Claims+in+the+Media+Colleen+04

=Week 3 - What Should We Teach? Bronwyn Wallace 1/8/2010=

By [|Jacqueline Emigh] | Published April 9, 2008, 9:00 AM
=="Today's student will be the first generation to use the Internet for their entire lives. This unprecedented access to resouces will enhance their learning, research, communications, explorations for new ideas, and expressions of creativity. [But] unfortunately, this remarkable resource has [also] become susceptible to abuse that often targets young people," according to the new program's implementation guidelines.== The article I read related to internet use by students and the importance of being taught how to use the internet safely. The article expressed how students are using the technology and spend many hours on the internet but are they taught how to safely use the internet? There have been many cases of young adults and children being misled or misinformed through contact from people or sources on the internet. With students being connected to myspace, facebook and twitter at such a young age the probability of making contact with damaging people is high. The introduction of school based seminars on cyber bullying has revealed to students the impact that improper use of the internet can cause. It is known also that those students who set out and apply for jobs and have such pages as facebook exposing them can be hindered in attaining positions due to the ability of those conducting the interviews to gain access to the their profile. I believe that schools should be teaching their students how to safely use the internet within the current curriculum.
 * Can kids be taught to avoid dangers on the Internet while also taking full advantage of all of the good things available online? The State of Virginia, for one, thinks that classroom instruction will work.**

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.

NB: Hi Guys - please also click on the 'Discussions' link at the top of this page to view some of your other colleagues postings, which were inadvertantly posted on the wrong spot. (Sharon Fraser)


 * __ Week 2 (Part 1) - Wiki Response - Claims in the Media : 21/07/2010 Written by Sue Cummings __**


 * The Dominion Post** in New Zealand reported an article on 21/11/2006, titled ‘**Trust pushes money course**’. Unfortunately the author of this article remains unspecified. In this article, support is raised for compulsory financial education in secondary schools. The Enterprise New Zealand Trust chief executive Donna Dentice states “There’s nothing written anywhere that says you must learn financial studies...” Ms Dentice discusses about how schools should prepare students for handling both financial transactions at work and in their personal lives. Having a comprehension of finance should be a basic life skill provided to students. It was reported in this article that there is an emerging group of youth who have more relaxed attitudes towards debt as they appear to be more affluent with the new technologies available today. However, this group still need to manage their money and will require knowledge and skills to effectively do this. The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) is making moves to create a compulsory standard unit in financial education. This unit of study will incorporate topics like ‘knowledge of banks’ and ‘use of credit’.

On a personal note, I have spent the last 11 years in the financial industry working for a major bank and also brokering. Over this time period, I have witnessed a huge variation in knowledge and skills about money amongst the general public. I have operated in conjunction with personal and business clients. I have been amazed at the population’s lack of general knowledge when it comes to financial transactions. In my experience, even self-employed business people don’t necessarily hold correct skills to effectively manage their cash flow and that can often be the reason for businesses folding within the first two years of operation. As an example and generalised statement, the majority of the population that I have served over the years, do not hold a basic understanding of how their credit card facilities work. Clients think that if they pay the minimum monthly amount then they will be okay with their banks. What they don’t realise is that they have lost their ‘Interest Free Day’ periods on any new purchases and are actually accruing debit interest on a daily basis at a ridiculously high interest rate of approximately 20%. It is only once the credit card is repaid in full and set to zero for 24 hours that the interest ceases to accrue and Interest Free Days apply again. This is something that is not taught in schools.

I have 4 teenage children in the private secondary school system who have no real concepts about money and when asked if they learn anything at school about finances, the answer is no. I have needed to guide and teach my children about money, independently of the school environment.

I am in agreeance with this article that financial education should be a compulsory unit within the curriculum as ‘money makes the world go round’. If we are raising youth who don’t grasp the concept of money from an early age, then we are creating leaders for tomorrow who have no basic skills to lead our country’s future directions. No matter what industry our youth move into as adults, they will require a certain level of comprehension about money and financial transactions in order to successfully operate within their chosen industries. Even on an individual level, if our future youth have an early understanding of the broad term of how money works, then we may be able to ebb the flow of credit funding issues that have arisen in our country lately.

