Latest news with #educationSystem
Forbes
3 days ago
- Politics
- Forbes
Teachers—Like Students—Deserve More Support And Better Rules Next Year
Removing needless red tape and ideology in the teaching profession will help schools retain good teachers—and ensure students thrive. It wasn't just students who were relieved to put away school supplies and close the door on the school year. Teachers also needed a break. A recent report shows that teachers are generally unhappy in their profession. Just one in five teachers reports being very satisfied in their jobs, and only an abysmal 16% of teachers say they would recommend their profession. It's little wonder that 86% of schools say they are having trouble hiring and a growing number of teachers are leaving their jobs. It's clear that our education system isn't just failing students—it's failing teachers, too. Public discussions about education reform tend to miss this reality. Instead, teachers are typically cast as part of the problem. Outrageous videos of purple-haired teachers voicing deeply political and inappropriate content on social media often reach millions of people, creating the false impression that teachers are generally unhinged and want to use their perch to push a personal agenda. But while a vocal minority of teachers are this way, the vast majority are just normal men and women trying to do their jobs. Teachers—unlike the unions and the social media influencers that unfortunately represent the public face of the profession—are ideologically diverse, and most entered the profession because they sincerely want to help students thrive. Fun, happy and excited teacher talking to students in school classroom with group of learning ... More children. Confident, friendly and cool woman asking diverse young kids education questions in study class Rather than being obstacles to reform, teachers are the sleeping giants of the education reform movement. They know what the classroom is like better than anyone else and have the potential to be forceful advocates for policy change. Anyone who cares about improving student outcomes should also champion policies that improve the environment for good teachers. Usually debates about improving the teaching profession center on dollars and benefits. Of course compensation matters to teachers, but other factors matter too, and reforms can be embraced that don't require more from taxpayers. In the report, Give Teachers A Break: Cutting Red Tape to Unleash the Potential of America's Great Teachers, Neeraja Deshpande—herself a former teacher—argues that teachers need to have more autonomy and authority. First, policy leaders need to roll back requirements that tie teachers' hands from disciplining students. Too often, one unruly, even violent, student is allowed to disrupt the learning environment for everyone else. That isn't fair to other students, and it's not fair to the teacher—for that matter, it's not even fair to the student who is acting out. Students, both the ones who behave and the ones who misbehave, need to know that there are real consequences for unacceptable behavior. It's a travesty that this kind of common sense has been sidelined in so many schools for so long. State and local leaders should also roll back any guidance that is meant to force teachers to dumb down curriculums or provide passing grades to students who are failing or inflate grades across the board. Again, a system that disguises a student's lack of skill attainment is not kind, but cruel. It allows school systems to fail at their jobs of preparing students to be functional, independent adults and allows children to fail without even realizing it due to the lack of standards. Teachers should be empowered to use grades to signal whether a student is making good progress on learning the assigned material or not. States and school leaders should also stop forcing teachers to act as therapists and end mandates for 'social and emotional learning' (SEL) and other curricula that elevate feelings over learning. Teachers cannot be expected to be counselors, and the schools have other officials to deal with students who are experiencing problems. Bringing pseudo-therapy into the classroom invites students to dwell on their emotional issues rather than use classroom time constructively and adds a needless, heavy burden on teachers who already have enough on their plates. Policy leaders should also explore ways to cut red tape around teacher licensing to make it easier for highly qualified leaders to enter and stay in the teaching profession. There are too many industry leaders who are being told that entering classrooms require years of additional study. That's a mistake. Summer is a perfect time for a reset. Across the country, policy leaders are thinking about how we can make real progress to provide students with a better learning environment next year. They should also prioritize identifying reforms that will encourage great teachers to thrive—and stay. A group of happy teenagers run during the last day of school
National Post
6 days ago
- National Post
Chris Selley: We aren't slaves to AI, unless we want to be
