Replying to LO30158 --
Alan Cotterell asked (in part) "why there were so many tertiary level
students who cannot read competently".
I see by your email that you live in Australia, and while I cannot speak
for that educational system, I can certainly respond to the issues in the
U.S. where students routinely score the lowest among industrialized
nations on core competencies. Why? We've gotten too sucked into the
positivist paradigm about testing and holding teachers / students
accountable for passing tests at the cost of losing our focus on the goal.
What gets measured and rewarded becomes the focus of activity, so they
pass the tests.
But they don't LEARN. Nor do they learn how to learn. They don't love
learning. They don't feel a passion for discovery and inquiry. It saddens
and sickens me to think about it. Because today's students are tomorrow's
workers. This is not good news.
I'd rather have a teacher who is passionate about making sure each student
reaches his or her own highest potential and finding creative ways of
making sure that happens. Don't make finishing the curriculum or passing
the test more important than learning. The teachers I know care deeply
about helping students learn, but they are restricted in what they do and
how they do it by too many regulations.
Kind regards,
Vana Prewitt
Praxis Learning Systems
www.PraxisLearning.com
--"Vana Prewitt" <Vana@PraxisLearning.com>
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