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Schools don’t need chaplains, they need qualified counsellors

David Zyngier

By David Zyngier

Students need support, but religious commitment does not equate to professional counselling

ince Trump’s election in the US new legislative measures aim to impose hardline Christian values across US society as part of Project Blitz. The Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation (CPCF), which claims more than 600 politicians as members across state legislatures, is using the banner of “religious freedom” to impose Christianity on American public, political and cultural life.

Sound familiar? The In Australia, the Human Rights Commission had been asked to investigate the National School Chaplaincy Programme (NSCP) earlier this year, but declined on the grounds Philip Ruddock was already reviewing the country’s religious freedoms for the government.

While the NSCP is formally not religion-specific, 99% of chaplains are Christian while only 52% of Australians identified as Christian in the 2016 census.

Who runs the chaplaincy programs? How are they selected?

In 2014, the Abbott government removed the provision to fund secular student wellbeing officers introduced by the previous Labor government, meaning all chaplains had to be affiliated with a religion. Following the invalidation of NSCP by the high court in June 2014, the government redesigned NSCP, with funding now being delivered via states and territories rather than directly to schools

In 2018, there were 3,288 chaplains employed under NSCP in public and private schools so far costing the taxpayer almost $1b. Chaplains are sourced by and from various Christian church groups. These all have a Christian mission. Scripture Union Queensland, for instance, the largest provider of school chaplains in Australia, proclaims that “Our MISSION is to bring God’s love, hope and good news to children and young people”.

Critics of the NSCP argue that chaplains are seriously under-qualified to deal with vulnerable young people, that it is not appropriate to have a religious worker in a public school, and that the money spent on the programme is better needed elsewhere, such as to help children with disabilities.

The Australian Psychological Society has repeatedly criticised the NSCP. The director of the Black Dog Institute has expressed concern at the funding of chaplaincy over programmes backed by scientific evidence. Associate professor Andrea Reupert, director of Monash University’s mental health in schools’ project, described a chaplain’s comments to a student suffering from an eating disorder that she was “hungering for the word of the Lord” as inappropriate and appalling. Even the vice chancellor of the School of Divinity questions its propriety.

What are chaplains not meant to do?

They may not conduct religious services or ceremonies or lead students or staff in religious observances or deliver special religious instruction. There is considerable evidence that at least some chaplains are in breach of this directive.

Parents must give their prior consent to the provision of chaplaincy services to their child. There is much anecdotal evidence to suggest that this is often not the case.

What are the outcomes of the NSCP?

School chaplains or professional counsellors: If schools only had a choice

89% of school chaplains are employed in lower SES state schools. These under-resourced schools are glad to have any extra assistance. The websitesof the various state education departments are quite clear about their duties. Schools engage chaplains to support the educational, social and emotional wellbeing of students. According to a review by the National School Chaplaincy Association the issues that chaplains were confronted with more frequently included “behaviour management issues”, “peer relationships and loneliness”, “student-family relationship issues” and “grief and loss”. These are undoubtedly serious issues that students require help with. The question is: Should it be chaplains providing that help?

Your child has appendicitis. If given a choice between an unqualified but very empathetic and dedicated first-aider, and a fully qualified doctor, who would you choose to operate on your child?

As Professor Dennis Altman wrote, “our secular society is being eroded – one school child at a time”. We should either remake school chaplaincy as a proper welfare program or scrap it.

Source of the article: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/21/chaplains-or-counsellors-schools-should-have-a-choice

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Australia: Student debt: how the government’s Hecs changes will affect you

Noticias

Oceania/Autrialia/02.07.18/Source: www.theguardian.com.

On 1 July the threshold falls by more than $10,000, so if you earn at least $45,000 you’ll start repaying your loan

From Sunday, thousands of students and graduates across the country will have to start paying off their debts earlier than expected.

In the coming financial year, which starts on 1 July, anybody earning $52,000 or more a year will have to start paying off their student debts, which for most domestic and undergraduate students is known as the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (Hecs).

And that’s just the first stage of changes because the government announced plans to lower the repayment threshold further to $44,999 in the budget. The bill locking in that change was expected to pass the Senate this week but has now been delayed until parliament resumes in August.

Given the bill has not passed before the start of the 2018-19 financial year, the full reduction in the threshold will likely not apply until 1 July 2019.

When do I have to pay it back?

Under changes made in 2016, from 1 July 2018 people earning more than $51,956 will have to start paying back student debts.

If and when the Coalition bill passes, you will have to start paying your debt once you earn $45,000 or more a year, with a likely start date of 1 July 2019.

