Week+7

I found this week's lecture very interesting, especially as it touched on issues that seem to be relevant world-wide.

Australian schools with their recent and ongoing history of multi-culturalism and integration face a range of interesting challenges. I was amazed to hear that for some students its as simple as knowing and pronouncing their names correctly.

I also like the idea that, as teachers, we should celebrate differences and embrace ambiguity. Although, I feel that with the introduction of exam result tables, differences will diminish as schools seek to improve their standing. This sort of thing has been occurring in the UK for a while and there has been a backlash going on since 2002 at least: [] To me, exam results and league tables harks back to the Victorian model of education where schools are almost treated as assembly lines for workers (see my post/rant at Week 5!).

The lecture seemed to cover things that should be intrinsic to every good teacher's tool kit, particularly the fact that you need knowledge of your student's individual skills etc to adequately teach them.

One question that the lecture raised for me was that: Will we be secure enough in our classrooms, or ourselves, to engage our students in debate about our teaching?

Simon