Analyze this!

[brendan]

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/02/1078191318129.html?from=storyrhs

Why my teachers are right to strike

As a year 12 student, I am definitely the best person to speak out for my teachers and all the teachers who dedicate their time and effort to their students. It seems to me that not many people are aware of the amount of work teachers are putting in.

I know for a fact that all of my teachers are more than happy to work with me before or after school to clear up any uncertainties. I know for a fact that they are patient enough to explain the same concept over and over again until I understand. I know for a fact that my teachers would do their best to encourage me when work gets tough. I know for a fact that most of them work overtime in order to provide the best learning experience for us. And I also know for a fact that those who make irresponsible criticisms towards teachers are ignorant individuals who should bow their heads in shame.

Teachers carry out many more duties than those in their job descriptions. To most students, teachers are also friends who encourage us endlessly; confidants who we can place our trust in; mentors who lead us through the dark; and most of all, individuals to whom we show the greatest respect.

Teachers deserve much more than they are getting now. Even though many of our year 12 classes will be disrupted by today's strike, it is still worthy for them to stand up against the Government, in order to gain fairness and equality.
Lili Liu,
Hughesdale

[Collin Li]

Correction: some teachers.

The teachers unions free-ride on the heroes in the education sector, to bump up the wage for underperforming teachers. They're underperforming because why bother trying hard when you've got a massive union to protect your job? The great and dedicated teachers deserve more pay, and the worse teachers do not have any "right" to be paid a similar wage.

Good teachers are moving to private schools, or private institutions like Neap and TSFX to earn more money now.

[Eriny]

Heh, there are many persusive techniques in that essay. Repetition, expert opinion, generalisation, atack on opponents, perhaps some exaggeration, appeal to justice. Probably more...

I agree that good teachers in the public sector need to be paid more, although most teachers I've come across are good teachers (I've had 2 teachers in 6 years of high school that I really didn't like - although I had more poor teachers in Primary school than that). I don't really agree with performance based pay, because it's difficult to gauge how good a teacher is just by the performance of their students. If you're teaching a bright group they'll get good test results and improve over the year. If you're teaching a weaker group well, some will improve, but some will give up entirely, overall the class won't perform as well and there's a limit to how much a teacher can actually do to change that situation. And the result would be a flight of good teachers out of the poorer performing schools that need them. I think that there is probably room for more decentralisation though, but the union is still pretty important for attracting attention to the cause and bargaining with the government.