Job Discussion Forums

[buravirgil]

"Seventy teachers from the UK were sent to Shanghai to study classroom methods to investigate why Chinese students perform so well...in international tests such as PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS..."

As reported in this Business Insider article, sourced greatly from World Economic Forum.

The method and technique of language learning is somewhat insulated from these "analyses", but the intersection is not small. I'm intrigued by this cohort of 70 UK educators and a likely agenda to frame pedagogy so divisively.

[AGoodStory]

I remember reading an article a while back about how scores were skewed in certain locations, because they had devised a system which somehow restricted the pool of test-takers to high-achievers; and low-achievers were successfully excluded. Shanghai was specifically mentioned. I don't remember many details, but I'll take another look to see if I can locate the article.

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[zacharybilton]

When I went to professional school, one of my attending professors and another professor used to make us write 5000+ word paper presentations, due in 2 days, any time we presented information to them or groups in which we used abbreviations. Even in context of profession, topic, etc. abbreviations can be either unknown, misunderstood, confused, or have other issues that can be misleading, dangerous, or just a waste of time.

Please clarify your post with all those abbreviations (be them initialisms or acronyms). I'd be willing to bet that more mainstream abbreviations in ESL (English as a Second Language) such as TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) or TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) are still unknown to people here. One of my colleagues still thinks TOEFL is "Teachers of English as a Foreign Language" and believes IETLS is International English Teachers Learning System. I had class after him one day and he had written dozens of ESL related abbreviations on the board with their long-meanings. It's one of the best pictures I have. Now, my daily laugh is to see what idiocy is written on the board after his class. I reward students for finding his mistakes before I come to class.

[7969]

[rogerwilco]

[roadwalker]

Comparing test scores is pointless and meaningless. It's a way for salespeople to sell frightened parents and administrators new paradigms, programs, books, and widgets. When you hear, "education reform," watch your tax dollars/pounds/euros/etc.

[Shanghai Noon]

Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Macau were all represented individually. No secret was made that only Shanghai was represented from mainland China. Next time, they will test some more provinces.