A very interesting read in todays Oz -- too bad its only available to subscribers. However, here are the first few paragraphs to get a gist of who NSW Education Minister Piccoli really is and the Governments thinking behind the changes to classroom training and teaching. GONE are the days when a teacher completed a four-year degree at university, entered the classroom and shut the door for the next 40 years. Now, more than ever before, teachers face the same level of scrutiny of their performance as their students. The accountability meted out to schools and teachers also extends to the institutions responsible for training teachers, the universities. The reaction to the first NSW government audit of teaching degrees, reported in The Australian last week, shows the level of discomfort many universities feel about this. Today’s exclusive report of a further two audits provides a further level of scrutiny of the profession. Many education faculties, captured by ideology, shift uncomfortably under the demand to provide the evidence for what they teach. Two years ago the NSW government introduced a system of rolling audits of education degrees as part of reforms to improve teaching. While accreditation standards are in place, universities are largely taken at their word they do what they say. The audits are the first attempt by any government to evaluate how effectively universities train our teachers. The first audit conducted by the NSW Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards looked at the teaching of reading. It found that many primary school teachers are poorly trained, courses are mired in theory and don’t focus enough on practical skills. The response by education faculties and teaching academics was angry and defensive. Many universities were already smarting over other reforms introduced by NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli, including minimum entry standards for teaching students. While the state cannot tell universities what to do, as the biggest employer of teachers in the country, Piccoli can tell universities which teachers he will hire. They don’t like it, Piccoli tells The Australian.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 03:11:01 +0000
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