THE POLITICISING OF EDUCATION.

A Review of comments on the state of education in Australia from several sources by David Hughes-Jones

Sept 2006.

A consensus seems to be emerging among the most thoughtful people who care about education in this country. The most recent manifestation of this concern has resulted in the Federal Government holding an Australian History Summitt in Canberra Aug 17th 2006, under the title "Overview of the Teaching of Australian History in Schools".

The findings of the summitt are that "a gradual politicisation of our schools and universities has occurred over the past 30-40 years when Governments of both parties meddled incessantly, not merely with the institutional or financial structures, but with the intellectual content of what is taught."

"Education Departments in all States have been more concerned with social engineering than the transmission of knowledge to the young. Meritocracy has given way to mediocrity. Principals and teachers who had reservations about the changes from more traditional methods and curriculum have often been reluctant to voice their views because of peer pressure and the effect on their careers."

If one had any doubt about the previous statement and the condition of Education in this country one has only to read the newspapers which in more recent times have featured the problems facing graduates from our Universities when confronting the realities of the REAL world trying to obtain employment. When many graduates require to have further tuition in how to write intelligibly or even how to speak properly, and require an electronic calculator to perform simple arithmetic one knows that there are serious deficits in their preparation for life in a modern world. The Education establishment and Teachers Unions of course deny that there is anything "wrong" and that the education curriculum of the young in Australia is most suitable for life in the 21st century and the teaching methods superior to the traditional methods of teaching. Evidently many parents and professionaly qualified people do not agree.

D. L. of Clifton Hill, Vic in a response to an article by Judith Wheeldon ("Why words fail us", Opinion, 29/8) that appeared in the Australian,Thursday, August 31, 2006 wrote...

"It’s high time that federal and state governments faced up to the dramatically declining quality of schoolteachers.

This process started in the late 1960s and 70s, when politicians and education bureaucrats allowed power in state schools to shift from principals and senior teachers to pupils, their parents and education unions.

Today, in state schools, children commonly spit on teachers, swear at them and threaten to damage their cars with impunity. And if a teacher attempts to physically stop a child bullying another the parents will be in the principal’s office the next day threatening to charge the teacher with assault. On top of all that, education unions are so powerful that not even grossly incompetent teachers can be sacked. What teacher of any quality would want to work in that environment? In the 1970s, I considered becoming a teacher but was so appalled by the conditions in state schools even then that I became a university lecturer instead. Over the next two decades, I taught many students who were intending to become teachers and watched their academic quality steadily decline. "

Or the response by A. L.  Ringwood, Vic to the same article

"I read the article and was astounded that you had the courage to print it in this politically-correct age. It’s the truth, as I see it, and has been a source of grief to me over two generations.

When my youngest two daughters were at school, they were not taught multiplication tables, so my wife and I taught them at home, which brought down the fury of the teaching establishment on our heads. We also corrected their grammar and spelling, which was deemed likely to crush their spirits and curb their intellectual development. It hasn’t.

There is much I don’t care for about John Howard, but his stand on education is long overdue and desperately needed. As for The Australian, keep your nerve and publish more articles like Wheeldon’s. "

And from P. A. F. Toowoomba, Qld gave his thoughts... ...

"Bravo, Judith Wheeldon. As a retired mathematics teacher, I confirm and support everything you have said. I can only hope that those in authority, from the Prime Minister down, will read, take note of and implement all of your suggestions, especially as they relate to the training of our teachers."

C. S.  Beaudesert, Qld Friday, September 29, 2006 wrote..

"THERE has been some very heated discussion in these pages, and elsewhere, on the state of our education system. I have been mystified as to why those who so ardently support the watering down of English, science, maths, history and now geography curriculums cannot see what they are doing.

I have even wondered whether there is some conspiracy to destroy our culture via a “dumbing down of education. I have considered this notion as possible but improbable and have searched for another explanation.

I contend that those who so vigorously support the various outcomes-based curricula do not know any better. They themselves are products of a politically correct education system and are, effectively, uneducated. They have been politicised, propagandised and brainwashed into believing that they are superior thinkers via an education system with no standards and no benchmarks other than a suite of politically correct positions. There is no real intellectual scepticism, only scepticism of everything that doesn’t fit the preconceived position.

There are now a very large number of graduates who are convinced that they know the truth about a large number of subjects. Sadly, they have been taught what to think, not how to think. This generation is now teaching the next generation the same error and are absolutely convinced of its merit. They have no idea what they are doing. We are about to lose our understanding of what constitutes genuine education and have it replaced with a psuedo-intellectual cultism based upon myths and colourful opinions. "

H. S. of Geebung, Qld was even more direct, she wrote...

"ENOUGH! Our children have been short-changed though they wouldn’t know by how much, unless they used a calculator in just about every aspect of their education.

When I was a secondary school student in the mid-to-late 1960s, committed and dedicated teachers gave me a love for literature, history and geography that still fuels my interest. I’ve no doubt there are many equally committed and dedicated teachers today. How are they able to effectively practise their craft with what they are given to teach?

The times are a changin’, but surely it is time for a good, hard, long look at what we offer our future adults and give them a solid foundation for life-long learning."

A. M. of Neutral Bay, NSW commented,....

SO the Victorian New Wave geography textbooks produced by the Victorian Geography Teachers Association consider members of the ADF to be harm workers” ("Geography has lost perspective”, Opinion 28/9). George Orwell was right when he said that “men can only be highly civilised while other men, inevitably less civilised, are there to guard and feed them.

So far History has been the main interest of the Federal Government but already there are signs that attention is now being given to all the other subjects that formed the curriculum of students before 1945.There is a general feeling that a lot of the popular ideological education theories that have been imposed on the schools and universities since 1945 need to be reversed or at least modified.

To reverse the politicisation of education is a challenging and formidable task but one that will provide the Political party that finds a way of restoring power to parents and head teachers with the support and gratitude of the Nation.