TEACHERS QUITTING SCHOOLS

In the UK 40% of teachers leave teaching within five years of becoming qualified.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, the Chief Inspector of Schools, says the main reason why teachers quit is the lack of discipline in the classroom.

40 PER CENT OF TEACHERS QUIT WITHIN FIVE YEARS

In the USA, anywhere between 40 and 50 percent of teachers will leave the classroom within their first five years.



One teacher gives a reason: "It’s just a lack of respect.

"Teachers in schools do not call the shots. They have very little say."

Those that remain in teaching are not necessarily good teachers.

1,000 teachers accused of having sexual relationships with pupils in last five years

Pew Research Centre

The 'culture' in the USA and UK is sick.

Nick Clegg accused of 'cover up' and 'cowardice' as Lord Rennard is cleared

In 2012, the UK's Telegraph reported:

"Pupils are being allowed to run wild with a 'total disregard of school rules' because of a lack of proper discipline in the home, it was claimed.

"The Association of Teachers and Lecturers warned that a quarter of members had been physically attacked at school in the last 12 months, with staff being pushed, scratched, punched, bitten, kicked and spat at. 

A third had been forced to deal with violence directed at them or other pupils.

"Half of teachers said behaviour - particularly low-level disruption - had worsened in the last two years.

Bad behaviour in schools 'fuelled by over-indulgent parents

Essentially, schools in the UK and USA are like special sorts of zoos where the lions are not separated from the lambs.

And the government officials who are ultimately responsible for these zoos are corrupt fools.

According to The Economist: "People who don't get on ... have the option of avoiding each other."

Behaviour | The Economist

This is not true for most children when they are at school.



The typical school is like a weird sort of zoo - where all the animals are placed together in the one large cage.

According to The Economist: "It is probably not a good idea to put two animals with high dominance scores in the same enclosure."

Behaviour | The Economist

Prince Charles at Gordonstoun

Similarly, it is not a good idea put someone like Prince Charles into a school like Gordonstoun.

"A prison sentence," was how Charles described Gordonstoun. "Colditz with kilts."

"Like penal servitude," agreed William Boyd, a Gordonstoun contemporary of Charles. "I happen to know, from his own lips, that Prince Charles utterly detested it."

http://www.dailymail.



Ideally, children have a choice of schools and education styles.

My town used to have several small schools.

Now, sadly, there is only one giant school.

Michael Gove played the school chaplain in the 1995 film A Feast at Midnight.[11]

Governments should not dictate how schools are to be run.

In the UK, the government minister in charge of education is Michael Gove.

Gove is making a mess of education.


Gove wants more rote learning of facts.

New curriculum swings back to an out of date teaching style - FT

It is surely silly to have kids memorising huge quantities of dates and facts and figures, when such information is now available online.

Neil Carberry, director of employment and skills at the Confederation of British Industry, says that Gove's emphasis on rote learning might not be the best way to prepare pupils for employment.

According to Stephen Heppell, an education adviser to governments around the world:

"Schools should prepare pupils to interpret data and understand uncertainties.

"We need kids that can make things and do things, and that won't happen by giving them a heap of facts."

New curriculum swings back to an out of date teaching style - FT

UK education minister, Michael Gove, living in the past.

The school system needs to become more flexible.

"There is no systematic use of the internet...

"Teachers still stand up in front of pupils and read out from their own lesson plans; kids still turn up to classrooms, sit behind desks and listen, taking notes.."

Schools are failing our children

By theirhistory

In the UK, 19.8% of school pupils have special educational needs 

(eg learning and behavioural difficulties)

The EU average is 4%

dailymail.

Photo by Bert Hardy

Why does one child succeed in life, and another one 'fail'?

In How Children Succeed, Paul Tough writes that what matters most is character skills.

These are skills such as self confidence, optimism, perseverance, curiosity, conscientiousness, and self-control.

In other words, emotional intelligence, as taught by good parents, good mentors and good private schools, is what matters.



Both rich children and poor children can lack emotional intelligence.

