Teach the teachers

When a friend asked at a school meeting a few years ago what were the key concepts her child would be learning that year, the beginner teacher couldn't answer. In an age when at some schools you can take a course in text messaging it seems even teachers no longer know what our kids are meant to be learning.

Whole terms are wasted on themed units about the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics. After six years in primary school, my daughter could recite to you the entire history of the Olympics -- but she has only a very patchy knowledge about the history of her own country.

The push by both major parties to have a national curriculum is long overdue but it will only be welcomed by parents if it unites the states behind a higher standard rather than the lowest common denominator. And it will only work if the people delivering that new curriculum are well trained to deliver it.

A report out this week found the training and morale of the teaching profession is just as big a problem as the curriculum they teach. The House of Representatives inquiry Top of the Class found one in five beginner teachers leaves the profession within their first five years of teaching. More disturbing for parents is that the report highlighted the worrying fact that the people teaching our kids may often have no command themselves of maths and literacy. Only four of the 31 universities that carry out teacher training require their students to have Year 12 maths.

Melbourne University told the inquiry it would have to disqualify half its student teachers if it required them to have Year 12 maths. That's why the House of Representatives committee is calling for trainee teachers to have their literacy and numeracy skills tested when they start their degree.

Having a good grasp themselves of what they should be teaching our kids is one thing, but knowing how to get that message across is another. In my job I get to question prime ministers and I've performed in front of television cameras and on radio. However, none of these jobs has scared me as much as the time I had to give a talk to the 25 kids in my daughter's class. Trying to hold the attention of 25 nine-year-olds, keep them under control and try to get a message across is no easy feat.

That's why you'd think our teacher training courses would be chock full of practical teaching experiences for our teachers. But they're not. In NSW, a person who graduates with a one-year Diploma of Education will have spent just 20 days in front of a class. Someone who does a four-year teaching degree will get 80 days in front of a class during their university training. In the ACT, the requirement is just 30 days teaching practice.

The inquiry found that very often this very important practical component of a teacher's education is not supervised by universities or assessed because they don't have the staff or the money. All the educational and psychological theory lessons in the world won't help when you've got to control a class of 30 kids, one of whom tries to use the Bunsen burners to set the science lab alight or throws a chair through the window. That's the sort of behaviour my cousin had to deal with in her first year of teaching.

It's when they leave university that the teacher training system really cheats new teachers. The inquiry found very few of them got any help at all settling in or learning to apply the theory they'd learned at university in the classroom in their first year out. In fact, nearly three out of four of them don't even get a permanent job so the schools who take them on have no vested interest in building up their skills.

A Department of Education, Science and Training survey of recent graduates found 57 per cent were engaged on short-term contracts. Fifteen per cent were stuck with the graduate teacher's nightmare of relief teaching work and only 28 per cent were in permanent jobs. The inquiry warned the teaching profession was rapidly ageing and over the next seven years we would be facing a serious shortage of teachers. Just having a warm body in front of a class will be the priority. No parent will be satisfied with this sort of system. Every parent wants their kids to learn the basics.

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Some easing of law on surrogate mothers

West Australian families unable to have their own children will soon be able to have a baby through a surrogate mother under proposed new laws. A new bill has been introduced into state parliament to help women who cannot carry a child because of medical reasons, Attorney-General Jim McGinty says. "My heart goes out to those women who cannot carry their own children and want to fulfil their dream of becoming a mother,'' Mr McGinty said today. "Surrogacy is currently not permitted in WA and, as a result, we have had instances where families have travelled interstate, or overseas, to jurisdictions where it is allowed.''

The new laws would not allow surrogacy for commercial gain nor would they force the surrogate mother to give up the child if she decides to keep the infant after birth. Mr McGinty said the surrogacy bill would provide a framework to regulate surrogacy arrangements and provide a mechanism through the Family Court for commissioning parents to be legally recognised as parents of the child.

