A reader says teachers must have excellent training in the science and craft of teaching. Photo / 123rf
Letter of the week
Bryce Wilkinson (NZ Herald, November 16) is certainly right that the Government urgently needs to work on lifting our educational outcomes in order to lift our living standards, and even more wonderfully, to give us a truly well-rounded, well-educated community.
In many articles about school education it is often the curriculum or testing — or even worse haircuts, jewellery or cellphones — that appear as the topic that matters. How wrong we have it.
What really matters in teaching is the quality of the teachers.
They must be well educated themselves, with both broad and detailed knowledge in many areas. They must have excellent training in the science and craft of teaching and sufficient learning time to have developed and practised the skills required in class management.
Many people assume that anyone who has got through primary and secondary school is well and broadly educated enough to train as a primary teacher.
This is not necessarily so, especially given the nature of the present system of secondary school assessment.
In the secondary field, there is an assumption that people who have specialised in a degree are also well and broadly educated, but they may not necessarily be well trained in the science of teaching and practised in the skill of class management.
These assumptions are not answered or solved by the teacher training systems we have in place in NZ. We need vastly improved training and assessment of our teacher trainees.
Quality training is clearly important. We also need a curriculum with fuller scope and sequence laid out.
And, most importantly, we need a selection system that will ensure we train people who are already well educated with much to offer our children in the way of skills and knowledge.
Judy Bogaard, Wairoa
No to congestion charges
Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown is going to impose a tax on commuters who work in the city to compensate for a loss in revenue from the petrol tax. He seems to think people have options and they can manage this tax by flexible working hours — but he is clearly misinformed. I work in the city, and I already pay $180 a month for carparking. This new charge will increase the cost of getting to work by another $200 a month. I do not earn enough to cover this tax and it makes working in the city more unaffordable. I do not have the option of flexible work hours, and if I took public transport I would lose two hours out of my day.
Businesses don’t want us working from home, but there is no money left for discretionary expenditure so there is no benefit from returning to the office. Will the petrol companies reduce the price of petrol in Auckland to reflect the removal of the tax? Unlikely. If the council were genuine about congestion, it would know the motorways and roads are congested all day, not just at peak times.
Our public transport options are substandard and not robust enough to get people out of cars, and the poor driving standards in this country contribute to the congestion. For example, driving onto the motorway on-ramp, cars stop and wait for a gap in the traffic, instead of maintaining traffic flow and merging like a zip. This will be just another deterrent to go into the city.
K.S. Agar, Ōnehunga
Spark up and build it
Every time I take the train to Britomart, and that is regularly, I despair at the state of the Spark Arena train station — oh sorry, there isn’t one!
It’s a no-brainer to have a platform there.
And before Auckland Transport moans it’ll cost too much, I’ll build it for $100,000 plus materials and I’ll have it open in 12 months.
Rob Smith, Otāhuhu
Luxon and Apec
Christopher Luxon’s reluctance to attend Apec because of coalition issues at home may well be one of the most damaging choices for our country he could possibly make.
A meeting to introduce himself and show the new face of Aotearoa NZ to world leaders is vitally important in today’s political climate. For him not to attend will potentially suggest we either aren’t interested in engaging with our trading partners and defence allies face to face, or that we are too small a country to bother with.
Either way, it shows an incredible lack of political and diplomatic experience and acumen on his part. Surely his attendance in San Francisco for a few days mixing and mingling, creating new relationships with those who are the most influential players in our global region at this most unstable time, is a priority above all others at the moment.
David and Winston can have a “get to know you better” time while Luxon’s away. Another week’s wait, however frustrating it feels, might actually work for them all and subsequently for our benefit as a nation.
