On the one hand the Government is increasing class sizes and on the other, offering incentives for high standard teaching. One might wonder if the two won't cancel each other out.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to come to the commonsense conclusion that having more students in a classputs more pressure on a teacher and that inevitably, more children will fall through the cracks.
In a pre-Budget announcement, National announced education will get an extra $511.9 million but the "trade-off" will be an increase in the ratio of students to teachers. Is that an acceptable trade-off? More students per teachers so more work for the teachers, more students vying for attention - some struggling for any one-on-one attention from which they might benefit, eventually becoming disengaged and ending up in "at-risk". And further down the track, perhaps on the dole?
That may seem a dramatic scenario but our government surely can't think that making classrooms bigger will lead to better education for all?
Just like managing a business, "managing" students requires different approaches for different students. That's unlikely to happen if teachers are under extra stress brought on by increasing workloads. What's more likely to happen is a one-for-all approach which simply won't suit all students.
New Zealand Secondary School Principals' Association president and John Paul College principal, Patrick Walsh, has said bigger classes will have a negative effect on many students because teachers won't be able to deal with students one-on-one.
His arguments aren't new or original, they are things educators have been saying for years. Why won't the Government listen?
