Category Archives: Newspaper Articles

Links to newspaper articles about international educational issues.

Japan

Posted on June 20, 2012 by | Leave a comment
Distributing Tablets in All Schools in Osaka (in Japanese)
Asai Shinbun (1 June 2012)

The Osaka City School Board announced a plan to buy tablets for all elementary and middle schools in the city by 2015.  The plan also involves connecting individual tablets with an interactive whiteboard in classrooms.  It will cost more than $10 million to invest in the tablets and to develop the interactive classroom system.

To see an example of how one Japanese classroom utilized iPads during a lesson, see the following video:

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Austria

Posted on June 20, 2012 by | Leave a comment
Compulsory reading for elementary school pupils (in German)
Kleine Zeitung (13 June 2012)

International studies like OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the IEA’s Progress in International Reading Study (PIRLS) discovered reading difficulties for Austria pupils. (For example, Austria’s mean PISA reading score for 2009 was 402, which is in the 31 percentile, compared to the OECD mean of 489.  Search the PISA results here.)   Because of these international test results, the government is now suggesting that a compulsory “reading” course be implemented in primary schools.  As a part of this reform, “literature” would then be a separate subject area, although the reading of literary texts would be embedded in the curriculum to encourage the love of reading.

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Austria

Posted on June 19, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Kindergarten teachers protest against bad working conditions (in German)
Der Standard (11 June 2012)

On Monday, June 11, kindergarten teachers demonstrated against their working conditions. They pointed to the problem of different closing times within federal states, large teacher-student ratios, inadequate salaries, small classrooms, and too little time for preparation, extracurricular work and time with parents as policies that need to be addressed.  Of particular note was how large class sizes create a problem in inclusive teaching settings.  Moreover, Maria Zeilinger, a member of the occupation group for early childhood educators, says that individual learning cannot be provided under current group conditions.

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New Zealand

Posted on June 18, 2012 by | Leave a comment
PM: Minister of Education drove class size backdown
New Zealand Herald (11 June 2012)

After pushing an unpopular plan in face of educator opposition and refusing to meet with key stakeholders, the government has decided to totally reverse its class size increase policy.  Prime Minister John Key “admitted today that communicating information about the policy to change student-teacher ratios and how the Government would mitigate the impact on the worst-affected schools had not been handled well.”  Sensing that the debate with parents was being lost (one poll revealed that 79 percent of New Zealanders were against increasing class sizes), Key said, “What it risked doing was causing months of industrial action, huge amounts of anxiety from parents and children and you’ve got to ask yourself is if that’s really worth it and I think the conclusion we drew was no.”

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England

Posted on June 18, 2012 by | Leave a comment
Teachers could have pay frozen after poor school inspection reports
Vasagar, J.  The Guardian (30 May 2012)

The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) has announced that teachers could have their salary frozen after school inspections under new measures aimed at linking teacher salary to classroom performance.  According to Sir Michael Wilshaw, the chief inspector of schools, Ofsted will “consider whether there is a correlation between the quality of teaching and salary progression.”  Inspectors will look at anonymized data to ensure that school heads are using performance pay to increase standards.  Some government officials have called for such reforms to discourage weak teachers from staying in the field.  But, Christine Blower, the general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, believes the measure would be detrimental to the teaching profession: “Performance management is supposed to be about encouraging teachers in developing their skills, not about judging pay or comparing pupil results…Teaching is a collegiate profession and this is a divisive, unrealistic and simplistic way of looking at how schools work.”

The following video highlights the methods and keys behind the new Ofsted observation of teachers to determine quality and pay:

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Canada

Posted on June 13, 2012 by | Leave a comment
Middle schools too disruptive for weak students, studies show
Brown, L.  The Star (10 June 2012)

The Toronto District School Board has decided to eliminate middle (sixth through eighth grade) and junior high (seventh and eighth grade) schools.  The decision is based on findings about the academic achievement of students who are educated in a school housing kindergarten through eighth grade:  “We know students who write the (province-wide) Grade 6 test at the same school they attended for Grade 3 do better than those who are now at a different school — especially in high-poverty areas,” said superintendent of research Roula Anastasakos.  (A recent report from the C.D. Howe Institute has also concluded that students who move to a middle or junior high school “underperform compared to similar students at other elementary schools.”)  Yet, some are concerned about the impact that eliminating middle and junior high schools has on weaker students.  “We’re finding huge negative effects in math and reading for students at the bottom half of the achievement ladder who go to middle schools,” warned University of Toronto economics professor Elizabeth Dhuey.  “We’re not sure why, but the worry is that at age 13 and 14 — often not a great time of life — to add a structural break at school can be bad for students who struggle.”

