ELIZABETH RATA: History of New Zealand Education
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- 3 hours ago
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Why did New Zealand have one of the best education systems in the world from the 19th century to the 1970s?
Why was that remarkable legacy deliberately dismantled? What can be done to restore quality education?
Professor Rata has produced 39 episodes that answer these questions. The first three will be released on September 18, and weekly thereafter.
Click on the video above to watch her promo for this series, and subscribe to Elizabeth's new YouTube channel here
As the saying goes, the best things in life are free. We will certainly be following this series keenly.
I am both surprised and delighted that the academic establishment has not managed to cancel or suppress Professor Rata. I am sure they do their best to make it uncomfortable for her and to drive her out. Unfortunately we do not hear any other academic voices supporting her (correct me if I am wrong). All strength and credit to her: may she thrive and succeed in completing the 39 episodes.
I was a secondary teacher in the 60s-70s and well remember visiting teachers in groups from Japan in my classroom observing our fine system in action. [OK it was a convent school] Poor souls would run a mile these days..... and I would NEVER teach today. Need to teach teachers.
Excellent!! You have an engaging presence and your speaking voice is easy to listen to. I do not have a detailed knowledge of our educational system but I am well aware of the "outputs". I employ well intentioned, hard working Kiwis — but their educational level is sub-standard. They often have a poor appreciation of the"Three Rs" and cannot think critically. We have to devote a lot of time getting them up to speed. You ask why NZs educational system was once the best in the world but is now sub-standard?. I think it relates to bureaucratic interference. The original educators would have been practical, commonsense people. The current educators are probably ideologues and bureaucratic bunglers. In my experie…
You can't go past the success of some academy schools in the UK. Similar to a charter school. Michaela School in Brent in North London draws from a deprived area and achieves, in absolute terms, similar academic results to Eton. Watch the video linked below. From an Opinion piece last week in The Times: Progress 8
This month we have been able to compare the performance of schools across England, at A-level and GCSE. We can discern which schools are doing well. Those you might think it would be wise for education training institutions to celebrate and learn from.
There is a rich diet of data from which to draw. But perhaps the best single reference point is a measure known…
Ramesh from the butter chicken tsunami of Remuera.
I am the child of two NZ teachers, and migrated here before I had commenced primary school. My mum trained as a high school teacher mainly in England, while my father trained as a high school biology teacher in this country. We arrived in this country when the nation still had an unofficial White migrant policy, but this was overlooked for our migration due to the nation's qualified teacher shortage. Mum was accepted as a primary school teacher here immediately ie without retraining, as her English teaching diploma made her an 'honorary Briton'. Dad became a science teacher here, because he had a Masters in science ( and was studying for a…