Self-fulfilling prophecy
Here’s an interesting report:
A large majority (83 per cent) [of more than 1300 parents of school aged children surveyed] said they were satisfied or very satisfied with their child’s school. But in a survey of a further 1500 people who were not parents of school-aged children, less than half believed that standards of primary and secondary education were of a good quality.
In other words, Those who actually have contact with Australian schools think they’re doing a good job.
Meanwhile, those people who rely on second-hand information about our schools — such as the Prime Minister’s “some people in the community think our schools are crap” sledging — think they’re crap.
From someone “who actually have contact with Australian[public] schools” to someone “who rely on second-hand information about our schools” thanks Robert. I will sleep better that every thing is just grate.
Oh, yeah…my child is getting a terrible education. What can ya do, eh?
Leaving aside the question of their methodology, which might be [only might be, NOT is] relevant, I’d suggest that:
1] Parents have a need to tell themselves they’re doing the right thing by their children, which affects how they respond.
2] Teachers who are parents [and better able to know what's happening in State Schools] have been showing an increasing desire to remove their own children, unless, of course, they are able to have them placed in a particular State school/class they deem acceptable.
3] A proportion of the “satisfied” parents would feel quite different if their own child was in one of the many “normal” schools or classes they’ve been fortunate enough to be able to avoid.
So private schools are better than public schools. Does this mean public schools are particularly bad? Or that private schools are particularly good?
If you can afford above-average education for your kids (either through being rich, or being Catholic (heh)), then why not take it? Ideology? “I’m a good lefty teacher, therefore I refuse to succumb to the capitalist bastards at the private schools. Unless public schools really, really, suck.” Please.
In my experience, which is limited to public schools, many, if not most, parents of children attending public schools, take little interest in thier children’s education. Such results do not surprise me.
Nice one, Whiplash. Those ignorant public school parents don’t care about their children, and that’s the only possible reason they could be happy with the schools.
Don’t go all hysterical there, RC. In my experience, in the public schools at which I have taught, parents do not take much interest in their children’s education because they do not place much value on education. Parent nights have really low turnouts as a rule and very few parents respond to requests for parent interview. (I should qualify this by making it clear that due to my durability, unflappability and can-do attitude I tend to receive a large number of lower ability and problem behaviour classes. So, my experience may be atypical but I don’t think so.)
On the other side, do you find that the more conscientious students in public schools tend to be backed by parents who do show an interest?
(I guess in private schools, parents are effectively paying someone else to make up for their parental neglect.)
Good one Graham! Parents who send their kids to private schools do so to make up for their own bad parenting!
You should send that one in to green left weekly. They love the smell of class warfare in the morning.
It is the parents of kids who do the right thing that consistently show an interest in what’s going on at school. These are the parents I’m happy to see but don’t need to see.
So what your saying is, the bad kids have parents who don’t care, and the good kids have parents who do care. What does that prove about standards in our public schools? Jack shit. In fact, it suggests that parents, not schools, are the real problem.
It isn’t possible to reduce this to a discussion of “bad kids” and “good kids”. Most of the kids I’ve taught over the last 15+ years have been pretty good kids. Unfortunately, too many of my students have been – your words, not mine – “bad kids”.
Here’s my diagnosis. Many kids are allowed far too much time, without appropriate supervision, in which to interact with their peers. Some of these kids repeatedly make bad choices without having to face meaningful consequences. Over time these kids learn they can do damn near anything they want and no-one is going to do anything – nothing significant anyway – about it.
Public schools certainly play their part in this scenario. For example, lets take the example of a year 9 boy with anger management issues. He has transferred to a public school after a violent incident caused him to be expelled from a private school. He is a bright boy but, despite my best efforts, puts very little effort into his school work. One day in class, in response to taunts from a classmate, he picks up a chair, raises it over his head, and despite my protests, attempts to strike the classmate, just missing. He receives a talking-to from the person with relevant authority. What message is received by this boy and his classmates?
The bottom line is this: I can’t say for certain what standards of behaviour are applied in private schools but I can say for certain that, in my experience, kids in public schools are allowed to get away with far too much.
Yobbo, you, like Timbo, need get your facetiousness filter fixed.
In NSW. whereas teachers from BOTH government and non-govrnment schools routinely sent their own children to government high schools, there has been an increasing tendency for both to opt for the non-government sector.
Non-teacher parents are making similar decisions. This is an especially embarrassing trend for the Teachers’ Federation and the Parent’s Grand Poobahs, who often seemed more concerned with maintaining myths than taking the incredibly difficult step of acknowledging the REAL problems in State schools.
Mudslinging merely helps those with a vested interest in continuing to cover up the damge done by their previous failed policies.
There are examples of good and bad situations in ALL education systems. But parents who believe their children won’t be fortunate enough to be in one of the “safe oases” which still exist within the government systems, increasingly decide to try to move them to schools in which they seem to have a better chance.
speaking of getting away with too much;
the majority of violence at my school was committed by Christian Brothers (include sexual violence too).
meanwhile, my sister suffered at the hands of Dominican Nuns (their’s was more of a mental game, apparently).
hmm, saved my parents the trauma of having to thump us themselves, i guess.
State Schools are NOW more even handed, Nick. The only ones not involved in violence are the teachers, although I wouldn’t want you to think they weren’t the recipients of violence.
Public Schools Are Just Peachey
Robert Corr quotes an item from the…