The following letter was submitted for possible inclusion in The Australian of Thursday 16 October 2014 but it was not selected for publication. It was responding to part of an opinion piece by Paul Kelly (the journalist, not the singer/songwriter).
Emphasis on content needed to improve reading?
Paul Kelly’s interpretation of part of the review of the national curriculum seems to be that a greater emphasis on content rather than competencies is needed to improve the performance of Australian students in international tests of reading (“Curriculum report will be a test for Pyne’s political skill”, 15/4).
This is puzzling since most people would consider reading to be a set of competencies or skills. If Kelly has not misread the report, it would be useful for the reviewers to advise the sets of facts, the content, that needs to be learnt, perhaps by rote memorisation, for students to be able to read with comprehension at all levels of the school system.
Garry Collins
President, Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE)
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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This is the first time I have been to an ETAQ conference and it was really sensational to get so much at all of the sessions.
ETAQ conferences always have sessions that make me excited to be a teacher.
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