intervention should be an action of last resort.
    
    “WA council of State School Organisations president Rob Fry said the union ban was unacceptable and the Government had every right to send the union to the industrial umpire.
    
    “Independent Schools Association executive director Audrey Jackson said her schools were still working towards implementing the new courses in 2009 unless otherwise advised.”
    
    From The West Australian
    
    
    
    
  • Healthy food rules hitting schools: MP
    by Bethany Hiatt and Debbie Guest
    
    "Schools are being forced to close their canteens because of the combined impact of the State Government's healthy eating policy and a lack of volunteers, according to Independent MP Bob Kucera.
    
    "Mr Kucera labelled the "traffic light" food system an attempt to push "social engineering" into schools and called on Education Minister Mark McGowan to subsidise schools that are experiencing difficulty implementing the policy.
    
    "He also requested an independent survey to see how many schools were struggling to keep their canteens open.
    
    "Under the State Government's traffic light program, 60 per cent of every school canteen menu must comprise green foods, such as fruit and salads.
    
    "Canteens at Mirrabooka Primary School, which is in Mr Kucera's electorate, and Byford Primary School had been forced to close, reportedly because of a lack of volunteers.
    
    "WA School Canteens Association chief executive Robin Bromley said in some cases the traffic light program increased the need for volunteers because more fresh food had to be prepared and this was time consuming.
    
    "Mr Kucera said Mirrabooka Senior High School's canteen was also struggling. It had lost $10,000 last year and was running at a deficit this year.
    
    "He said if the Government was going to impose policies it needed to help those schools that were struggling to comply.
    
    "Volunteers were becoming increasingly difficult to find and imposing specialist training and onerous restrictions on what they could sell and buy did not help.
    
    "He supported healthy eating but more education was needed to change the culture in schools.
    
    "You're not going to be able to sell healthy food if the canteens are closed," he said. "I don't have a problem at all with the program except that they need to have a realisation that there's a huge impact on the profit level within the schools."
    
    "Ms Bromley said canteens were also under pressure because of increases in the cost of foods and families tightening their budgets due to interest rate rises and petrol increases. "All of these factors impact and sometimes it's just too hard," he said.
    
    "For all the doom and gloom, there are also those schools that since they have had fresher choices in place are actually doing better and making more money than they were doing before."
    
    "Mr McGowan said the Government's healthy canteen rules would not be changed. "The State Government has invested $1 million into the program and won't be subsidising individual canteens for not serving unhealthy food," he said.
    
    "Anyone who suggests that students in higher socioeconomic areas should be served healthier foods than those students in lower socioeconomic areas is wrong. Healthy foods can be just as popular as unhealthy foods and just as profitable."
    
    "Mr McGowan said the Department of Education and training had an advisory service to help canteens adjust to the new rules.
    
    "The department is also conducting and independent evaluation of the healthy food program in schools."
    
    From The West Australian
    
    
    
    
• ABC News
  
  
  • Teachers' dispute intensifies
    
    "A long running dispute between the State Government and the State School Teachers' Union (SSTU) has intensified.

    "The Minister for Education, Mark McGowan, is taking the SSTU to the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) to force it to lift its ban on the implementation of all new year 11 courses next year.
    
    "The Union is campaigning for better pay and conditions, seeking a 20 per cent pay rise over three years.
    
    "Mr McGowan is pushing ahead in the IRC to overturn the ban and he has also called on the union's president, Anne Gisborne, to resign from the curriculum council.
    
    "The teachers' union has a position on the curriculum council which has created all of the new courses of study, excellent courses for students in year 11 and 12, [emphasis added] you can't be a part of creating those courses and then call for them not to be introduced," he said.

    "Anne Gisborne should resign."

    "The union has been contacted for comment."
    
    From ABC News at link

    
    
  • Union says teachers are feeling the stress
    
    "The Education Union in Tasmania is not surprised that a large number of workers in the education system are stressed.

    "It's been revealed 488 people working within the state's education system have lodged workers compensation claims in the past 12 months.
    
    "The Education Minister, David Bartlett, has told a budget estimates hearing that 14 per cent of those were due to stress.
    
    "The president of the Australian Education Union, Leanne Wright, says teachers are feeling the pressure.
    