Jeremy Coleman, Hillpark
Fish and chip negotiations
With the new coalition meeting to thrash out their agreement, I was surprised to see them holding these meetings at Auckland hotels. Christopher Luxon spent considerable time telling us about the wasteful spending of the previous government, but here we have them paying, I assume taxpayer dollars, for a meeting space at a four-star hotel. The National Party headquarters is in Greenlane, just a short Uber ride from the airport, and has more than enough space for the three parties to meet. It also has excellent cafes and restaurants, including the very popular Epson Fish and Chip Shop, nearby to cater for their needs. I’d hate to think the wasteful-spending talk was just talk.
Grant Whitehouse, Birkenhead
What a palaver
My 1.1km-long residential street is to have footpath repairs happening for three weeks from 7am to 6pm. No stopping signs, roadwork signs, 30km/h speed signs, and 200-plus cones have been delivered. Cones are now out preventing anybody parking on the road for the next three weeks.
Each side road off our street now has cones for a 100m on both sides of those roads, even though no work is taking place on those roads.
We also have two stop-and-go teams. There are two traffic control trucks and a number of traffic control people standing around. Tow trucks are relocating parked cars.
Approximately 100m of work repairing the footpaths was done yesterday. We only have a footpath on one side of our road, except for a 100m stretch where both sides have a footpath.
Why do they have cones on both sides of the road?
Our street doesn’t attract a high volume of footpath walkers or cars during the day. The disruption to the residents on our road and the side roads now is unbelievable — and this is to go on for the next three weeks.
Lesley Baillie, Murrays Bay
A quick word
A congestion tax will free up the motorways and make them safer? Don’t kid yourselves. Through lack of planning, Auckland’s only solution will be to construct an overhead network of motorways as Bangkok, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other cities have been forced to do when there is no more land to widen at ground level. If Chinese trade is so important to NZ, they have the capital, engineering and construction teams to do the job.
Richard Buddle, Papakura
Anyone would think the three political leaders had never heard of the policies of each party. Perhaps National will rule out NZ First next time.
June Kearney, Ōrewa
Some people are frustrated because the National-Act coalition has not got a majority of votes to be able to form a government and may not be able to form a government with NZ First. These people are now suggesting a minority government be formed. However the Opposition is a lot more cohesive than they think, and with NZ First’s support, it would have a majority and be able to govern for the next three years. The last thing we want in New Zealand is for democracy, which is government by the majority, to be ignored.
David Mairs, Glendowie
“When shall we three meet again?” asks the NZ Herald (November 16), quoting the first line from Macbeth, where three witches plot how to exploit the weakness of the tragic hero. The scene ends: “Fair is foul, and foul is fair; Hover through the fog and filthy air.” Quite so.
Arch Thomson, Mt Wellington
I’m wondering if the new coins and notes for King Charles III will feature the pūteketeke, Bird of the Century, or the dodo? Which will Treasury use? Decisions, decisions.
Barbara N. Barwick, Gisborne
Hearing that Chris Bishop self-splattered with coffee riding his e-scooter to the government setup talks in Auckland must raise the question of drinking while riding? E-scooters probably need both hands on the “wheel” or “handlebar” — like we expect from the three parties in our new government. There is room here for a Kiwi innovator to provide a straw-powered coffee dispenser for e-scooter users.
Rob Buchanan, Kerikeri
The coalition negotiations are complex. Give them time. MMP is working.
Tim Sommerville, Te Aro
Surely the congestion tax on key roads into Auckland would work more effectively if the funds generated were used to subsidise public transport (half price fares) and encourage more road users to opt for public transport.
Alison Feeney, Remuera
Terrific work by Otago Museum to date the moa footprints found in the Kyeburn River, and to build a detailed picture of the bird’s size and movements. Terribly sobering, though, to realise that an animal that had been on Earth for at least 3.6 million years was hunted to extinction in a geographical blink of an eye, shortly after the arrival of humans on these islands.
Duncan Simpson, Hobsonville Point
If State Highway 25a repairs can be completed three months early and come in under budget, there is absolutely no excuse for any other project anywhere to not be given the same level of importance. Roading needs urgency with critical early finishing timeframes if we are to make progress.
John Ford, Napier
There are no female candidates in Wellington's mayoral race this year.