The totally off-topic thread

[whatmeworry]

I thought this still existed? At least it did a few years ago when I did my DipEd....

Qualified teacher here who gave up on the idea of teaching. So many schools with a massive distrust of anyone with a PhD ("you will rush back to research given the chance" was the line trotted out over and over again, nevermind the apparent shortage of good science teachers). I did enough relief teaching to realise I didnt want to deal with poor behaviour on a daily basis, its exhausting and demoralising. I've gone back to science, but in an administrative role, and I love it. I dont get threatened physically or verbally, and I dont have to take my work home with me. Its a pity; I love the interaction with students, I've done teaching in some capacity since I was an honours student but the current crop of kids and their parents make me want to run a mile.

Brother said If I went into teaching, only teach at a private school as the kids there are motivated to learn as most state schools are slowly burning.

 

[Hvr]

Brother said If I went into teaching, only teach at a private school as the kids there are motivated to learn as most state schools are slowly burning.

Well if they don't appear motivated their parents are required to move them to a state school.

 

[anat0l]

Brother said If I went into teaching, only teach at a private school as the kids there are motivated to learn as most state schools are slowly burning.

Could blow either way: either the kids are reminded by their parents that they paid good money to send them to private school, so they better learn; or, the teachers are yelled at by parents that they paid good money to them to send their kids to private school, so damn well make them learn properly!

Most private schools are religiously aligned. That means one needs to be practising in that faith, commonly a prerequisite before being able to be considered for employment.

A shame to hear that the only way for the state schools is going down. Then again, we are not currently a society which truly values an educated one to be motivated enough to fund one properly. Whether that's a bad thing or not is not clear cut, so be it.

 

[whatmeworry]

That's pretty poor compared to Sydney and Brisbane where council CEOs are earning over $500,000/year.

Obscene doesn't begin to describe it. The upper circles have really lost touch with reality.

In Victoria, the state government has legislated rate rises can only rise inline with CPI unless they have special circumstances.

Of course my council is squealing there will be an $80 million shortfall over 10 years but I guess my CEO at only 300k a year is a relative bargain.

 

[blackcat20]

Brother said If I went into teaching, only teach at a private school as the kids there are motivated to learn as most state schools are slowly burning.

My first teaching placement was at a private school. On day one, a student was busted for dealing/distribution of drugs, and another required an ambulance after being pushed off a fence by another student. Yet the students at my local public school were a delight to teach.

 

[RooFlyer]

<snip>

Most private schools are religiously aligned. That means one needs to be practising in that faith, commonly a prerequisite before being able to be considered for employment.

<snip>.

That's a bit out of date in several respects. Very strong growth in non denominational private schools during the '90s & '00s. And traditional Anglican backed schools have rarely required a teacher to be a 'practicing' Anglican since the 1960s or so.

 

[penegal]

Most private schools are religiously aligned. That means one needs to be practising in that faith, commonly a prerequisite before being able to be considered for employment.

That's a bit out of date in several respects. Very strong growth in non denominational private schools during the '90s & '00s. And traditional Anglican backed schools have rarely required a teacher to be a 'practicing' Anglican since the 1960s or so.

This is ancient history. Most private schools in Australia are religious only in name now (obvious exceptions are the more traditional Catholic and Jewish schools).

Religious Education in most private schools now consists of the wonderfully lazy teaching tool of showing a DVDs about some religion, and perhaps some ethical issue. Many of the better schools now teach students about all the major religions. (NB Jedi is not recognised yet).


Even in my day, my English teacher was definitely not religious. He swore in class all the time and took the lords name in vain almost every lesson. And we are pretty sure he was cheating on his wife with the maths teacher. However when he wasn't cursing he certainly knew the beauty of the English language.

 

[penegal]

My first teaching placement was at a private school. On day one, a student was busted for dealing/distribution of drugs, and another required an ambulance after being pushed off a fence by another student. Yet the students at my local public school were a delight to teach.

Common misconception / "class" distinction.

Wealth and "misbehaving" aren't really correlated in any meaningful way.