Under the bill, surrogate mothers would have access to IVF if the commissioning woman would herself be eligible for IVF due to medical infertility. Birth certificates would have both commissioning parents named as the legal parents of the child

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Proof that warming in Western Australia is all about the sun

Post lifted from Gust of Hot Air

I promised you some good analysis on Southern Pilbara (central-west Western Australia) yesterday when I analysed the temperatures and I keep to my promise so here it is:

Yesterday we came up with the very unusual result that despite the fact that there was no significant increases in temperature from 9pm to 6am in southern Pilbara - and not even any recogniseable patterns - we found that the area recorded a significant increase in minimum temperature. This is very surprising. We also found that in the area temperatures were significantly higher from 9am thru to 3pm when the sun is at it's hottest.

At first look it's quite clear that the reason southern Pilbara is heating up is solely due to the sun. The sun is just getting damned hotter. So why the increase in minimum temperatures, especially when there is no difference in temperatures throughout the night?

I decided to have a look at the differences in temperature anomalies for neighboring times over the years. In other words, I looked at the temperature anomalies for Midnight minus 9pm. As previously noted, 9pm doesn't have a lot of data for Southern Pilbara so it is hard to find a pattern, and the statistics suggest no difference (t = 0.24, p = 0.81). In other words, Midnight has not been heating up at a quicker rate than 9pm over the years in Southern Pilbara.

The same goes for 3am minus Midnight, only this time we have a good amount of data. There is no pattern. Temperatuers at 3am have not been heating up quicker or slower than Midnight over the years (t = 1.4, p = 0.15).

But wow, look at this. When looking at 6am minus 3am, we find that temperatures have increased at a significantly higher rate at 6am than 3am (t = 5.3, p < 0.01). Keeping in mind that we did not find a significant increase in temperature at 6am, however we have found that the temperature increase at 6am is significantly greater than 3am. This has occurred with especial magnitude in the last 10 years as shown in the graph.

And a similar pattern occurs when looking at the 9am - 6am anomalies. A significant increase occurs (t = 6.04, p < 0.01). With temperatures increasing on average 0.5 degrees more in the past 10 years. If you look at the 6am and 9am graphs, this makes sence, as in the last 10 years 6am was about average temperature whilst 9am temperatures were about 0.5 degrees above the norm.

Surprisingly this is where the large boom stops. Analysis of Noon minus 9am temperatures suggest no increase or decrease in temperature (t = -0.6, p =0.55). A cyclic pattern can be seen, but this could be purely due to random variation.

And now for the even more surprising results. 3pm minus Noon saw a significant decrease in anomaly temperatures (t = -8.1, p < 0.01). The decrease is almost perfectly linear and is clearly obvious. So despite significant increase in temperature for south Pilbara for Noon and 3pm, 3pm isn't heating up as much as it has been 3 hours before.

The obvious linear line in the graph of 6pm to 3pm is startling. So perfect is the line, that the amount of variability is very small. The decreasing trend is very significant (t = -10.8, p < 0.01).

There was no significant difference in temperatures when looking at the differences between the 9pm and 6pm anomalies, however a smaller database for temperatures at 9pm could have been a factor (t = 1.3, p = 0.18).

So what does all this mean? How is this all relevant. Well let's summarise what we have just found. The rate of increase or decrease in temperatures with respect to the time 3 years prior makes little difference at night, but when the sun is a factor the difference is significant. Temperature anomalies at 6am and 9am have increased significantly with respect to the time 3 hours previous over the years, whilst temperatures at 3pm and 6pm have decreased significantly with respect to the time 3 hours previous.

But to understand fully what this means, we have to discuss very briefly how daily temperature works. Basically we reach a maximum temperature, and from that point on the temperature generally decreases. When the sun as set, there is no general reason why temperatures will be on the rise, so they decrease until the sun makes an appearance again. In southern Pilbara the sun rises in general half way between 6am and 9am depending on the season.

We suggested before that is was relatively obvious that the sun was a major factor in determining the average maximum temperature in Southern Pilbara, as we saw no increases in temperature over night. We have also proven that the sun has made significant increases in maximum temperature rather than minimum during years when Australia is heating up. So would a stronger sun therefore also have an influence on minimum temperatures? Our analysis suggests so.

