Thread: Projects for Years 7-12

hey Ian. thats a really good idea ( not that i can skate ) but it would be pretty cool to make. i'll put it on my "things i'll make one day list"

Originally Posted by journeyman Mick

Mark,
a few years back I started a Bachelor of Vocational Education, this would have enabled me to become a design and technology teacher. They allowed me credit for my trade (carpenter & joiner) and my degree (BA in Visual arts) My trade gave me about 6 months credit but my degree 2 years, meaning I only had to complete half the subjects. They only allowed a max of 2 years credit. To be quite honest although my degree gave me a second teaching subject I reckon my trade is worth heaps more.

Got about half way through and had to give it up as looking after a sick wife, studying and working just got too much. I was also pretty disatisfied with what I was (not) learning. Supposedly all the teachiong theory, but in practice it was pretty obvious that the lecturers weren't writing the material from any recent experience.

One assignment was about approaches to discipline problems. Wrote it and was happy with it, but had a feeling the lecturer wouldn't be. Showed my next door neighbour who is the principal of an indigenous school and who has spent a lifetime teaching in difficult situations and having to deal with all the discipline problems that this entails. She was impressed enough to ask for a copy to place in their resource folder for discipline. The lecturer hated it and barely passed me. So the work/home/care situation + underwhelming lecturers + the though of working for the education department vs a lifetime experience of the relative freedom of self employment saw the studies lose out. It's a pity as I do enjy teaching and would like to pass on my skills and knowledge.

Mick

this wasn't through a certain uni near smithfield would it? I didn't mind theory in the first year, but by the second I was starting to wonder when they were going to teach us what we needed to know when in a real classroom. The excuse offered for not doing this was that there is so much to learn they couldn't possibly teach it all....so things like how to organise reading books according to levels, doing reading and writing tests, teaching maths/english/science etc properly, behaviour management (a huge issue in some Cairns schools...) etc etc was not taught.

A classic example was in 4th year there was a subject called 'advanced maths and english', which you would think reasonably would be about teaching maths and english...wrong! All about how texts and discourses in life influence learners etc etc etc, post modern crap really...we had to do a journal of our weekly lectures about this as part of the assessment. Needless to say my weekly entries basically said how I learnt very little from the days dribble and how I wished we would learn something practical instead. Went over like a lead balloon with the lecturer, unfortunately he couldn't fail me as he wished as they had allowed us to mark our work in the journals as well!!!! So I gave myself a distinction for it...

The uni system is crazy...

i remember making a cat shape that sat on a stand . we had to use copeing saws to cut the shape and the hole that was the legs, rasps to round of the corners and lots of sanding of the thing to get it smooth. the base had a half inch hole in it and ya had to ge the legs into the hole so ya had to rasp it down to size.
it was about 12 inches high and looked like siamese haveing a spack attack.
the head was turned sideways looking at ya. i think the back was arched as well.
the base was round and ya had to round off the top edge. ithink we id this in yr8. the neck was long and thin and so was the tail. it was made out of 19mm pine.
the teacher was danny smith and the school pinnaroo area school in south aus

Womble,
no it was via correspondence from Central Qld Uni. The only way I could become a man arts teacher without going to residential college in Gatton.

Mick