KEEP ACADEMICS AWAY FROM SCHOOL CURRICULUM

There has been a major problem in schools curriculum in Australia and Papua New Guinea. That is that the university academics have muscled into the curriculum decisions in high schools. Please click:

VERNACULAR TEACHING IS ACADEMIC FANTASY

There are kind and caring academics who seek to make primary and secondary curriculum manageable by the teachers and students.

But there are others who want to lift secondary curriculum to be sub-university. They ignore the basics and seek to lift the level of research that they choose to be as complex as possible.

Several years ago, I worked as tutor in Grade 12 English at the University of Papua New Guinea Distance Education in Lae. My job was to take students through the study material.

It was high level rubbish, high above what Australian grade 12 students would ever achieve. The topics were completely and needlessly abstract and complex. Students found great difficulty.

Too many university lecturers regard themselves as the elite of the academic world, high above lowly teachers.

They feel they have to show it by making the study material as complex as possible with as little help as possible. Such an attitude turns many into academic morons. Please click:

Lecturers should need a teaching qualification, says NUS president ...

www.guardian.co.uk › News › Education › University teachingCached

22 Apr 2012 – A report by the NUS on the university experience says the teaching

skill of lecturers is ... ingredient, beyond facilities or even contact time, for

a positive learning experience. .... Live Q&A: How to get the most out of law

fairs ...

Note the negative comments on the report above.
Teaching qualification is too low class for academics.

Universities have degrees and diplomas in Education
but not for their own academic staff.

Teachers are usually completely different except those contaminated by the maverick university lecturers. They are helpful and break the skills down to help the students.

Years ago as a student in the University of Queensland, I sat at the orientation day on my subject in Education. The lecturer said that we should be able to see the big picture in his subject by about October.

That is the typical university lecturer approach. A teacher would show the big picture from the start and then lift the students even higher.

Some university lecturers often want the students to think they are clever. So the trick is to fail students as much as possible. Failure is the sign of academic brilliance. They will spoil high school curriculum through sheer ignorance.

It is mainly university lecturers in Papua New Guinea who support vernacular teaching in elementery schools. Teaching English basics is too mundane and ordinary.

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Bruce Copeland BA BEdSt (St Lucia)

Teacher in Australia and Papua New Guinea.