It is apparent that the generations being created today want to have everything NOW and don’t worry about how they will fund their needs. This relaxed attitude towards credit and money will create long term issues as a country if the level of credit funded debt increases too much. We need to teach our youth about money matters now so our country can continue to steer in a successful direction. By Sue Cummings.

Claims in the Media: Values Education (Nicole Flanagan) 24/7/2010
​

In 2004 there was debate in Victoria over whether values should be included in the then new school curriculum, Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS).The push for including values was largely politically driven with the debate triggered by Prime Minister John Howard who stated that ‘public schools were value neutral’. In addition to the debate regarding inclusion of values in the curriculum, there was also argument over what values should be included and whether or not they would reflect local community values.

A National Framework for values education in Australian Schools began development in 2003 and was delivered to all Australian schools in 2005. How values education was then implemented in individual schools needed to cohere with the National Framework but also State or Territory policies. [|National Framework for values education]

In Victoria, 5 principles were included in VELS, however these principles, as stated by Green (2004) were largely academic and did not cover traditional values. [|The Age: Schools get a lesson in values]

Whether or not the National Curriculum includes values or not I sincerely believe that schools should teach values such as: respect, tolerance and understanding, amongst others. Some would argue that it is the parents’ role to teach values to their children I would suggest that it is up to all of us to teach values that will result in a community that is tolerant of others differences and respectful. I frequently notice the poor manners and disrespect of some students and believe that as teachers it is our responsibility to address these. I also agree with a statement made in The Age newspaper by Willis (2004) that values education should be a whole-school initiative in order for success. [|The Age: Just what values are we talking about?]


 * Part 1: Claims in the media (Ken Hillsley 25 Jul 10) **

Two articles from prominent experts in their field, Fisheries biologist Mr Stirling Peverell and ex Prime Minister Mr John Howard, have both claimed ‘worthwhile’ inclusions for teaching in the school curriculum.

Mr Stirling Peverell, ABC Regional News, 05/09/2007, says that Australian schools should teach more about local endangered species rather than animals like polar bears. He goes on to say that students should be looking at animals that occur in their own backyard as apposed to other creatures around the world, as they can more readily relate to Australian animals. Mr Howard, Hobart Sunday Tasmanian, 19/11/2006, makes a case for teaching innovation and the virtues of a free enterprise culture in our education system, starting at primary school. He believes that a greater understanding of business principles is important to Australia’s relationship with the Asia Pacific region and should be explicitly taught.

I have mentioned both these articles to illustrate the diverse range of subjects that interested stakeholders would like to see included in the curriculum. I have to say that I agree with Mr Peverell that it would be beneficial for school children to learn about endangered Australian animals, because native animals are a unique part of our culture that can not be replaced. Educating a new generation of aware young Australians could go a long way to ensuring the future of certain species. It would also potentially be an exciting subject for young students to undertake. I also agree that a greater understanding of economics and business in the Asia Pacific region would be a long term investment in our country’s interest, especially with Australia’s close economic ties with the Asia Pacific region.

