Use-By Date

With only five days left of the 2013 HSC examinations, many have called into question the appropriateness of the NSW state-wide test and the manner in which it is conducted. James Athanasou for the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) suggests that perhaps the “HSC has reached its use-by date and risks stifling learning potential.”

If Australians are worried now about the disadvantages of ‘teaching to the test’ in regards to standardized testing such as PISA or NAPLAN exams, the HSC should be of the utmost concern as students spend an entire twelve months focusing on nothing but a final exam. Athanasou describes the HSC process as “causing collateral damage to a love of learning. It transforms the best years of life into an educational marathon filled with coaching and cramming.” Such external tuition is a service many buy into however, it is evidently clear that this causes a disruption to the equality of education with certain students receiving tutoring as well as regular schooling, whilst other students are unable to afford such a privilege.

In 2011, Joel Reines told SMH,

“I’ve had three tutors for five subjects this year…but no matter how much I am hothoused, my tutors aren’t going to be sitting next to me in the exam room…being over-tutored can mean that students may lose the ability to do their own research, which is vital. Having information virtually fed to you on a platter will only get you so far.”

Whilst some students strive as a result of the extra tuition, personally I know it would not have worked for me, simply because I prefer to be independent and believe that the most informative part of the learning process lies in the research and the forming of one’s own ideas and opinions. 

This realization I believe highlights a key point in the current debate against the HSC, that all students are different, have varying learning styles and abilities, and therefore a diverse range of testing is required. Students sitting their HSC, typically seventeen and eighteen years of age, generally hate nothing more than being categorized into a meaningless stereotype. Hopkins writes,

“Many everyday assumptions and stereotypes about young people lead to assumptions being made about them being rebellious, out of control, or a threat to the moral order of civilized society. These stereotypes are reinforced through the agents of socialisation – such as the family, school, the media, and the workplace – that have exceptional influences…over how people live their lives.”

I know that I would have been horrified to be cast into such a role as that which Hopkins described, simply due to my age. The same applies to the education system. It is of no benefit to anyone to categorise and stereotype how you believe a student should learn, should comprehend, should respond. And yet, that exact uniformity is what is asked of students in most HSC exams which is what has caused the reliance on ‘rote-learning,’ a separate issue in itself.

The HSC is trying “to be all things to all people,” however, it is unfortunately failing miserably. Athanasou suggests, “The HSC system is far too complex a solution for the educational problems it is trying to solve,” and argues the need for an “HSC review.”

If the HSC is left as is, leaving students overly stressed and feeling inept without external assistance, the education of our high school finishing students will remain tainted by a twelve month stunt in their learning process. The HSC has become little more than a numbers game, with parents, teachers and students trying to crack the code to HSC success. The HSC was recently noted as a “credential with integrity” (Board of Studies chair), however, it is becoming increasingly clear that the exam which claims it strives to appease all, is failing to recognise its major problem; its lack of acknowledgement of students as individuals with their own identity, ideas and opinions.

Athanasou concludes with his belief that “we could do a far better job for all concerned.” I echo that statement and conclude with the same hopeful sentiment that the call for reform will be recognised, before too many more students experience the same inadequacies.

By Carly Fisher

References

Athanasou, J. 'HSC has reached its use-by date and risks stifling learning potential.' October 15, 2013. Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/comment/hsc-has-reached-its-useby-date-and-risks-stifling-learning-potential-20131014-2viqu.html

Reines, J. 'Do Students Need Tutoring to Succeed in the HSC.' October 15, 2011. Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/the-question/do-students-need-tutoring-to-succeed-in-the-hsc-20111014-1loyq.html#ixzz2jZwLrB5s

Hopkins, P. 'Young People, Place and Identity.' 2010. Routledge. pp. 9 

Image

https://www.tallpoppytutors.com.au

Food For Thought

Undeniably, inequality exists within the Australian education system with the achievement gap consistently causing concern for the government, who, despite various efforts, cannot seem to find a way to lessen the serious educational disadvantage experienced by specific communities. However, the reality is that inequality will continue to exist until we, as a society, can overcome discrimination. Ford notes a possible cause for the lack of progress in closing the gap as being locked-in-inequality whereby injustices of the past continue to resonate in modern society. This is elaborated on by Ford who references Roithmayr,  

“Poor health and housing, low educational opportunities and economic disparities derive from earlier locked in monopolies, thus contributing to contemporary inequality. The deep-rooted nature of this systemic inequality means it can only be altered with a radical overhaul of current policies and practices.”  

