Artwork for podcast Neuroeducation
#010 - The Australian Education System is Failing 📚📉
Episode 10 • 16th February 2024 • Neuroeducation • Angie Dee
00:00:00 00:09:27

Share Episode

Shownotes

In this episode of Neuroeducation, host Angie Dee discusses the intersection of politics and education. She highlights how taxpayers are the ones funding the education system and argues that they should also have a say in how it operates. Angie criticizes the current outdated and boring factory-style method of education and calls for a revolution in the system. She empowers listeners to take action and make a difference in shaping the future of education.

Transform your parenting with 'Montessori Made Easy' a course to help guide your child to thrive in a digital world with creativity, independence, and resilience. Click to explore a toolkit that will help you navigate the messy parts of parenting and rediscover the best parts of parenting: https://teachplayconnect.com

Follow The Neuroeducation Podcast:

https://www.instagram.com/neuroeducationpodcast/?hl=en

https://www.tiktok.com/@neuroeducationpodcast?_t=8iBmpacOWAr&_r=1

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHtouj8CkOyCDrVIO98BHLw

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61553970581049

Timestamps:

00:00:00 - Introduction

00:00:31 - The State of Education Funding

00:01:15 - The Need for an Education Revolution

00:02:09 - Political Engagement in Education

00:03:01 - Montessori Programs in Brisbane Schools

00:04:07 - Parent Advocacy for Montessori Education

00:05:11 - Neuroscience and Montessori Method

00:05:44 - Community Involvement in Education

00:06:06 - Parental Activation for Educational Change

00:07:11 - Supporting Overworked Teachers

00:07:53 - Montessori Curriculum in Australian Schools

00:08:59 - Call to Action for Local Educational Change

00:09:10 - Closing and Podcast Subscription Information

Transcripts

Speaker:

Our money is currently funding a totally outdated, factory-style

Speaker:

method of education. It's f***ed. Welcome to Neuroeducation,

Speaker:

where we're exploring the neuroscience of how to switch on the brain to

Speaker:

supercharge learning. I'll be sharing with you innovative teaching techniques,

Speaker:

effective parenting strategies, and educational advocacy. I'm

Speaker:

your host, Angie Dee. Together, let's revolutionize children's

Speaker:

learning. Hello

Speaker:

and welcome back to Neuroeducation with Angie Dee.

Speaker:

Today we're talking about politics and education and what you

Speaker:

can do. We have an education system

Speaker:

in Australia that is funded on the backs of

Speaker:

taxpayers. That's you, that's me, that's

Speaker:

your brother, your sister, all of the people you know. When

Speaker:

you look around they are the people that

Speaker:

are literally funding our education system.

Speaker:

Now we are funding this education

Speaker:

system. If we are the funders we should also have a

Speaker:

say and in this democratic nation that we live in

Speaker:

We have a democratic right to have a say how our

Speaker:

education plays out. What is

Speaker:

our money currently going towards? Sadly,

Speaker:

our money is currently funding a totally outdated

Speaker:

factory style method of education. And

Speaker:

excuse my French, it's fucked. Because children

Speaker:

are sitting there day after day bored as

Speaker:

batshit. I feel like what we

Speaker:

need is a total education revolution and you

Speaker:

and I can have a massive impact

Speaker:

on how that plays out. In so many other areas of

Speaker:

politics, people feel like they have a say. They want

Speaker:

to put their hands up and they want to have their two cents heard. in

Speaker:

voice to parliament, in renewable energy, in

Speaker:

all of these areas, people are talking about what

Speaker:

they want to see happen in our current

Speaker:

political climate. But when

Speaker:

it comes to education, I hear

Speaker:

crickets. but we have the power. It

Speaker:

is a totally democratic area where

Speaker:

we have the power to make positive change.

Speaker:

Now the most dramatic areas of positive change I

Speaker:

have seen in education has been on

Speaker:

the backs of parents. In

Speaker:

two incredible schools in

Speaker:

Brisbane, Australia, they are running a

Speaker:

Montessori program. That

Speaker:

means alongside the mainstream method of

Speaker:

education that's running in the traditional school, they

Speaker:

have started a Montessori method of education through

Speaker:

the schooling process, starting in prep and every year

Speaker:

gaining one grade more. Groverley

Speaker:

State School in Brisbane and also Capalaba

Speaker:

