NZ records worst ever PISA international test results, amid global decline (www.rnz.co.nz)

submitted 11 months ago by Dave@lemmy.nz to c/newzealand@lemmy.nz

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[-] Rangelus@lemmy.nz 10 points 11 months ago

This is, of course, concerning, but I seriously doubt the suggested enforced 3h of learning is going to change things one iota. IMHO, the biggest problem is not how schools are teaching core subjects, but how much learning is happening at home.

I say this with no judgement. Parents are, increasingly I feel, using a tablet to babysit their kids when they are younger, and not monitoring their social media use when they are older. I would also be interested to learn how much reading to your kids has declined. I could be wrong, but I suspect it has been slipping in line with the PISA results.

[-] Dave@lemmy.nz 7 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

I don't think mandatory 3 R's will help, but I wouldn't be so quick to push the blame home. Personally I don't remember much parental involvement in my learning.

But what has happened with teachers the past 20 years? For one, I have worked with half a dozen ex-teachers that trained as teachers but didn't find the role worthwhile. When leave teacher's college and find you can get a contact centre job with no training and higher pay you have some choices to make.

Is it possible our teachers aren't as good, or more likely, aren't as well supported as they used to be?

In general I'd expect that the best teacher's would also make the best candidates for other roles. Perhaps all the good teachers left for higher paying roles, leaving the teachers that can't get other roles to continue teaching and leaving new teachers without great role models.

[-] Splenetic@lemm.ee 3 points 11 months ago

Irs likely all of the above: Teachers are under valued and over worked, poverty, bad housing and low pay for parents means less time their kids, 3 years of covid... it all adds up