For the 2017-18 tax return, you will only pay your debt if you have a taxable income of more than $55,874.

Importantly, it’s not just graduates who are affected – you have to start paying your student debt as soon as you hit the income threshold, even if you are still studying.

You also still have to pay your debt if you’ve moved overseas. This used to be a loophole – worth $20m-$30m a year in lost revenue – but it was closed in 2016.

How much do I have to pay? 

The amount you pay rises as you make more money.

Under the new rules, those on the lowest bracket (more than $44,999 but less than $51,957) will have to pay 1% of their total income. For someone earning $45,000 before tax – or $865 a week – it would be $8.60 a week.

Those earning between $51,957 and $58,379 will have to pay 2%, and so on, rising to a maximum of 10% for those over $131,989.

It’s important to note that you pay a percentage of your total income – not a percentage of your debt.

The move will generate $345.7m in savings until 2020-21. Previously, any extra contributions you made offered you an extra discount on your debt, but this policy has been repealed.

Your total debt should be included on your tax return, and can be viewed on the MyGov website. You can also contact the ATO to ask for updates.

As well as Hecs, it includes other related debts like Fee-Help (for full-fee paying students), Vet Fee-Help (for vocational colleges), OS-Help (for when you study overseas or are on exchange) and SA-Help (when you take a loan to pay your $149 student services amenity fee).

How long do I have?

A Hecs debt is effectively an interest-free loan. Rather than charging you money, the government indexes your debt to the consumer price index – the amount goes up every financial year, but by not more than the rate of inflation, so the effective change is zero.

This means it shouldn’t cost you more to pay off your Hecs over a long time, and there is no time limit to pay it off.

The yearly indexation only applies to debts older than 11 months, and it happens every 1 June.

However, the government’s changes have also created a new a lifetime cap on all Hecs loans of $104,440 – starting on 1 January 2019. Previously there was only a cap on postgraduate, full-fee and vocational loans. The cap is higher for those studying medicine, dentistry or veterinary science ($150,000)

Only loans taken out after 1 January 2019 will count towards the cap – so existing debts do not.

Can I reduce or cancel my debt?

If you are a nurse, midwife or teacher, or a maths, statistics or science graduate, you may be eligible for the Hecs-Help benefit, which will reduce your Hecs debt.

The scheme was cancelled by the government on 1 July 2017. However, because you have two years to lodge a tax return, if you were eligible in the 2016-17 financial year, you can still claim it until 30 June 2019.

If you were eligible in the 2015-16 financial year, you have until Sunday to claim it.

Eligibility criteria are quite complex, so check with the Study Assist websiteand the Australian Taxation Office.

In special circumstances, you can also have some of your Hecs debt cancelled.

If you failed a subject, or had to withdraw from a subject due to illness or other circumstances, you can apply to your university or education provider to have the debt for that subject cancelled.

If you withdrew after the census date without a special circumstance, you still have to pay the Hecs debt for that subject. You also can’t cancel the debt for a subject if you successfully completed it.

After revelations that many private colleges were exploiting the Vet-Fee loan system, the government also introduced debt cancellations if your vocational provider committed “unacceptable conduct” – for example, if you were pressured into signing up for a course, were offered money or goods to sign up, or were lied to about how much the course cost.

Source of the notice: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jun/28/student-debt-how-the-governments-hecs-changes-will-affect-you

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Australia: Universities oppose foreign influence legislation

