Tag: ACARA Crash

De Carvalho Hawks the New Curriculum

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June 24, 2022

3:44 pm

14 Comments on De Carvalho Hawks the New Curriculum

Australian Curriculum

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We still haven’t gotten to ACARA’s sparkly new curriculum. We do have David de Carvalho, however, to tell us all about its wonderfulness, and the wonderfulness of ACARA’s processes.

A couple weeks ago, De Carvalho was interviewed by Geraldine Doogue on Radio National’s Saturday Extra. Of course, Doogue asked De Carvalho all the tough questions. You can listen yourself, at the link below. Doogue introduces the discussion and De Carvalho as follows:

… primarily, the terms of reference for the new curriculum were to reduce the amount of content, the common ground being that all involved in education thought the previous curriculum was, quote, “a mile wide and an inch deep”. Well, my next guest argues that we now have a more teachable curriculum, that focusses on conceptual understanding … 

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AustMS Reminds Us That ACARA Stuffed Up

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June 7, 2022

11:52 am

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Australian Curriculum

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We still haven’t had the time, the energy or the stomach to analyse ACARA’s sparkly new curriculum. We’ll get there, we promise.

In the meantime, Ole Warnaar, the President of the Australian Mathematical Society and previous recipient of ACARA’s contempt, has written bluntly on just how farcical was the final act of ACARA’s two-year farce. Ole’s remarks, from his letter in the May issue of the AustMS Gazette are reproduced below. Continue reading “AustMS Reminds Us That ACARA Stuffed Up” →

A Bita Crap

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April 3, 2022

11:23 am

6 Comments on A Bita Crap

ACARA

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We’ve been trying to tone down the language on this blog. Honestly. But education reporters make it so damn hard.

To be fair, most of the reports of the passing of ACARA’s curriculum have been ok. Not good, not exhibiting much in the way of thought or memory or reflection, but ok. Sure, the reporters could have pointed out that the Wonderful New Curriculum is still secret, meaning nobody really knows whether the media releases are remotely accurate. They could have reported that the participants in ACARA’s final charade are still bound by ACARA’s insidious NDA and so have been cowed into not commenting. They could have reported that AMSI and AustMS have been silent, and most definitely have not signalled endorsement of the new mathematics curriculum. They could have pointed out that ACARA had screwed up royally, for years, and that the alleged improvements to the mathematics curriculum, if real and meaningful, only came about because of a massive campaign, a campaign which, until the very end, ACARA treated with utter contempt. But, after all, they’re education reporters; you can’t expect too much. Continue reading “A Bita Crap” →

ACARA, Annotated

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April 2, 2022

3:45 pm

5 Comments on ACARA, Annotated

ACARA

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Yesterday, ACARA’s draft curriculum was approved by the Ministers, as it was always going to be. The draft is, of course, still secret, since when did ACARA ever give a stuff about what anybody thinks? The draft is due to appear in a couple weeks. We shall be ready.

Until the draft is released, there is not a lot upon which to comment. We know some details of the reprehensible process of the last month, and we have been given some vague hints of the nature of the new curriculum. But, because of ACARA’s insidious NDA, and out of a respect for sources, there is little we have to write and less we are permitted to write. We know, however, what to be watching for, and we’ll be waiting. Continue reading “ACARA, Annotated” →

And Thus it Ends

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April 1, 2022

4:49 pm

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ACARA

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As it was always going to. The fix was always in. It just took time to fix the fix. Below is Minister Robert’s media release, grammar and all. UPDATE (01/04/22) Plus ACARA’s Media release, below below.

 

Minister Robert:

Education Ministers agree a new Australian Curriculum

Australian schools will have a new curriculum to teach after Education Ministers today endorsed the revised Version 9.0 of the Australian Curriculum.

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WitCH 78: Seeing Through De Carvalho’s Prism

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April 1, 2022

11:20 am

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WitCH

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Happy April Fools’ Day everyone. Guess which gang of fools is gonna get fooled, and guess which gang of fools is gonna do the fooling.

There’s not a whole lot of point to this any more, but it’s niggling. So we’ll post again on ACARA‘s thoughtful and classy CEO, David de Carvalho.
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ACARA is More Dangerous than Boaler

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March 23, 2022

9:46 am

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ACARA

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Yeah, it’s Godzilla versus Mothra. Either is sufficiently destructive to lay waste to a city. But, at the moment, Jo Mind-Set-In-Stone Boaler is less likely than ACARA to cause lasting damage. Really.

About a year ago, the California Department of Education (CDE) came out with its draft mathematics curriculum. The work of the inevitable maths ed types, including Slow Boaler, and seemingly without a mathematician within cooee, the draft was, of course, very bad and consequently it was very hammered. The draft was rewritten and, just recently, rewritten again. It is still very bad. It will presumably remain so. Continue reading “ACARA is More Dangerous than Boaler” →

David de Carvalho Wrecks the Joint

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March 15, 2022

9:56 am

14 Comments on David de Carvalho Wrecks the Joint

ACARA

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Recently, we decided to look a little at the writings of ACARA’s CEO, David de Carvalho. There’s not a lot to see. De Carvalho’s writings exhibit the calm smugness typical of a Catholic intellectual lightweight, and without any proper consideration of how the ideas expounded might play out in practice. There is some discussion of the nature of the Australian Curriculum (and NAPLAN), but not a lot. There is little acknowledgment of criticism and essentially no attempt at rebuttal. Nonetheless, there are some excerpts worth noting and worth hammering.
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