There have been highly worrying symptoms at the Australian National University (ANU) where I study as an undergraduate and what entails below is one account of a deepening situation which seems to be getting worse.

The renowned comedienne Wanda Sykes unleashed the following in I’ma Be Me, her latest HBO special: “We really do need to revamp our education system. It doesn’t work. It does not work. … We don’t learn anything. It’s not comprehension—it’s just retention, it’s just rote. That’s it. We just keep it long enough to spit it back out—pass the test, and we get rid of that sh--. … It’s like our brain’s a big Etch-A-Sketch.
 
At this Wanda began rattling her head vigorously, in like manner of a kid erasing scrawls from an Etch-A-Sketch pad, leaving audience members bent over from cracked ribs. But in jest, as is often said, much truth is told.
 

This movie was recommended to me by a former professor of mine who uses the film in his Teacher Education courses.
 
Though billed as a comedy, Ciao Professore, touches on serious issues. Set in rural Italy, the film explores the idea of compulsory schooling, pragmatic education and portrays the teacher as both educator and "educatee". It also makes the important distinction between education and schooling. The main character, Marco Spirelli, hails from an urban background and struggles, at times, to overcome the cultural divides that separate him from his students.
 

One thing that has caught my interest in recent weeks that simply cant go without mention is the development in Australia of the McDonald’s sponsored ‘Maths Online’ web tutorial program. Designed as ‘... a high quality, independent online maths tutoring program based on Australian state curricula for Years 7 – 12’, it caught my eye as being something more than the many (some corporately sponsored) web based education programs available.

They went to school expecting to learn the wonders of the world and acquire the academic skills requisite for a successful career; instead, they were “indoctrinated” into the Cult of Obama, brainwashed into praising the politics of Hitler’s reincarnation.

For some, the first five months of Obama’s presidency have marked the dawn of a new era; a time when governance is filtered through the channels of pragmatism and diplomacy. For others, these five months have confirmed a belief long-held before candidate Obama overtook Hillary Clinton to become the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee - that he was not the change-agent he had so eloquently claimed to be.

Fellow-blogger Christopher Emdin has raised some interesting and compelling issues in relation to Obama and education. The comments have generated additional layers onto which the platform of a decent (and just) society can be properly situated.

    I rank high, among the benefits of participating in virtual conversation, the provision of ideas for lessons and ideas to share with my primarily ESL students.  At times, an online essay seems perfectly formed for some pertinent point about understanding or creating a narrative.  Much more frequently, some tart exchange, either here or elsewhere, offers a snippet of dialog or aspect of prose that helps to inform a class, generally by making concepts that I want to share more tangible or interesting.