BURMA CYCLONE CRISIS

The Burma cyclone disaster just keeps getting worse.

 

What started as a natural catastrophe quickly turned into a humanitarian crisis. 

 

David Milliband – a ‘natural disaster’ is turning into a ‘humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions’.

 

If small steps had been taken – and if the Burmese government were a bit more flexible – then this crisis could have been stemmed.  If:

 

• The Burmese government had made it easier for aid workers and US military to enter the country
• The Burmese army had targeted their support to the worst hit areas – instead of just around the capital
• The government had speeded up aid processes once it became clear how the crisis was escalating and how many people were dying in the aftermath – due to lack of water and food

 

And now the government could be doing more to help adequately manage the dead bodies – to prevent spread of infection among other things.

 

When will they learn?

TEACHING REFORM NEEDED

Smaller class sizes do not help pupils perform better in school. 

A recent report with comments by the deputy director of the Institute of Education, Professor Dylan William said that cutting class sizes was not a cost effective way of boosting grades.

Classes needed to be reduced to 15 or less to have a significant impact, he said.  - This is impractical in most schools. 

Apparently – continuous monitoring of pupils’ assessment is a better way of teaching.  – Some schools now do this by offering a ‘traffic light’ system – where pupils hold up coloured cards to indicate whether they have understood what the teacher has said. 

Smaller classes help if children are unruly and hard to manage. 

But William has called for a complete over-haul of teaching methods – if we are to really get to the nitty gritty of the problem – and tackle it head on.

Tecahers need to allow more time for pupils to respond to questions, and take more trouble to check that they have fully understood what has been said.

So why are we still trying to reduce class sizes?

And why aren’t teachers taking more note of these and similar recommendations?

Perhaps the problem – relating to the latter point particularly – is one of ‘ego-teaching’.  Teachers think they know best.  Period.  Even if the way in which they are teaching is actually detrimental to students’ progress.  And pupils are really at their mercy.

Teachers need to listen to education chiefs when they say something isn’t working.  Because – chances are – they’re probably right.