Re: A case study of perhaps unsurmountable weaknesses in our education system -- PNG Edukeisen Tok

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Subject: Re: A case study of perhaps unsurmountable weaknesses in our education system

Author:
atingolsem

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Date Posted: 04:58:51 01/07/00 Fri
In reply to: TK 's message, "A case study of perhaps unsurmountable weaknesses in our education system" on 11:42:54 01/05/00 Wed

I am not going to dwell on the example of an educated you gave, for the guy is a non-archetypical PNGn in many ways and yet is a product of the educational processes. We all are pretentious in some way with our educational acquisitions, some more conspicously so than others.

I am glad you have given some effort to you analysis of this phenomenon and I agree totally that there are conflicts to a large extent between what we learn in the formal educational settings and our everyday realities. You have detailed the scenarios very well - setting them as reasons for this lack of congruity between formal educational experiences the socio-cultural and economic realities wherein the formal system is located.

I don't have anything much to add except to suggest that perhaps the formal educational system is missing something, that its curriculum is perhaps divorced somewhat from the reality in which it is situated. Therefore, I have more questions than answers.

Where should our focus then be? Should the curriculum be related more to what is happening in the PNG context taking account of the differences in development from region to region and province to province? Should our teachers be teaching to context (of the students, the community and the PNG) socio-economic environment) rather than fulfilling the teacher's guide and the curriculum lock-step-and-barrel? Is there a more basic problem such as the adoption of a foreign educational process that the nation has yet to master? Can this problem be overcome by enabling a portion of first language English speakers to teach English and those with math majors at the undergraduate level teach math? Should we raise the basic qualification of teachers to be at the bachelors degree rather than diploma level and be more subject specific, i.e., that those with a math degree teach math and degree holders with language or English as major teach English? These options have costs of course but what should our educational planners be looking at?

To reiterate your point, I notice that in schools, for example in New Zealand and the US, daily parental involvement is the child's learning is very strong at home. This of course is based on the assumption that parents are more educated than their K-12 children so that they are able to help our in getting their children to understand better. I think you are referring to this and the larger environment of the PNG society which have different cultural expectations, responsibilities and the socio-economic and political environment within which the education system is struggling to survive and with which our students are expected to decipher connections between the actual realities and the book learning of the formal system of education.

I am sure the people in the education system have given this some thoughts and I believe Sir Paulias Matane had a report which had tried to re-orient the focus of the education processes to have a greater link with the realities. Sometime last year I believe he once again mentioned the phrase "education for living" which I beleive is partly addressing what you are suggesting.

Let me quit here before I continue to repeat myself.

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Replies:

Subject	Author	Date
Re: Unsurmountable weaknesses in our education system	Network	03:04:39 01/08/00 Sat

Re: A case study of perhaps unsurmountable weaknesses in our education system	ETD	13:28:13 01/09/00 Sun