Noticias

Oceania/Australia/universityworldnews.com

Reseña: La legislación federal para rastrear la influencia de los gobiernos extranjeros en Australia afectaría el trabajo de miles de académicos que colaboran con investigadores fuera del país, dice Universities Australia. La organización ha pedido a los parlamentarios federales que respalden las enmiendas del gobierno a su propuesto Plan de Transparencia de Influencia Extranjera. Sostiene que la legislación impondría una nueva burocracia y restricciones significativas a los esfuerzos de Australia para trabajar con socios internacionales «en tecnologías de vanguardia». El proyecto de ley también enfureció a las autoridades chinas que lo consideran un ataque contra los vínculos cada vez más estrechos de China con empresas australianas y otras organizaciones, incluidas universidades. Más de 170,000 estudiantes de China están estudiando en Australia y representan un asombroso 45% de las matrículas de estudiantes internacionales, con mucho la mayor proporción de extranjeros de un solo país. Pero la preocupación ha estado creciendo entre los principales políticos, y muchos en el público en general, sobre la influencia que China está tratando de ejercer sobre las políticas australianas. El gobierno afirma que la legislación no está dirigida a ningún país en particular, aunque China es claramente el objetivo principal. Y también lo está Rusia, siguiendo la experiencia de los Estados Unidos con esa otra nación comunista durante sus últimas elecciones presidenciales. Duncan Lewis, jefe de la Organización de Inteligencia de Seguridad de Australia, se refirió a las amenazas extranjeras como evidencia que dio a una audiencia en el Senado el mes pasado. Lewis describió la escala actual de la actividad de inteligencia extranjera contra los intereses australianos como «sin precedentes». «Los actores extranjeros intentan de forma encubierta influir y dar forma a las opiniones de los miembros del público australiano, los medios australianos, los funcionarios del gobierno australiano y los miembros de las comunidades de la diáspora aquí en Australia», dijo en la audiencia. Entre las comunidades más grandes de Australia nacidas en el extranjero, hay personas de China. En una presentación ante el Comité Conjunto Parlamentario sobre Inteligencia y Seguridad, Universities Australia dijo que las enmiendas propuestas por el gobierno a su legislación de influencia extranjera habían «recorrido un largo camino» para resolver las preocupaciones del sector de educación superior con la propuesta original. La directora ejecutiva de Universities Australia, Catriona Jackson, dijo que las enmiendas propuestas eran una forma sensata de hacer que el plan fuera más factible. «Cada vez que un académico australiano trabaja junto con un colega en el extranjero, aportan nuevas ideas y experiencia valiosas a Australia», dijo. «Estas enmiendas significan que nuestros investigadores increíblemente talentosos pueden dedicar más tiempo a resolver los grandes problemas de Australia y menos al papeleo». En declaraciones al comité, Jackson agradeció al Fiscal General Christian Porter y al gobierno por resolver los problemas planteados por las universidades.

Federal legislation to track the influence of foreign governments in Australia would affect the work of thousands of academics collaborating with researchers outside the country, says Universities Australia.

The organisation has called on federal parliamentarians to support the government’s own amendments to its proposed Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme.

It argues that the legislation would place significant new red tape and restrictions on Australia’s efforts to work with international partners “on cutting-edge technologies”.

The bill has also infuriated Chinese authorities who see it as an attack on China’s increasingly close links with Australian business and other organisations, including universities.

More than 170,000 students from China are now studying in Australia and they comprise a startling 45% of international student enrolments, by far the largest proportion of foreigners from just one country.

But concern has been growing among senior politicians, and many in the general public, about the influence China is trying to exert on Australian policies.

The government claims the legislation is not aimed at any individual country although China is clearly the main target. And so is Russia, following the United States’ experience with that other Communist nation during its last presidential elections.

Duncan Lewis, head of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, referred to foreign threats in evidence he gave to a Senate hearing last month. Lewis described the current scale of foreign intelligence activity against Australian interests as “unprecedented”.

“Foreign actors covertly attempt to influence and shape the views of members of the Australian public, the Australian media, officials in the Australian government and members of the diaspora communities here in Australia,” he told the hearing.

Among the largest of the overseas-born communities in Australia are people from China.

In a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, Universities Australia said the amendments proposed by the government to its foreign influence legislation had “gone a long way” to resolve the higher education sector’s concerns with the original proposal.

Universities Australia Chief Executive Catriona Jackson said the proposed amendments were a sensible way to make the scheme more workable.

“Every time an Australian academic works together with an overseas colleague, they bring valuable new ideas and expertise home to Australia,” she said.

“These amendments mean that our incredibly talented researchers can spend more time solving Australia’s big problems, and less on paperwork.”

Speaking to the committee, Jackson thanked Attorney-General Christian Porter and the government for resolving the issues raised by the universities.

Compromise amendments

Porter has agreed to present compromise amendments to government legislation that sets out a register of foreign agents. The amendments would limit how many groups the bill would apply to.

The changes are designed to resolve criticisms of the legislation by universities, charities and others, as well as ensuring acceptance by the opposition Labor Party.

The bill for establishing the register is being considered by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. On 14 June, the committee released a bipartisan report that accepted 60 amendments to counter the threat of foreign interference.

Porter said that having the legislation passed by the end of the month would allow for Australia’s new legal framework to be adopted promptly.

He said this was designed to address espionage, interference and foreign influence in Australia’s democratic processes and would be fully operational before the next scheduled general election.

The bill currently provides that people be required to register if undertaking certain activities on behalf of a foreign government, public enterprise, political organisation, business or individual.

The amendments would limit ‘foreign principals’ to foreign governments, foreign government-related entities, political organisations and government-related individuals.

