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Thread: Grade 6 pupils beat teachers at maths

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    Grade 6 pupils beat teachers at maths


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    Moderator IanF's Avatar
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    The issue is we don’t have specialised teachers. We take people who did history or geography and ask them to teach maths. What do you expect?
    This is from SADTU
    The Government & Unions is getting themselves into such a tangle when side issues like transformation/BEE trump whether the basic job can be done.
    Only stress when you can change the outcome!

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    Grade 6 math requires a specialized teacher.... Now here is a question; Given that everybody have to do maths until grade 10 before they can drop it, shouldn't those teachers be able to do at least grade 10 maths which they were supposed to have learned while they were still at school

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    Moderator IanF's Avatar
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    The good news is that some kids are able to learn in spite of their teachers!
    Is this why there is such a push for textbooks, because the teachers aren't suitable and then because you struggle to get rid of the bad teachers due to laws/unions, at least the motivated kids can learn.
    Only stress when you can change the outcome!

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    I look at my daughters, we spend hours with them on their homework, especially math. My youngest daughter said one day that she hates PI. We talked abot it and it became clear that the teacher simply told them to learn a series of numbers called PI and she couldn't understand why. I showed her how it works in her own terms by asking her how she would design a circular bucket sort of a thing that will hold 100 litres of water for her horses. The bucket couldn't be higher than 200mm so how big would it have to be....she was very quick to understand why it is useful and how it is applied in the real world. My eldest daughter has the same problem with algebra, but if you put it in their own context it makes sense and is useful to them.

    The problem is bigger than the teachers just being stupid, very few teachers are able to contextualize the subjects in terms that the kids can relate to. There is no sense in trying to teach a girl about parabolas by telling them about the trajectory that a bullet follows, tell them about how high and how far a dummy will fly if a baby throws it in the air. Most teachers teach clinically rather than contextually and that is a terrible failing in our education system. This happens because the teachers themselves are unable to relate to the practical applications of what they teach.

    I hated math at school because whenever I asked why are we learning this, what is it useful for, the teachers just responded that I must learn it because I have to learn it, if they explained it in practical terms I would have been far more likely to find it interesting and useful.

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    Site Caretaker Dave A's Avatar
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    SADTU seems keen only in sheltering the incompetent and keeping them that way. The better solution would seem to be identify who needs more training and then help them get to the level they need to get to.

    Of course the inequality challenge in education goes beyond just the skill level of the teachers.
    Quote Originally Posted by adrianh View Post
    I look at my daughters, we spend hours with them on their homework, especially math.
    You're indeed fortunate that the skills exist in your home to assist your kids. For the vast majority, this is not an option.

    Our disparate education standards certainly remains one of the genuine "legacies of apartheid" that desperately needs addressing. This actually makes the skill levels of teachers all the more critical if we're to break the cycle of disadvantage.

    Or perhaps we need to come up with a better strategy... More and better use of IT comes to mind.

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    I cannot imagine how kids get through school without the help of their parents. We are able to explain anything they learn to them and if we are unable to then we teach ourselves and then teach them. Whist helping my daughter with accountancy homework we couldn't work out whether a question was to be answered in linear or compound interest so we taught her what the difference is, why it is used etc. and she answered the question using both equations.

    The problem as Dave points out is that if the teachers are useless and the parents never got a real education then there is very little hope for the kids. The difficulty with IT based education is that you still need to have a person on hand to explain things in whatever frame of reference the kid uses. Some kids will understand things in terms of toys and some in terms of science etc., the trick is to find the individual's frame of reference

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    Diamond Member AndyD's Avatar
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    Problem is in the classroom with 30 kids you can't custom teach each one using his/her own personal references, there has to be a one-size-fits all generic teaching method otherwise half the sylabus won't get covered in the allotted timeframe.
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    Platinum Member desA's Avatar
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    Change the way education is delivered!

    1. A large computer monitor/screen in every classroom.
    2. Centralised education centre (CEC), where best teachers possible present each subject.
    3. Servers at each school (SS).
    4. Lessons moved from CEC to SS continuously - in compressed format.
    5. Servers de-compress overnight, for next day's lessons.
    6. Each classroom has lesson on monitor in classroom.
    7. Teachers become 'tutors'/'coaches'.
    8. Learners have subject textbooks & work-books. Self education. All in pdf format. Print on site.

    SA could have one of the premier education systems on the planet.
    Best possible information highways from CEC to SS - satellite (full education channels), digital lines, Google blimps.

    It is not that difficult!!!
    In search of South African Technology Nuggets(R), for sale & trading in South East Asia.

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    Diamond Member Justloadit's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by desA View Post
    Change the way education is delivered!

    1. A large computer monitor/screen in every classroom.
    2. Centralised education centre (CEC), where best teachers possible present each subject.
    3. Servers at each school (SS).
    4. Lessons moved from CEC to SS continuously - in compressed format.
    5. Servers de-compress overnight, for next day's lessons.
    6. Each classroom has lesson on monitor in classroom.
    7. Teachers become 'tutors'/'coaches'.
    8. Learners have subject textbooks & work-books. Self education. All in pdf format. Print on site.

    SA could have one of the premier education systems on the planet.
    Best possible information highways from CEC to SS - satellite (full education channels), digital lines, Google blimps.

    It is not that difficult!!!
    Add with that local on site storage so that a lesson can be reviewed at any time by students.


    Also it is not necessary to even compress, or even have a local on site server, and IMHO a better solution, simply talk to MNET, and they could add these teaching channels to the satellite dish, and with a decoder, they would have the lessons at real time speed.

    The advantages here are that you do not even need ESKOM or electricity, but install a solar system to charge batteries up to power the decoder and TV and you can have a classroom anywhere in the southern tip of Africa. MNET is making so much money from it's subscribers and the addition of annoying adverts during prime time viewing, even though we pay to watch the contents via monthly subscription, that they could earn brownie points for allowing free education content to be transmitted on their spare channels.
    Victor - Knowledge is a blessing or a curse, your current circumstances make you decide!
    Solar pumping, Solar Geyser & Solar Security lighting solutions - www.microsolve.co.za

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