Should Animals Be Kept in Zoos? by Aditi

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I think animals shouldn’t be locked in zoos.

In my opinion, I think that animals shouldn’t be locked in zoos because most of the animals are  big and need a lot of space. If they were locked in a zoo, they wouldn’t have a lot of space to move around. How would an animal feel locked up in a cage? It would have nothing to do just lying around. It would just become very plump and wrestless.

I truly believe that animals shouldn’t be locked in zoos because they have to know how to hunt (except for baby animals) for their own food. For example, if you were in a cage all day long you would eat food regularly. If a zoo had to shut down for any reason, all the animals will have to be set free in the wild. But before they are set free the zookeepers would have to teach the animals how to hunt for food and how to be a wild animal.

Another important consideration is the fact that some animals live in prides, like lions. If they are not together, they probably will have no company and they would miss their families. This would lead to sadness and emotional problems. Animals are far better off enjoying the company and support of their families in the wild. How would you feel torn away from your family?

I hope I have convinced you for a better future of animals. It is in their best interest not to live in captivity.

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One head better than two

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A recent study conducted by Professor Asher Koriat, of Haifa University, Israel, has found that independent thinking is far more productive than group problem solving.

In posing a series of questions to 38 people both individually and in pairs, Professor Koriat found that when collaborating, subjects often responded with incorrect answers.

While general knowledge questions more frequently produced correct answers from pairs, it was problems of visual perspective, and questions where the least logical answers were correct, that stumped groups most consistently.

The study also investigated how confident subjects were with their individual answers. Results here suggested that those who were most confident were more often than not correct; the implication being that pairs could have worked better together if they were more honest about how confident they were.

Further, of the more challenging questions in group scenarios, Professor Koriat said: ‘In such cases it is the low-confidence individuals who are more likely to be correct, and reliance on the more confident members should lead the group astray.’

As an educator of more than 30 years, what the study highlights to me is the importance of independent thinking skills — something Edworks has understood since its inception, and essentially built its programs around.

In exam situations, kids don’t have the opportunity to team up with fellow students, or raise their hands for teacher assistance. Therefore, while we certainly offer support and guidance, our ultimate goal is to see students thinking and performing at a high standard independently.

The study also demonstrates the need for students to be assertive when performing group tasks. Again, Edworks recognises the importance of fostering confidence in students. Children should always feel they can be valuable contributors in group/team situations, be they in the classroom, sporting arena or at home.

While Edworks tutors focus on encouragement in the classroom, it is important for parents, too, to place a high priority on building self-esteem in their children at home. For some great tips on offering positive affirmations every day, see our article, ‘Think Positive’ It’s amazing how much difference a few encouraging words can make in a child’s development.

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The Sound of Sorrow by Charlotte

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A mass of shiny chestnut hair rose slowly to the windowsill. Pure cobalt eyes examined the inspirational scenery just out of her reach. Separated by a thin piece of flimsy glass, how she wished to jump out of this lowly orphanage and play in the fluffy snow. For now she had to wait. That time would come soon. As a little girl she had thought that she was special, although now she realised she was like, and treated like, all the other girls if not worse.

Soon the sky changed dramatically. It adopted brushes of violet and ochre as shining stars slowly appeared. This was the night she would escape from this jail. Surely if she were caught, she would be flung into the filthy cellar A dense of fear started to consume her, although she knew that it had to be this night – the 100th anniversary of this orphanage. Outside her door she could hear clinking glasses and people talking with their mouths full. The scent wafted into her nose as she drooled. It was very tempting, although only adults seemed to be awarded with these luxuries. The children only had soup every day. By now there was no noise. All of them were asleep, oblivious to the world, let alone thinking about their night patrols.

It was time. Her heart beat like a drum. Hands shaking, she cautiously opened the door. All the lights were on. Silently, she ran. She was feeling freedom for the first time, her feet barely touching the cold marble floor. She slowed to a jog, then stopped, opened the giant doors in front of her and slipped on the boots that they made her wear every day, whether it was freezing or blistering.