However I do not agree that these two subjects should be specifically taught as a school curriculum subject. The concern I have is that there are so many worthwhile subjects that are already competing for valuable classroom time, that it would almost be impossible to judge these two subjects as more important than others. <span style="color: #800000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">For instance if you consider financial management studies at an early age, road safety awareness, deeper Australian history, health and wellbeing, anti-bully education, and so on, I would consider all these to be worthwhile contenders for the curriculum. But should they all be included? Perhaps it is sufficient to teach elements of these and the two examples from Mr Peverell and Mr Howard, through related classroom subjects such as science or social studies - for example posters and themes on the classroom walls and topic projects.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">**__ Claims In The Media : Kyla Whitfield (26/7/10) __**
<span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 108%;">I find it really interesting that we all have found media reports about different influences on the curriculum. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 108%;">There were a number of articles that appealed to me, regarding the amount of curriculum that is expected to be taught in schools. The first article was written by Tim Hawkes, a school principal in NSW who saw the National Curriculum as a good thing. He believed there was merit in its deeper structure as opposed to a broad curriculum that covers more topics in less detail. The National Curriculum would mean less for teachers to cover. [|Less will mean more in national curriculum (The Sydney Morning Herald 2/03/10)] <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">The other two articles on the other hand, viewed the new curriculum from a different perspective. David Howes from The Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority and Professor Max angus from Edith Cowan University both showed concern for overcrowding of the curriculum. Mr Howes was particularly critical about the additional skills that were required to be part of every subject such as the indigenous perspectives, engagement with Asia and sustainability. Both articles described the many well-meaning interest groups that expected schools to include them in the curriculum. <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Do I agree? <span style="color: #800080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Yes. I can see how possible it is for any prescribed curriculum to be overcrowded. The National Curriculum appears to cover subjects in great depth, as Tim Hawkes pointed out. And if these are only the first of the subjects to be covered, I can imagine planning will need to be very thorough. I cannot imagine that there will be any opportunity for leisurely free time or learning about student interests, as the grade six students had suggested. [|Curriculum draft 'C grade' (The Melbourne 26/04/10)] [|The crowded curriculum (ABC Premium News 22/6/10)]

__ What to teach in schools: This is an interesting article that I found. I think this area is very vital in today's society; due to financial crisis, escalating prices of consumables and the rising national ad consumer debt. As I have already posted I won't go into too much detail .__ David Pachl 28/07/2010 =ADELAIDE, April 20 AAP - **//Financial//** literacy should be taught at school, says finance expert and Aussie Home Loans founder John Symond. Future generations should be educated against borrowing too much money and on how to reduce debt, he says. Mr Symond told an American Chamber of Commerce business lunch in Adelaide on Tuesday that **//financial//** stress was the biggest contributor to marriage breakdown. Children should be educated about finance before they get married and take a mortgage they may not be able to afford. Educating them could go a long way to preventing mistakes later in life, he said ahead of his speech to the business lunch. "I believe all high schools should have it mandatory that students go through a course, as they do with their other subjects, on how to manage finances," he said. "I do believe **//financial//** literacy is lagging and our education department should address it." Mr Symond said the new course would not have to replace other subjects, but could be incorporated as part of maths teaching. "Our consumer debt in Australia has increased 400 per cent over the past 20 years," he said. "So it's like putting an inexperienced driver without a licence in a fast motor car - you're going to have a lot of accidents and unfortunately that's happening. "We are a nation that's better at spending than saving and I think our education system is a good place to start to make sure that changes going forward."=

__** Claims in the Media - Mandy Bruder **__ An article written by Kent Anderson, Asian Studies Professor at the Australian National University and Joseph Lo Bianco, Professor of Language and Literacy at the University of Melbourne (Anderson & Lo Blanco, 2009) speaks about the lack of knowledge in Australia of other languages, and looks at how to defeat the misconceived attitude that English is the global lingua franca and therefore “English will do”.

There main argument in this article is that although other countries, such as China, Germany and Spain are becoming English speakers, they still maintain an advantage due to the fact that they are now bi or multilingual rather than monolingual, as are many Australians. The suggested action by these authors is to include a more globally minded language education policy within the national curriculum that will take “seriously the highest intellectual, cultural and civilisational ideals of the great experiences of humanity”, “taking in both Asian and European and fusing these together to forge a uniquely Australian world literacy.”

A second, more recent article published in the Australian “Asian languages losing their allure” (Lane, 2010) takes up the argument, emphasising the fact that there has been an alarming drop between 2000-2008 of 22% in the study of Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese & Korean languages in Australian schools. With this second article there is again the push to “recalibrate” the curriculum in this area.

I agree that the reduction of languages in schools is something that needs to be addressed, and it is hopeful that the ACARA Curriculum Reference Group Members for Languages, including Joseph Lo Bianco, would be successful in developing a curriculum that would address the needs to increase understanding of the rationale behind the study of languages other than English in our schools.