Article content Immediate disbarment seems much more appropriate to me for any lawyer caught faking precedent — AI-generated or otherwise — but ChatGPT tells me that's unreasonable. Someday, though, presumably, this is going to lead to a truly disastrous outcome. That goes for every profession, not just the law. Article content I have a suspicion — or maybe it's more of a hope — that in 25 years we'll look back on the AI craze and chuckle at our own gullibility. It's not that it's useless; Google's AI-generated search results are a hell of a lot more useful than its actual search engine, if only because Google seems intent on making its actual search engine non-functional. AI can provide interesting information and answers — but then, and this is critical, you have to actually check that they're accurate. Article content That's assuming, of course, that we still know how to think for ourselves in 25 years. The stories you hear out of the education world about students relying on AI for their work — and struggling in vain to perform without it — are downright dystopian. Article content Article content Tales abound of students using AI to generate entire essays, and I often detect a tone of hopelessness among teachers and professors lamenting it. At the high-school level, I've heard stories of parents going to the wall to protect their kids who've been caught plagiarizing — and of teachers basically giving up the fight, because unlike traditional plagiarism, it can be difficult to prove conclusively that something is AI-generated. ChatGPT doesn't always give the same answers to the same questions, which sounds to me more like a bug than a feature … unless you're looking to plagiarize an essay, of course. Article content (I'm amused to see that Grammarly, the website that allowed an entire generation to opt out of learning how to write an English sentence, now provides a service that will flag AI-generated text. Pick a lane, fellas!) Article content The frustrating thing is, it's not remotely difficult to detect AI-generated text qualitatively once you're familiar with it. It is absolute trash, always, and immediately recognizable to anyone paying the slightest bit of attention: unrelentingly bland, often repetitive, punctuated by weird verbs and jarring turns of phrase. Teachers in particular, who will (hopefully!) know how a student actually writes, will take notice when that student submits something completely out of character. Article content 'Beyond a reasonable doubt' shouldn't be the standard for implementing academic sanctions. But if flagging AI plagiarism is too much too ask, there is a very easy solution: In-person, handwritten exams. Schools and individual teachers and professors are increasingly resorting to that — and finding that many of their students have no idea how to write, both structurally and in terms of penmanship. Article content
CNA
03-07-2025
- Politics
- CNA
Commentary: India's state and central governments still aren't speaking the same language
CANBERRA: The first rule of discussing language policy in India is to leave any expectations of a calm conversation at the door. With four major language families – as distinct from each other as English is from Mandarin – and 23 languages holding official status, reasoned debate is almost always abandoned in favour of passionate infighting. Language has reappeared at the forefront of Indian political discourse over the National Education Policy (NEP), a recent revamp of the education system. But while this conflict's flashpoint is language, it hints at something deeper about India's governance. The union government has unilaterally demanded that all states implement the NEP, despite education being an area of shared responsibility between the union and the states. One of the key sticking points is the three-language formula. While its professed aim is to foster greater understanding between India's diverse regions by requiring states to teach the local language, English and one other Indian language of their choice, some states view the policy as a veiled scheme to enforce Hindi. While most non-Hindi-speaking states offer Hindi as their third language, Hindi-speaking states tend to teach its extinct classical parent Sanskrit instead of a contemporary language from another region. India's complicated debate over language is etched into the national psyche. At its core lies a tension between two public policy priorities – the long-standing Indian national project on the one hand, and the more recent pursuit of rapid economic development on the other. The two need not necessarily be contradictory but are increasingly diverging as India's economic liberalisation rubs up against its inward-looking instincts. INDIA'S TWO-LANGUAGE SYSTEM As a newly independent nation in 1947, India was desperate to construct national unity. English was seen as the language of colonialism and India was keen to remove signs of imperialism across public life. Though several major languages could be seen as regional connectors, there had never been a common language spanning the entire subcontinent before the British imposed English. Independence leaders in the Hindi belt were keen to implement Hindi as the language of commerce and public life but the political climate made the task impossible. Many communities within India had fought as much to liberate their own linguistic community as to liberate 'India' as a whole, so the idea that another 'foreign' language would replace English has always been a political non-starter. The current status-quo is an effective two-language system – English is the dominant language of commerce and interstate cooperation, and regional mother tongues occupy prominent cultural, social and political roles in their homelands. Yet the union government officially maintained that Hindi should be the 'link' language within India, including in the 1986 National Education Policy. A common argument for the three-language formula is that there must be a language to facilitate internal migration. But English is the only common language explicitly prescribed by the policy, creating a coordination problem in selecting an Indian language to be taught across all states. According to the 2011 census, 57.1 per cent of Indians spoke Hindi as a first-, second- or third-language, compared to 8.9 per cent who speak the next most common Indian language. Hindi might seem the most practical option, but the number of speakers is greatly inflated because the government lumps 56 languages under the Hindi umbrella – the proportion of first-language Hindi speakers falls from 43.6 per cent to 33.6 per cent if the 12 languages seeking distinct recognition are removed. And even though Hindi is spoken on the largest scale, its fraught political history has seen its increasing presence