Parents role in Education ?

Message boards : Politics : Parents role in Education ?
Message board moderation

To post messages, you must log in.

Previous · 1 . . . 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 . . . 19 · Next

AuthorMessage
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24875
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 1247173 - Posted: 16 Jun 2012, 23:24:47 UTC - in response to Message 1247064.  

As publicily stated, it's politicians that make the appointments. Case in point is Ed Balls & Baby P. Have not posted the links as it'll take this thread off on a tangent.

The problem with politicians is that they only get involved in high profile cases & when they have to make the appointments. They should also have regular sceduled reviews to prevent cases like Baby P ever occuring again.

The main problem behind all the public services is "politicial trickery" such as league tables etc - get rid of them & have the services returned to doing the jobs they want to do without any beaurocratic interference.
ID: 1247173 · Report as offensive
W-K 666 Project Donor
Volunteer tester

Send message
Joined: 18 May 99
Posts: 19012
Credit: 40,757,560
RAC: 67
United Kingdom
Message 1247846 - Posted: 18 Jun 2012, 8:51:54 UTC

The teaching unions want phonics re-think.

Teaching unions urge rethink of phonics checks

About time too.
ID: 1247846 · Report as offensive
W-K 666 Project Donor
Volunteer tester

Send message
Joined: 18 May 99
Posts: 19012
Credit: 40,757,560
RAC: 67
United Kingdom
Message 1249117 - Posted: 21 Jun 2012, 7:17:49 UTC
Last modified: 21 Jun 2012, 7:18:39 UTC

I find this very distrubing. Even as a critic of modern teaching methods, I didn't expect to see reports this bad. If you take it with the previous post then over a generation of people have been failed by the education system because they cannot read or do maths to the same standards of their predecessors.

Teenagers 'worse at maths than in 1970s', figures show

It highlights a key study by King’s College showing how maths skills have declined sharply in a generation.

Researchers analysed the results of independently-administered tests sat by 14-year-olds in 1976 – and then subjected pupils to the same exam in 2008/9.

Tests specifically focused on algebra and ratio, which are seen as key foundations for further study in maths at GCSE-level and beyond.

The study found that 15 per cent of modern pupils failed to achieve the most basic standards – showing they can successfully solve problems involving doubling, trebling and halving – compared with just seven per cent in the mid-70s.

Meanwhile, the proportion of students with highly advanced maths skills declined from nine per cent to six per cent over the period.
ID: 1249117 · Report as offensive
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24875
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 1249335 - Posted: 21 Jun 2012, 10:45:41 UTC - in response to Message 1249195.  

Thetre should be 3 levels before being allowed into college/university...

Certificate of Basic Education
Certificate of Standard Education
Certificate of Advanced Education

With the CBE covering a sufficient standard to enable those who do not seek further education to be employable in that they can apply the "3 R's" sufficiently to satisfy employers.

Pretty sure that they can't be messed up, but with too many cooks in the kitchen... who knows......
ID: 1249335 · Report as offensive
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24875
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 1249631 - Posted: 21 Jun 2012, 21:28:00 UTC - in response to Message 1249195.  

Ooops, looks like Nancy-boy don't like that.....

Nancy boy cleggie vows to block Gove's plans
ID: 1249631 · Report as offensive
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24875
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 1249658 - Posted: 21 Jun 2012, 22:04:31 UTC - in response to Message 1249656.  

Oy you! Stop giving me palpitations!

+1
ID: 1249658 · Report as offensive
W-K 666 Project Donor
Volunteer tester

Send message
Joined: 18 May 99
Posts: 19012
Credit: 40,757,560
RAC: 67
United Kingdom
Message 1251342 - Posted: 25 Jun 2012, 15:43:33 UTC

Pick this up from the Washington Post, but know it broadly applies to UK schools as well.

Why Johnny Can’t Add Without a Calculator

Several para's that stand out.
According to an October 2011 report, 89 percent of high school math teachers think their students are ready for college-level mathematics. But only 26 percent of post-secondary teachers think the students are ready once they get there.