State School in Brisbane have been running these innovative

Speaker:

programs, bringing Montessori, an alternative method

Speaker:

of education that is highly, highly recommended

Speaker:

by neuroscientists worldwide, into our

Speaker:

public education system. This is one of the first times

Speaker:

we have had something that is usually private, incredibly

Speaker:

expensive, that is only available

Speaker:

for the, let's say, high echelon of society, of

Speaker:

people that can afford it, bringing it to the people. Now,

Speaker:

how did these two schools implement a

Speaker:

totally alternative method of education? A parent group

Speaker:

in Grovely who had their children going to a

Speaker:

Montessori community kindergarten wanted

Speaker:

a Montessori primary school option for

Speaker:

their children. There was nothing available to them in the area. So

Speaker:

they approached Groveley State School and as a

Speaker:

parent body, they advocated for their children and

Speaker:

they advocated for an alternative method of education. Lo

Speaker:

and behold, six months later, Groveley

Speaker:

started the first Montessori program. The

Speaker:

same thing happened at Kapalipa State School an

Speaker:

incredible woman, Rebecca Gruen, who

Speaker:

was running Montessori childcare centres, wanted a

Speaker:

Montessori option for children, for her own children, and

Speaker:

for children in that area of Brisbane. There

Speaker:

was nothing available, and after

Speaker:

trying also to start an independent school,

Speaker:

She decided with the parent group that was supporting her to

Speaker:

take it to the state school. She took it to Groverley

Speaker:

State School. Lo and behold, six months later,

Speaker:

Montessori had started. Now we know Montessori is

Speaker:

backed by neuroscience. It's backed by educational research

Speaker:

and it's backed by child psychology. What

Speaker:

we have now in two schools in Brisbane is

Speaker:

a innovative educational approach to

Speaker:

learning. and the two

Speaker:

parent groups that brought this education method

Speaker:

in brought it in by advocating on behalf of

Speaker:

their children. Now this is no different to

Speaker:

you or I where we can approach another

Speaker:

school For your children, you

Speaker:

can get together with a parent group. You can talk to people about

Speaker:

how we can create change in our school community. Obviously,

Speaker:

there are so many things you can do without even dramatically changing

Speaker:

it to the point of introducing an alternative method of education. There

Speaker:

are other things you can do. Participating in school

Speaker:

maximizes your child learning. As the old adage

Speaker:

and the quote goes, it takes a village to raise a child. And

Speaker:

the best classrooms that I have personally seen

Speaker:

across Queensland are classrooms and

Speaker:

schools that have had the maximum amount of community support.

Speaker:

That means there are grandparents that are coming in and

Speaker:

reading and helping with the classroom. There are parent

Speaker:

volunteers that are helping to run reading groups or math

Speaker:

groups to make the hands-on learning more available

Speaker:

to the children. And at these schools, the maximum amount

Speaker:

of input from parents and grandparents and

Speaker:

the community members is where I see learning

Speaker:

excelling the most. So it

Speaker:

comes down to our capacity as

Speaker:

parents to be able to

Speaker:

activate change. Teachers, God bless them,

Speaker:

are so overworked and have

Speaker:

so much demand put upon them

Speaker:

by the curriculum, by the state board, by

Speaker:

the national government, and every single other thing that they

Speaker:

have to tick off to be able to teach our

Speaker:

children. So yes, we can come in and we can advocate as

Speaker:

parents, to the PNC, the parent teacher

Speaker:

communities at the schools, and we can also do this for

Speaker:

the principals, and it can propose different options. But

Speaker:

the Montessori curriculum in Australia is

Speaker:

now approved as an independent curriculum, which

Speaker:

means state schools have the

Speaker:

capacity to be able to do what

Speaker:

Groveley State School did and what Kapalaba State School did.

Speaker:

They have the capacity to come in and to implement

Speaker:

an alternative method of education like Montessori, even

Speaker:

if it's co-aligned with the school. Montessori

Speaker:

being a very independent method

Speaker:

of learning where the children are slowly building their independence from

Speaker:

a very young age is really important that it is started

Speaker:

from the age of prep and that slowly builds in. Montessori

Speaker:

is not something that can be implemented school wide in one

Speaker:

shot, but it can be implemented step by step slowly

Speaker:

as one prep class moves into grade one and grade one

Speaker:

into grade two and so on. These

Speaker:

are things that we can advocate in our local community

Speaker:

and I hope I have inspired you to talk to your parents

Speaker:

and teachers and even your principal to make positive change in

Speaker:

your local community because if it's not you

Speaker:

then who? Thank you for listening. Please

Speaker:

subscribe on Apple Podcasts and

Speaker:

also on Spotify. Give us a five star review

Speaker:

and subscribe on YouTube and look down below for

Links

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube