Posted by: Observer
on 23, Nov, 2011
The National Party policy is a complete disappointment. After three years to learn the ropes, we might have hoped that Mrs Tolley would have got together a coherent education policy based on the best evidence from here and overseas. Instead what we’ve been offered is chunks of mismatched 90s (1990s? 1890s?) ideology drawn from countries that all do much worse than us.
So we get:
1. Inconsistent teacher education policy
A requirement that teacher training should be post-graduate (level 8) even though there’s no evidence that higher qualifications make for better teaching – yes Finland requires that prospective teachers do a masters degree but that is one of many factors in Finland’s success. Taking just one of them is like saying a steering wheel is a car. This is a win for the universities who get more money out of level 8 courses and loss for trainees teachers because their fees will be higher.
Then there’s the fact that some specially chosen applicants are going to be shoved through a pressure cooker course and others (technology teachers) are to have only “basic teacher training”. So much for consistency. And lesser qualifications for the trades – is that how you raise the status of technology, Mrs Tolley?