    "Including expectations around reporting and we've had a number of changes with curriculum over the last few years and there are higher expectations from parents too and pressures from society in general," Ms Wright said.

    "Constantly we're seeing in the newspaper criticism of teachers that it's their fault that student outcomes aren't better that type of thing," she said."

    From ABC News at link
    
    
    
    
• The Washington Post
  
  
  • Experts Urge Longer Day to Raise Scores
    
    A Maryland education panel proposed yesterday giving students more class time, ensuring they are ready to complete algebra by eighth grade and enrolling them in a foreign language course by sixth grade.
    
    
    
  • Teacher Bonuses Get Unions' Blessing
    
    Prince George [county] Offers Rewards of Up to $10,000 Linked to Test Scores, Evaluations
    
    One of the most ambitious pay-for-performance initiatives in Washington area schools is drawing strong teacher interest and local union support even though many national labor leaders have long asserted that it is unfair to link teachers' paychecks directly to their students' test scores.
    
    
    
    
• The Guardian
  
  
  • Facebook a valid educational tool, teachers told
    
    Teachers and lecturers are getting the lowdown on how to use social networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo in an educational way.

    Most schools and colleges in the UK block access to the websites but they are missing out on their potential for education, a government-funded guide says.
    
    [The full report is available at this link]
    
    

  • Qualification in podcasting launched
    
    Honey-voiced students may like to consider a new subject on offer at schools and colleges from September: podcasting.

    Students will be able to take a vocational qualification in internet broadcasting from September 2008 thanks to the launch of an NCFE level 1 (GCSE grades D-G) award in podcasting.
    
    
    

• The Independent
  
  
  • More top graduates lured to teach in tough schools
    by Richard Garner, Education Editor
    
    "Gordon Brown has signalled a massive expansion in the number of high-flying graduates to be recruited into tough, under-performing, inner-city schools.

    "He said yesterday that the number on the Teach First scheme aimed at recruiting the best-qualified graduates to inner-city schools would more than double from 380 to 850 a year by 2013.

    "The scheme, open to graduates with top-level degrees, aims to recruit them to work for two years in inner-city secondary schools – without having to study for a teaching certificate. [emphasis added] Originally, it was intended as a means of getting top-quality graduates to work in teaching for two years before departing for better-paid jobs in the City.

    "Since its inception, more than half of those recruited have stayed on beyond the two years – with some being fast-tracked into headships. More than 200 are in middle leadership roles in schools. Teach First expects at least 100 to become heads by 2018..."
    
    Full story in The Independent at link
    
    

  • Pupils, aged 7, could be asked to sign exam 'honesty codes'
    
    Children as young as seven could be asked to sign "honesty codes" at their schools in a plan to cut down on cheating in national curriculum tests and exams.
    
    
    
    
• The Australian
  
  
  • Extra storage as students go Gmail
    by Andrew Colley
    
    "Google has edged out some of the biggest brands in the enterprise IT services market to pick up another major contract win in Australia's education sector.

    "Google partner SMS Management and Technology has emerged as the leading bidder to supply the NSW Department of Education with 1.5 million student email services using a customised version of the search giant's Gmail service, Acting NSW Minister for Education and Training John Hatzistergos said.

    "This commitment is a further demonstration of the NSW Labor Government's commitment to equip teachers and students with the best possible means to compete successfully in the constantly evolving world of information technology," he said..." [Spare us the uninformed superlatives, Mr Acting Education Minister, it's only glorified email... Web]
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    

  • Teaching load carried by 'servants'
    by Stephen Matchett
    
    "Sessional lecturers are the domestic servants of the contemporary campus and carry as much as 80 per cent of the undergraduate teaching load, according to a new report on the rise of the casualised class of academic.

    "In many ways the lifestyle of the traditional teaching (and) research academic is totally dependent on the contribution of sessional staff, in the way that Victorian middle-class lifestyles were dependent on the domestic servant," according to the University of Wollongong's Rob Castle, spokesman for the Recognition, Enhancement, Development report, released yesterday.
    
    "The report says up to 50 per cent of university classes are taught by sessional staff and that official figures, stated as full-time equivalents, do not make clear the sector's dependence on casualised academics.

