Comments on A Very Nearly Tea: The Efficacy of our Education System

Thank you for insight, Catez! Actually, the only ...

2006-06-10T09:41:24.986-07:00

Thank you for insight, Catez! Actually, the only reason I had shared the article in the first place was because of the end. The bit about taking it into consideration sounded so much like our "bureacratese" and I found it rather humorous.

There are clearly larger issues, and I cannot pretend to have solutions for NZ...I do understand a little where you are coming from, as my husband is Australian. But he's adopted a pretty staunchly conservative, American individualism since being saved (and a little corruption from living with me!)

I just hold that parents have the educational authority over their own children. And if that were still the case in the US, I probably never would have chosen homeschooling. For me it isn't about school choice. It is about if the majority of parents in a district are against a specific thing being taught (such as the way sex ed is being approached as young as 6), the parents should have the authority to have the curriculum meet their desires for their own children.

There are public/social goals to education, but those goals should be set by parents, not the central government in my opinion.

Hi Dana,Just to pick up on your link to the NZ art...

2006-06-10T07:33:30.430-07:00

Hi Dana,
Just to pick up on your link to the NZ article - I think it's not a good comparison with the US.

The Maxim Institute are a small group and the basis of their research isn't clear i.e the data is missing in the article you linked. They don't represent a majority of parents here. Certainly people here have issue with certain policies regarding the public schools - more to do with NCEA and assesment than anything.

Saying parents should choose which children they should send their children to sounds great - but are you aware of what they are getting at in the NZ context? What are we going to do when every family in Auckland wants to send their children to Auck Grammar for instance? There are some practicalities. Parents can send their children to any school in their zone - which makes sense. The answer is not to have all scools open to whoever from wherever but to resource all schools equitably.

I saw your general point, and agree efficacy is important - but I wouldn't put my money on the Maxim report. I do think the situation is very different here in many ways - so I'm resistant to the idea of global comparisons without some real substance in terms of data. Maxim are a pressure group but there are bigger influences here.

Thanks! I enjoyed your site.

2006-06-09T06:57:06.333-07:00

Thanks! I enjoyed your site.

Right on.Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving y...

2006-06-08T04:37:40.096-07:00

Right on.

Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving your link. :-)