Claims+in+the+Media+Colleen+05

=Week 3 - What Should We Teach?=

Claims in the Media
If you wish to develop this Wiki to be a useful tool for ongoing sharing of work and for collaboration you can use this page to post your response to the Week 3 activity on stakeholders and the claims made in the media about what should be taught in schools.


 * Report on one claim you have seen in the media about schools and what should be taught.


 * Do you agree with this claim? Why/why not?

Please ensure that you have expressed yourself clearly.

When making your entry to this wiki please use a subheading to keep this page organised.

__ What should we teach? Claims in the media... __ I have read an American article "Should Schools Teach Money Management Skills?" ([]) and I think it's a great idea, not only for American schools but for all. When I was at school, I remember skimming over money management very briefly and after reading this article, feel as though teaching students financial literacy education thoroughly seems like a great idea to get them used to life outside school. If we go into an economic crisis and students have been taught money management skills, then perhaps less people will lose their homes or struggle as much as some had to during the hard time. Students need to be taught more thoroughly about their rights with money, budgeting to survive and how to make money from their money. This can also help students to chose a career, save, manage their finances and be a little more at ease with spendings and savings (hopefully not all resulting to credit cards!!). I feel as though they should have compoulsary subjects where students can learn how to buy a car, how to buy their first home and even how to read the markets to a certain point. Information like this, is important in life after school and I feel as though students don't have the confidence to approach car/home salesmen and negotiate on a agreeable price or understand what happens around the world when it falls into an economic crisis. Shanelle Oakley

I both agree and disagree with statements made in ‘Schools should teach thinking’ ( [] ). I wholly agree with the title of this article and the following statement: Teaching thinking gives youngsters the ability to take charge of their lives, the ability to make decisions, make choices and so on, (De Bono). I think it is very important that students are taught the tools to critically and thoroughly assess information, options and life choices. Problem-solving and critical thinking are skills that will benefit students in all subjects, and will assist them to become thoughtful and responsible citizens The article goes on to state that ''The focus should be on the world today, what you need to know now rather than what happened three- or four-hundred years ago’ (De Bono), which I find absolutely preposterous. Part of educating people, is teaching them to reflect on past actions and to learn from the mistakes that were made. This means learning about Hiroshima, the Holocaust, the massacres of indigenous people all over the world, etc. Hopefully, by teaching people about these events, we can prevent similar atrocities from occurring in the future. Emily Coull
 * What should we teach? Claims in the media... **

=~ What should we teach? ~ Claims in the Media ~ =

I have found this article in The Australian entitled //Teach more Aboriginal history: G-G// by Samantha Maiden, Online political editor. Here is a link to the article if you would like to take a look at it [|//Teach more Aboriginal history: G-G//] This article is certainly a claim in the media about schools and what should be taught, as it argues that Australian schools should be teaching more Aboriginal history. The notion of the Governor-General Michel Jeffrey’s own views are highlighted and conveniently this issue is raised at the time of the traditional Aboriginal welcoming ceremony and touched base on the apology of the Stolen Generations which Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was to release but did not end up happening at this time. An interesting point is raised in this article regarding the national curriculum and states ‘a national curriculum for history would provide an opportunity to teach more Aboriginal history’. I wonder if this is currently being addressed now in the draft delivery of the national curriculum? I would certainly agree to say that I feel that it is important that students learn about Aboriginal history as it is a significant cultural part of Australian history which I feel students are only being briefly exposed to and perhaps could be more integrated into the curriculum so more exposure and time is given. In saying that I feel that Aboriginal history needs to be taught, I strongly belief that this needs to be done in such a manner which dignifies and is respectful to the Aboriginal culture. (Carolyn Connop)

What Should we Teach? Claims in the Media:

There have always been someone or somebody commenting on "This should be taught at schools",and "That was a waste of time learning that subject at school". It has always been a subject that is very much debatable and disagreeable. I came across a article in "The Melbourne" April 26th, 2010, by a David Howes, general manager of Curriculum at the Victorian Curriculum Authority.David Howes warned us "The national curriculum is becoming overcrowded". The claim states "The National curriculum which is to be introduced next year, will require indigenous perspectives, Australia's engagement with Asia and a commitment to sustainable living to be part of every subject".

