Education

When I was away the news of the North Korea rail disaster broke and I was listening to a junior relative ratting on about how if it happened in the USA we would know all about it. I mentioned it might be because the US is a free and open society and North Korea isn’t, but the lessons from her exclusive public girl?s school held true and my comment went through to the keeper. She saw nothing good about the US or Bush and had I questioned her, Howard would have got some stick as well. What’s my point? Clearly she is picking up this rubbish from her teachers and I for one think that?s an abysmal abrogation of responsibilities on the teacher?s part. She is only a teenager and already biased in her thoughts on world events. Attractive, intelligent and pleasant but none of this will matter if she isn’t taught to look at all the facts before forming an opinion. With everything going for her the teachers have only taught her to parrot their left wing diatribe. I socialize at a major GPS school in Brisbane and am long use to Howard being held to ridicule at the Staff club. If I point out Liberals responsible fiscal management versus the 23% overdraft I suffered under Labour, they resort to pulling a Howard like face and talking like Gollum from the LOR. Everyone rolls around laughing at their wit and I wonder what they are teaching the kids. I would like to think they are teaching them to look at the world a little deeper than starting all debate with ‘Bush is evil’ and going on from there. I would like to think they are teaching them to recognize the natural bias of journalists and commentators (Yes – me too!) and factor that in. I would like them to think that competition extends people and systems, that no one should be exempt from critical assessment and that the closed shop recommended by the Teachers Union disguises inefficiency. I would like to think some of these issues will be taken on board by our professional teachers but I’m not holding my breath. Meanwhile the debate on insufficient male role models in the education departments of Australia waxes and wanes. A Catholic system tried to get scholarships for men only to be countered with ‘No – must have equal amount of scholarships. 12 for men must have 12 for women’ Gender equity should work both ways. Our male teachers have to sustain continual attacks on their integrity and honour. A disgruntled kid falsely accuses a mate, a male teacher, of touching him inappropriately and his career is ruined. Never made court, kid and Mother confessed – career still ruined. Mud sticks. Result? Men stay away in droves from teaching. Just a few things to fix!