    "In two of the 16 universities that took part in the RED project, commissioned by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council, sessional staff led 80 per cent of undergraduate classes..."

    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    
  • Libs push for bias probe
    by Bernard Lane
    
    "An inquiry into academic freedom and political prejudice in universities and schools is to be one of the last hurrahs of Coalition control in the Senate.

    "Victorian Liberal senator Mitch Fifield, who graduated from arts at the University of Sydney to a career as a political staff member, moved yesterday that a standing committee set out to measure the "level of academic freedom in school and higher education".
    
    "The reference to the education, employment and workplace relations committee was not opposed by government senators.
    
    "By November the committee is to report on "ideological, political and cultural prejudice in the teaching of senior secondary education and of courses at Australian universities".
    
    "The Young Liberals, which launched a campaign in March against educational indoctrination, claimed credit for the inquiry.
    
    "I didn't draft the terms of reference but it's very much on point," Young Liberals president Noel McCoy said. "We have been lobbying our senators pretty strongly."

    "In a statement Senator Fifield said he had been disturbed by reports of academic bias from students."

    From The Australian at link
    
    
    
  • Focus shifts to the curriculum
    
    The investment in teaching and learning during the past four years has come at the cost of neglect of university curriculum, which needs to be renewed, Charles Sturt University vice-chancellor Ian Goulter has warned...
    
    "While we know we are providing better learning and teaching environments, the question that is yet to be tested properly is whether what we are 'teaching well' is actually the 'best material', he writes.
    
    
    
  • UQ medical students to help set exams
    by Guy Healy
    
    "Some of the brightest medical students in the country will write a quarter of the questions for their end-of-year exams in a project aimed to increase their learning and reduce their anxiety.

    "The head of the University of Queensland's medical school, David Wilkinson, has defended what fellow UQ historian Binoy Kampmark has attacked as "a voodoo exam-setting method".

    "This delusional nonsense is patterned on the self-directed programs that have gradually moved into medical school syllabi over the years," Dr Kampmark said.
    
    "Students are no longer taught; they will do the teaching and conduct the instruction. Modern medical students are there to be pampered and promoted. Let's just get them to mark their own questions in future as well, shall we?" ... [emphasis added]
    
    Full story in The Australian at link
    
    
    

• The Hobart Mercury
  
  
  • Bartlett denies sin of omission
    by David Killick
    
    "Premier David Bartlett has denied leaving literacy and numeracy figures out of a key education report because they made his government look bad.

    "Tasmania's Education Performance Report 2007, released on Sunday by the Premier who is also Education Minister, omits data spelling out the state's poor performance in literacy and numeracy tests.
    
    "While the overall performance figures are omitted, the report appears to use the same data to claim the state is making gains in both literacy and numeracy results.
    
    "But the literacy "index of gain" calculations are based only on reading performance -- where the state performs relatively well -- and ignores results for writing where student performance has actually fallen in recent years..."

    Full story in The Hobart Mercury at link

 

Thursday 26 June

• The West Australian
  

  • Op Ed
    Gas crisis pales before Twomey smokescreen (page 20)
    by Paul Murray
    
    “Education Minister Mark McGowan can thank his luck stars that WA is gripped by a gas crisis. Were the consequences of the Varanus Island explosion not grabbing so much media attention, Mr McGowan's performance over the release of the Twomey report into WA's education staffing crisis - and its effect on the long-running teachers' pay dispute - would be getting much heavier scrutiny.

    “And the deeper you look into Mr McGowan's actions since he received the report last December from former Curtin University vice-chancellor Professor Lance Twomey, the worse it looks for him.

    “After reading the report, my first conclusion was that Mr McGowan must have failed comprehension in primary school.

    “How could he not understand the compelling argument Professor Twomey was putting to him for urgent action on a wide range of issues, not the least teachers' pay levels?

    “Perhaps Mr McGowan missed out on those remedial reading classes they offer in the navy for sailors which poor literacy skills.

    “There must be a good reason why he failed to understand that professor Twomey's findings on the task force's No.1 issues, remuneration, would never support the Minister's tactics against the teachers' pay claims.

