The following letter was submitted for possible inclusion in The Australian of Saturday 27 June 3015 but it was not selected for publication.
Relevant experience for curriculum body?
Wednesday's edition reported that Professor Steven Schwartz, a former university vice-chancellor, has been appointed as the new chair of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) ("PM's new adviser fears 'constipated curriculum'", Jun 24).
Education Minister Christopher Pyne was quoted as saying that Professor Schwartz is an "experienced pair of hands". There is no doubting Schwartz's extensive experience but it is a little strange that virtually none of his various professional roles as a psychologist, academic and university senior administrator had anything to do with primary or secondary schools and the curriculum to be taught in them. This might be the notion of content-free management at work but more likely is that, in Minister Pyne's view, Schwartz's best qualification is that, according to the professor himself, no one has ever accused him of being a "leftie".
Schwartz was reported as saying that teacher quality is a big issue for Australia. This might be true but it does seem to be the formal business of another federal government agency, the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), rather than ACARA. Could it be that, at that stage, Schwartz was not entirely clear about which body he was to chair?
Tags: Curriculum matters |
Literature SpectacularGraham Joseph from Ryan Catholic College will present a workshop designed for teachers who are thinking about introducing Literature, delivering Literature for the first time or looking to review their Literature course in the near future. In the first part of the workshop, we will explore a framework for delivering a Literature course that c... |
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March Seminar 2021: Challenge and Change: Doing things differentlyWe are delighted to announce that we will be back with face to face professional learing events in 2021 - usual format but wtih some important changes: the March Seminar will be a full day event; the AATE-ALEA National Conference will be held in Brisbane in July and consequently there will not be a state conference. Other events for the year ... |
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Grammar at Hervey BayA grammar workshop will be held at Hervey Bay State High School to assist attendees to develop their understandings of grammar in order to fully comprehend and to effectively teach the Australia Curriculum: English (AC:E). Also highly relevant to Years 11 & 12. This will be an updated re-run of the activity conducted in both 2018 and ... |
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JCU SpectacularJoin Dr Claire Hansen for a two-hour session on teaching Macbeth. We'll dive into an exploration of the language of Macbeth and teaching strategies to engage students with Shakespeare's Scottish play. The workshop will also explore learning activities for Macbeth created by the Shakespeare Reloaded project. This session will... |
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Grammar DayETAQ will be conducting another of the very successful grammar days on Saturday 29 May 2021. If your school would like to host this event, please contact Admin Officer. |
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