I had a realisation today... I put my car into get checked at the mechanic and after seeing the $2500 at the bottom of the list of things that need to be fixed, I wondered, yet again, whether university is worth it. $2500 is a tenth of my pay for the year in my dead end casual job. Is university really worth getting paid $20,000 a year to do a job I hate to possibly, eventually get a better job than I could get now?
Now this revelation doesn't seem to have a whole lot of do with education. Why should my complaining about life be put in my education blog? Why does it matter?
It matters because this is how my students will feel when I hand them an assignment and they have more important things to deal with. Is the assignment worth 25% of their grade worth anything to them. As long as they pass what else does it matter? Do they really care about Shakespeare, will they ever use Homer, when will they ever need to list all of Australia's presidents and what does learning their names teach them?
We were all brought up with the notion that you study hard to get into university so you can get a better job. Is that true these days though? I know many people who've quit school in year 10 who've got alright jobs that pay alright money. Where as I know a few people who have diploma's and degree's who can't find jobs, so they're still doing their dead end casual jobs they picked up in university.
We need real world information in high school because there is no more guarantee that children are going to want to continue on their schooling when the reasons behind it are no longer valid. A $20000 HECs dept to do a degree that may or may not get you a job is not going to be enough to tempt the students of the future.
We need to work out our students priorities, just like I need to work out my own. What is important? What isn't? and what is vital
Wednesday, 11 July 2012
Friday, 10 February 2012
How can I...
Why can I walk up to an Irish man and say “Hey! You’re Irish, I’m Australian.” But it’s taboo for me to walk up to an African and say “Hey! You’re African, I’m Australian.”. Is it because we’re no longer talking about racism around culture, nationality or traditions, we’re talking about racism surrounding colour and cosmetic differences?
How do I teach students that discrimination to any one is unfair when insulting certain people is abhorred more than others?
Why do we have 1 week to celebrate harmony in the community when it is something that should be practiced every day? Is it because we need to focus on it else wise we forget? Or is it because we only need to celebrate multiculturalism once a year?
How do I teach students Australia is always multicultural, do I tell them that’s just a week where we are /more/ multicultural than usual?
How do I teach students that everyone is equal when we call countries “Third world”?
How come I can go up to a stranger and assume they’re straight and everything is fine, but if I go up to a stranger and assume they are homosexual, I am considered rude and insulting? Are we really as far along in equality as we think?
Can I teach students that it is okay to be homosexual when they may go home and come out; resulting in bullying, being disowned by their parents and being shunned from society, from possibly even their religion?
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Links of Interest
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-16879336
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/writing-students-literacy-rebecca-alber
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/writing-students-literacy-rebecca-alber
Tuesday, 7 February 2012
Back Again
So I'm back at University, sitting in the lecture halls listening to people tell me about their life experiences and how they relate to the course matter, the history behind the person who wrote the course matter and all those wonderful people who spent their lives developing the course matter. I'm not saying University isn't interesting, it really is, I find it wonderful and exciting! It's just that sometimes I feel their should be a class lecturers take before becoming lecturers.
One of my lecturers spent the first lecture basically summarizing the first couple of chapters of the textbook. I told this to my friend and they said "It's for the benefit of those people who hadn't read the textbook." which to me, seems like a complete waste of time, why would we read the textbook if you're just going to tell us what it says anyway, but we come to University and pay our money so we can learn, and we should be capable enough to read our own textbook. I'd read the first 4 chapters of my text book eagerly before classes started so I could be prepared to answer questions and understand why we were learning what we were about to be learning. Instead, I spent the entire lecture wishing I had just walked into class that day without reading a word of the text. I felt like I was a second grader who'd been shot back into kindy. The teacher saying "This is what the letter A looks like.". If they don't expect us to read the text and to prepare for our own learning, why do they call it university. It's just an expensive second high school where instead of Year 12 certificates we receive degrees.
One of my lecturers spent the first lecture basically summarizing the first couple of chapters of the textbook. I told this to my friend and they said "It's for the benefit of those people who hadn't read the textbook." which to me, seems like a complete waste of time, why would we read the textbook if you're just going to tell us what it says anyway, but we come to University and pay our money so we can learn, and we should be capable enough to read our own textbook. I'd read the first 4 chapters of my text book eagerly before classes started so I could be prepared to answer questions and understand why we were learning what we were about to be learning. Instead, I spent the entire lecture wishing I had just walked into class that day without reading a word of the text. I felt like I was a second grader who'd been shot back into kindy. The teacher saying "This is what the letter A looks like.". If they don't expect us to read the text and to prepare for our own learning, why do they call it university. It's just an expensive second high school where instead of Year 12 certificates we receive degrees.
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Education is HARD
Education is hard! That is what I have learnt recently, and surprisingly I'm not talking about learning to teach, I'm not actually talking exclusively about university at all. When you're in high school, when you're in college (Year 11 & 12) you have the right, and the opportunity to get a job. We all like money and we all like things and these two go hand in hand. All three in fact! You get a job you have money if you have money you have things and things can actually contribute a lot to the playground status quo which directly relates to how students interact in the classroom. But again I'm off topic. No, education is hard because it is hard to focus on work and school at the same time. It is hard to spend time writing essays and developing hypothesis in the classroom, where they say these things will get you jobs at set you up in a way of thinking for the future, when you already have a job and you're not writing essays, you're not developing hypothesis, hell! You’re lucky if you're developing your own opinion or techniques in the work force.
