Saturday, July 03, 2010

The national standards controversy rumbles on

Had a call from National Radio yesterday looking for opinion from 'the right' that would support national standards. It wasn't going to come from me. A number of posts earlier in the year explained why. But the producer wanted me to join the panel (19:40) anyway. Which left Jim Mora pushing the government arguments but each guest refuting them. Yes, there is a problem with some under-achievement. No-one disputes that. But schools were already testing and as parents we were satisfied with the level of information provided to us about our child's comparative progress and ability. Imposing change across the whole system was unnecessary. I now see that's what the principals are also saying.

4 comments:

pdm said...

Lindsay Homepaddock has a very good post on this subject and a particularly interesting comment by Hollyfield.

Sorry I am not capable of linking to it.

Redbaiter said...

Unless you have National Standards you have no uniform benchmark to judge poor performance or good performance. Therefore you cannot punish or reward poor or good performing schools. Do you want schools to remain controlled by the Educational Institute, far left unionists who only see children as political fodder? Keep attacking and undermining Anne Tolley and they will. She's the only Nat with enough spine to actually do something about freeing education from the death grip of the left, and all we get from so called Libertarians is support for the statist position. Seems a lot like politically motivated nastiness and spite to me, rather than any wish to improve education.

Lindsay Mitchell said...

"Unless you have National Standards you have no uniform benchmark to judge poor performance or good performance."

The tools were there and already used. Stanines allow the current government to compare schools and publish results if they want to.

"Do you want schools to remain controlled by the Educational Institute, far left unionists who only see children as political fodder?"

I would rather see schools privatised but that isn't the issue here.

"Seems a lot like politically motivated nastiness and spite to me, rather than any wish to improve education."

Have you got children currently in the education system Redbaiter? My opinion is based on what I experience, not what I am told by politicians.

Redbaiter said...

During a discussion on Kiwiblog a week or so ago, someone suggested I download the curriculum for some Ponsonby primary school and challenged me to find evidence of left wing indoctrination.

I downloaded the document expecting to have to look pretty closely for the stuff I was expecting.

I was staggered. The document was just left wing/ Progressive crap from cover to cover. With a clear emphasis on "socialisiation" at the expense of education.

These are not schools. They are Indoctrination Camps, and it is an absolute disgrace that this has been permitted to happen.

I don't know how it has happened. I presume left wing political agents in Wellington have gained control of the basic curriculum plan, and then send it to local agents for tidying up on a regional basis.

It is pretty obvious the whole education system is now totally corrupt.

Amazing that there are people who claim to be right wingers or freedom fighters or whatever around in some numbers, but apparently the left have been able to take complete control of education without being challenged, and continue to control it and are still not being challenged.

Whilst we strive to give voice to opinions that we hope will change the political structure in NZ, the left have the game completely sewn up by means of their complete control of the minds of our children.

Again, I don't know how this evil has been perpetrated, but its grounds for shooting the people in charge if there is ever a real revolution in this country.

I support Tolley because at least she is trying to do something but in reality, whatever that something is it is far too late and far too little.

There is really only one remedy for the problem and that is to sack everyone in the education field and start all over again. With privatised schools as you say.

A revolution is probably more likely. The country though is without any doubt, completely lost if this disgrace continues in our schools.