The State of Australian Education [offtopic from physics debate]

[SunnyB]

I honestly think that maths and science education in Australia is a total joke, the fact that linear equations isn't really taught till year 8 is bad, so, so  bad.

Year 9 at my school haha :/

[vox nihili]

Year 9 at my school haha :/

We started in year ten really...
First time we ever saw probability was year twelve, hell yeah.

[Eugenet17]

we started linears at year 9, but during year 10 we like spent a few months doing basic measurement (eg, area of rectangles etc) haa

[spectroscopy]

i feel like thats really bad
my previous school went bankrupt and we were doing linear in year 8

[lzxnl]

Proof that Australian maths sucks:

I was successfully able to teach myself the entire year 10 maths curriculum in year 5. In my spare time, in primary school, by myself.

Now come on. Any self-respecting maths curriculum should not be self-teachable by kids five years younger than the intended student age.

[Professor Polonsky]

Nope, what you just said does not establish anything. There are many considerations above how one particularly high-achieving kid found the curriculum.

[SunnyB]

Proof that Australian maths sucks:

I was successfully able to teach myself the entire year 10 maths curriculum in year 5. In my spare time, in primary school, by myself.

Now come on. Any self-respecting maths curriculum should not be self-teachable by kids five years younger than the intended student age.

Haha, dont disbelieving you, but doing that will mean you are some kind of master?

Ever tried Olympiad Mathmatics, maybe you could self teach your self before the comp?

[lzxnl]

Haha, dont disbelieving you, but doing that will mean you are some kind of master?

Ever tried Olympiad Mathmatics, maybe you could self teach your self before the comp?

The fact that I can't do Olympiad Maths disproves the notion that I'm some high-achieving kid.
I just took the time in primary school when everyone else was off playing with their friends.

[vox nihili]

I just took the time in primary school when everyone else was off playing with their friends.

The inference there isn't nice. Play is really important for primary school kids.

[SocialRhubarb]

The fact that I can't do Olympiad Maths disproves the notion that I'm some high-achieving kid.

I think most of us here have seen enough to say that we can comfortably conclude you fall within the category of 'high-achieving kid'.

You may not think so since you purportedly "can't do Olympiad Maths" or can't compare with the absolute top students at the absolute top level, but I'm pretty sure you're still probably so far off the bell curve you'd need a second sheet of graph paper.

[psyxwar]

The fact that I can't do Olympiad Maths disproves the notion that I'm some high-achieving kid.
I just took the time in primary school when everyone else was off playing with their friends.

shit I should go back to primary school, looks like I was never qualified to graduate

[Professor Polonsky]

The fact that I can't do Olympiad Maths disproves the notion that I'm some high-achieving kid.
I just took the time in primary school when everyone else was off playing with their friends.

You're absolutely right. In fact, you're actually about the state median in terms of mathematics. Everyone should find it as easy as you did, the problem is simply that they don't try hard enough.

And in other news, pigs were spotted flying over the Melbourne sky and Rupert Murdoch declared his love for the Greens.

[ninwa]

ahhh the AN Humblebrag™

mod edit: split off topic posts

[brenden]

What's a linear equation? #fullserious #yolo #mayaswellhaveskippedyear8through11

Honestly though, from 2002 to the start of 2011 (when the work my VP put in came through and things got a bit better) my school was like... "Lol". I think a big problem is shit teachers. And I'm not talking "oh she's grumpy and isn't passionate" - I'm talking "wow, who the fuck gave YOU a WWCC?", with some teachers being worse than me at the coursework by the time I hit Year 7. There's just no standards for teachers. I don't know how you'd fix the problem though.
School funding would do a bit I suppose. Working fans and smart boards are nice to have and all but they don't mean shit at the end of the day.
A bigger problem is the students. I mean, shitty teachers were one thing, but the students were another thing altogether. Of no fault of their own (I'm talking primary school) - I grew up in a developing area so pretty cheap housing; the problems following the lack of money and everything associated with that followed them through school. By the time high-school came around it was probs too late lol. That said, there were some (very rare) amazing people/teachers that could make the whole class listen and learn. (Very rare)
And I do think there is a lack of progression in the curriculum. The fact that I passed Year 8/9/10/11 shows something horrible. Regardless of how smart a kid is, they shouldn't be able to skip 30-50% of their classes and still score well on tests/exams.
Parents should also play more of a role. The way some people read quite slowly and with a lack of confidence I think just shows they were never read to and were pretty much just dumped on the system, where it would be impossible to generate excellent reading/writing skills etc.
So (in order of me thinking of them, not in order of importance):

1. Shit teachers
2. Shit funding
3. Shit curriculum
4. More involved parents.
5. Shit students who are a product of their environment, that in reality have much bigger worries than going to school learning things.

[nokainvincible]

I think it's easy for a lot of us to look down on the struggling masses and say that "If I can do it, why can't they?".
Some people are good at Maths and Science, some people are excel at English while others are better at trade craft. I think the curriculum takes this into account. It IS based on the lowest common denominator after all.

You can't teach linear equations in Year 5 if only 1 out of 25 people have the capability and/or the willingness to learn it. I thin the primary level curriculum emphasises   "kids will be kids" mentality where the focus is less on the accumulation of knowledge and more on the wonder of learning.

It's sad to see that the mentality of education where we are no longer learning because we are interested in what we do. Education has become something of a hurdle to jump through in the goal to be rich. Just look at South Korea, I'm not expert but I heard people there attend school for 8-10 hours a day. I don't know about any of you, but I'd rather live here than over there.