“This ensures that only organisations or individuals ultimately working at the direction of a foreign government or political party are required to register,” Porter said.

In response to criticisms by universities and charities, Porter said the definition of ‘undertaking activity on behalf of a foreign principal’ would be amended.

This would mean a person would not be deemed to be undertaking an activity merely because they were supervised by, received funding from or collaborated with ‘a foreign principal’.

Fuente: http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20180621094856451

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‘High degree of motivation’: Augmented, virtual reality transforming classrooms

Pallavi Singhal

Por Pallavi Singhal

When their school got 3D printers a few years ago, Brenden Davidson’s year 10 technology class was finally able to rotate and fully explore their designs.

Then in 2016, the technology leader of learning at St Mary’s Cathedral College started bringing augmented and virtual reality into the classroom.

«It’s an easier way to do it, we’d finish the design work and put it in augmented reality so they could view their work,» Mr Davidson said.

Now, he’s going even further with the technology.

«When I first started, I was just using it as a tool to display their work. Now I’m trying to use it as a content creation tool,» Mr Davidson said.

«With virtual reality, you’ve got sensors in your hand and you’re using your whole body to design something and it’s in real scale in front of you. Traditionally you’d have a keyboard and a mouse, which is not an overly natural way to construct something.»

Mr Davidson won the Premier’s Teachers Mutual Bank New and Emerging Technologies Scholarship last year and recently completed a study tour of England, Sweden and America to look at how augmented and virtual reality are being used in education around the world.

«What I learnt on the tour was that AR and VR can be successful at many levels and it’s very easy to jump into it at the free level,» Mr Davidson said.

«If students are using their smartphone, they’re bringing the technology with them and they can just use augmented reality at no cost. With virtual reality, you can get headsets for a couple of dollars.»

Mr Davidson said the technology is useful across all subjects, with companies now beginning to augment textbooks.

«You can scan the page and a 3D solar system will appear and you can rotate and move that around,» he said.

«It can help students digest complex concepts at a higher rate, we look at things in a 3D perspective so it’s more natural and easier to understand than 2D things.

«And there’s a high degree of motivation, students are quite excited by it because some of them are having that experience with games but it’s something they’ve never done in the classroom.»

The dive into educational uses for technology by schools and businesses comes amid warnings that smartphones and other devices may be affecting students’ focus in the classroom, as well as their level of physical activity and quality of sleep.

Finnish education expert Pasi Sahlberg recently said smartphones should be banned, at least at the primary school level, which was supported by NSW Education Minister Rob Stokes.

However, Mr Davidson said industry developments and widespread phone ownership are making tools such as augmented and virtual reality far more accessible in schools.

Mr Davidson will speak to Australian teachers about the potential uses of the technology at conferences this year and will also write a report on the subject that will be published by the NSW Premier’s Department.

«There’s a level of awareness [about augmented and virtual reality], but when I demonstrate it at different places teachers can see the benefit of it,» he said.

«You can go on virtual excursions to anywhere in the world, students can get an immersive experience in Africa, the Great Barrier Reef.

«With the amount of money that’s being invested in this, it’s going to become a tool students can utilise in all their education.

«And teachers can see how they can quickly and easily put it into what they’re already doing.»
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La ayuda al desarrollo en educación aumentó un 13 % en 2016, según la Unesco

UNESCO

UNESCO/ 29 de mayo de 2018/Fuente: https://www.eldiario.es

La ayuda al desarrollo destinada a la educación aumentó en 1.500 millones de dólares (1.278 millones de euros) entre 2015 y 2016 en el mundo, lo que supone un alza del 13 por ciento, hasta alcanzar la cantidad récord de 13.400 millones de dólares (11.416 millones de euros), anunció hoy la Unesco.

Dos terceras partes del avance registrado en 2016 se debieron a la ayuda financiera para la educación básica que aportaron Estados Unidos, el Reino Unido y el Banco Mundial, según el documento publicado por el Informe de Seguimiento de la Educación en el Mundo de la Organización de Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (Unesco).

Señala que «Noruega destinó doce veces más financiación que Estados Unidos, si se analiza la ayuda para la educación básica en relación con la renta nacional bruta».

Además, afirma que, si todos los países desarrollados y algunas economías emergentes siguieran el mismo camino que Noruega, destinando «el 0,7 % de su renta nacional a la ayuda humanitaria y el 10 % de esta ayuda a la educación, habría recursos suficientes para lograr que todos los jóvenes terminasen la enseñanza secundaria».

