What are the key current issues in primary education?

Question

This is for an interview for my PGCE application

Answer 1

lack of GOOD teachers. hard to get rid of the bad ones because of the union. lack of funding. no competitive learning.

in florida we have the FCAT exam where schools are graded. good schools get more money and bad schools get less money. the bad schools get less funding therefore it is harder for them to catch up to the good schools, thus widening the gap between the two. the entire school curriculum is changed so instead of actually learning anything useful, the students learn only what is on the FCAT exam.

i really suggest you read this article: John Stossel's 'Stupid in America'. it should really help you. good luck on your interview!

Answer 2

No child left behind leaving the smart kids behind and dulling down the thinking skills of future leaders and innovators. Rote memorization and constant repetition are not the best way to develop critical independent thinking skills.

Students need to learn to find the questions not just answer clearly defined questions with all the input provided. Perhaps a project based approach would allow some improvements. And yes this should begin in primary grades. But required more from the teacher in the area of lesson plan development and fair gradig practices. (effort as well as end product must be considered)

How to provide a good education for students on multiple levels of ability.