"Suniya Luthar, a psychologist at Columbia University found significant psychological problems at the high end of the income spectrum... These problems arise most often in those high-income homes where children feel simultaneously a great pressure to achieve and an emotional distance from their parents..."
'How Children Succeed' — Q&A with Paul Tough


Bill Brandt

"Apparently medical reasons explain why children who grow up in abusive or dysfunctional environments generally find it harder to concentrate, sit still and rebound from disappointments. 

"The part of the brain most affected by early stress is the prefrontal cortex, which is critical for regulating thoughts and mediating behaviour. 

"When this region is damaged - a common condition for children living amid the pressures of poverty - it is tougher to suppress unproductive instincts."
School reform: Stay focused | The Economist

Website for this image...

Children who do not have good parents need good mentors and tutors, according to Paul Tough.

"Studies show that early nurturing from parents or caregivers helps combat the biochemical effects of stress. 

"And educators can push better habits and self control. 

"The 'prefrontal cortex is more responsive to intervention than other parts of the brain,' writes Mr Tough. 

"It stays malleable well into early adulthood. 

"Character can be taught."

School reform: Stay focused | The Economist



The problem is - how does a child from a problem family find a good mentor?

The best mentors are often grandparents.

But not always.

The silver-haired safety net

SCHOOLS

According to The Economist: "People who don't get on ... have the option of avoiding each other."

Behaviour | The Economist

This is not true for most children when they are at school.



The typical school is like a weird sort of zoo - where all the animals are placed together in the one large cage.

According to The Economist: "It is probably not a good idea to put two animals with high dominance scores in the same enclosure."

Behaviour | The Economist

Prince Charles at Gordonstoun

Similarly, it is not a good idea put someone like Prince Charles into a school like Gordonstoun.

"A prison sentence," was how Charles described Gordonstoun. "Colditz with kilts."

"Like penal servitude," agreed William Boyd, a Gordonstoun contemporary of Charles. "I happen to know, from his own lips, that Prince Charles utterly detested it."

http://www.dailymail.



Ideally, children have a choice of schools and education styles.

My town used to have several small schools.

Now, sadly, there is only one giant school.

Michael Gove played the school chaplain in the 1995 film A Feast at Midnight.[11]

Governments should not dictate how schools are to be run.

In the UK, the government minister in charge of education is Michael Gove.

Gove is making a mess of education.


Gove wants more rote learning of facts.

New curriculum swings back to an out of date teaching style - FT

It is surely silly to have kids memorising huge quantities of dates and facts and figures, when such information is now available online.

Neil Carberry, director of employment and skills at the Confederation of British Industry, says that Gove's emphasis on rote learning might not be the best way to prepare pupils for employment.

According to Stephen Heppell, an education adviser to governments around the world:

"Schools should prepare pupils to interpret data and understand uncertainties.

"We need kids that can make things and do things, and that won't happen by giving them a heap of facts."

New curriculum swings back to an out of date teaching style - FT

UK education minister, Michael Gove, living in the past.

The school system needs to become more flexible.

"There is no systematic use of the internet...

"Teachers still stand up in front of pupils and read out from their own lesson plans; kids still turn up to classrooms, sit behind desks and listen, taking notes.."

Schools are failing our children

By theirhistory

In the UK, 19.8% of school pupils have special educational needs 

(eg learning and behavioural difficulties)

The EU average is 4%

dailymail.

Photo by Bert Hardy

Why does one child succeed in life, and another one 'fail'?

In How Children Succeed, Paul Tough writes that what matters most is character skills.

These are skills such as self confidence, optimism, perseverance, curiosity, conscientiousness, and self-control.

In other words, emotional intelligence, as taught by good parents, good mentors and good private schools, is what matters.



Both rich children and poor children can lack emotional intelligence.

"Suniya Luthar, a psychologist at Columbia University found significant psychological problems at the high end of the income spectrum... These problems arise most often in those high-income homes where children feel simultaneously a great pressure to achieve and an emotional distance from their parents..."
'How Children Succeed' — Q&A with Paul Tough


Bill Brandt

"Apparently medical reasons explain why children who grow up in abusive or dysfunctional environments generally find it harder to concentrate, sit still and rebound from disappointments. 