As Australia struggles with finding ways to bridge the achievement gap and overcome locked-in-inequality through the abolition of racism, informal education, such as the programs run at community organizations like ‘Our Big Kitchen,’ is proving a new way of teaching the importance of acceptance, equality and tolerance. Such programs have been devised with the intention of combating cultural and religious intolerance. (Please view: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3410812.htm). To date, ‘Our Big Kitchen’ has hosted approximately ten ‘Together for Humanity’ events whereby schools with differing religious values, cultural backgrounds, etc go into the kitchen and experience the benefits of learning from others through the comfortable medium of food.

A primary current concern of the education system is that teachers are simply means testing, ie. ‘teaching to the test.’  Through informal education programs such as this, ‘teaching to the test’ is irrelevant. The test in this instance is life and the magnitude and importance of the lessons learnt through such programs are experienced long after students have left the ‘classroom.’

Whilst ‘Our Big Kitchen’ plays host to a large variety of events that can be considered as the optimum of informal education, in this instance I refer to a program run with students from a Jewish, and students from a Muslim school. Rabbi Slavin, founder of ‘Our Big Kitchen’ comments on the program, “it was a way for Jews and Muslims to come together and cook each other’s food and realize that we can live together in peace,” and adds that the sole purpose of the event was aimed at everyone “learning more about each others’ cultures and faiths.”

The principals of the schools involved; Arkana College and Mount Sinai College, both expressed their belief in the long-lasting benefits of such a program. Osman Karolina (Arkana Principal) noted,

“what our schools have done…is almost unheard of, anywhere. Plenty of schools meet and chat, but the nature of this relationship is inspiring.”

Similar sentiments were expressed by Mount Sinai Principal, Phil Roberts;

“Osman and I share a similar optimistic perspective and both recognise that the hand of friendship has no colour. We both believe the experiences the children share can be transformative. It is heartening to see the children playing and working side by side.”    

During the program, each school was asked to demonstrate how to prepare a food that was of importance to their relevant cultural background, before sitting down together to enjoy the ‘fruits of their labour.’ ‘Our Big Kitchen’s’ General Manager explains,

“You watch as the prejudices that they start with start to dissipate over food. They start to realize, hang on, this person is meant to have horns and he doesn’t, this one is meant to have a bomb under his vest, and he doesn’t, and they realize, hey, we are just a bunch of kids in Australia.”

I am a strong believer in the idea that school and learning exists beyond the walls of formalized classrooms and to see programs being run with the purpose of reducing animosity and cultural ignorance is inspiring. Reaching out to children whilst they are at such an impressionable age often allows teachers and informal educators to aid students in forming appropriate and rationale judgments, as opposed to uneducated and ill-informed opinions that so often define the relationship between ‘opposing’ cultural or religious groups. The work of such educators is vital in breaking down the cycle of cultural ignorance that often plagues generations.

I have been lucky enough to witness events of this nature at ‘Our Big Kitchen’ and can therefore express from first hand experience the accomplishments of this community organization in taking a leading role in reducing acrimony between cultures and religions, between the supposed ‘haves and the have not’s,’ etc. Here, food is the catalyst for the real educational revolution that Australia needs if it is to remain a society based on effective multiculturalism and fairness. Here, informal education is breeding a new generation of culture that will rely on the basic fundamentals of human rights; that everyone is equal and should be treated as such.

By Carly Fisher 

The video below references the above, and other programs, conducted at 'Our Big Kitchen' with an explanation of the work of this community organisation. 

References

Ford, M. (2013) 'Achievement gaps in Australia: what NAPLAN reveals about education inequality in Australia, Race Ethnicity and Education.' Routledge. Pp 83. 

Rimier, M. 'Jews, Muslims Cook Together.' Our Big Kitchen Website - http://obk.org.au/jews-muslims-cook-together/

Jwire. 'No Fighting in the Kitchen!' Chabad World Website - http://www.chabadworld.net/page.asp?pageID=%7BA77B8BC0-A8DC-4188-9464-BCE91621BE98%7D

Dingle, S. 'Volunteers provide food for the soul in community kitchen.' 7:30 Report, ABC. January, 2012. http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3410812.htm

YOUTUBE LINK: Contributor - Jelenismx. Published 8 Sept 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAes2z-SjvM

Education system fails the indigenous

Historically teachers seem to be in a habit of understanding under achievement as the 'aboriginal thing' -  Talking about race in the education system is a bit like talking about the elephant in the room, everyone can see it but nobody seems to talk  about it in depth.

The school setting is a cultural landscape, where meanings are created, in particular meanings of what it means to be white and what it means to be indigenous- through social constructs.
The dominant group constructs the knowledge.
The appeal of school is not very strong to indigenous students and therefore means poor attendance and poor retention rates due to many factors: a extremely large number of white teachers who are not encouraged to be self reflective, the curriculum itself is very 'white' with continuing narratives of peaceful white settlers- when the terrible treatment of the indigenous people is very fresh in their minds.
The location of schools - within very remote areas of Australia or very low Socio economic areas also serve as a discouraging factor.

