Tag Archive - Public

Public vs Private #4 | Sport

July 20, 2009 in Education with 5 Comments

Hang glidingAt a private school, co-curricular sport is usually compulsory.

The series on whether to teach in public or private schools continues. This is series of posts to discover all of the factors in deciding where to teach, so as to make the most informed choice for my situation. I hope that others may participate in this discussion and may use these thoughts in making their own decision. This thought was proposed by Kate Ramshaw.

The fact that co-curricular sport is compulsory means that teachers are often called in for participating in coaching. From my knowledge, each teacher is normally required to coach a team.

This has both positive and negative sides to it. The fact that you cans spend extra time with the students outside of class allows the teacher to continue their influence in their lives. It may also allow students to see the teacher in a different setting and possibly build respect. This is of course if the teacher has a sport that they are enthusiastic to coach.

Sport however, takes extra time. In the life of a teacher, especially a new teacher, there is already restrictions on time. Will the extra time taken to coach mean that sacrifices will need to be made in the rest of your life?

Read the rest of the posts in this series at Public vs Private | Main Page.

Public vs Private #3 | Support

June 27, 2009 in Education with 9 Comments

Red FlowerTeaching is hard. Being a Christian is hard.

Therefore, being a Christian teacher is very hard.

At a public school, a Christian teacher is likely to be in the minority, with very few other Christian teachers if any at all.

There will be older teachers who will be able to support your teaching, they may even mentor you and give you excellent advice, but whatever they tell you, it will not be directly influencing your walk with God.

However, at a private school, there are likely to be many other Christian teachers, many of whom will have been teaching for a long period of time.

These Christian teachers will be able to support you not only in teaching, but in being a Christian teacher. This support would be very useful in the early years of teaching especially, as the teacher tries to understand how to best serve God in their field. The fact that the teachers can work together in glorifying God means that they can share experiences of discussions with students or parents, and also particular struggles that they may have.

Of course if every Christian teacher went to a private school, then there wouldn’t be a single Christian teacher in a public school. But it is something to consider in this debate. If you have an opinion on this, let me know in the comments.

Read the rest of the posts in this series at Public vs Private | Main Page.

Public vs Private #2 | Scripture

June 23, 2009 in Education with 4 Comments

ClassroomNSW is one of the few places in the world (I do not know of any others) that allows scripture to be taught in public schools.

This is an incredible opportunity.

(If you have not read the first post in this series, please read it here now, it is a basis for all thought)

Scripture (or SRE, Special Religious Education) is mandated to be part of NSW government schools.

“In every government school, time is to be allowed for the religious education of children of any religious persuasion, but the total number of hours so allowed in a year is not to exceed, for each child, the number of school weeks in the year.”

Education Act 1990 No 8, Part 6 – 32 Special religious education

So SRE has a definite space in public schools,. SRE in NSW is also mandated to be based on an opt-out system, rather than an opt-in system (Education Act 1990 No 8, Part 6 - 33 Objection to religious education).

Scripture is the norm, and the public support it as well! 65% of the broad population in NSW support SRE (From here).

So scripture is in schools, and it is important, but what does that mean for teachers?

Teachers can have an impact on the number of hours of scripture that is taught, and also on when it is taught. This can be done through a few main avenues.

  • Teachers can be a voice in the school that supports SRE, this is vital as the principal decides when and where scripture is taught.
  • Teachers can also support clergy and other lay teachers through actively encouraging scripture publicly.
  • Teachers can also encourage students to learn during scripture by valuing it themselves, rather than dismissing it as “time off”.

If you are a teacher in a public school, then you can actively support the teaching of scripture at your school. You cannot do this at a private school.

Read the rest of the posts in this series at Public vs Private | Main Page.

Public vs Private #1

June 16, 2009 in Education with 16 Comments

TeachingOver the coming months, I’m going to be trying to decide whether to teach in a private school or a public school. This is going to include a series of posts documenting my ideas on this issue.

A few things to note before I start

  • I know there are great reasons for teaching in both private and public schools. There is not a right or wrong choice.
  • I want to know which would be best for me in serving God.
  • My views on this could change, so although I am trying to work this out early in (not even half-way through) my degree, I may not feel this way in 2 years.
  • I would really appreciate others jumping in on the discussion.
  • This process will also hopefully help me (and others) to think about how we can actively serve God through teaching
  • This process involves thinking mainly about Primary schools, but a lot of it will be relevant for Secondary schools as well.
  • Finally, in this process I am referring to private (independent schools) and public (government schools). I personally do not think that I would teach at a Christian school or a Catholic school.
  • UPDATE: Will be referring to the school system within NSW, Australia.

That’s the basis from which I will be writing the rest of the posts.

Let’s see what happens…

Read the rest of the posts in this series at Public vs Private | Main Page.

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