NCEA "technology". Is it total bullshit, or am I barking mad?

[Ixion]

I read an article in the esteemed Harold t'other day. This one http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/s...ectID=10378134.

Which prompted me to ask "Eh, woz thiz "technology" he's ratting on abart, nayway". I know what *I* mean by "technology", but what do these ejemacashin wallies mean by it. And how can you have an exam in it?

After a bit of ferreting, I figured out that "Technology" was a grab bag into which they'd thrown what we used to call Metalwork, and Woodwork, and Tech Drawing, and added Information Technology and Food Technology. Plus a bunch of other stuff that used to be for the girlz, like cooking (which I was pissed off they would not let me take at school - I really liked the idea of a subject that involved eating), and clothing (which I later acquired some proficiency at, by one of those strange twists of fate).

Now, back in the day, I knew what Metalwork and Woodwork were about. Personally, I got stuck in an academic stream , and didn't get as much time as I'd have liked at them, but what there was, was good. You got to make things, and use machines, and hit things with hammers and all such good guy type stuff. And the kids in the tech stream got pretty good at it, and mostly seemed to enjoy it. And came out of it when they left school, with some good skills and a good base for an apprenticeship or whatever.

And I also know somewhat of Information Technology (cos I was doing it before they invented that poncy name for it), and a passing bit, and a bit more, about Food Technology. All of which I would have thought would have been pretty keenly taken to by boys.

So, what have those plonkers done to these good and venerable subjects , that has stuffed them up so much that boys are failing at them, I wondered. I mean, I can't believe that boys have changed so much that they would no longer reckon that using a lathe was cool. Or hitting things with a hammer.

So I went and ferreted around on the Department of Education website, to try to find out.

Oh, my Gawd, what an experience. My eyes. My sanity. All I can say is, what a load of turgid, mealymouthed pompous, meaningless waffle, dished out by a bunch of cardy wearing treaty babbling poofs.

I waded through this steaming tripe in the hopes of a simple statement of what boys were expected to actually DO nowdays in these "technology" classes . Could I find such? Could I nelly.

The best I could find was this load of utter bollocks http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/ncea/assessm...-knowledge.pdf

And this chundering load of drivel http://www.minedu.govt.nz/web/downlo...rix-jan-06.doc

And all I can say is, if this crock of meaningless crap is what boys today are being subjected to, it's no wonder they're failing. Or, more precisely, they are , correctly, reckoning it's bullshit and tuning out.

So, anyone with actual experience of all this. Am I barking mad? Or is the only hope for parents with boys nowadays to chop the balls of the poor blighters before they go off to school, and tell 'em to pretend they're girlygirls, cos that's the only way they're going to get a fair deal from the education system? (I'm bloody certain that there aren't any balls at the Ministry of Education )

[Ixion]

Eh, wot gives 'ere ? Who closed me thread? an' why? ('Tis open again now)

[James Deuce]

The reason girls do better at NCEA (massive generalisation that too) than boys, is because (generally) girls flourish in a nurturing environment, and boys thrive on competition (generally). Remove competition and most boys are left floundering.

[sAsLEX]

The reason girls do better at NCEA (massive generalisation that too) than boys, is because (generally) girls flourish in a nurturing environment, and boys thrive on competition (generally). Remove competition and most boys are left floundering.

So the gender gap that was established 15 years back has now gotten worse with this excuse for an education system? Well thought out plan to stop it spreading. Herald ran something on the front page about it yesterday I think.

Ixion, its even spread to uni no longer is Engineering pure Engineering, No those that start now are forced to undertake papers in the likes of the arts etc, to keep us more rounded as people.

[sAsLEX]

The reason girls do better at NCEA (massive generalisation that too) than boys, is because (generally) girls flourish in a nurturing environment, and boys thrive on competition (generally). Remove competition and most boys are left floundering.

To lazy to edit other post.....

Kinda goes for my point as well that boys, when concerned with school, are generally lazier.

But to stop digressing, its not cool to be smart!

That is a clincher I think that modern youth society does not value high grades as items to be proud of. A nice set of chromes on the other hand , all on HP and likely to be repoessed, is worth much kudos.

Kinda funny now being in Engineering at Uni where being smart is looked upon as a good thing in my peer group.

[BuFfY]

Personally, I think the way they have set up NCEA technology is great. The transtition from primary school technology to high schools is way better from how it used to be. If you have a good look through the technology curriculum you may have a different view because it has actually been done really well.

They are teaching students 'life skills'... enquiry... logical reasoning. It isn't just about throwing some ingredients at them and saying cook! They now look at food safety and what foods they should and shouldn't eat due to fat content etc. So perhaps this is why boys aren't achieving as well as they used to? and not taking it as much? Because they actually have to sit theory tests... not all practical?

Well that is just my opinion any way! I am not studying to be a high school teacher yet I was in the year who were lucky enough to start out with NCEA! Yet I liked it...

[Coyote]

I'm currently doing level 2 metalwork and level 2 graphics. I'm not sure what's the problem. Those that fail tend to be dicks who don't take the class seriously. Level 2 is great now most of the dorks that piss around and did nothing have failed which leaves us that have got to the next level to get to work

[Krayy]

Just had a quick look through the PDF that Ixion linked to and if anyone can point me in the direction of a pre-pubescent 13 year old boy who fully grasps that doc, I'd like to forward his name to Mensa.