The NSW education minister, as stated in the below article, declares that the school system is failing aboriginals and is treating them 'like rubbish'. He goes on to say that the remote schools have very little opportunity. after visiting remote schools, he said he had never seen a worse off school- the school had appalling conditions that would never be allowed in Sydney. A school that had 500 students enrolled, only 30-50 students would turn up on any given day. A culture of high achievement is no where to be seen.

I think that the government needs to move the funding out of private schools and move it into schools such as the one above. But more importantly the government needs to address problems around low retention rates- they need to look at the power relations at play. and promote the equality of condition, not just the equality of opportunity (they work together).
The negative connotations attached to indigenous education need to be examined and processes need to be put into place to reverse them. We have a long way to go






References:

• Vass, G.(2012). The radicalised educational landscape in Australia: listening to the whispering elephant. Race Ethnicity and education, 1-26
• http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/disgust-at-nsw-indigenous-schools-system/story-fn9hm1pm-1226727265463#

Reflection on current edu issue: GONSKI

http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/200-schools-worse-off-in-new-scheme-20131022-2vz9n.html

The Gonski initiative will mean a loss for over 200 schools (many who are low economic : according to the above article (October 23,2013) while many schools will receive extra funding through the needs based program, other schools will be receiving less then they previously did. for example Wiley park girls school will receive $50,000 less ( the maximum capped amount that a school could lose) - the loss of funding in particular school has occurred even though Gillard stated that no school would lose funding. Pollies are quick to jump at the flaws in the initiative, and that schools in low S.E.S areas should not be losing funding.
Taking away cash from needy schools who have previously benefited from the funding.

Gewirtz Dimensions of justice touch on what is going on with the governments initiatives. The government is trying to develop the 'soup of justice' but is failing in my opinion. The government is trying to even out the equality of opportunity by providing funding to the schools that are in need, but at the same time are not addressing the discrimination that helped the disadvantage to occur in the first place. They are just throwing money at the problem without addressing the procedures and processes that are in place that allow the disadvantage to continue. Equality of condition such as Privilege, social capital,  wealth and power hierarchies seem to be ignored.

Distributional justice is the aim of the Gonski plans, even though we can see holes in the distribution, the government is trying to provide those who are disadvantage with funds to help close the gap.
The relational justice is not looked at- that is the power relations within the system which defines how people treat each other.

I think that the Gonski plan is a good start at tackling the gap between school outcomes, but i also think that the government can do allot more to to prevent the disadvantage from occurring in the first place. More attention is needed to the relational justice: being the interconnections between individuals and groups and the systems that allow the interactions to be what they are.


Just a little comedy to lighten the mood. :)






References:

• http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/funding-cuts-for-poor-schools-were-worse-without-gonski-funds-20131026-2w8gi.html
• http://www.news.com.au/national/editorial-better-education-should-not-be-class-warfare/story-e6frfkp9-1226276353748
• Gewirtz, S. (1998). conceptualizing social justice in education: mapping the territory. journal of education policy, 13 (4), 469-484.

Topless activism

The recent events surrounding FEMEN protests, in particular that of  'Amina' in Tunisia, a small country in North Africa- went worldwide after she was thrown in a psych ward  and is receiving threats of stoning from her own government for posting feminist pictures on Facebook.



The writing on her chest says: 'My body is my own and not the source of anyone's honor' 
The story of Amina caused a huge uproar- many woman in middle eastern and North African countries showing their support by posting topless pictures with phrases such as "free Amina" written on them.
The support directly attacks the form of oppression that they are subject to- The misogynistic themes within Islam.

The idea of gender within society is very interesting to look at. in the above example, the woman are expressing the need for freedom through a specific type of protest. the woman are protesting against a uneven social justice. a refered to by Gewirtz, when looking at issues of complex social justice, we must map the territory.
He outlines two dimensions of justice:
The first being Distributive justice- Equality of opportunity, outcome and condition.
The second being Relational justice- Justice and mutuality and Justice as recognition.

Justice as a freedom from oppression- The five faces of oppression being: Exploitation, Marginalisation, powerlessness, cultural imperialism and violence. The Story of Amina can be understood through the five faces of oppression. Amina was opposing the oppressive nature of her religious government who is now threatening her with violence.




