My Story - bring students to the attention of their problems and lead then to work out the answers

Posted to Facebook on 16/7/2019 at 5:49 PM
My Story - bring students to the attention of their problems and lead then to work out the answers

I was asked by the Year 4 class teacher to help 2 students to understand why they made mistakes in the online exercises and how to fix the mistakes.

One at a time the student was with me going through the online exercises on a laptop.

The first student is fairly smart. However, he was too hasty and did not pay attention to accuracy

The second did not pay enough attention to question, nor to me when I was explaining

I brought to the attention of their problems, and led them to work out the correct answers or fix their mistakes made in the online exercises.

Student 1 needs to slow down, and double check his work. He will speed up only after he has proven his can do his exercises accuracy.

Student 2 must learn to read all available information, namely question and diagrams very carefully before giving an answer. She must listen attentively, without interrupting the speaker, teacher or instructor. Otherwise, she will miss the explanation and important information.

The students were asked to repeat what they understood about their problems and they had to tell the class teacher the same

The students and the teacher were happy, and so am I.

Thank you for reading.

My Story - Back to school for Term 3

Posted to Facebook on 16/7/2019 at 3:43 PM
My Story - Back to school for Term 3

Back to school first day of third term. I continue to volunteer in Prep and Year 4, but I also want to extent my service to students in different Years

I managed to have a quick word with the school principal, and he said he had a teacher in mind that might need my service in her class.

Lucky me, I shall be helping out in Year 5 class as well next week. In short, that will keep me occupied full day

Thank you for reading.

Can an education system from a country be transferred and adopted by another country?

Posted to Facebook on 9/7/2019 at 12:32 PM
Can an education system from a country be transferred and adopted by another country?

I read a post about Finland is ready to assist Malaysia with their education system.

What is important is NOT just the education system. The parenting of the children, the societal influence, the cultural acceptance, employment prospect, are important to the definition of success of any education system.

In many Asian societies, parents are Tiger parents or Helicopter parents, and what the children study and how the children behave are dictated by the parents

Then the racial and religious issues create big barrier, whether religious study forms part of curriculum, or students need to attend prayers at certain time on certain day.

The welfare system also entwined in the system. There is a big wealth gap in many Asian societies, and can the government afford to fund childcare, daycare and after school care

The crux of the matter is what factors cause the failure of the current system, and whether there are remedies.

While the article is more about Malaysia, we also need to have a closer look at our (Australian) education system.

There is no one size fits all. Foreign systems bring new problems, especially in a multicultural country.

Thank you for reading.

The quality not the quantity of teachers that counts

Posted to Facebook on 4/7/2019 at 9:18 AM
The quality not the quantity of teachers that counts

The problem is about quality NOT quantity. While good quality teachers is important, the non-academic “quality” of the students plays a more important part in the end result.

The society and parents MUST take responsibility about the behaviour of the school students. Not all students can be dealt with just gentle words of encouragement to fix their problems in the classroom.

In a well disciplined class with students who are more homogeneous in most respect, a teacher is able to manage and conduct a much larger class especially in early school years.

The concept of mixing students with big difference in level of competence in favour of social interaction is a myth. The outcome is producing more half baked performers rather than students of excellence.

Life experience is valuable in dealing with students who are very testng and demanding. Being able to “predict” a student’s next move can put a stop to unnecessary disruption

School curriculum can do with some serious revemping. That is another topic I shall discuss next time.

Thank you for reading.

School strikers are going places but the dole queue isn't one of them

Posted to Facebook on 15/12/2018 at 5:20 PM
Posted to The Age (2/12/2018) on 2/12/2018
Commenting on “School strikers are going places but the dole queue isn't one of them”
https://www.theage.com.au/environment/climate-change/school-strikers-are-going-places-but-the-dole-queue-isn-t-one-of-them-20181202-p50jog.html

Many did not strike in the 60s and 70s, and they also became leaders too. There can’t be that many top jobs or leadership jobs, which means many more are left with other other positions or even dole queue.

It's always easier to be an armchair General, and these striking students are just taking the back seats and telling the drivers how to drive and where to go.

So, what do these striking students want the government do exactly? I mean whether they come out with suggestions that are doable and implementable without jeopardising the livelihood of Australians.

Words and strikes are cheap, and if their suggestions lead to job losses, then it is not unlikely that they might join the dole queue.

Thank you for reading.

School strikers are going places but the dole queue isn't one of them

We can do without much of the school curriculum - but not this

Posted to The Age (5/12/2019) on 8/12/2019 (Not published by the newspaper
Commenting on “'No difference' between public and private schools after accounting for socio-economics”
https://www.theage.com.au/education/we-can-do-without-much-of-the-school-curriculum-but-not-this-20181214-p50mam.html

I think what I have been criticising about school and education is not ill founded after all. My mission as a volunteer at a primary school is to find out the root cause of our literacy and numeracy problems.

Many of the topics the primary students learn and discuss are far beyond their age. While it is good for them to know about life skills, they lack the life experience and therefore it is unlikely they have the opportunity to practise and apply such skills.

We can do without much of the school curriculum - but not this

'Too much being taught': Tehan says national curriculum is overcrowded

Posted to Facebook on 15/12/2015 at 3:44 PM
Commenting on “'Too much being taught': Tehan says national curriculum is overcrowded”
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/too-much-being-taught-tehan-says-national-curriculum-is-overcrowded-20181209-p50l5s.html

At long last, someone speaks my language. Better still, that someone is the Education Minister Dan Tehan. He has said, the national curriculum is overcrowded, sacrificing quality for quantity.

The latest Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results showed Australian students had failed for the first time to exceed the OECD average in maths, and also tumbled down global rankings in reading and science.

The differences between sectors, Catholic, government and indepenent, is not as great as people might think it is. There is a need to streamline core subjects like maths and English.

Thank you for reading.

Too much being taught': Tehan says national curriculum is overcrowded