I agree with this claim, yes the curriculum should include our relationship with Asia and our history with the indigenous community. Australia is a land of many nationalities and cultures. The indigenous community play a big part in our history of our beloved country Australia, and in todays society. Our children are taught history in schools, and they are taught to learn about the history of other countries and nationalities. I believe our children should be educated about australia's involvement and relationship with Asia and other countries, and what they have given to us as a country and what we have benefited from.

The curriculum does need to change, we have progressed as a nation. I believe that the curriculum should give our children a better understanding of what groups,nationalities and ideas have made Australia the country it is today.

Carmel Iuliano

**//What should we teach? Claims in the media....//**
I found this article in the Herald Sun, 17th July 2010, which claims a federal parliamentary committee has suggested that all schools should include "life skills and social development programs" into their curriculum. This is in response to a reported growing violence situatin involving youths. It has beensuggested that there be mandatory training for school chaplains to identify "troubled youths". While this all sounds lovely in theory, the reality is that from what I can see, schools have been identifying "troubled" youths for some time and the government bodies refuse funding to help support them. It would be my opinion that this article is just another way to make votersbelieve that the govenrment actually cares about these situations and that they are doing all they can to prevent these things from happening. This begs the qustion; What is a troubled youth anyway? And how many of the people involved in the escalating violence were problems at school, or were even schooled in Australia for that matter (I say that with no intended racial undertones). I am just suggesting that there would need to be further studies undertaken to justify the amount of money which would be required to undertke such a program.

Brendan Smith

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What should we teach? Claims in the Media Emily Glade-Wright

I found an article that claims that children should be taught to critically analyse media from the age of 5. This article was in the The Advertiser newspaper (Adelaide) on 25th May 2009 ([]). I think that this is a great idea in theory but realistically how many 5 year olds are going to really understand the processes of critically analysing something they see in the media. They see celebrities and idolise them, they are going to fall in love with Justin Beiber for who he is and what he believes in and if Justin Beiber likes Doritos better than CC's then so do I! No matter how much you try to get these young children to critically analyse the media they are still going to like the way the celebrities are even if they don't paint a realistic picture of the society our children live in. I think there are many more important things we need to spend our time and resources on teaching the young people of our future.

**What should we teach? Claims in the media.**

**I found this interesting article at** [|**www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/race-legend-allan-moffats-safety-plan-to-teach-children-to-drive/story-e6frf7l6-1225895839663**]
 * <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 91%;">The article suggests that children as young as 12 learn to drive at school and be made part of the curriculum. This was proposed by racing car driver Allan Moffat, he also suggests that car dealers get involved by providing training vehicles. **
 * <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 91%;">I have a number of conerns with this proposal, firstly the age at which he suggest we get children behind the wheel of a vehicle. I know a number of 12 year olds, many or most do not have the maturity or responsibility to take control of a vehicle, obviously one of the reasons Australian law stipulates 16 years for L's and 18 for P's. Furthermore should valuable lesson and learning opportunities be taken up with driving lessons at this young age. Then to top it off we are commercialising the whole educational experiencing by offering car dealers to potentially use this as a marketing opportunity by supplying training vehicles. **
 * <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 91%;">I completly agree that something needs to be done to educate young drivers and also give them opoortunity to enhance their driving skills before they get on the road. But is this yet another school responsibility??? Surely there is enough that children need to learn without making driving lessons part of the curriculum! **
 * <span style="background-color: #c0c0c0; font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 91%;">Jennifer Hallyburton **

Claims in the Media.

What should we teach?