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England

Posted on June 11, 2012 by | 1 comment
On the money?
Vaughan, R.  Times Education (5 June 2012)

“Education providers have thrown their weight behind Michael Gove after he announced that free schools could be run for profit if the Conservatives secure a second term in office.”  Gove believes that schools could “move toward” a for-profit model.  While the for-profit model is unlikely under the current coalition, Gove said the quality of education would be “augmented by extending the range of people involved in its provisions.”  Although teacher unions have expressed outrage at Gove’s proposal, Sir David Bell, who had been education’s highest-ranking civil servant until this year, now supports the measure.  Bell “said that the profit motive should be trialled in some of the country’s most underperforming schools before it was rolled out elsewhere.”  Others, like Trevor Averre-Beeson, founder of Lilac Sky Schools, an approved academy sponsor that runs the management of two schools for profit and is to take over two more from September, support Gove’s proposal.  “It seems completely appropriate that if we do something successful, such as raising pupil attainment or getting a school out of special measures, we would get a bonus on a performance-related contract,” Mr. Averre-Beeson said. “And if we don’t, we would get a fine. I think it makes the running of schools more accountable.”  Supporting the measure for the profit motive in schools, a Times Education Supplement opinion piece reads, “So come on, Mr Gove. Make everyone happy. Stop being coy. Allow for-profit providers to run schools. You know it makes cents.”

Gove’s thoughts on a wide-range of educational issues, especially issues related to school privatization and accountability, are addressed in the following video from an oral evidence session for the UK’s Education Committee:

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Germany

Posted on June 6, 2012 by | Leave a comment
New teacher salaries (in German)
Der Standard (25 May 2012)

Reform of the teacher service law will increase base salaries and provide extra pay to teachers who help with other school-related activities. The regular workload of a teacher will be increased from 20 to 22 teaching hours per week to 24 hours/week. Teachers in academic lower secondary schools will start with a higher salary (€ 2,420/month) than before (€2,223/month), but the salary will increase slower than it has to this point. Apart from extra pay for subjects like English, teachers can receive extra payment (from €90 to 450) if they take on additional tasks (e.g., student advisor, administrative tasks supporting the principal). Historically, teachers have not been compensated for this kind of work. However, it is still unclear how much money will be available for each school.  Although a 2008 study by the Economic Policy Institute found that Germany ranks second in the world for starting teacher salary as percentage of per capita GDP, improving compensation for teachers has been an important reform effort, as this article highlights about teacher salaries in Berlin.

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New Zealand

Posted on May 23, 2012 by | Leave a comment
Editorial: Size matters, but excellence even more so
New Zealand Herald (17 May 2012)

While it acknowledges that class size matters, the New Zealand government has adopted the position that the quality of teaching is more important.  Leveraging on the research findings of the Grattan Institute report that raising teacher quality is more effective than reducing class size, New Zealand would allow class size to increase so as to save money to boost teacher quality.  All trainee teachers will be expected to possess a post-graduate qualification, and teachers will be assessed under a new performance management system.  Performance-based pay might be a possibility under the new measures to be adopted.  Despite the government’s stance, parents and unions remain worried about the proposal.

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India

Posted on May 20, 2012 by | Leave a comment
‘No detention’ policy works
Thomas, L.  The Hindu (18 May 2012)

The “no detention policy” in the Right to Education (RTE) Act “is one clause [of the act] that a majority of the teachers resent. It states that until class VIII, no child can be held back or expelled from school.”  Teachers believe the policy creates a “lackadaisical” mindset in their students, for the students have developed, in the teachers’ opinion, an attitude of “why study when there’s no fear of failing?”  RTE was enacted because of India’s extraordinarily high drop-out right, but “blindly following the ‘no detention policy’ will not help. Schools must offer bridge course for slow learners, but there is little focus on that. Classes with large student strength also make it difficult for teachers to offer extra care and attention to slow learners.”  Still, teachers find the “no detention” policy problematic, as some students are having difficulties passing examinations.

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