On Wed, 25 Jul 2012, Jason White wrote:
Also, how is the subject treated in countries that rank highest in standardized tests of primary and secondary school educational outcomes? From meory, Finnland, Singapore, Japan, Germany etc., are high on the list
Germany isn't, bad PISA results alarmed the public over the last years. Australia is always near the top of these lists, far ahead of Germany. But partly it may reflect on the tests: they do not test creativity. Germany has a quite good reputation for developing innovative products. It cannot be all bad over there.. In Germany education is matter of the states (there are 16), and the systems vary greatly, to a frustration of many. To get all 16 ministers of the states to agree on anything is a painfully slow process, and is ongoing. I have kids at school and see the introduced NAPLAN test as a step back. Just take this year: kids in year 4 and 6 are in mixed 3/4 and 5/6 classes. That isn't a bad thing and was done for a reason but.. There were NAPLAN tests for the year 3 and 5 kids. So, the school, to satisfy the public by achieving good results, focusses for the first term or so on the year 3 and 5 students - and my year 4 and 6 start to complain how boring it is. They would not learn anything. Sometimes I wonder whether that's the way of future: testing is everything, and creativity counts for nothing. Regards Peter