"Schools should teach racial harmony" says the Minister for Citizenship & multiculral affairs, Gary Hardgrave, in The Australian Associated Press general news, Feburary 07, 2003, referenced from the Australia /New Zealand reference centre. The minister continued to say " schools are uniquely placed to strongly influence the attitudes of the next generation of Australians". Personally I agree with this claim, as Australia is renowned for being largely multicultural in our population base, and like it or not (that is another issue) immigration is on the increase, be it legally or illegally. As a society based on multiculturalism we need to be tolerant and unbiased in our acceptance of all people living in our country. If we teach our children to be unbiased and non prejudist we could truly aim toward a society based on harmony instead of racial unrest & hatrid. Children predominantely are unphased by the colour of our skins and the differing clothes that we wear, so if we can educate them in acceptance & cultural diversity then our society has a hope of surviving and building positive interpersonal relationships. Having said this, and to achieve this outcome, this cannot solely be the responsibility of our educators but must be reinforced in our homes. To do this though, parents will need to overcome their fears & prejudism and accept that 'different' is not 'wrong'. For a truly harmonious country that we can all be proud of, we need to be accepting & accepted, be giving & forgiving and be positive role models for our future generations. Through my observations working in a child care centre with young children from birth to school age, a 'friend' is a 'friend' no matter the skin colour, the need to cover the head, the need for prayer or the difference of their voice and language spoken. Young children don't know racial unrest, bias or prejudism - so we should ask ourselves, "why do perceptions have to change"? Sue Roach

=Claims in the media-what should we teach?= I<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I have taken my article from the Adelaide Advertiser Newspaper printed on the 23rd of July. It has an article that reports children as young as 12 should be taught driving at school. Allan Moffat a retired racing driver says driving should become part of the school curriculum and this could be done by getting car dealers to provide cars to schools as training vehicles. Now as a parent of a seventeen year old who has just learn't to drive I couln't belive that anyone let alone a respected professional driver could be making such claims publicly. I know the road toll is high amongst young people but I don't agree that teaching them to drive at an even younger age will make them better or safer drivers. The school curriculum is full enough as it is without adding driving lessons into the mix. I don't think schools should be involved in teaching young people to drive, I think this is the responsibility of the parent. There is a national keys2drive initiative which offers a free driving lesson to learners and their parents with a qualified instructor. I think this is a much better initiative as parents and students get to pick up valuable tips about learning to drive and road safety. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Ann Twigger

​Claims in the media - What should we teach?
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I have just finished reading the article //Schools Must Teach Thinking// in the Sydney Morning Herald 14.03.10 whereby Rachel Browne cites Edward DeBono's thoughts on teaching students //how to think.// DeBono advocates teaching l//ateral thinking// from K-12 and implied that the National Curriculum and indeed Kevin Rudd's //education revolution// as little more than //'the same old stuff again.'// DeBono has also made reference to his belief in the positive association between learning how to think and reduction in depression. According to a study on international happiness by the University of Michigan Australia Rates 22nd in the happiness stakes (below Britain and New Zealand). The study has also asserted that Australia is also on a downward trend with respect to overall happiness of its citizens.

I wholeheartedly agree with DeBono's idea of teaching students how to think as this implies teaching students 'critical thinking skills' that can be carried forward in their education and act as a platorm for coping with the demands of the workforce and​ everyday life in the 21st century. DeBono also focuses on education for the future and I think this approach is instrumental in developing a stimulating and relevant curriculum for Australian students. It's also worth thinking about the link between lateral thinking and happiness. There is increasing pressure on students to consistently maintain high standards of work and achieve insomountable feats of academic brilliance therefore we need a weapon against the feelings of anxiety and despair that some students face and what better way to do this than through the power of the mind!

