Student+Poll+Di+11

Student Poll
Curriculum is primarily planned //for// students.

What do //**they**// think they should be learning about in schools?

Post the responses you received to the student poll you conducted.

Please use a subheading (including your name) as part of your contribution.

__Student Poll - Amanda West__ The responses I gained where from children aged predominately between four and six years old and are included below. I found the responses in some cases very interesting and amusing. I really enjoyed this activity in that is made the students think about school in a way that they are probably not exposed to regularly. With the younger children, it is obvious that their responses are very egocentric and do not take into consideration any other stakeholders, but at that age we could not expect anything else from them. The group generally thought that art, music and anything that benefited them practically should be what is taught to them. Here they are implicitly expressing their own interests, fears and perceived talents.

· Boy (6): “How to write words, sounding out words, listen to your teacher and how to stay away from lightning”. · Girl (4): “Nothing really, I already know how to be an artist”. · Boy (6): “Don’t say ‘f’ words, don’t step in mud puddles, how to be a rock star, how to learn stuff”. · Boy (5): “Music” · Boys (6 & 7): Making things, painting, drawing neat pictures, reading and puzzles”. · Boy (14): “Maths, language, PE, science, building and foreign language”.

The views expressed by the children are very different to what has been portrayed in the media by a range of stakeholders. I think that this is largely due to the stage of cognitive development that the majority of these children are at. They are generally unable to think outside of their own wants and needs at this age and they certainly have responded without consideration for political and societal influences.

Emma Wisby Amanda, what lovely insights your children had. The children of that age that I polled were also very much concerned with anything practical, the boys responded with a lot of AFL jargon!! I found that as the students got older they were more thinking "real world" responses - and the 14 year old I asked was particulary concenred with learning how to manage in the workplace, dealing with co-workers and how to manage finances. I also found that a lot of what was happening in the world currently was at the forefront of the older students (grades 5/6/7/8) mind - they wanted to know more about politics, the election and the environment.

The younger students also responded with things that they were learning at the moment - upon discussions with teachers, I found that the students answered with what they were currently learning - how to read, write and learning about capital letters and full stops. Apart from one of two students who thought more "out of the box" the majority of the younger students seemed to think that what they were being taught was what they needed to know. This shows me just how important a role being a primary school teacher is.

I also polled some parents about what they thought should be taught and compared these with the students responses and what was being portrayed in the media. I found that there were some similarities - such as life skills which both parents and the media believe are important (as do some older students). But the younger students seemes to lean more towards learning through practical subjects - where the idea of an integrated curriculum could come in to play.

I think the differences exist between what the students and their parents and what the media say should be taught in schools because each has a different agenda - the government mainly expresses their views via the media and what they see as important.

__**Student Poll **__ Similar to Emma and Amanda, the responses I received from the children I interviewed were very practical and differed depending on their age. I interviewed a couple of 4-5 year olds and their responses included things like writing my name, how to write like 'mummy', how to read and how to draw like my big brother. I interviewed a couple of 10-11 year olds and their responses referred to their interests and what interested them about the world. Some of the responses included politics, history, war, how to become a famous athlete, how to become a famous actor/actress and environment issues including climate change. Overall I found this task interesting and sometimes entertaining. Katie Powell

Student Poll- Vanessa Triffitt The students that I polled were in grades 4, 5 and 6 and were a mixture of boys and girls. They all wanted to see Art as a seperate subject in their school and all said that they were looking forward to particiapting in Art when they went on to high school. They all felt that children with artistic talents were not recognised in the general classroom. All the students wanted to keep Music and Physical Education in the curriculum but were not phased whether they studied Drama. All the students said that Literacy and Numeracy were both very important subjects in the school and should be continually taught throughout school. A third of the students said that they would like to see Cooking as a subject in their school. There was very little interest in learning a second language at school, but one student said that she would like to learn Asian. I asked the students whether they would like to learn about different cultures in Primary School and they all said yes and said that they would like to learn more about our Indigenous Australians. The students in grades 4 and 5 said that they would like to learn more about Science and to have the chance to do science experiments.

I asked the students whether they thought that there was time in the school day to watch television or movies and they all said "no, that is something you should do when you get home from school". I was very pleased with this as many classes at this school watch movies on a regular basis like Spongebob Squarepants for instance.

All of the students that I polled said that they did not know what the curriculum was and that they all thought that the Principal decided what they should learnt in schools. I found this task to be very interesting and was really pleased with the students' responses.

Rebecca Mendonca, I approached a handful of children of various ages at the primary school where I work. I found this task very interesting. I asked students "What do __you__ think is important for you to know by the time you leave school? What do you think is important to learn about at school?" Boy (Kinder) "I need to learn reading"; Girl (g.1/2) "..to learn about animals and having a worm farm"; Girl (g.1/2) " I like learning about birds"; Boy (g.3) " ...to make new friends"; Boy (g.3) " ...how to stop fighting"; Girl (g.3) "I have to learn to read and write, or I can't get a job in the future"; Girl (g.3) " I hate science. You know the maths sheets you gave me?... well I dont know where they are."; Boy (g.4/5) "It's important to learn how to get a job. I want to be an astronaught"; Girl (g.4/5) "...how to look after the world"; Boy (g.5/6) "Maths"; Girl (g.5/6) "I need to know numeracy and literacy to get a job. And about biology and sea creatures"

From my survey I found that about half of the students were concerned with being numerate and literate to ensure they gain employment. The other half of the student's were more concerned about the future of their environment and becoming 'Good' people. I found it strange that none of the students I talked to mentioned music or art. Many of them were uninterested in what they were learning in the classroom, or unsure of why they needed to learn the things they are currently being taught. However, all the students agreed they needed to learn to read and write. I like the idea of an intergrated curriculum, and have found it very interesting to also look into curriculum for Steiner schools and community/cottage schools in my area- where children really are learning through doing. Growing and cooking their own food etc... I feel that students in my school would benefit from also learning hands on: life skills, and sustainablitlity for their environment.