People are funny cattle

People are funny cattle. 2016 provided an example of political upheaval in western societies that was never anticipated. Voters, sensing that their countries, especially the US and Australia, were being run and controlled by the rich and greedy; and that those for whom they had voted, kow-towed too easily to the desires of these big boys, responded in most unexpected ways.

Voters could not rely on their elected representatives [Democrats in the US and the Lib-Labs in Australia] to stand up to this kind of control; nor did our elected reps seem to care about basic human rights. They had allowed their democrat principles to be pushed to one side, chicken-like.

The voters didn't like it. They changed their voting pattern.

They looked for alternatives in representatives who spoke bluntly and seemed to reflect their own basic human urges. Donald Trump is now the new President of the US and Pauline Hanson is on her way in Australia. The trend will continue unless the electorate in both places thinks seriously about what makes a country human and progressive.

A return to the status quo in Australia is to, first and foremost, ban NAPLAN and install a schooling system based on humanity and cognitive progress....but, then, that takes some democratic political gumption.

Schooling is basic to the welfare of every country on the globe. How a country treats its children is an accurate measure of it greatness.Since 2000 in the US, and since 2008, copy-cat Australia has assaulted the dignity and cognitive development of its young in the most unseemly ways possible. The US is awakening...we aren't.

During the US elections in 2016, Democrat's candidate Bernie Sanders promised to"...end high stakes standardized testing and phony school accountability, and get the big money interests out of education." He understood what was going on.

Hillary beat him for nomination and hope seemed to end. However, it appears that positive political thinking has been provoked. Political candidates in the US now understand which side their butter is spread. The NCLB [NAPLAN's mother ] has now collapsed . As the New York Times recently published:-

Support for NCLB in Congress has collapsed; a vote today would probably yield as many "No" votes as there were "Yeas" in 2001.... the Obama administration has used its regulatory discretion to reauthorize the law by fiat, exempting states that sign on to its agenda from the requirement that all students be proficient in reading and math.

Australia's great model has been dumped! Kleinism aka far-based-learning is dying in its own habitat.

NAPLAN's mother is dead. What joy! There's a chance for Australia to survive. But....caution...her DNA survives down under.

Should Australia continue using NCLB's offspring NAPLAN? Our slump in PISA testing and our flat-lining of NAPLAN results during 2016, thanks to the test itself, is hardly any encouragement to continue. It is ruining our schooling system. That's for sure. How much confirmation do our law-makers want? What good reason is there for its continuance? Does it continue just because our politicians don't like children? Of course it follows American trends without question ....but....Is that a good enough reason?

Why can't we end high stakes standardised testing and phony school accountability and stop being pushed around by big money interests? Seriously! Take Bernie's [above] advice. NAPLAN's totalitarian mode of operation uses too many authoritarian [dare I say 'fascist'?] principles. There is no longer any freedom to learn in our schools. We are in for a pretty tough 2007 if NAPLAN is still in place.

It might be noted that some Australian states will be running some standardised tests in this coming February for little five-year-od, Year 1 pupils, to brand children for comparison with their NAPLAN results later in Year 3. Other reasons, whose reliability is quite suspect will be provided. Love and care and proximity to the learning act is usually more than enough for teachers to identify the strengths and weaknesses of five year olds. The collection of data for suspicious reasons, from children so young, is a bit over-the-top

If our school managers, principals and teachers are too timid to challenge the big boys, why can't our law-makers introduce some acceptable democratic principles like......an easy one...for starters....

Since NAPLAN destroys elements of cognitive behaviour in children, parents should actually give permission for their children to take the tests. This democratic right was removed when it was established and will, one day, be the source of litigation. As it is, parents give schools permission to take their children on excursions, school camps and the like because there is a risk of physical injury. Mental injury can be worse and longer lasting....and the threat of NAPLAN is real. There have been too many victims to date....turned off learning forever. No child should take the risk, unless mum and/or dad say so. It doesn't take much to handle. Parents and their children have rights.

You know, we adults have allowed this state of affairs to persist for eight years, now. We do do some funny things, don't we?