 

[Hvr]

<snip>

Even in my day, my English teacher was definitely not religious. He swore in class all the time and took the lords name in vein almost every lesson. And we are pretty sure he was cheating on his wife with the maths teacher. However when he wasn't cursing he certainly knew the beauty of the English language.

Maybe it was because of your vain attempt at spelling? :mrgreen: Unless he slashed a vein?

 

[penegal]

Maybe it was because of your vain attempt at spelling? :mrgreen: Unless he slashed a vein?

No vein slashing that I am aware of, although he did suffer mild superficial thrombophlebitis, but we never saw him sporting those stockings.

I was a poor student of English, and never really took to the language. Years later I wish I had been more diligent.

 

[JohnM]

And even with a specialisation in genetics, I cant do just any genetics...because I dont have the training. Plus the field has changed so much since I did my PhD that a lot of my skills are redundant now. It's hard to catch up again.

Not on the CRISPR bandwagon, then .

 

[blackcat20]

Not on the CRISPR bandwagon, then .

You need microsatellites genotyped, or mitochondrial genes sequenced, then I'm your girl. I was known as PCR queen for a reason.

 

[JohnM]

You need microsatellites genotyped, or mitochondrial genes sequenced, then I'm your girl. I was known as PCR queen for a reason.

Don't they have machines that do that now .

 

[drross]

I thought this still existed? At least it did a few years ago when I did my DipEd....

Qualified teacher here who gave up on the idea of teaching. So many schools with a massive distrust of anyone with a PhD ("you will rush back to research given the chance" was the line trotted out over and over again, nevermind the apparent shortage of good science teachers). I did enough relief teaching to realise I didnt want to deal with poor behaviour on a daily basis, its exhausting and demoralising. I've gone back to science, but in an administrative role, and I love it. I dont get threatened physically or verbally, and I dont have to take my work home with me. Its a pity; I love the interaction with students, I've done teaching in some capacity since I was an honours student but the current crop of kids and their parents make me want to run a mile.

still does in QLD

 

[Major]

Just thought I would say Hi

We have been on a 2 week cruise and the Internet charges were a bit over the top. I decided to have a break and so far have spent the afternoon just reading the posts in this thread from the 19th Jan. Plenty of reading still to come

 

[medhead]

In Victoria, the state government has legislated rate rises can only rise inline with CPI unless they have special circumstances.

Of course my council is squealing there will be an $80 million shortfall over 10 years but I guess my CEO at only 300k a year is a relative bargain.

In fairness the Brisbane city council budget is bigger than Tasmania's state budget. Another key difference is there are only 2 councils in the greater Brisbane area - brisbane city and logan city. Unlikely melbourne, sydney and adelaide that have thousands of councils. Not sure about perth.

This is ancient history. Most private schools in Australia are religious only in name now (obvious exceptions are the more traditional Catholic and Jewish schools).

Our kids school requires a 1 year course on religion for the teachers. I'd be surprised if catholic schools are that religious, in other areas of endeavour the catholic institutions are an open school and welcome the involvement of us "laypeople".

My first teaching placement was at a private school. On day one, a student was busted for dealing/distribution of drugs, and another required an ambulance after being pushed off a fence by another student. Yet the students at my local public school were a delight to teach.

Apparently my school had a group of the girls selling themselves. I was too busy with fantasy role playing games to notice.

 

[blackcat20]

Don't they have machines that do that now .

Exactly why Im no longer required :-| My area of expertise is molecular ecology...governments arent too keen on funding conservation projects.

 

[serfty]

Off Grid - battery storage on ABC 'Catalyst' now (SE Coast) ... finding it fascinating ...

 

[Peter D]

Off Grid - battery storage on ABC 'Catalyst' now (SE Coast) ... finding it fascinating ...

That was a great programme. Thanks for tip off.
If anyone missed it then it's well worth catching up on iview.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

............
We have been on a 2 week cruise and the Internet charges were a bit over the top. I decided to have a break and so far have spent the afternoon just reading the posts in this thread from the 19th Jan. Plenty of reading still to come

I do that too when we go cruising. No AFF - I go cold turkey, but someone I know cant.