Aussie Friends of Treehorn
Thinking About NAPLAN as Child Abuse ?
NAPLAN is an Australian designed data-driven device used in classrooms to direct curriculum traffic towards lower-level mediocrity.
NAPLAN is a form of state-driven child abuse forced on all schools to create tension and stress on children going about their normal learning activities.
NAPLAN is part of the State Theory of Learning : FEAR and DOMINATION motivate learning better than anything else.
There are many definitions of NAPLAN. It is being used in Australia to divert school leaders and their teachers from the proper exercise of their craft and it prevents pupils in schools from applying full learnacy techniques to their personal cognitive development.
It is a nasty, nasty business. Its origins are soundly embedded in the profit-making motive of big corporation’s publishing, syllabus programming and the use of digital devices businesses. As stated by one who knows*, it is worth billions and billions of dollars.
It is important for political controllers that the stories behind the introduction of NAPLAN remain hidden. Sensitive to its potential to damage the mental health of children, especially the seven and eight-year olds in Year 3, captured schools were forbidden from informing parents of their right to refuse to undertake the test; and schools are still also forbidden, in most states, to express their professional views on high stakes testing if the comment is antipathetic to the program.
State Driven Child Abuse.
In parts of the US, the high stakes tests, close relatives of the NAPLAN kind, are called Common Core Tests. Here is one reaction to its influence on children’s health. The teacher Beth Dimino mentions ‘Common Core Syndrome’, a legitimately recognised affliction that such tests cause to children’s mental health. The Australian version “NAPLAN Syndrome” is just as toxic, or more so.
Later in her talk, Beth Dimino mentions ‘Mommies” in a special way that many US folk have, of referring to parents of school children. She is directing her comments at the Superintendent of her School District.
Teachers and parents reading this Treehorn will also be impressed by these sorts of teachers who are prepared to stand up for kids. Here’s another who says….
“I will not distort curriculum in order to encourage students to comply with bubble test thinking,” continues her letter. “I can no longer, in good conscience, push aside months of instruction to compete in a state-wide ritual of meaningless and academically bankrupt test preparation. I have seen clearly how these reforms undermine teachers’ love for their profession and undermine students’ intrinsic love of learning.”
For children’s mental health, let’s hope that something like this happens somewhere in Australia soon.
*Rupert Murdock. It’s worth $500millions per year to his businesses.
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Treehorn: Why can’t we kids have a pupil-centred, achievement-oriented, shared-evaluation as part of the learning process, holistic-learning-based-curriculum? Why? Why?Why?
Testucator: We prefer the profit-based, stress-laden, teacher-squirming, unreliable test program, thanks to Murdoch & Klein. We won’t change it. We tell you what to do.
Treehorn: Why can’t you replace tension with challenge, fear with encouragement, ritual with creativity, teacher-bashing with professionalism, subject-hate with love-of-learning, time-wasting-tests with shared-evaluation ?
A testucator is a pretend schoolie who is unable to understand the theories and practices of learning. Unable to share positive evaluation of children’s learning efforts,each ignores children’s rights to healthy cognitive development.and just test them from time to time for peculiar purposes..
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The Treehorn Express 