"The part of the brain most affected by early stress is the prefrontal cortex, which is critical for regulating thoughts and mediating behaviour. 

"When this region is damaged - a common condition for children living amid the pressures of poverty - it is tougher to suppress unproductive instincts."
School reform: Stay focused | The Economist

Website for this image...

Children who do not have good parents need good mentors and tutors, according to Paul Tough.

"Studies show that early nurturing from parents or caregivers helps combat the biochemical effects of stress. 

"And educators can push better habits and self control. 

"The 'prefrontal cortex is more responsive to intervention than other parts of the brain,' writes Mr Tough. 

"It stays malleable well into early adulthood. 

"Character can be taught."

School reform: Stay focused | The Economist



The problem is - how does a child from a problem family find a good mentor?

The best mentors are often grandparents.

But not always.

The silver-haired safety net

SCHOOLS AND PARENTS

By theirhistory

In the UK, 19.8% of school pupils have special educational needs 

(eg learning and behavioural difficulties)

The EU average is 4%

dailymail.

Photo by Bert Hardy

Why does one child succeed in life, and another one 'fail'?

In How Children Succeed, Paul Tough writes that what matters most is character skills.

These are skills such as self confidence, optimism, perseverance, curiosity, conscientiousness, and self-control.

In other words, emotional intelligence, as taught by good parents, good mentors and good private schools, is what matters.



Both rich children and poor children can lack emotional intelligence.

"Suniya Luthar, a psychologist at Columbia University found significant psychological problems at the high end of the income spectrum... These problems arise most often in those high-income homes where children feel simultaneously a great pressure to achieve and an emotional distance from their parents..."

'How Children Succeed' — Q&A with Paul Tough


Bill Brandt

"Apparently medical reasons explain why children who grow up in abusive or dysfunctional environments generally find it harder to concentrate, sit still and rebound from disappointments. 

"The part of the brain most affected by early stress is the prefrontal cortex, which is critical for regulating thoughts and mediating behaviour. 

"When this region is damaged - a common condition for children living amid the pressures of poverty - it is tougher to suppress unproductive instincts."

School reform: Stay focused | The Economist

Website for this image...

Children who do not have good parents need good mentors and tutors, according to Paul Tough.

"Studies show that early nurturing from parents or caregivers helps combat the biochemical effects of stress. 

"And educators can push better habits and self control. 

"The 'prefrontal cortex is more responsive to intervention than other parts of the brain,' writes Mr Tough. 

"It stays malleable well into early adulthood. 

"Character can be taught."

School reform: Stay focused | The Economist



The problem is - how does a child from a problem family find a good mentor?

The best mentors are often grandparents.

HOW TO IMPROVE EDUCATION

How do we improve education?

The Economist, on 16 June 2012, had an article on Education in Thailand

http://www.economist.com/node/21556940

In Thailand, more money has recently been spent on schools, but the quality of education has got worse.

Thailand now spends about 20% of the national budget on education, which is a lot!

"Yet results are getting worse, both in absolute terms and relative to other countries in South-East Asia."


Website for this image

Exam results show that Thai kids' scores in English, maths and science have been largely falling.
The Global Competitiveness Report from the World Economic Forum ranked Thailand 83rd in terms of its 'health and primary education'.

This is below Vietnam and Indonesia!



Most of Thailand's growing education budget has gone on higher pay for teachers.

NOW, look for a moment at the health service in the UK.

Most of the money poured into hospitals in the UK seems to have been used to enrich the administrators and top doctors, rather than to help the patients.

Good nurses are disgusted at the way some hospitals are being run.

Many have quit in disgust, to be replaced by duds.

Back to Thailand.

Here are some of the comments on the article in The Economist:

"This current government is the most corrupted government in Thailand history. All politicians, government officers, all high ranking military force officers, police force officers are all corrupted. They corrupt even at elementary school level."