Part of the argument made by L.Bernard in the second article discusses the broken promises of the government in its push toward language study for the economic benefit of the nation. This, although a possible reason behind studying a language, would not usually be enough of an incentive for a student, pre-career decisions, to keep going with a subject that currently is not assessed for University matriculation as highly as other subjects such as maths and science.

I agree that languages other than English are an important part of the curriculum. The need for their presence is not simply for economic reasons. I believe that students need to be able to explore the diversity of our global community and help gain understanding through language. I also believe that cognitive function is increased when languages are explored and creativity enhanced.

I agree that languages are losing their allure, partly due to the fact that specialist teachers are unavailable within a large number of primary schools. I believe that languages are best learnt at a young age, and therefore think that education in this area should start during this period of their learning. However, asking the generalist classroom teacher, who may never have undertaken the study of other languages, may be thwarted with difficulty eg mispronunciation, spelling errors etc.

[Please find below the links to the two articles (I used my APA Pocket Guide as practice for referencing)] Anderson, K. & Lo Bianco, J. (2009, September 2). Speak, and ye shall find knowledge. The Australian. Retrieved from [] Bernard, L. (2010, June 9). Asian languages losing their allure. The Australian. Retrieved from []

<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">Claims in the media: Natalie Brown 31/7/10

<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">I found an article with the heading- Bring back compulsory cooking classes at school. It was written by Tory Maguire for The Punch, 12th of April 2010. <span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">To give weight to this issue the article says that obesity has over taken smoking as the leading cause of premature death and illness in Australia, and that parents are over whelmed (according to the dietitian interviewed) by the choice of food now available at the supermarkets and confusing food labeling. <span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">The article goes on to say that shows like Master Chef are scaring some people off learning to cook as that some views feel that they have to be a great chef to cook.

<span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">While I think the article had some great points I don't think that making everyone learn to cook will change things. Most people battling weight issues eat more than they should and don't get enough exercise, and most people do understand what types of food are good for you. <span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">A number of schools are teaching their students about healthy eating through cooking classes and growing vegetables. <span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">The greatest influence on eating habits come from the home. <span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt;">I didn't learn to cook at home or school, I taught myself when I left home.

// The Sunday (Perth) Times, July 25th 2010, ‘Teach kids to drive at school’ by John Masanauskas. //
 * __ Week 3: Claims in the Media - Merron Calway (1/08/10) __**

I chose this article as it highlighted to me the diversity of the stakeholders who claim a right to the curriculum. In this article, racing car driver Alan Moffatt calls for driver education to be included in the curriculum for high school students. He states how important it is for students as young as 12 to learn the necessary skills required to drive safely and that not learning “to drive at a young age is a quick way to kill yourself.”

Following a survey amongst its members, the Confederation of Australian Motor Sports is calling on the Federal Government to fund this idea. They argue that it would be cheaper and more cost effective for the Government to educate young people in the first place than to outlay 17 billion dollars annually mopping up Australia’s road trauma. The vehicles required for this program would be supplied by the motor industry.

The horrors of road trauma cannot be ignored. It leaves many devastated and is such a terrible waste of human life. But as I read this article I had to ask ‘how are schools going to squeeze this program into their already overcrowded curriculum?’ ‘What core subjects are going to be further sacrificed to accommodate another fad idea?’ ‘How legitimate is the content of this subject for schools?’ and ‘Why do so many feel they have a right to push their own agenda?’

When it comes to driver education CAMS proposal is reasonable, however, 12 is too young. In many cases, children of 12 have not yet developed to a size where they can even reach the pedals or look over the steering wheel of a vehicle. CAMS are to be commended for trying to solve a very real problem in our society but I cannot agree that driver education should be included in the curriculum. There is no room left in the curriculum to add a course that realistically can be picked up by parents or bodies like the RTA. The Federal Government should direct the funds towards the RTA, who can then deliver compulsory driver education for all learner drivers. If young people want to drive a car they will complete the compulsory course and pass the test.