We expect students to have their home life devoted to homework, to readings, when in fact they may have a job which could easily be as demanding, if not more demanding that school. My first ever job was at Red Rooster and I spent more time worrying about how to get to and from work than I ever did about my home work. Not to mention how much more active my social life was once I had the money to get around and DO THINGS! In primary school it is expected that students have their complete focus on school and rightly so. Other than their school friends and their family life they really don’t have much scope elsewhere. I feel it is not permissible to hold high school students to these same standards. YES, they have more to learn and YES they should have more responsibility and should be actively involved in their learning but they’re only 13-18 years old, We spent half as much time in university as they did in high school and we think we’re in the right to teach them about the world. That what they’re learning will get them a job and give them a future. I’m not sure about you but 3 years down the track half my grade still haven’t done anything with their lives. Teenage pregnancies, retail workers, fast food managers. Half my friends are only just starting university now because they didn’t even know what they wanted to do back then. Some of them still don’t know.
But we expect students to have the responsibility to follow up with their own learning in their own time when most of us never did and when they know the statistics of it all??
I think education needs to re think its approach to high school teaching because we shouldn’t be teaching these students to sit in an office all day. We should be teaching them how to think on their feet and to be creative and to learn from the world around them so that when unexpected things happen they can learn and grow into the generation of tomorrow.
We expect students to have their home life devoted to homework, to readings, when in fact they may have a job which could easily be as demanding, if not more demanding that school. My first ever job was at Red Rooster and I spent more time worrying about how to get to and from work than I ever did about my home work. Not to mention how much more active my social life was once I had the money to get around and DO THINGS! In primary school it is expected that students have their complete focus on school and rightly so. Other than their school friends and their family life they really don’t have much scope elsewhere. I feel it is not permissible to hold high school students to these same standards. YES, they have more to learn and YES they should have more responsibility and should be actively involved in their learning but they’re only 13-18 years old, We spent half as much time in university as they did in high school and we think we’re in the right to teach them about the world. That what they’re learning will get them a job and give them a future. I’m not sure about you but 3 years down the track half my grade still haven’t done anything with their lives. Teenage pregnancies, retail workers, fast food managers. Half my friends are only just starting university now because they didn’t even know what they wanted to do back then. Some of them still don’t know.
But we expect students to have the responsibility to follow up with their own learning in their own time when most of us never did and when they know the statistics of it all??
I think education needs to re think its approach to high school teaching because we shouldn’t be teaching these students to sit in an office all day. We should be teaching them how to think on their feet and to be creative and to learn from the world around them so that when unexpected things happen they can learn and grow into the generation of tomorrow.
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Educreation
Education is ever changing and ever expanding. It is worldwide and yet based state by state. It takes up approximately 13 years of our lives (in western culture) but shapes the rest of our existance. How well we do at school changes how people will see us for the rest of our lives, it will decide what job we get, where we live, who we associate with. It's amazing the sociological influence education has on our lives. For me though, it is a passion. Learning is my passion I am learning more and more every day.
I am currently studying education at the University of Canberra and am learning much more than just how to teach the students that sit before me. I'm learning how education changes our lives, I'm learning how technology has changed the world and most importantly that we're expected to teach students to live and survive in a future that we can no more predict than the stock market. Education is a lottery. If I teach you fantastic literacy skills and skills in writing and reading, and you enter the world of technology and recession my teachings will not help you. I will not have educated you in how to live and thrive in your world. I've taught you to live and thrive in mine, growing up in the world of Public Servants and reports. The world is changing and each student is capable of succeeding in this world, but how do we know what's coming?
We can't.
It's a terrible thought that one persons choice, my own, on what students should learn, can change their life. Not everything a teacher does in the classroom can change a life, not everything a teacher teaches will be learnt. But you can't pick what things you teach will stick. My English teacher in high school taught me much, most of which I don't remember. Now I'm studying to be an English teacher because her passion and persistence in the subject made me realize just how important those skills are.
Ah, but here is where my entry ends. The point of this blog shall be to explore my learning and see how my thoughts on education change as I go through the system. Will I come out still thinking that English is important? Will I still think that books are much better than their electronic counterparts (a.k.a the Kindle)? What will change, what will stay the same? Should be interesting to find out.
I am currently studying education at the University of Canberra and am learning much more than just how to teach the students that sit before me. I'm learning how education changes our lives, I'm learning how technology has changed the world and most importantly that we're expected to teach students to live and survive in a future that we can no more predict than the stock market. Education is a lottery. If I teach you fantastic literacy skills and skills in writing and reading, and you enter the world of technology and recession my teachings will not help you. I will not have educated you in how to live and thrive in your world. I've taught you to live and thrive in mine, growing up in the world of Public Servants and reports. The world is changing and each student is capable of succeeding in this world, but how do we know what's coming?
We can't.
It's a terrible thought that one persons choice, my own, on what students should learn, can change their life. Not everything a teacher does in the classroom can change a life, not everything a teacher teaches will be learnt. But you can't pick what things you teach will stick. My English teacher in high school taught me much, most of which I don't remember. Now I'm studying to be an English teacher because her passion and persistence in the subject made me realize just how important those skills are.
Ah, but here is where my entry ends. The point of this blog shall be to explore my learning and see how my thoughts on education change as I go through the system. Will I come out still thinking that English is important? Will I still think that books are much better than their electronic counterparts (a.k.a the Kindle)? What will change, what will stay the same? Should be interesting to find out.
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