I tried using one such product, Cognitive Tutor from Carnegie Learning, which claims to be “intelligent mathematics software that adapts to meet the needs of ALL students.” One problem asked me to calculate the width of a doorframe, given the frame’s height and a diagonal measurement of the door. After 30 seconds’ work with pen and paper, I submitted my answer: 93.7cm. But Cognitive Tutor wouldn’t accept it. It wanted me to go through an elaborate and cumbersome series of steps to get its answer: 93.723. This isn’t teaching math—it’s teaching how to use a particular software package. The supposed “real-world applications” don’t even reflect the real world. Show me a tape measure that allows you to measure to one-hundredth of a millimeter.


A report earlier this year from the University of Michigan showed that K through eight teachers with no math specialization (the vast majority—more than 90 percent of K through six teachers and more than two-thirds of sixth- to eighth-grade teachers) got only half the questions right on a base-line test meant to see whether they knew the material they were supposed to be teaching. The good news is that most teachers are aware of their own limitations: Only about 10 percent of the nonmath specialization K through eight teachers said they were “confident to teach all topics” in math.


Promethean, the “interactive whiteboard” company, advertises as a selling point the fact that teachers can share lesson plans online. But drawing up a lesson plan is itself educative: A teacher who plans his own lecture is forced toward mastery of the material, but one who downloads a PowerPoint presentation doesn’t have to know anything beyond how to download the presentation. It is a mirage of efficiency: empty calories.


N.B. Promethean is an English company, I did some wrok for them about 15 years ago.
http://www.prometheanworld.com/en-gb/contact/united-kingdom
ID: 1251342 · Report as offensive
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24875
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 1251348 - Posted: 25 Jun 2012, 15:52:01 UTC - in response to Message 1251342.  

Good link WK. I often get strange looks when in shops/supermarkets/petrol stations & the electronic tills go down - they can't understand how someone can give the correct totals without a pen,paper or calculator.....

....sheesh, makes me wonder for the future.
ID: 1251348 · Report as offensive
W-K 666 Project Donor
Volunteer tester

Send message
Joined: 18 May 99
Posts: 19012
Credit: 40,757,560
RAC: 67
United Kingdom
Message 1251356 - Posted: 25 Jun 2012, 16:04:53 UTC - in response to Message 1251348.  

Good link WK. I often get strange looks when in shops/supermarkets/petrol stations & the electronic tills go down - they can't understand how someone can give the correct totals without a pen,paper or calculator.....

....sheesh, makes me wonder for the future.


It's also obvious that educationalists know very little of the real world from that question on doors.

Unless hand made to fit a specific gap, doors are all in inches, even on the continent of Europe. Widths in multiples of 3 inches and usually heights of 6ft 6in, some wider doors are 7ft high.
ID: 1251356 · Report as offensive
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24875
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 1251371 - Posted: 25 Jun 2012, 16:33:43 UTC - in response to Message 1251361.  

The educationalists say, why should we bother to teach kids mental arithmetic in the 21st century, when for all practical purposes they don't need that ability, because technology has given them a tool to do it for them.

But, if you follow that line of reasoning, then people in the future will be a generation of machine minders, and not independent thinking human beings.


ROFLMAO.....because I just thought this after reading your post......

...SO what happens when the power goes down?
ID: 1251371 · Report as offensive
W-K 666 Project Donor
Volunteer tester

Send message
Joined: 18 May 99
Posts: 19012
Credit: 40,757,560
RAC: 67
United Kingdom
Message 1251517 - Posted: 25 Jun 2012, 20:07:09 UTC - in response to Message 1251361.  

The educationalists say, why should we bother to teach kids mental arithmetic in the 21st century, when for all practical purposes they don't need that ability, because technology has given them a tool to do it for them.

But, if you follow that line of reasoning, then people in the future will be a generation of machine minders, and not independent thinking human beings.