Expecting a raging hormone on legs to explain about key stakeholders, issues registers and keep updated logs on what skills they learned while making a handee towel holder (although thats probably a discriminatory object as it infers suppression of wimmin-kind) or a wood and sandpaper match striker (although that would encourage arson) is damn stupid.

Best thing I made in woodwork was a mess

[yungatart]

Boys are disadvantaged at school, by our education system for loads of reasons .....
more female teachers at high School now- the boys that do well under female teachers are likely to be "charming" or "cute",
lack of healthy role models,
the way the curriculum is taught and assessed favours girls,
lack of competition,
it is so NOT cool to be smart and do well,
parents who don't value education,
girls dominating now in subjects that used to be boy orientated
boys needing a totally different learning environment to girls
boys are emasculated by our whole society, not just the education system
the vagaries of male adolescence-how the hell are they supposed to concentrate on the Theorem of Pythagoras , when they get a burst of Testosterone every seven seconds...
I could add to it but to what end any way. As long as we have a society run by "women" (and I use that term loosely eg Helen Clarke), whose hidden agenda includes totally oppressing males there is no hope for NZ education system and our boys within that system.
We as parents have to treat our boys like boys. not girls with a winkle...

[Ixion]

..

If you have a good look through the technology curriculum

Where is this curriculum? All I could find was stuff like the twaddle in the links I posted

(BTW, food safety and nutrition were taught in cooking even in my day. And they had to sit theory exams as well as practical)

I found this

The definition of
technology given in Technology in the New Zealand Curriculum is somewhat
broader than that in common usage (Burns, 1991) and forms the basis for
understanding what is taught as school technology. The definition given is:
“Technology is a creative purposeful activity aimed at meeting needs and
opportunities through the development of products, systems, or
environments. Knowledge, skills and resources are combined to help solve
practical problems. Technological practise takes place within, and is
influenced by, social contexts” (Ministry of Education, 1995, p.6).

I wish someone would tell me what that drivel actually means, and what it has to do with anything technological, and what social contexts (whatever the hell they are) have to do with knowing how to use a lathe to make something that works and is well crafted.Or write a computer program that works.

[Ixion]

I'm currently doing level 2 metalwork and level 2 graphics. I'm not sure what's the problem. Those that fail tend to be dicks who don't take the class seriously. Level 2 is great now most of the dorks that piss around and did nothing have failed which leaves us that have got to the next level to get to work

Ah so you ought to be able to answer the original question . What do you actually DO in metalwork? And why is it not cool in some eyes. I can't believe any boy could not agree that belting the shit out of stuff with a big hammer was not cool .

(The dicks that dick around and fail have always been there. That hasn't changed )

[Rosie]

Kinda funny now being in Engineering at Uni where being smart is looked upon as a good thing in my peer group.

Like anything, I think it's cool to be normal. When you're at school, and you're one of the top students in your year, you are a bit different.
You go to uni, and it seems like half the people there were dux/head student/whatever at their school. So it becomes normal, something of a non-issue even. I couldn't tell you who the smart or dumb people in my engineering class were.

With regard to the wording of the NCEA technology thing, you'll probably find that they teach all the same sorts of things that they used to, but it had to be translated into meaningless strings of buzzwords for someone in Wellington.
We have to do the same thing to get research funding out of the government. You can't say "We'll discover cool things and save industry lots of money" you have to produce concept documents that no-one understands, and loosely tie them to the research that needs to be done.

[MSTRS:Me]

.... So perhaps this is why boys aren't achieving as well as they used to? and not taking it as much? Because they actually have to sit theory tests... not all practical?...

Precisely!! What good is a bunch of theories to a boy? Give a boy a tree and watch what he does. Now put another boy in front of the same tree BUT first tell him to draw piccies of it, plan his way to the top when he climbs it, take note of the difficult bits and how to overcome them AND then describe what he achieved from the 'process'....yea fuckn right....I'll show you a boy who will say to himself "fuck that" and promptly switch off until the lunch bell goes.
Trade Skills or Hard Technology or whatever wood/metalwork are now called, and the way they are 'taught' these days is partly the reason why we have a dearth of decent tradesmen in this country (not counting anyone over 40 who got proper trade training)....
eg we had a heat pump installed at home today. Two guys - 1 Pom and 1 Aussie - where were the Kiwis?? In school writing screeds of bullshit perhaps

[Coyote]

Ah so you ought to be able to answer the original question . What do you actually DO in metalwork? And why is it not cool in some eyes. I can't believe any boy could not agree that belting the shit out of stuff with a big hammer was not cool .

(The dicks that dick around and fail have always been there. That hasn't changed )

I'm currently learning how to use glass reinforced plastics. We had to design a car and now we're making a plug of it, and some people have made the mould of it. I've liked the subject so far as I like car design and I like drawing, but I lot of my friends didn't like it because they thought they couldn't draw and it was incredibly boring for them. Although everyone has enjoyed making the cars thus far

Last year we got to belt the shit out of a lot of stuff though. I also had my hair catch on fire 3 times and I was electrocuted with 140 amps. Great fun

[MSTRS:Me]

...contexts ....

Let's examine that word.....Con = a ripoff, have, a lie...Text = something in written form.
Says it all really....