References:

• http://tundratabloids.com/2013/03/tunisian-feminist-thrown-into-psych-asylum-for-nude-fb-pictures.html
• Gewirtz, S. (1998). Conceptualizing social justice in education: mapping the territory. journal of education policy, 13 (4), 469-484.
• http://jadehawks.wordpress.com/2013/04/18/intersectional-look-at-some-of-the-free-amina-protests/

Australia= One of most SEXIST employment markets

Is Australia is a contemporary and modern society?
According to the latest data of the Australian bureau of statistics, woman are early on average 17% less than men.
A significant 'gap' of about $260. we are familiar with the notion of gaps, gaps in the education system, gaps between indigenous students and non indigenous students etc.

On a international scale Australia sits at number 20, (as you can see in the below figures), the Australian gender pay gap is significantly lower than that of countries such as United kingdom, Hungary and Cyprus. BUT our gender pay gap is significantly higher than countries that Poland, Italy and Slovenia.

Gender pay gap worldwide

Rank      Country                Pay gap

1              Slovenia               0.90%

2              Poland                 4.50%

3              Italy                     5.30%

4              Malta                   7.20%

5              New Zealand       7.80%

6              Luxembourg         8.70%

7              Romania               8.80%

8              Belgium              10.20%

9              Portugal             12.80%

10           Bulgaria                   13%

11           Iceland               13.50%

12           Ireland                13.90%

13           Lithuania             14.60%

14           Sweden              15.40%

15           Latvia                 15.50%

16           France                15.60%

17           Norway              15.80%

18           Denmark                  16%

19           Spain                  16.20%

20           Australia              16.40%

21           Cyprus                16.80%

22           Hungary              17.60%

23           Netherlands        17.80%

24           Switzerland         19.10%

25           United Kingdom  19.50%

26           Slovakia              19.60%

27           Canada               19.70%

28           Finland                20.30%

29           Greece                     22%

30           Germany             22.30%

31           United States           23%

32           Austria                    24%

33           Czech Republic  25.50%

34           Estonia               27.70%

35           Japan                 28.30%

36           South Korea       38.90%

A report according to the Australian council of trade unions, Australia is one of the most sexist employment  markets of the world. Woman are continually under paid and receive less promotions compared to men.
Obviously this is alarming, The article puts the fault on outdated workplace culture. This is interesting, the old fashioned culture is still at play even though we believe we have moved past it through development and globalisation.
This workplace culture, even though people may not admit it, is still severely confirming the sexist nature of the workplace but also the sexist discourses that are present within society as a whole.
Micro-Aggressions at their best!
In jobs dominated by men, Men earn more than woman. In jobs dominated by woman, MEN, AGAIN earn more than woman? whats going on?
This type of micro-aggressions feed off processes of power relations, where gender is not a concrete notion, it is in a relationship with economic, political intersections. The way gender is defined varies throughout history.

References:

• http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/500688/20130822/sexism-gender-discrimination-pay-gap-australia-new.htm#.Um4FDvlmiSo
• 
  

Personal reflection

I am a first generation Australian, my parents  came from a relatively poor and underdeveloped village in Europe, They also brought with them the culture that they grew up with within that village ( a culture that they had extreme loyalty to, and a great allegiance to all people who shared that culture)- Anne phillips points out that this sense of national loyalty is a key aspect in culture. 

My parents are very proud of their culture, my first language was Macedonian, even though i was born in Australia. I remember struggling through kindergarten, staying back for 2-3 hours every day to learn English, i cried every night, my parents couldn't help me because they couldn't speak English very well at all, and only allowed me to socialise with other kids that shared the same background- due to my parents 'othering' of any other culture. 

The school I attended was a catholic private school with about 99% of students having Australian parents. Even after i learned  English i felt extremely excluded, i looked different and no matter how hard i tried to fit in, I never did.

As refered to as 'essentialism' by Arnot and Dillbough, my defining factor, my unchangeable quality was my background- my identity became fixed . After experiencing a form of micro-aggression through the first very important years of my schooling life, i eventually started believing all the discourses that my peers thought of me and lost any sort of confidence in myself. My parents at this time where occupied with work and couldn't see my confidence and self worth falling. I remember being extremely depressed and avoiding school as much as possible. 

This self doubt continued on to high school, i never believed that i could go to uni or become anything important. only recently, after applying for uni as a mature age student has my confidence grown, from being exposed to many different cultures and people with different life stories have i realized that my background does not define me, my own experiences and attitudes do, andthe culture that i am a part of is only a small fraction of me. 

i think that discourses of any kind will always exist, it is extremely dangerous though, when, the individual starts believing the negative labels that other people place on the culture, age, gender or whatever it may be, and it takes a very long time to disconnect yourself from these.

References:

• Arnot, M., & Dillabough, J. (1999). Feminist politics and democratic values in
  education. Curriculum Inquiry, 29(2), 159-189. doi: 10.2307/3185890