Posts by 81stcolumn
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Now PBRF is stripping that research component out of the EFTS funding and returning it to institutions that do OK in the research exercise - pretty much universities
Sorry Kyle might have to agree to disagree on that one. Yes research funding should be spent on research activity...but the devil is in the detail of defining the legitimacy and importance of that research activity. PBRF is a nasty partisan conduit through which to distribute research funds. The policy in its current form should never have been given the air to breathe.
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Same loan scheme, but about $6000/less a year of it as a result.
Kyle - I accept the technicality of your point but $6000 a year less of loans in no way compensates for between 4 and 8 years of adult earnings. Mature students really struggle to make ends meet. Believe me I know to my cost.
I agree that mature students should not be given a big free lunch but most can't afford to go as it stands and if they knew the real cost they wouldn't.
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Generally speaking I think there is a lot of fixing that needs to be done before any further education (of any type) should be forced on modern yoof.
The western model of education is in many ways stuck with the idea that early education prepares you for a particular career or at most a small range of talent specific occupations (I do remember the trouble I got into when I listed drug dealing as a possible career). In the modern context, careers for life seem a bit dumb. There is no such thing as a job for life and I abhor the idea that personal development should cease with your first “proper” job. I don’t think employers and politicians really grasp this with respect to the education that they want to create I’m not even sure educators get it sometimes.
I’m with Finn on this one, I got thrown out of school at 17 wasted time pretending to go to college between 17 and 20. I finally went to Uni at 25 when I’d made up my mind what I wanted to do and why. At which point I achieved something of value. I would almost go so far as to say kick ‘em all out at 16 and don’t let them back in until 18 or over. Education is appalling when it comes to supporting returning adult learners; same loans, just less time to pay then off in.
Last thought for the time being at the end of a tertiary education in NZ without Postgrad I end up with an ordinary degree at the end of the same period of education in the UK I get an honours degree. Can someone explain this, from my perspective it just looks more broke….
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Youth Apprenticeships however may reduce this risk however the challenge is to find employers willing to take on the responsibility - some employers bitch and moan about the shortage of apprentices but don't appear to be prepared to do much about it themselves.
Or don't have a mysterious financial problem that causes apprentices to be laid off just before they qualify and need to be paid grown up wages......
I would pay quite a lot of money to see Bjork covering 'Crazy Horses'
See surely being the operative word....
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Paul - fair call mate- its good to see some people are giving it a go. This is an issue that is quite hard to prove. As has rightly been pointed out - there is a whole world of difference between real social/educational benefits and liking the idea of having less work to do and more attention for my kids.
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The overwhelming success of the class size pilot as judged by parents, teachers and principals would suggest that the reduction of class sizes is a matter for promotion of public education. The information contained in this evaluation should be widely disseminated as it demonstrates a valued perspective to a positive initiative in public education.
Don't mean to be rude Paul but I really would like you to be more specific about which bit of this report constitutes bugger all evidence.
I agree that the real benefit of this will only be seen later on and that the measure were poorly constructed/analysed. But I would hardly stand to say that this study constitutes bugger all evidence.
Notwithstanding my own argument about the need for smaller class sizes at secondary as well. We seem to overlook the adolescence is a key developmental period in itself.
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Paul - I would be very sad to find that this was the case. In the spirit of proper academic enquiry I would like to see how the study was done. What age groups sizes measures methods etc.
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Smaller class sizes would be great. But so too would a greater proportion of teachers who inspire their students to want to learn.
Which is in a roundabout way the point I was trying to make. You can't blame HE for uninspired students it's not fair. Primary/secondary has contact with students for eight years - HE gets them or 3/4 years after this - go figure. The loans system doesn't really help because its seen as free money buy many marginal students - but worse students feel as though they have already gained something by paying a fraction of the cost associated with their qualification.
flexible innovative learning is a lot easier in smaller classes. Teachers can and will support individual learning where they feel able to do so. But the sheer logistics of this means that large classes forces a lot of cookie cutter learning and assessment that is largely unsupported. This is a problem at all levels of education.
I strongly suspect that smaller classes would increase school retention; but because of the costs involved no government will go there.
BTW. It easier to be inspiring when you can remember the names o everyone in your class.
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Can the last person to leave switch the lights out please.
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If we are talking about low quality education, lets look at the inflexible, largely unsuccessful compulsory and tertiary education systems that we currently have which privilege arguably largely useless (i.e. university) quals over qualifications where what is learned might actually be used by the student. The argument about value or otherwise swings both ways.
I would respectfully suggest that sometimes the problem lays between notebook and seat.
I am a lot more interested in;
Why students think HE classes should be like school. Why students reject challenging teaching in favour of shortest possible route to an answer.
My suspicions rest with:
Large class sizes and results driven assessments that do not reward excellence sufficiently.
Repeat after me smaller class sizes please