Week 3: Claims in the media - Belynda Gribbin (3/08/10) //The Age - March 2, 2010, 'Curriculum's narrow focus leaves students bereft of big ideas by Libby Tudball.// I chose the article as i thought it was interesting with very relevant facts that i both agreed and disagreed with. It states that the draft of the 'back to basics' national curriculum may mean that students might miss out on being taught about the crucial issue of the 21st century such as, climate change, refugees, economic issues and the challenges of a technology driven world. In way i agree that the disciplines the curriculum gives priority to maths, english, science and history are very important but a part of me wonders what about Information technology, PE, geography and lote these are also other areas that need to be covered. But this doesnt mean that providing the teachers have the skill, the knowledge and the confidence that these areas can also be covered in some way as well as what is required of them in the curriculum. The article states that 'teachers worldwide are expressing strong concerns about what is being launched as the new world class Australian national curriculum' i beg to differ that there is a massive uproar from teachers after asking around the school i currently volunteer in. The comments i recieved from them that they are not concerned and eagerly await the national curriculum. At the end of the article Libby writes that 'if we are to develop and implement a truely world class innovative national curriculum we need to achieve these goals across all levels of schooling and recognise that staged introduction of just a few disciplines will not adress the big questions that schools must tackle'. I agree to some degree that children need to learn more then just four disciplines but i also think that it is going to come down to how teachers teach and if they have the knowledge and confidence to teach more then just what is written in black and white.

=﻿CLAIMS IN THE MEDIA : BRAD COLLETT(4/8/10)=

<span style="background-color: #f6ff00; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">[]
====<span style="background-color: #f6ff00; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I chose this article because I am a fanatical sports person, I beleive that the author of this peice makes some very good points on why sport should be a compulsary subject at both primary and secondary levels. There is also some points that I don't beleive a relevant. ====

====<span style="background-color: #f6ff00; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The author starts of by saying that students either wag periods when they have sport or go to the library thus skipping the class all together, she beleives that this can result in ill discipline in schools. This is a point that i disagree with, Students wag a variety of classes and that is not a valid reason for sport to be compulsary in schools. ====

====<span style="background-color: #f6ff00; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">In the second paragraph she states that sport should be compulsary because of the health benefits that it brings. this is a point that I definately agree with, making sport compulsary in schools would help decrease the obesity rate in Australia. ====

====<span style="background-color: #f6ff00; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">She also goes on to state that sport should be compulsary because some parents discourage their children from playing sport if it takes up class time. I beleive that this is only a minor point, if students wanna play sport they can do this outside of school times. ====

====<span style="background-color: #f6ff00; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">I beleive that sport should be compulsary in school. My three major reasons for this are : Fitness, Team building skills and breaking up classes by doing something active which helps relax the mind. ====

=<span style="background-color: #f6ff00; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**__Claims in the media - Melissa Glover__** = =<span style="background-color: #f6ff00; color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**__Curriculum draught 'C grade'. Authors -__** |slrl','');|JEWEL TOPSFIELD EDUCATION EDITOR. The Age 26/4/2010= ====This article is about the curriculum next year having too much in it. Schools are not expected to be able to teach every things. They mentioned in the article that it was a schools fault that a child drowned in a rip because they were not taught in schools how to look at the water and read where the rips are.The article is getting us to think about what would be important to teach in schools and what is reasonable to teach in schools.====

====The article goes on to say that schools need to step back and think, what is important to our students and what would be beneficial to teach them. What are the important aspects that need to be incorporated into the curriculum.====

====I chose this article as it is something that is being talked about a lot recently with the national draught coming in in the next few years. I agree with the article in that schools only have limited time in which they teach students and that it needs to be considered what is essential and what is important for the students to learn while at school. Families need to take the time to teach the students basics as well. Learning doe not just happen in the classroom it happens in the home and in life situations as well. Something for all to consider when entering the classroom and using the new national curriculum.====