    “Surely it couldn't be that the Minister for Education was seeking to deceive the State's teachers when he failed to comprehend Professor Twomey's call for an "immediate and significant" increase to their pay.

    “Hiding the report for seven months while using every available tactic to frustrate the teachers' legitimate pay demands does not seem compatible with the word "immediate".

    “Mr McGowan now appears to have damaged himself irreparably with teachers. Certainly, the teachers' union has reason to question why it should be a union affiliated with the Labor Party when a Minister treats it in such a fashion.

    “The Minister has the gall to say that he released the report "in good faith". Nothing could be further from the truth. What the report exposes starkly is the extent of the bad faith in his dealings with the teachers.

    “An Education Minister dealing in good faith - and with a sensible political head on his shoulders - would have realised on first reading of the Twomey report that he needed to have the teachers and their union on side for the huge job it outlines.

    “Unless he had the ability to keep the report under wraps for all time - and he didn't - a practical Minister would have realised its potential to expose his Government's protracted failings in dealing with the teacher shortage.

    “But because he knew the report favoured the union's pay campaign, Mr McGowan sat on it, citing the need for Cabinet to respond first to its wider implications.

    “It is completely disingenuous to argue that an important Government report could not be made public before Cabinet deals with its recommendations. It happens all the time.

    “The illogicality of the Minister's argument was made obvious by his decision to release it last week still without any public response by him or anyone else in Cabinet.

    It appears the report was released because the Minister feared he would be forced to produce it in the protracted pay dispute in the Industrial Relations Commission.

    “Just last month when questioned about the report by shadow education minister John Day in the Legislative Assembly, Mr McGowan indicated it would not be released until much later in the year:

    Mr McGowan: "It has been on the agenda of a Cabinet committee."

    Mr Day: "Which Cabinet committee?"

    Mr McGowan: "I cannot remember, but it was one of the Cabinet committees. It is a Cabinet document. The member need not worry - once we have a response, it will be released. The instant I release it without a response, the member will be the first to ask, 'Where's your response?'"

    Mr Day: "It is now six months later and the Minister still does not have a response. Surely he can at least let people know what is in the report so we can all be involved? That is often the case with reports. The Government can then go away and present a response within three months. Why can the Minister not do that?"

    Mr McGowan: "Once the Government has developed a response, we will release it. If I were to release it without a response, the member would call on me to release a response."

    Mr Day: “How long does the Minister need to prepare a response?”

    Mr McGowan: "How long is a piece of string? As I said to the member, other levels of government and other portfolios are involved. Once we have all the necessary information, we will present a response."

    Mr Day: "It is six months after the report was presented to the Minster and we still do not have any outcome. It is quite amazing."

    “Even more amazing is that the Minister has now released the report without any response, having hidden it from the teachers' union and the public for seven months. Several things are now very clear.

    “Mr McGowan denied the public the full knowledge of the Twomey report as part of a dumb political game he could only ever lose.

    “Instead of co-opting teachers to help in the multi-headed approach recommended by Professor Twomey, Mr McGowan has further alienated them.

    “Seven months down the track, the public has still not been shown that the Government is capable of fixing the massive problems the report outlines.

    “And we think the gas crisis is a disaster.”

    From The West Australian

     

  • Editorial
    No winner in senseless education war (page 20)

    “The increasingly virulent war between the Carpenter Government and the teachers' union will produce no winner. The losers are students and parents who have to contend with continuing uncertainty about and destabilisation of school activities as a result of bans or threats of them.

    “Teachers may or may not end up with a bigger pay rise than they have been offered by the Government. But any increase on that is likely to be marginal and more than offset by damage to the public standing of the teaching profession which the union professes to uphold.

    “Education Minister Mark McGowan has already lost he war; regardless of the official result. His recourse to legalism is a tacit admission of his failure to sell the offer to teachers or to get Cabinet to endorse a better deal for them.

    “He has mishandled this from the start. It is almost beyond comprehension that he would commission a report on the teachers shortage and what should be done to overcome it, withhold it for six months on the pretext of Cabinet confidentiality and then suddenly release it with nothing by way of adequate explanation or response as the pay dispute goes to arbitration.

    “All the arguments about the need for secrecy while the Government prepared a response ev