Comments on: Forrest Gump’s Principal could be NZ’s Minister of Education

By: Kelvin Davis

Kelvin Davis — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 22:28:21 +0000

Sonny
I’ve no problems in investing more in excellent teachers.

To be honest I’d prefer sublime teachers to simply excellent teachers. We should invest in excellent teachers so that they become sublime teachers.

Those teachers who aren’t excellent may in fact be very good, but with a bit of an investment in professional learning they may well become excellent.

We need to differentiate between the teachers who need a bit of help and those who are incompetent. My guess is there are very few truly incompetent teachers, but those who are, do need to be identified and assisted to find another career.

By: Sonny Blount

Sonny Blount — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 20:35:27 +0000

Fair enough Trevor

By: Trevor Mallard

Trevor Mallard — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 19:20:20 +0000

Close call but not as abusive as comments ruled out. And her inability to follow basic written instructions and problems reading answers in Parliament get it into the fair comment window.

By: Sonny Blount

Sonny Blount — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:48:45 +0000

“like Tolley. I would be surprised if she met the National standards that she loves so dearly….”

This comment is personal, will it receive the same treatment as others here?

By: Sonny Blount

Sonny Blount — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:47:53 +0000

“Identify those teachers who aren’t excellent and invest in them to become excellent.”

Not very smart. How about ‘Identify those teachers who ARE excellent and invest in them’, let those who are not excellent find their incentives in the trade that they are excellent at.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 07:19:04 +0000

Merry Christmas.
I’m off to midnight Mass.

By: n0exit

n0exit — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 06:21:07 +0000

Michael, I love it when people say that Labour had 9 years because it shows that they have no substance to back up their point of view. Yes, Labour was in power for 9 years but the question is what is National doing to imporve the system. It’s not, what did Labour not do to improve the system. Instead of living in the past why don’t you hold the National party accountable for it’s (in)actions. The standards arn’t going to improve the way kids are taught and it’s not going to improve acheivement. So they’re a waste of time. At least Labour had a competent minister of Education unlike like Tolley. I would be surprised if she met the National standards that she loves so dearly….

By: Kelvin Davis

Kelvin Davis — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 06:10:06 +0000

No Michael, this isn’t about unions. This is about raising student achievement as quickly and as far as possible. We will continue to see poor educational achievement while people continue to debate the wrong issues. What the country needs to remain focused on is the answer to the question, “What will raise achievement as quickly and as far as possible?” The answer to that question is to improve teaching. ‘National Standards’and ‘plain english reports’ to parents will never ever teach one single child a single thing. Excellent teachers make kids learn. Identify those teachers who aren’t excellent and invest in them to become excellent. The $30m spent on developing National Standards would have gone a long way in providing comprehensive professional learning for teachers who need it.

By: Michael

Michael — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:51:26 +0000

“Those schools who haven’t set their standards high enough need to be identified and assisted to set their up.”

Apparently Labour was the government for nine years.

On a less smart-alec note, we all know this is about teachers’ (more accurately the teachers’ unions) unwillingness to be assessed. Let’s have that discussion…

By: Kelvin Davis

Kelvin Davis — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 04:43:44 +0000

@ Hilary – no we’ve moved on from IQ type stuff thanks to much great research on what makes a difference. National Standards don’t actually feature in any research. There may be parts of National Standards that do feature in research, but who would know? What exactly is left of the National Standards when you scrape away the rhetoric and what most teachers/ schools are already doing?