"It is the trick of the great politicians who want to make their people to depend on them and to give them poor education so that they can govern the country and the people easily."

"Thai Education cannot be so bad, we produced some true geniuses in Science, Sports, Fashions, Thai Arts, Engineering, Flood prevention system, etc. It never occurs to me though why they all come from the same family."

"Most Thai teachers are excellent in teaching grammar, some have been teaching grammar for over 10 years but they simply can not speak in English...

"The answer is get rid of the bureaucratic system..."

"Most Thai people I know, prefer to watch soap opera, go shopping and most hardly ever touch any books or newspapers...

"No wonder a soap opera star and liar like Thaksin gets elected each time.  

"Thais sure have a high emotional IQ (EQ) and are otherwise great people to share life with and work with. Just a bit too lazy many (not all), it seems."

http://asiancorrespondent.com/77060/thai-education-failures-part-3-pisa-...



"Indonesia has been able to make rapid progress in education, because it was only spending 1.5% of its GDP on public education in 2001 (had remained at such pitiful levels from 1965-2001, now its increased to over 4%, the average Thailand has been spending for the past 40 years.

"A better example to follow is Latin American countries which have been spending alot of money education, but with little to show for it in the past, like Thailand. Recently, countries like Chile, Brazil and Mexico have made alot of progress in the PISA, by focusing on the poorest and worst performing students. They have paid parents to send their children to go to school, getting good grades."

"I think one of the other factors involved is the culture of cheating in the academic systems here. Tea money, which is money 'donated' to schools to assure admission of unqualified students gives unfair advantage to privileged families, and enforces a culture that rewards corruption, not hard work.

"I have also seen companies that privileged students pay to have English work written for them by native English speakers. With the elite setting this kind of example, there is no way the education will ever be elevated. It's all about what you can put on paper, even if you did or didn't do it here."

"Why should they work hard? They don't have to worry about starvation, winters. They are a rice exporting country. They have a relatively low population density for an Asian country. They are not packed in like in Java or Bangladesh. Its worse now, because alot of the dirty work is done by Burmese and Cambodians. They look around and they see the Burmese, Cambodians, Laotians - all much poorer than them."

"Text books, monopolized by a few vendors, are obsolete..."

"Remember, the country's economy has been tourism-driven for decades. Smiles and hospitality earn you money; textbooks and literacy don't...

"The Thai people are naturally not fans of competition..."

"Thai kids are highly obsessed with technology and gaming."

"Many of the Thai teachers are not competent to teach the content of their courses. This is a result of being rubber stamped through a corrupt education system run by self-important, silk-suit-wearing government officials who mostly should be sacked for either incompetence, arrogance or a hideous bouffant."

"My Indonesian associate said some of the elementary schools in Indonesia should hire former bar girls / street hawkers to teach children English. Most of the teachers in poorer areas, don't speak any English. Its most likely more true in Thailand

"But actually, many Thai university students can be easily put to shame by the English ability of some bar girls and taxi drivers, such as this motorcycle taxi driver who just gave an interview partly in English to the BBC."

http://asiancorrespondent.com/78647/thai-education-failures-part-4-disma...

SACK HER NOW!

Maggie

Sack Dr Maggie Atkinson now!

And improve some rotten schools.

Dr Maggie Atkinson is the Children's Commissioner for England.

She should be aware that many schools in England are out of control.

This is because Head Teachers are not allowed to kick out all the disturbed and criminal elements.

Yet Dr Maggie wants to REDUCE the number of exclusions of law breakers.

(Warning to schools over exclusions - 19 March 2012)

Schools have been warned by Dr Maggie that it is "never appropriate" to exclude pupils for infringements such as breaching school uniform codes or wearing jewellery.

You can probably spot the bad guys in any school.

Too much make-up, "wrong" haircut, dressed like a prostitute, dressed like a drugs dealer...

There has been a falling number of exclusions in schools in England.

Hence the apparent increase in bullying.

