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Why COOLs are so uncool . . . What the Education (Update) Amendment Bill means for you? Luke East
Luke East is hoping to pursue a future in politics in order to give more Kiwis the chance to get ahead. He’s been following the process surrounding the Education (Update) Amendment Bill and believes that with something as important as education, there should be increased consultation around this Bill. New Zealand. A free country where children are able to reach their true potential. Or so we’re told. The current education system is in need of reform. Because despite having skill-based programs, education is still focussed on students being able to absorb and regurgitate the correct information for an exam. We must reform our system to focus on the skills and ethics that will carry our children on to further education and into the workforce. There is a growing outcry both domestically and internationally for ‘education not indoctrination’ and for students to be taught the skills for critical thinking rather than being punished for giving a wrong answer. Across the globe the #EducationReform movement is pushing for system change, because focussing purely on grades doesn’t provide maximum benefit to students and won’t encourage lifelong learning. Schools should be about so much more than simply giving children the answers that examiners want to hear. The Government’s new Education (Update) Amendment Bill which is being spearheaded by Minister Parata and her push for Communities Of Online Learning (COOLs) will streamline the process of indoctrination and reduce the opportunity for real and lifelong learning. Personally I believe that allowing “Corporate entities” to register as educational institutions is a worry and will result in the exploitation of education in order to make a profit. Moving to full-time education through COOLs is likely to reduce student achievement and result in diminished class sizes and school rolls. The connection students have with their teachers is crucial not just for education but for the development of life skills. Students learn as much or more through social experiences than they do through school. Through the COOLs system, the information will be streamed directly into their brains without person-to-person tuition or interaction. It is inevitable that technology will play a larger part in the way we teach and educate, but it should be a complement to go alongside traditional teaching methods, rather than a replacement. We must integrate technology into our education system because digital literacy is one of the most important skills for these changing times, but it is useless on its own. It must come alongside social skills and other proven aspects of education and learning, whilst restructuring the system to encourage creativity and individual thought processes. We must embrace the opportunities brought by change, but I believe the move to full-time online education through COOLs is a step too far. It is our duty to give our children the best start in life and to give them the skills they need to succeed. This duty will not be fulfilled
by giving the Minister the power to appoint BOT members and/ or the Board Chair. Because the people who best understand what the sector and their community need, are teachers and school staff. The quality of our children’s education is becoming increasingly diminished because teachers are having to spend more and more time on paperwork and bureaucratic procedure. This will be further worsened by a ‘global funding model’ which will require school staff to allocate funds and cut costs, something that is currently in the hands of the Ministry. A teacher’s primary concern should be the education of the students in their care, not hiring and firing. Teachers devote an extraordinary amount of their own free-time to planning classes and marking assessments, something that is not reflected in their paychecks. Our teachers and school staff are everyday superheroes. For students from difficult backgrounds, the kind, smiling face of a teacher is a morale booster. Some of the people that
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