So it's all a plot by the rich and powerful to reduce the unwashed masses into an unthinking moldable mass willing to do any task set by the bosses for a few pennies per week.
ID: 1251517 · Report as offensive
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24875
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 1251552 - Posted: 25 Jun 2012, 20:58:17 UTC - in response to Message 1251538.  

so heading towards "Minority Report" society then.....
ID: 1251552 · Report as offensive
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24875
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 1253704 - Posted: 30 Jun 2012, 12:52:33 UTC

I think we need more than parents in classes - we need local businesses to go back to school!

Just got back from a local shop with some groceries which totalled £16.06, but I got £5.84 in change (handed over a £20 note).

On quering this, I got told that the total came to £14.16....

..huh? Using the marked up prices, the total came to £16.06, yet the barcode scanner totaled £14.16...

...that's a difference of £1.90 & none of the groceries were anywhere need that difference...

...oh well, if they do this every day, who am I to complain?
ID: 1253704 · Report as offensive
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24875
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 1253730 - Posted: 30 Jun 2012, 14:14:55 UTC - in response to Message 1253718.  
Last modified: 30 Jun 2012, 14:15:17 UTC

Not jumping to conclusions, the price of the items purchased were in fact the correct prices (in this case, they forgot to update the barcodes), I attempted to be totally honest with them, but they argued that they were correct, so I'm £1.90 better off.
ID: 1253730 · Report as offensive
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24875
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 1256396 - Posted: 6 Jul 2012, 13:22:05 UTC

Better late than never?

11 year old testing returns
ID: 1256396 · Report as offensive
bobby
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 22 Mar 02
Posts: 2866
Credit: 17,789,109
RAC: 3
United States
Message 1264933 - Posted: 27 Jul 2012, 17:35:42 UTC - in response to Message 1264373.  

Although I am not at all surprised by this article, I and others have seen it coming for many years, but nevertheless, it is extremely worrying to say the least. I think that this is one occasion when the Mail is quite right to print a lurid headline.

Expulsions for violence


Figures for previous years might help show whether the heading is accurate.

Earlier this year, Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: ‘A minority of children are very aware of their rights, have a total disregard of school rules and are rather less aware of their responsibility for their own learning and how to show respect to staff and other students. ‘This can apply as much to over-indulged middle class children as those from challenging families.’

How are kids under the age of 11 so clued up about their rights? Via the internet? Social networking sites?

Kid A - I won't worry, daddy has a good job, he'll buy me out of any trouble.
Kid B - My mum doesn't care what I get up to, so why should I?
Kid C - I don't like my teacher, So I can hit her, and she is not allowed to hit me back.


Why shouldn't children be aware of their rights? BTW Kid A may have a point, the wealthy can often buy their way out of trouble. Kid B has a point too, though the fault there appears to be with the parent(s). Kid C is clearly wrong, not liking a teacher does not excuse violence, and the child will likely be suspended and/or expelled.

The latest data emerged days after a psychologist warned that parents who are afraid to discipline their children are creating an unruly generation. Dr Tanya Byron, who featured in BBC TV’s The House of Tiny Tearaways, described the rise of the ‘friend-parent’ who tries to be the child’s equal rather than an authority figure.

If parents discipline their children these days, they are liable to be reported to the local Social Services Dept for child abuse. There was a case in my town last year where a mother gave an unruly 5 year old a slap on the legs for bad behaviour in the local high street. A neighbour saw it and reported her. She was threatened with the child being put into care. All this modern claptrap rubbish about you have to be your child's best friend is esoteric nonsense. Hardly surprising therefore that we have the problems we have.


Why do you equate violence with discipline?

Teachers’ leaders said yesterday that a lack of parental support was to blame for discipline problems. Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, said a recent survey had shown that two-thirds of teachers highlighted poor support from parents. ‘Sending children to school on time, with basic equipment and clear expectations of how they are expected to behave is a critical part of the job of all parents,’ she said. ‘Parents must understand that their responsibility for their child’s behaviour does not end at the school gate.’