Sack Dr Maggie now!

JAMES BULGER

What has Dr Maggie done about the cover up of government-linked child abuse in Islington or on the island of Jersey?

Nothing.

Little James Bulger was murdered by two kids.

Maggie Atkinson suggested James's killers should not have been prosecuted because they were too young.

BBC News - James Bulger's mother calls for commissioner's sacking

Dr Maggie MUST be booted out NOW!

MAISIE BAXTER

Maisie

On 21 February 2012, we learn of the death of teen singer Maisie Baxter, a friend of teen singer Ronan Parke.

Framingham Earl school's tribute to “sunny and friendly” Maisie Baxter

Police were called to a property in the Norwich area where they found 13-year-old Maisie Baxter.

Allegedly, Maisie had been bullied. (maisie wasnt bullied?.)

Maisie attended Framingham Earl High School.

 

Ronan Parke

Nicola Furneaux, headteacher at Framingham Earl High, said:

"Maisie was a sunny, friendly girl and a bright student who played a full part in our school community. We will always remember her, and her beautiful singing voice; her performance at our talent show last year was one of the highlights of the competition.

"Maisie’s friends speak of her as someone who had the loveliest laugh – a warm giggle which cheered everyone. In lessons, Maisie worked hard and was a pleasure to teach."

On her Facebook page, Maisie is pictured with fellow Framingham Earl pupil Ronan Parke, who reached the final of Britain’s Got Talent in 2011.

Police have given details of the death to the coroner's office and an inquest is expected to be opened.

Headteacher Ms Furneaux said the school would assist any investigation.



Anonymous left this comment:

"Can I just make the point that Maisie wasn't bullied at fram.

"She was respected by us all.

"Fram is a very good school.

"Miss Frunox has been very supportive to me and others within the school..."

aangirfan: DEATH OF A BANKER

aangirfan: ALISA AND THE RUSSIAN MAFIA

aangirfan: SANDRINGHAM AND JEFFREY EPSTEIN

SCHOOL REPORT

Paddington Academy Website for this image

On 2 February 2012, Bagehot of The Economist wrote about "Fixing education: an inspiring school" t

From this we learn:

1. London's Paddington Academy, surrounded by tough housing estates, used to be bad.

Fewer than 20% of pupils achieved decent exam results (at aged 16).

The school had problems with knife fights and drugs.

More than half the kids come from homes poor enough to earn free school meals.

More than three-quarters do not speak English as a first language

Paddington Academy

2. The school was removed from local government control.

It was allowed to choose its staff and teaching methods.

Early on, it expelled some pupils.

3. Last summer 69% of pupils got good exam results, at age 16, well above the national average.

The school recently earned an “Outstanding” grade from school inspectors.

The school "feels calm... and hums with optimism."

Paddington Academy West London ULT

After the exams

4. Paddington now has good staff.

5. There is a strict uniform code.

Pupils are ranked on progress against individual targets.

Staff insist on good behaviour.

Good behaviour is rewarded; bad behaviour has consequences.

Pupils get badges for choir, language-learning, mentoring younger pupils and so on.

6. Early on, Paddington did expel some pupils.

But it now takes on difficult cases, including a kid just out of prison.

7. Paddington is part of a chain of academies sponsored by a charity, the United Learning Trust.

The Trust was formed in 2002 as a subsidiary of the United Church Schools Trust (UCST) which has been running independent schools in the UK since 1883.

In 2009, it was reported that two schools in Sheffield, run by the United Learning Trust, were 'failed' by inspectors.

~~

Blog Writers Report Various Online 'Attacks'

HOW TO IMPROVE A SCHOOL

Basildon Academies.

On 16th September 2011, the UK's Daily Mail reports on a UK school that has actually improved!

The wrong trousers? No ruler? Get out of my class!.

Basildon Academy, in Essex, was bad.

There was graffiti on walls.

Kids would get up in the middle of class to go for a cigarette.

Fighting, bullying and staff sickness were common.

The new boss of the school, Dr Rory Fox, has changed things.

