Baden Eunson responds

I haven't posted to this blog for a few weeks, due to two essays I've been writing, the last of which was submitted yesterday. Thus, I returned to post some newsclippings on the VCE English exam, when I noticed that Baden Eunson had posted a comment to one of my previous entries. Eunson writes;

If blogging is even going to rise above the mire of vanity publishing- where writers do not so much opine as simply take their prejudices for a walk- then it really does need to get out of the "dear diary" womb and check out the facts first. Good writing is not simply pasting in a hyperlink and then dropping a throwaway line, but researching, and then, if necessary, ripping the other person to shreds.

This prompts me to explain my aims for this blog. It was never intended to be analytical in any way, although invariably this will seep in every now and then. Moreso, it was just a way of me familiarising myself with the issues surrounding teaching and education. Hence, it was always intended to be about "simply pasting in a hyperlink". Blogs don't have to be analytical or argumentative, they can be, as is the case with this blog, simply a scrap-book. I don't profess to have any real knowledge of pedagogy, which is why I usually steer clear of opining. I'm simply feeling the waters. But Eunson, I appreciate you sharing your thoughts, and am quite bewildered that you managed to find my little corner of the blogosphere. And the 'thowaway line', which was "As a related aside, ever notice how things were apparently always better when baby boomers were growing up?" was simply a whimsical dig at baby-boomers in general, and their frequent reminiscing of the golden '60s, not so much a suspicion on your research in particular.

VCE English exam

The 2005 VCE English exam, recently sat by 46,000 students, included a question on SMS text messaging and a Dilbert cartoon, along with questions on Keats, Shakespear, Graham Greene, and Henry Lawson. The Victorian Association for the Teaching of English said the writing task related to the effect of technology on communication. Kevin Donnelly, who prepared a report on education for the Federal Government, said "It's dumbing it down and the real concern there is that in trying to be accessible to such a wide variety of students, and in trying to not disadvantage those weaker students, I'd argue they're not really challenging the better-abled students". Some of the questions; Gattaca "The film shows not only Vincent's vulnerability but also his strength." Discuss. The Girl With a Pearl Earring " 'Thank you for reminding me of how helpless I am,' … " Does the text show Griet to be helpless? Hamlet "The play Hamlet demonstrates that the only way to succeed in a corrupt world is to adopt its values." Discuss. King Oedipus "This play shows that when faced with impossible circumstances, we can still show dignity and courage." Discuss. The Wife of Martin Guerre "Martin's selfish desertion of his family, not Arnaud's deception, is the main cause of everyone's suffering." Discuss.

English curriculum: past vs. present

Monash University academic Baden Eunson compares the current VCE English curriculum with 1966's. Back in those days, students may have been subjected to "boring, pedantic" teachers, but it produced a generation of students who "could spell, had a wide vocabulary and could construct and punctuate grammatical sentences". These days, Eunson says, students rely too heavily on computer spell-checkers. In Eunson's role as a teacher of professional writing to tertiary students, he claims he often has to cram the basics in, the fill in the gaps left by a less rigourous VCE. Today's VCE English, Eunson contends, is "a half-baked mish-mash of partially understood concepts from linguistics, critical theory and cultural studies". What's needed is...

...a substantial skills upgrading for at least one generation of teachers because English has de-skilled itself. It now no longer has a technical vocabulary they can deploy to work with students - the type of language that teachers in the 1950s and 1960s had access to.

As a related aside, ever notice how things were apparently always better when baby boomers were growing up?