«Este incremento es un signo positivo de que los donantes reconocen cada vez más la educación como un pilar del desarrollo», considera la directora general de la organización, Audrey Azoulay.

Para el director del informe, Manos Antoninis, los donantes «deben centrarse más en la educación básica y secundaria, así como en los países más pobres, a fin de compensar la falta de financiación que está frenando los avances globales en materia de educación».

El documento, titulado «La ayuda para la educación: ¿vuelve el crecimiento?», destaca también la necesidad de reducir el coste del crédito para este ámbito y propone «crear un servicio financiero internacional para la educación destinado a los países de ingresos medios bajos».

A pesar de que este mecanismo supondría un avance importante, los autores del informe insisten en la necesidad de hacer «más esfuerzos para velar por que la financiación se utilice» sobre todo en los Estados de ingresos medios bajos.

Fuente de la Noticia:

https://www.eldiario.es/sociedad/ayuda-desarrollo-educacion-aumento-Unesco_0_774823456.html

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New Zealand: Decile funding system changes in education will not be successful if made in isolation

Noticias

New Zealand/May 29, 2018/Source: https://www.nzherald.co.nz

Education is one of our most critical sectors, and it is hardly surprising, therefore, that education policies and practices are often among the most controversial.

Government ministers want to make their mark on the portfolio, research and other international developments offer continually evolving ways of looking at the way in which we teach and learn, societal changes mean schools increasingly take on a larger role in children’s lives – all of which can mean increased funding pressures and regular changes to systems, processes, learning models, curriculums, and measures of achievement.

Those changes, and increasing immigration and mobility, mean parents have often learnt in different places and ways to their children, which can make understanding new systems and supporting children in their learning difficult, too.

The overall result can be one of confusion and alienation, when parents should be able to rest assured their school is equipping their child with what they need in order to go confidently and competently out into the world.

Various reports over the past decades have highlighted increasing inequality in educational achievement. Alongside that, the egalitarian notion of a free state education is fast becoming a myth, as the cost of the basics, plus «voluntary» donations for all the extras, puts immense pressure on families.

Political parties, unions, school boards, teaching staff, parents and children may have very different ideas about various education policies, yet it seems, when it comes to the latest debate – over the school decile funding system – there is a consensus.

The 20-plus-year-old system was designed to allocate funding and staff to schools according to the socioeconomic demographic of the surrounding area, yet it has had the undesirable effect of being used by parents as a perceived measure of educational standard, leading to distorted rolls, zoning implementations, and the use of terms such as «educational apartheid» and «white flight» as middle-class parents snub local low-decile schools.

The previous National-led Government had planned a new funding system based on the risks of each student underachieving (draft factors included ethnicity, mother’s income and age when she gave birth, and whether the male caregiver was not the biological father), and the new Labour-led coalition Government still plans to adopt the system – although it will make some alterations and has just said it will defer the introduction for a couple of years while it sorts out funding. Education Minister Chris Hipkins is also anxious to ensure the new system does not simply end up transferring stigma from schools to individual children (even though the data to be used will be anonymised) and, in line with this thinking, he has also renamed National’s «risk index» an «equity index».

While change is clearly necessary, care and caution are essential for the sake of stability for the country’s educators and learners. It is vital to ensure there are no unintended negative consequences. It is also timely to examine whether a significant funding boost is required to help the sector cope with the diverse demands on it today.

An egalitarian education system remains an admirable and worthwhile aim, yet achieving that will be impossible in isolation. Until the yawning socio-economic disparities are addressed elsewhere, their effects will inevitably continue to be felt in the classroom – no matter how well-meaning any government or how dedicated the country’s teachers.

Source:

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/education/news/article.cfm?c_id=35&objectid=12058502&ref=rss

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Descolonizando el conocimiento y la pedagogia: Vek Lewis (Video)

Noticias

Australia / 27 de mayo de 2018 / Autor: Gala TV Acapulco / Fuente: Youtube

Publicado el 21 may. 2018
Actualmente, algunos consideran que el pensamiento crítico ya se ha agotado, Sin embargo, Los movimientos sociales en México han emergido desde inicios del siglo XXI y hasta hoy día continúan dispuestos a luchar por los derechos sociales, políticos, económicos y culturales principalmente de la ciudadanía. El Catedrático de la Universidad de Sydney, Australia, Vek Lewis, quien forma parte de una escuela de lenguas y culturas ofreció la Conferencia «Descolonizando el conocimiento y la Pedagogía» en la Universidad Hipócrates del Puerto de Acapulco. Con el objetivo de activar el aprendizaje crítico

Fuente: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOZ0r9EbtBw
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