On his first day at work, Dr Fox sent home 109 kids – for wearing the wrong uniform.

Scores were sent to after-school detention for failing to bring proper equipment to class.

Dozens were put in an isolation centre for disrupting lessons.

Teachers say they have now doubled the amount of teaching time in lessons, as they no longer have the disruption problems.

Most parents support Dr Fox.

Julie Terry, who has three children at the academy, said: "The change is remarkable.

"It’s a complete turnaround.

"Discipline is back, daily fights have gone."

~~~

aangirfan: DISCIPLINE IN SCHOOLS
aangirfan: SCHOOLS

SCHOOLS

1.CanSpeccy said about SCHOOLS:

"Lack of motivation must be a factor.

"When youth unemployment among black Americans is 50%, WTF use is a high school diploma...

"Best to start selling drugs right away and forget school altogether.

"The same sort of destructive thought processes must afflict many children in almost any Western society where work has been offshored and outsourced, to beef up corporate profits, which have rarely been higher.

"In the meantime, workforce skills are wasting away.

"What is the reward for the hard work necessary to obtain a good education? LOL

"They have plenty of good brains in India and China, so who's gonna rush to employ a math wiz. or programming geek who expects to earn a decent salary and who, in any case, is not permitted by law to work for less than than a minimum wage that a fresh graduate in India would die for."

http://canspeccy.blogspot.com/

The Economist Who Said "The Emperor Has No Clothes"

2. Anonymous said...

Japan is no better

"Students’ academic ability is in free-fall, writes Okabe.

"Simple logical thinking is beyond them.

"Their vocabulary is childish, their grasp of mathematics feeble, their curiosity nowhere in evidence.

"The latter is doubly surprising, he points out, in view of the young generation’s easy familiarity with the Internet — but the Net apparently appeals to them more as a playground than as a research venue.

http://educationinjapan.wordpress.com/

Japan's colleges facing 'meltdown' « EDUCATION IN JAPAN COMMUNITY Blog

DISCIPLINE IN SCHOOLS

Website for this image

In the UK, on 7 April 2011, teachers at Darwen Vale High School, near Blackburn Lancashire, are to stage a walk-out.

The teachers are protesting at the lack of support they have received from the head teacher.

"They say pupils frequently challenge teachers to fights, push and shove them in the corridors and classrooms and are constantly swearing and insulting them." (Strike-hit school governor blames pupil anarchy... on wind and rain‎)

The teachers say that when they take the matters to the head teacher she often sides with the pupils instead of staff.

Americans are worried that their education system is no longer producing enough inventors like Thomas Edison. Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. "Nearly all his childhood learning took place at home."

So, how should schools be organised?

1. Give pupils a choice of schools.

This means there must be lots of small schools of different types.

All schools should be tiny.

The big schools should be broken up.

2. Give headmasters and teachers the right to exclude pupils who are disruptive.

3. Set up special schools that give intensive care (very expensive) to the disruptive children.

4. Set up top quality schools that cater for the less academic kids.

There are parents and children who want such schools - so long as they are well run, and do not become dumping grounds for the disruptive children.

5. Lower the school leaving age and shorten the school day.

This will mean children will learn more.

That is the paradox.

6. Sack the bureaucrats.

According to an article about UK schools in Scotland on Sunday, 9 September 2007, (Alexander attacks 'bloated' education authorities) one in every four pounds of education funding never makes it to schools.

Studies show that of the average £5,160 spent on a child's education annually, £1,700 is swallowed up by local government.

It is time to close down the "bloated" education authorities. Get rid of the government bureaucrats, both local and national. Sack the education chiefs. It is these folks who have helped to ruin British schools.

CHAOS IN UK SCHOOLS

TOM DALEY AND THE ORGANISATION OF SCHOOLS.

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT; USA, UK, SOUTH KOREA, FINLAND...

HOW TO ORGANISE UK SCHOOLS

HOW TO PRODUCE MORE THOMAS EDISONS AND CLERK MAXWELLS