(Jacquee Clark)

=Claims in the media - What shoul we teach?=

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I found an artile titled 'Schools urged to focus more on native endangere species' It was published in the ABC regional news on the 5/9/2010 on the Australian/New Zealand eferance database website. This article talks about a Queensland marine expert who suggets that we should be teaching more about local enangered species in our schools rather than anials such as polar bears. It goes on to say the the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries tagged nealry 20 freshwater sawfish and spear-tooth shark across the Gulf of Carpentaria and Cape York in North Queensland. These species will be tracked and analysed in the hope o trackig more. Fisheries biologist Stiling Peverell says that he will visit students in Southern Guf over the next two week to raise awareness about declining populations.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is an artice that I do agree with. I also think that it is very important that we teah our students all about their local natural world. Although it is still important that they are aware of other endangered species such as the polar bear,more can be seen and learnt if we focus on local endangered species as a more hands on apprach can be taken. Such as taking students to the fisheries and talking to marine biologists about what is happening in their local aras. Providing a hands on approach can engage studens slightly more than just seeing videos and slide shows of foregin species that are declining in population. I still beleive that we need to stress to students that both foregin and local endangered speies are both important, we can just show them that they can help in some small way when we deal with the local and native endangered species.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Amy-Lee Jorgensen.

One article that I read about was that schools should teach racial harmony. I do agree that everyone should be accepted and treated equally but to have a “harmony” day dedicated to it seems to me a bit ridiculous. Children are taught at school to treat everyone with respect and treat everyone equally, not just those from other cultures. Also they should be taught this at home as well, although this is hard to control. But in today’s society, we have moved away from racial discrimination, no one really is concerned anymore about peoples race or colour, especially young children, they have not been corrupted by other people views and will include anyone they want to be friends with regardless of their race. Most children probably don’t even know what racial harmony is, as long as they are taught to treat everyone with the respect and kindness and include everyone in their games, a whole day does not need to be created for it. //Schools// //should// //teach// racial harmony says government 2003 [8abce2557bfd%40sessionmgr114&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=anh&AN=74C0314592866] Charmaine Perris 30.7.10

=<span style="color: #541a89; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Claims in the media- What should we teach = = =

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<span style="color: #6f0e86; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I have read an acticle from The Age newspaper, December 14, 2008, with the heading :"Religion in schools to go God-free", writen by Micheal Bachelard. [] ====== <span style="color: #6f0e86; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">This article suggests that schools should not just be teaching religion, but also catering for those families that are atheists. <span style="color: #6f0e86; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> The power behind this push is The Humanist Society of Vicoria. They have developed a curriculum in which the State Government intend to approve so that "Humanist applied ethics" may be taught for 30 minutes each week. This will slot into the 30 minutes that is designated for religious studies. <span style="color: #6f0e86; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Do I agree with this? Dare I answer? I dont agree with this, but, in other ways I do. Let me explain. <span style="color: #6f0e86; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> I feel that in our multi-cultural country, we cant just teach our children christian beliefs and expect that they will just agree or accept that this is the only faith. Not like when I was at school, we were either Roman catholics or "others". The others were the rest of the christian faiths. <span style="color: #6f0e86; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> Our children experience different beliefs at a very early age, either by personal experience or by indirect experience. Many younger children would accept a woman in a hijab, or a man wearing a kippah, but not understand the reason they wear it. <span style="color: #6f0e86; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> In my opinion, I think our schools should teach a broad subject, something like "understanding the worlds faith". This could be a one of, term-long subject, once a week that introduces our children to other religions, thus expanding their understanding and acceptance of other faiths. And yes, this could include hunmanism. <span style="color: #6f0e86; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;"> So looking back at the article,and considering all I have suggested, I would have to disagree with the article. <span style="color: #6f0e86; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Paula Davies

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">CLAIMS IN THE MEDIA - What Should We Teach

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The article i read was from 'Brisbane's Child' (a free newspaper for parents) titled "Creativity in the Classroom - It's time for the arts to get a starring role in the curriculum. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I strongly agree that the arts should play a bigger part in the school curriculum, although at the same time i feel that subjects such as literacy and numeracy are the most important for children to learn and should continue to be the core subjects in the school curriculum as these subjects are the foundation of the skills that we all use everyday in life after school. <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I believe that if the arts were considered more important then those children who do not excel in the subjects that the current curriculum thinks that they should then maybe they will find their passion in the arts and be encouraged to do so.

Hayley McQueen