Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Too many loose threads -giving you a headache?

Its amazing how long the people (in the now reactionary West) can be strung along . New color and movement seems to be what has revived interest in what Rudd is doing.  For some obscene reason we are all in the jungles of PNG this week.  
What happens when such leaders run out of salvation destinations to send our problems to?

Perhaps more importantly , what instability of mind leads to people not being sure of what they know ?
Gary Furnell makes a good case for the traditional view of why a real education revolution is needed . Australians are some of the most pedantic of any . see first posts on this blog . Worse they don't understand that you can actually understand something without having to prove it point by point . Most of us are too busy making high level risk decisions to try and explain even the first few steps to a certainty that's become part of our science understanding .

Our now tired and predictable education system has ALSO given in to idea that ideas evolve and therefore stringing along is anything but wrong. This means we no longer focus well enough on the building idea in education.There are steps but some routes go nowhere but down or out.

Furnell's point too is that paradox is a way to box understanding without spending your life in space travel . Its a great article ,  but won't suit those who have spent their lives trying to find a place to hide inside their own limited logic.                              QUADRANT magazine May 2013

Friday, July 12, 2013

Scoring our intelligence and ignoring our blind spots

Why do ATAR scores allow for "degree of difficulty" DOD ?  Maybe " difficulty ' has more to to do with disinterest in some areas . While this doesn't apply to History which unfortunately no one wants to do , it might apply to languages as ---You get points for doing it when you don't get points for music . Some comparisons  are onerous and most onerous if used by people who claim they are interested in a broad education ( what incentive  do we need to get children to study history?)
Physics is "difficult "but if you do it slower its very difficulty can drive great achievement and make it easier and more fun. The key driver we want is not DOD but FUN and help in DISCOVERY in a hard landscape full of bricks and brick walls - not the dumber rating system that relies too much on DOD .

Howard Gardner describes 7 types of intelligence ; how many are we encouraging ?  Spatial is a  critical one for growth in the future -- ART and history can help develop thinking skills in this area.

Does ATAR importance end in mere institutional concerns? Because there is so little focus in "the education revolution" on the " world beyond ", we all talk hypocritically talk about "Jobs" instead of  actual Careers.

Teachers seem to need no high ATARS . Teaching is a great career but are we preoccupied with mere stats and not providing the right incentives to encourage competence . Have we sold our souls to the bookeepers ; Columns of figures that don't account for any competence ?