Category: Education
Democracy has been described as a ‘fragile flower’. Indeed it is, and it's something we take for granted because our relatively young society has not yet experienced its collapse.
The plan by the Maori tribal elite to gain a privileged status and co-governance rights over New Zealand is further advanced than most people realise. The basis for seeking such privileges is racial – it depends on the adoption of ‘biculturalism’ by Government institutions as a de-facto ‘official’ policy.
Professional people have a ‘public’ life as working professionals, and a ‘private’ life as ordinary citizens. This may occasionally lead to inner conflict. The nurse who does not believe in vaccination may find herself pumping vaccines into thousands of children as part of a mass vaccination campaign...
Who could have imagined, that a National Government would embed ‘cultural competency’ training into our education system. But that's exactly what they intend to do on the 1st of July, when the Maori Party’s separatist indoctrination becomes law.
If we were in any doubt that the education system is a powerful force in national politics and cultural values, the Education Council is obliterating that. New Zealanders have repeatedly expressed no appetite for constitutional reform, co-governance, compulsory te reo or a new flag, so now the activists are taking matters into their own hands to entrench their power over our minds.
Listening to the news each day, you could be excused for thinking that the country is shrouded in despair and on the brink of crisis – for, with an election looming, that’s how many in the media are depicting New Zealand. However, before deciding to emigrate, let’s look at how others from outside the country portray us.
The performance of New Zealand school children in international tests has been falling over the years. Meanwhile, countries like Singapore have gone from strength to strength.
The key question asked by many educators and policy makers alike is, how did students in Singapore managed to perform well in both the PISA and TIMSS? What are some possible success factors? To excel in these internationally benchmarked assessments, students have to demonstrate knowledge and additionally, they have to demonstrate the ability to apply their knowledge well to solve real-life problems. How did this happen?
The changes currently being undertaken by the Government in the education sector have been described as the biggest shake-up since Tomorrow's Schools set-up school boards in 1989. The driving motivation behind the reforms is a desire by National to improve the quality of educational outcomes - especially for students at risk of failure - and to provide a greater choice of schooling for parents.
I recently read the biography Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. It was an excellent portrait of one of the 20th century’s most creative entrepreneurs. But I was also surprised to find some interesting insights into the need to reform America’s education system, both from stories of Steve Jobs’ formative years and in the opinions he expressed.
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