Qui tacet consentire

As many of you would be aware, I have a strong sense of right and wrong, particularly to do with social justice issues and education.

As you also know, i believe strongly in MLK Jnr's assertion that, "There comes a time when silence is betrayal"

So here goes some non silence about the VCE.

This is the second time that I have watched students in this jurisdiction go through the 'disciplinary regime' of VCE.

And I don't like it any more than the first time. This is a foul and draconian system that has seriously outlived its usefulness.

Here's how VCE structure debases the value of English.

To achieve the English component of VCE, students need only three units.

So, they can do Units 1-3 of English and that's that. Or Units 1- 3 of Lit or various combinations of this. there are a couple of other options too, but the minimum requirement is filled by what I've described here.

In the event that students do all four units of Lit or English, units 1 & 2 are formative, ie, they don't count in terms of marks, but count for units. If units 3 & 4 are done the marks count, but wait for it, the exam at the end of unit 4 is worth 50% of the entire mark and that result moderates the other marks. Sure, have the exam, but do not weight it like that!

So, a student who does brilliantly in the school assessed work, which is valid and then does poorly in the exam, which in all senses is an anomalous result, is penalised for the anomaly.

And all this from a situation where the study design says one of the conditions is to give students the best possible opportunity to succeed!

Go figure. Little wonder Queensland does what it does and has since 1973.

If adults had regularly to endure VCE type assessment in the 'real world' the system would be altered very quickly.

More later about this....