Learning by mistakes and reflecting on my current practices

For those that have read my articles you would see that my first draft is usually full of typing and grammatical mistakes which over a few days and my re-reading become able to be read without cringing. This need for self correction was drummed into me as an adult by a colleague and it has stuck with me through teaching.

All too often I receive work from students that is clearly a first draft. This is clearly not acceptable as first draft work is incomplete - next year I intend on informing students that I will be handing such work back as 'not being finished within the deadline' and thus invoking non-completion of assignment consequences.

In mathematics, the trend to assess outcomes has drawn attention away from mathematical technique - such as one equals sign to a line and recording working such that patterns of thought can be read within answers. I intend on looking at this more closely next term, making clearer my expectations and then ensuring that these expectations are adhered to. I will need to investigate further for my next topic what is commonly accepted as good notation (as my notation may not be perfect) and clearly communicate this to students.

Furthermore, I have noticed a worrying trend of students not using notes and worked examples as the first point of query during classwork, nor are they effectively questioning peers when they have a question. All too often I feel I am being used as an instant repository of information (perhaps as a ready replacement for internet instant answers). I need to discourage to some degree questioning of the teacher, prepare better modelled lessons and encourage independent and collaborative learning.

I have noticed that students are not delaying rounding to the last calculation. In many cases the rounding operation itself is also being completed incorrectly. This is poor technique and I need to address this with many of my top students.

I did a lot of work with my students to ensure that all work was self-checked for accuracy and correctness (eg. self marking from the back of the book). Many thought that looking at answers was "cheating" rather than a necessary indicator that an error was occurring. I had to show students that investigation into the cause of an error was also necessary. I need to further encourage students to investigate their errors and help them feel rewarded when investigating and solving their own issues independently.

Single Sex vs Co-educational schools

Those observant of you may have noticed my little countdown to our first child. This has ignited an old debate at home whether our students should go to a co-educational or single sex school.

I started out in teaching with the intent to teach in an underprivileged school, which I am now doing and very much enjoying. I had the privilege of teaching in a single sex girls school for my first semester of teaching. I can't say it was my greatest achievement in life, I pulled the pin after 6 months as I was unable to sustain the pace required with my limited experience. It did show me something more important though - Girls are more focussed, happier, more effective and achieve at higher levels without the competition and distraction of boys.

When I was seventeen, I spent a lot of time with boys from one of the local independent boys schools and leveraged their connections and knowedge of the Perth marketplace for much of my corporate career. I could not have achieved as I had in corporate life without these connections and attitudes picked up from these lads.

In my experience with both the boys and girls school students, both had clear ideas of their own values and what they expected in those they associated with. I did not see the sheer amount of students clearly lacking workable values systems.

At this time it is my intent that our baby will go to a single sex religious high school regardless of sex of the child for these widely different but equally valid reasons. Perth is a small place and any advantage that I can give my children I will attempt to do.

As I rediscover research supporting or disputing evidence of this position I will post away.

Teacher Pay rise, EBA 3

Well, it's official. Teachers have voted no to EBA3. About 65% voted no. We will not be getting a lower than inflation pay rise.

It will be interesting to see how the public and the new state government (whoever it is) responds.

This was the same pay rise that the union said was great... yet the majority of union members thought otherwise. The union was not representing the wishes of its members and believed negative publicity would change the minds of teachers. I suggest that there are a few members of the executive (re: President and secretary) that are in trouble at the next union election.

Who was the union representing if not the teachers and administration of schools during this negotiation - personal self interest? I would join a union that represented my interests, the interests of my colleagues and clearly researched goals for public education.

Clearly the SSTUWA does not do this and is following its own agenda that is leading to poor morale and teaching standards. It is appalling. Some housekeeping is now necessary.

Reporting in the media (the ABC in particular, though the West and commercial stations are similarly guilty at times) keep stating a 16-21% pay rise. What they fail to mention is that this is 16-21% over three years and the final 2% is applied on the last day of the agreement. For a fair comparison we should take 16-21% subtract 2 and divide by three. Thus for the majority 4% per year which at best is 1% + inflation or perhaps 2.3% + inflation if you are at the lucky end.

This type of reporting by the media actively misleads the public into believing that a 16-21% (in one year) pay rise is being declined by teachers and administrators. Government employees or consultants employed by the government being trotted out in support of the government proposal is not supplying an independent or well researched viewpoint.

The current payrise and activism by teachers is intended to redress the lack of parity in teacher wage claims over the last 15 years, raise awareness over OBE issues and address the constant reduction in conditions in the vocation (a major cause of the current teacher shortage). A 1% + inflation payrise with reduced conditions does not correct this parity issue.

A better solution would have been to bump the entire payscales by say $10,000 this budget and again by $10,000 in three years time and only apply CPI to incremental scales for the life of the EBA. This would have established parity without misleading percentages and recreated an attractive profession to graduates by creating entry and exit points comparable to like 4 year university graduate careers.

Perhaps our new premier Mr Barnett will take note.

Values based education and religion

Determination of the goals of public schooling with respect to values education is a clear issue that needs to be resolved in WA education.

Students are reaching senior school and approaching graduation without considering the questions of 'where am I going' and 'what is the 'purpose of life'. Outside culture promotes the 'me' generation where income, fame and status are the measures of success. As we all learn in later life, family, continuity of generational values and the selfless acts of greatness/goodness are far more important in generating a vibrant and healthy society than current media constructs.

Having a focus outside of the dollar opens students to vocations that may better suit their personalities and provide them with opportunities to find like minded people to work with.

Religious schools have a far stronger grasp on values education than does the public sector. Goals such as 'going to heaven' make sense to a child in a way that hides good actions behind self interest. As children progress through the religious systems, the fear of not going to heaven recedes and for many selfless acts become a part of the nature of students and they are given a strong sense of what is right, wrong and humane through the 'witness' of staff and the community. They seek to understand what is right and develop principles that they believe in to live by.

Public schools lack this selflessness to some degree. Students are protective of each other, but more in a mob sense than in a selfless sense. Students have a sense of what right is, but no real reason to do so other than the rules dictate certain actions. The biggest consequence of not doing right at present in public schools is suspension (seen as holidays by many students). The exceptions are the students with parents guiding them with clear value systems. Unfortunately these parent/student pairings can be few and far between. Forming in our schools is a religious underground, where students know that if they talk about their spirituality they will be subject to teasing and ridicule from staff and students.

Another topic that springs to mind is that if a student has no real goal in life and limited self worth, it reduces their motivation to achieve excellence and seek capabilities in knowledge and skills for when opportunities arise. This lack of focus raises the difficulties of teaching and opens questions of the relevance of education by our youth.

Currently one measure to address the development of values in public schools, is to make students commit to community service hours to receive their graduation certificate. I have always been against compulsory community service for the negative connotation it permanently attaches to voluntary services, students see community service as a chore at best and record a bunch of lies at worst. It takes a special person to develop a community service programme for students, and all too often it is place on someone who is under load teaching and has little interest in the development of values in students. Rarely are the coordinators given the time to create the community connections and develop the support of parents to ensure that promises of service are available and completed. To my mind it is more a community development/youth work role and should not be handled by teachers.

Definitely a topic that requires more thought.