A very happy and prosperous 2017 to all my viewers.
May the Force go with you!
GD
Saturday, 31 December 2016
Thursday, 1 December 2016
Australia slips in world rankings for science and maths
The airwaves have been abuzz this week with the bad news about Australia's academic school performance rankings against other countries.
It was mainly about science and mathematics, but the phonics advocates are out in force and even the rote learning of tables devotees. They admit that phonics is back and express their relief. There seems to be less certainty that rote learning of multiplication tables and number facts is again common practice in the schools.
Aussie school principals what is your position? For mine phonics is back and I am relieved. Phonics will aid spelling.
Recent experience with one of my grandchildren revealed an expectation from the school that the home should provide a lot of the rote table learning to back up the school. I also had another teacher support this view in discussion with me. As an ex school principal and Superintendent of Schools I cannot support this. It is the school's job to empower its students with a memorised knowledge of the tables and number facts. If a student has these facts as instant memory recall then basic mathematical calculation is so much easier. I'm afraid that the mathematicians gained control of school curricula pushing youngsters too early into processes that would eventually be the basis of higher mathematics. Basic numeracy was required to take a back seat.
To offset the wave of communication grabs that have now overpowered longer and more complex communication, I urge principals as educational leaders to entreat their teachers to return to the traditional letter writing format that invites clear simple sentence structure and easier paragraph construction. These skills can be the basis for descriptive writing as in science studies and be further translated to the more difficult creative writing.
Even with the discipline of phonics and rote table memorisation the best teachers make the learning an exciting experience.
Enough already!
GD
It was mainly about science and mathematics, but the phonics advocates are out in force and even the rote learning of tables devotees. They admit that phonics is back and express their relief. There seems to be less certainty that rote learning of multiplication tables and number facts is again common practice in the schools.
Aussie school principals what is your position? For mine phonics is back and I am relieved. Phonics will aid spelling.
Recent experience with one of my grandchildren revealed an expectation from the school that the home should provide a lot of the rote table learning to back up the school. I also had another teacher support this view in discussion with me. As an ex school principal and Superintendent of Schools I cannot support this. It is the school's job to empower its students with a memorised knowledge of the tables and number facts. If a student has these facts as instant memory recall then basic mathematical calculation is so much easier. I'm afraid that the mathematicians gained control of school curricula pushing youngsters too early into processes that would eventually be the basis of higher mathematics. Basic numeracy was required to take a back seat.
To offset the wave of communication grabs that have now overpowered longer and more complex communication, I urge principals as educational leaders to entreat their teachers to return to the traditional letter writing format that invites clear simple sentence structure and easier paragraph construction. These skills can be the basis for descriptive writing as in science studies and be further translated to the more difficult creative writing.
Even with the discipline of phonics and rote table memorisation the best teachers make the learning an exciting experience.
Enough already!
GD
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