Parents just DON'T understand that. "He's a good boy really, he just gets in with the wrong crowd, and I cant be responsible for what he gets up to outside the house, when I'm not there" is a typical comment. Sorry, you are legally responsible for your child up until the age of 16 whether you like it or not. If you don't like it, then perhaps you shouldn't have had another kid just to get more social and child allowance.


Why do you believe people have children for state benefits?

It's all part of the current vicious circle, where people come out of school poorly educated, can't get a decent job, and see having kids as a meal ticket. "I'll put up with 'em until they're 5, then I'll hand them over to you lot. If they misbehave in class then you ain't teaching them properly, don't complain to me." At the moment we are in a downward spiral, I do not yet see a way out of it. The one child policy of China is one way around it, but we are a bit more civilised in the West.


I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that ...

ID: 1264933 · Report as offensive
Profile Sarge
Volunteer tester

Send message
Joined: 25 Aug 99
Posts: 12273
Credit: 8,569,109
RAC: 79
United States
Message 1265048 - Posted: 27 Jul 2012, 23:58:38 UTC - in response to Message 1251361.  
Last modified: 27 Jul 2012, 23:59:13 UTC

The educationalists say, why should we bother to teach kids mental arithmetic in the 21st century, when for all practical purposes they don't need that ability, because technology has given them a tool to do it for them.

But, if you follow that line of reasoning, then people in the future will be a generation of machine minders, and not independent thinking human beings.


Oops! Wild, wacky, math educationalists suggest Do the math in your head!
ID: 1265048 · Report as offensive
Profile William Rothamel
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 25 Oct 06
Posts: 3756
Credit: 1,999,735
RAC: 4
United States
Message 1279202 - Posted: 2 Sep 2012, 10:29:51 UTC

The problem with Parents in Classes is that there are no "parents" of children in the inner city schools. Perhaps three quarters of them are born out of wedlock and are raised by their grandmothers. This environment does not promote a home life that is conducive to the nurturing of the child's education in most cases.

This is what's fundamentally wrong with our education system.
ID: 1279202 · Report as offensive
Profile Gary Charpentier Crowdfunding Project Donor*Special Project $75 donorSpecial Project $250 donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 25 Dec 00
Posts: 30608
Credit: 53,134,872
RAC: 32
United States
Message 1279377 - Posted: 2 Sep 2012, 21:04:07 UTC - in response to Message 1279211.  

If the majority of kids are in fact being brought up by their grandparents then why do they not have the standards and moralities of their grandparents era?

Perhaps they do. Their parents are the obviously result of being brought up by that generation, so that (grandparents) generation is getting another chance to fail. It looks like we have some evidence of when the failure to parent came into society.

ID: 1279377 · Report as offensive
Profile William Rothamel
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 25 Oct 06
Posts: 3756
Credit: 1,999,735
RAC: 4
United States
Message 1279579 - Posted: 3 Sep 2012, 9:23:06 UTC - in response to Message 1279377.  
Last modified: 3 Sep 2012, 9:26:48 UTC

Children of unmarried mothers of any race are more likely to perform poorly in school, go to prison, use drugs, be poor as adults, and have their own children out of wedlock.


There's the problem. Let's not blame the teachers or the lack of funding for schools. We don't have the will to fix this or even to talk about it. The solution would be too draconian for almost any society.

Two or three bad apples will ruin the Learning Environment for the entire class. Today we find 10 or more bad apples in a high school class room in the poorer districts of every major city.

What do you all propose that we do ??
ID: 1279579 · Report as offensive
Previous · 1 . . . 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 . . . 19 · Next

Message boards : Politics : Parents role in Education ?


 
©2024 University of California
 
SETI@home and Astropulse are funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and donations from SETI@home volunteers. AstroPulse is funded in part by the NSF through grant AST-0307956.