WITLESS WHITBY ON CLASS SIZES

 

I often wonder about the mental capacities of some- and I stress 'some'- of our educational leaders here in Sydney. 
 

That zany executive director of catholic schools, Greg Whitby, is at it again in the local press.

'When you look at all the research done on class sizes, there is agreement that reducing class size does not have a significant impact on learning.' 
 

Now Mr Whitby just has to be kidding. There has been a huge number of studies done, both in Oz and overseas, on the effects of class sizes on educational outcomes and there is certainly NO agreement on such effects. In fact, many studies show a high correlation between lower class sizes and improved learning attainments of students.  
 

Put it another way....... if the blow-torch of intellectual rigour was applied to Whitby's statement above, then his fuckin' pants would catch on fire. But what is more frustrating about Whitby's stance is that he shakes that old 'teacher quality' rattle to muffle the cries for adequate and, heck, more effective human resourcing in classrooms. 
 

Is it just me or are the rattle shakers routinely 'leaders' who themselves haven't been in an actual classroom for a bloody long time?
 

https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/greg-whitby-class-sizes-not-linked-to-student-achievement/news-story/56dd1771e7d91dbd4601573f6f3815db

Posted on f/b on 30 May 2016.