Whilst no increases in temperature were found for Southern Pilbara from between 9pm and 6am when the sun was set, at 6am, the temperature increase as compared to 3am was highly significant. The sun, whilst not risen, quite possibly was warming up neighbouring areas more than normal, and adding heat to the air above at a greater rate than normal. Thus paving the way for when it makes its grand entrance at sunrise.

Hence, whilst not making a significant temperature difference at 6am before sunrise, it made a significant increase in temperature compared to 3 hours prior at a time where normally the minimum temperature would have been reached. This extra layer of heat paved the way for massive increases in temperature at 9am after the sun had risen. Following, due to the massive increases in temperature 9am, Noon and 3pm also had increasing temperatures due to the intensity of the sun, but not quite as dramatic as that when the sun rose. Hence we have a situation where we have a significant increase in temperature at 3pm but a highly significant decrease in temperature at 3pm with relation to Noon. I guess there's only so much difference that the sun can make.

So what can we conclude about Southern Pilbara? That increases in the suns intensity has caused the area to heat up during the day, to stay at a constant temperature during the night, and most importantly, that increased intensity in the sun has not only caused increases in maximum temperatures but also increases in minimum temperatures.

Who would have thought that the sun has something to do with heat?





Australian submarine fleet still a joke

Short of salors and half-blind anyway. Australia should be buying proven designs, not trying to design its own defence equipment.

Australia's submarines are having trouble spotting the enemy because of faulty periscopes. The navy has become so concerned by the problematic periscopes that it has commissioned a series of studies to explore ways to improve or replace them. The so-called search-and-attack periscopes on the Collins-class submarines are described by the navy as being "critical" to the "mission effectiveness" of the submarine fleet.

Crammed with hi-tech sensors and stealth characteristics, they are a far cry from the simple periscopes portrayed in Hollywood war movies. They are needed to give the commander a visual sighting of an enemy and, if they break down, a submarine is partially blinded and would be a liability in battle. But after more than a decade at sea, the search-and-attack periscopes are wearing out. "The periscopes were originally specified and designed over 15 years ago," a Defence spokesman said. "Obsolescence and normal wear and tear dictate that the periscopes are assessed and their maintenance routines reviewed."

Defence sources say the periscopes in the six submarines had so many faults last year that the repair company, BAE Systems, could not keep up. Relief for the repairers has come only this year because the submarines are spending less time at sea because of an acute shortage of crew. The issue is a setback for the submarine, which has overcome serious teething problems [Like having to scrap their entire computer system after spending around $300 million on it] to become one of the country's most effective defence assets.

Sources say some of the periscope breakdowns have undermined submarine missions but none has been serious enough to force one back to shore. "Periscopes have a built-in redundancy to ensure that defects do not adversely affect operations," a Defence spokesman said. The navy has commissioned a study to examine the future of the periscopes and help the navy plan for next-generation technology. In December, the navy also commissioned a report on "periscope spares usage and maintenance effectiveness" to ensure that the problems could be properly repaired. The periscopes provide the primary sensors for the Collins combat system.

The sensor systems on the periscopes include optical and electro-magnetic sensors for all-weather, around-the-clock surveillance, situation awareness and target acquisition. "These provide the Collins with its stealth characteristics and are critical to its mission effectiveness," the navy says. Despite their current problems, the periscopes are a vast improvement on those used in the 1990s. A 1999 Defence report said the first periscopes on the Collins-class fleet vibrated badly and did not focus properly.

Meanwhile, Opposition defence spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon yesterday said revelations in The Australian yesterday about the acute shortage of submariners were an indictment on Defence Minister Brendan Nelson. "A recruitment, retention and skills crisis in the Australian Defence Force is undermining Australia's national security," Mr Fitzgibbon said. "Revelations that staffing shortfalls of 30per cent in the submarine arm are hampering submarine operations highlight minister Nelson's failure to properly manage these key defence assets." The navy has been forced to cut the number of sailing days because of the acute shortage of trained submariners."

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