A combination of powerful teachers’ union and progressive educational practices has produced a secondary education system that short-chagnes young Australians, writes Dr Mark Lopez.”The teacher just gets us to take turns reading out of the novel until the period is over.” This is what one of my Year 12 English students explained to me when I asked him why he had not taken sufficient notes in class as I had instructed him to do. “There is not much to write down,” he stressed.Another stu…
