Nigel Latta on Education

Nigel Latta on Education

I really enjoyed Nigel Latta's TV documentary on the gap between rich and poor so I was looking forward to his piece on NCEA ( TVNZ series 1 episode 2 Nigel Latta ). Oh dear, not so good. I have written him a letter outlining my concerns. The text you can read below...


I enjoyed your TV documentary on the gap between rich and poor in New Zealand - well done. However in another TV documentary you dealt with NCEA and I wasn't so impressed. You missed several areas where education in New Zealand is seriously lacking. I am a former teacher and currently a parent with children in primary and public secondary school - and University. So I think I know what I'm talking about. Where did you go wrong ?

1. You did not compare apples with apples. You looked at one secondary school, populated by middle-class children. Then a primary school decile 1. What about comparing one high school with another and in different deciles ?

Within the secondary school you were in GATE classes ( gifted and talented ). That year 10 physics was at year 12 standard !!

What about questions such as; how many children are recidivist non-attenders, and what happens to the bottom 25% ? What about drug use ?

2. Many of those teachers you talked to, in reality, rarely now teach. That's right, as you get better as a teacher you get promoted out of the classroom. Most classroom teachers are either unable to get promotion or are new.

In NZ, education is incentivised to teach less, not more.

3. You did not talk to people outside Education. What about parents, employers and unions ? ( he did talk to those outside of teaching but in a limited way - edit )

4. Does NCEA actually achieve what it sets out to do ? How about comparing normative curves ( likely what they used in your day ) with achievement standards used today. Are schools effectively still using normatives ? ( they are in effect ).

Basically prime time was used to produce a feelgood puff piece. That was a shame as it could have been so much better.

Sincerely,

Ken Horlor