create tensions in states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and West Bengal, making it untenable as a link language. Plus, the vast majority of migration in India is intra-state, where people speak the same or similar languages. Inter-state migration, accounting for only 12 per cent of all migration, is likely too insignificant for an entire language policy to be designed around it. Migration that crosses linguistic boundaries primarily involves people from northern states moving to southern states for work, where different languages are spoken and Hindi is more opposed. Another problem is that Hindi has yet to demonstrate significant commercial value. India's impressive GDP growth is driven by the 10 per cent of the population with relatively high disposable incomes. Becoming part of this elite segment usually requires proficiency in English and a professional job in the formal economy – most of which are located in the non-Hindi-speaking southern states. Even if the government pushes learning Hindi, the market offers no reward. ENGLISH IS A POLITICALLY NEUTRAL CHOICE Given these realities, English is the most economically beneficial and politically neutral choice for internal communication. Since teaching three languages is time- and resource-intensive, India must focus its limited resources on prioritising goals that will lead to the greatest marginal benefit for economic outcomes. Only 51 per cent of new graduates are considered employable and a lack of English fluency has been identified as a significant issue. The 2011 census found that only 10.6 per cent of India's population speaks English, underscoring the urgent need to expand English education. If economic transformation is the priority, India should recognise the political status quo and the realities of development. Permitting or encouraging states to pursue a two-language policy, with mother tongues as the primary languages of public and cultural spaces and English as the language of commerce and cooperation, will enable India to access the world while maintaining stability. With only around 20 years before its demographic dividend begins to expire, India has to act quickly to demonstrate that it should be a hub for industry and foreign investment. The union's quest for a national language may need to be abandoned for India's economic ambitions.
RNZ News
27-06-2025
- General
- RNZ News
School report comments that stuck with students
Everyone has had school reports saying we could try harder, but imagine a teacher telling your parents they hope you won't be back in class next term or that they can only hope and pray for your future. Today is the last day of term and most schools have issued children's mid-year reports knowing that teachers' general comments will get as much attention as the grades children have achieved. Education correspondent John Gerritsen reports. Tags: To embed this content on your own webpage, cut and paste the following: See terms of use.
News24
29-05-2025
- General
- News24
Teachers matter – and we need more of them
Almost everyone can remember a teacher who made a lasting difference in their life. Great teachers don't just deliver educational content – they open up opportunities, ignite curiosity, and offer encouragement that can shape a child's future. But South Africa simply doesn't have enough of them. Each year, the country produces around 15 000 new teachers – far short of the 25 000 needed. With almost half the current teaching workforce nearing retirement age, and many others taking up better-paying posts overseas, there's a growing urgency to attract, train and retain more skilled teachers locally. Recognising this, STADIO 's School of Education is working to bridge the gap between the lecture room and the classroom. Its teacher training programmes are designed not only to attract aspiring educators, but to thoroughly prepare them for the complex and often challenging environments they'll work in. Equipping teachers for the workplace Teaching has always been more than a job – it's a profession that demands resilience, empathy, adaptability, and deep commitment. Today's educators face an increasingly demanding landscape: from managing large classes and limited resources to supporting learners' emotional and psychological needs, often with little external support. That's why practical, real-world preparation is critical. Through its School of Education, STADIO equips future teachers with the tools they need to succeed. Its Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) offers a wide range of subject specialisations across the Senior Phase and Further Education and Training (FET) band, ensuring graduates are ready to teach at multiple levels. The programme is designed for flexibility, allowing students to complete it in one, 1,5 or two years – ideal for those balancing work, family or other commitments. Delivered via distance learning, the PGCE includes essential work-integrated learning elements, such as lesson planning, classroom management, and innovative teaching strategies. Students graduate with not only theoretical knowledge but also practical, in-classroom skills that prepare them to meet the realities of South Africa's education system head-on. Affordability is another key focus. By keeping fees accessible without compromising on quality, STADIO is making it possible for more South Africans to pursue their passion for teaching. This in turn will help address the country's growing demand for dedicated, skilled educators. Creating teachers of the future Although the educational landscape is rapidly evolving, with new tools and technologies available, one thing remains true: teachers matter. They change lives, shape futures, and are essential to the health of our society. By preparing and empowering the next generation of educators, STADIO is investing in a brighter, more equitable future for all. For more information, click here for the STADIO School of Education's website.
