About Australia's education?

Question

Well hi.. I come from Argentina in South America. Im living here in Australia and I love it. Is such a beautiful and organised country. When you come from a place like Argentina, where the government sucks and is so insecure, live in Australia is like a paradise.

Im in year 9 and I realised that here school is so easy. I mean im "learning" things that I already studied in 7th grade. Yes, believe me its true.

I mean, must of them don't know what is going on in the world. They think Asia is a country, Africa is an example of a "undeveloped country". That Brazil is the only country in south America. In year 8 they don't know anything about the French Revolution, World War One and two...

And they never have homework, they dont know what is like having to do heaps of worksheets and searching information every single day, having tests every week, projects every weekend. Even the teachers give four weeks to do a simple essay of six paragraphs.

See? That's what I mean...

Answer 1

I suggest you get yourself advanced to a class which challenges your ability. You are wasting your time . I am pretty sure you will find a class that teaches something that you have not already covered. If you don't, apply for a place at Uni.

Regarding WW2, We must be a pretty dumb lot if we end up in Yr 9 not knowing why we have had an ANZAC holiday every year since Kinder!!!!!

Really, after 40  years of teaching, I do  find your assessment of Australian Education to be inaccurate . I hope you find out what you are missing before it is too late, but to do that, you need to look with an open mind. Has it ever occured to you that education is about learning what you do not know, not ticking off what you already know? Evidently, for  a  unorganised country that "sucks', Argentina has a great education system.

Answer 2

That is not a question...

And you should be grateful for these things, not critical of the other students around you. The Australian education system works differently, as in each country.

Maybe you should consider that they might have put you in a lower level class because you are from another country. Maybe they didn't think you would be prepared for the more difficult learning modules.

Also, you may just go to a bad school, with bad teachers.

I will add that I don't mean you ARE less capable, just that some schools just seem to assume that you being a foreigner makes you that way.

Just wait till you get to year twelve...you will certainly have your work cut out for you then!

Answer 3

I'm glad you find Australia nice.

Not all schools are the same. You could "shop around".

No- one is forcing you to not study in your own time. Australia is also a free country, if you wish to study to become a genius, you are welcome to do so!

If you do, the system here will allow you to jump forward. It's all up to you.

Answer 4

Yeah...matey, take it from someone who moved around in lots of different schools and states of Australia; schools teach things in different orders.  Some schools will teach you about Matrix's before basic algebra.  Others, you will not study classic literature at all (except for the compulsory Shakespeare)

Basically, I think the Australia has a different approach to education than you are used to.  For example, the syllabus for history doesn't really include much room for the French revolution or the world wars till you get to year 11 or 12.  There are other things that are compulsory to learn, like Australian history.  Which I am assuming you didn't know anything about before you came here.  

Also, as a fairly isolated and large country we tend to spend more time thinking about our country, rather than others.  Selfish maybe.  But that's the way it is.

If you are living in a rural area as well, that would change a lot of what you learn.  If you are living up north in NT or QLD or something, you would learn different things again.  

So, while you might think that education is slack in Australia, it is just different.  

In my personal experience, if you just take a deep breath and focus on trying to make friends and have a good experience at school you will love it more.

Answer 5

Hi there - welcome to Australia. Your comparison is an interesting one, but your experience of Australian education is not necessarily typical. Some schools are much more academically rigorous than others, and of course the degree of intellectual nurturing that students receive at home is also highly variable. For my own part, I was kept busy throughout high school, with nightly homework and weekly assignments in most subjects.