Teaching, the lazy and least accountable job.

[Valkie]

Well, teachers, over paid and under worked, have hit new lows.

Its a simple job teaching children, who want to soak up information.

But because teaching has the lowest entry requirement of any "profession", we get the least competent.

If only they would concentrate on teaching more and less twisting young minds to be woke and weird, we might have a chance.

More money, worse results
We are spending more money than ever on education. This should deliver better outcomes. Our children should be outperforming previous generations and children in other countries.

Instead, they are going backwards. As The Daily Telegraph now reports, the state’s Year 9 students have recorded their worst performance for reading in NAPLAN examinations since the tests began.

The percentage of students deemed to be reading at a National Minimum Standard level declined by 4.7 percentage points from 94.4 per cent of all NSW students in 2008 to 89.7 per cent of students in 2021.

How can this be, when the state is throwing so much cash at education? The explanation may be found in how educators are investing that money.

Instead of employing education strategies that are tested and known, they are endlessly pursuing various ideological causes.

Education author Dr Kevin Donnelly correctly observes that the more time students spend on politically-correct causes pushed by their teachers and education officials means “less time for essential knowledge and skills”.

Donnelly also notes that we are seeing the results of previous disastrous educational decisions filtering through the system.

“A lot of the kids in Year 9 would have been in primary school when they used the whole language approach to teaching reading,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“So a lot of boys in particular would now be in Year 8 and Year 9 and Year 10 were not given an effective reading program based on phonics.”

The “whole language” approach was ruinous. Those who taught it have built comprehension barriers for a generation of unfortunate students.

Activism is another concern.

Before the Covid pandemic hit, demonstrations against climate change were popular events for many schoolchildren across Sydney.

These were routinely scheduled for Fridays, conveniently delivering three-day weekends.

And they were largely approved by schools and teachers, who don’t mind a few three-day weekends themselves.

The misspelt signs at those climate rallies showed that we should not now be surprised by the latest NAPLAN results.

[Texan]

I don't know your education system, but in America the teacher's hands are tied by a mandated curriculum, standardized testing, and teachers unions. There are often good teachers who aren't allowed to do their jobs. Many school districts still have a good curriculum, teach the subjects instead of teaching how to simply pass the standardized tests, and have no unions to interfere with the teacher's performance and protect the bad teachers from consequences.

My brother has taught high school for 30 years and he makes his students work for their grades. Of course, he doesn't teach a core subject where all students good and bad are in the class. He teaches economics and business software as an elective for students who usually want to learn.

[Nom De Plume]

Seems every one wants better teachers!

[Valkie]

No wonder kids cant acclimatize to working for a living.

Just teachers looking for yet another way to get out of actually doing anything.

Sleeping in helps teenagers
SARAH BOOTH

TEENAGERS could benefit from a later start to the school day when they return to the classroom, after a world first study uncovered a surprise benefit to online learning.

Tired teenagers were able to sleep for longer during last year’s lockdown, with their sleep schedule more aligned with their natural body clock after swapping the school commute for a lie in.

The study, led by the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health’s Dr Julia Stone, used a wrist monitor to compare the sleeping patterns of 59 students, aged 12-13, during normal school and online learning.

The Monash University research found that while they went to bed, on average, 26 minutes later the night before home schooling, they slept in for almost 50 minutes longer.

The students woke up at a “more appropriate body clock time” and reported feeling less sleepy and anxious.

Teenagers tend to fall asleep later than adults due to a delayed release of the “sleep” hormone.

Dr Julia Stone said waking up early for school can hinder student’s cognitive function.