Her arms pumped as she ran towards the faint outline of a town in front of her – to the life she would have had, if only her mother lived. The sun was rising and she found herself resting in a deserted alleyway. Eyes drooping, she fell asleep, until a gleeful voice announced – “That’s it! That’s her!” The girls’ eyes flew open. Rough hands grabbed her arms and dragged her away.

No! She would not let her freedom be taken now! She had fought too hard for it all to be a waste! She kicked her legs madly until the man let go and let out a cry of pain. Not wasting a second, she ran faster than ever, knowing she was being followed. Everything to her, endangered. She looked back. There was nothing, except for a filthy road.

Breathing heavily, she dropped to the ground and crouched against a tree, too traumatised to sleep. Where was she? Surely this was not how the town looked. Although it was draped in beautiful snow, the cobblestone roads and metal lamps looked drab.

Everything seemed so dark, so grey. Her first tastes of freedom were sweet, but if the rest of the journey was to be like this, she would rather die in the orphanage.

Suddenly, a warm hand clamped her shoulder. Alarmed, she twirled around and found herself face-to-face with a man with a grey stubble and a somewhat kind aura.

“Come with me”, he said in a gruff voice. Where could she go? Nowhere, so she followed. After a short walk, they arrived at the door of a humble cottage. Although it was of small stature, when she entered it she felt unnaturally joyous. Eyes shining, she examined the room until she saw something that intrigued her.

“Excuse me, but what is this?”
“What’s your name?”
“Lucy, Lucy Falls”
“And that’s a violin.”

Hands shaking with excitement, she picked up the violin in awe. Slowly closing her eyes, she started to play.

It came naturally, music resonated through her body as if communicating. Like this she felt calm, protected, safe. Everything should and would be OK. When she opened her eyes, she saw a bleak world and something … sinister flashed through the window. An eye perhaps.

Suddenly, the man shouted “Hide Lucy!” She nodded and crouched in a suitcase. Without warning there was a sharp rap. She could hear the creak of the door opening and the thump of boots.

“Tell me where she is”
“Not here.”
“Lies!”

There was a strangled cry, a gasp of breath and a thud on the floor. It had all happened so quickly.

Lucy wanted to run out of the suitcase and stay by his side but she knew that if she did, his death would have been a waste. Silently crying, she waited until the cold man left.

Lucy crawled out of the suitcase shaking. She looked at the old man sorrowfully. Why did she feel so guilty? Slowly she got up, picked up the violin and ambled mournfully with no particular place to go. Why was her life such a series of unfortunate events?

 

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Disastrous Ducky Danger

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Disastrous Ducky Danger
By Sin Yee

It was hot and sticky. Ducky was exploring the emerald, shady jungle, with his smokey coloured hat and bulky black, binoculars. The place was peaceful, containing millions of animals in many shapes and sizes. The gigantic trees towering over made you feel like you were looking up at Eureka Skydeck. “Wow!’ remarked Ducky cutting through the over-grown plants.

‘Crack!’ Suddenly, Ducky was grabbed by his orange webbed-feet! “Quack! Let me go!” screamed Ducky at the top of his lungs! ‘Fwip!’ A giant net surrounded him, he was TRAPPED! The more he struggled, the tighter the net got, he felt like a tiny helpless fly in a spider’s web. All of a sudden, everything was silent, like the ‘Witching Hour’… until Ducky heard a loud rustle in the bushes. “What was that?” gasped Ducky. He was so frightened that he felt like he was going to faint right there in the tight net.

“Hello … delicious, feathery duck!” drooled the animal hidden in the thick bushes. “Guess who?”

“Mummy duck?

“WRONG!” roared the animal. “I’m the ferocious tiger, king of the jungle!” boasted the tiger proudly. “And I haven’t eaten in three, long days. You’ll be a beautiful treat”, smiled the Tiger slyly.

‘Pluck!’ “Yeow!!!” screamed the helpless yellow duck. His scream echoed through the whole jungle.

“Oh, you’re a noisy duck, aren’t you? Let’s do that again!” laughed the evil animal. ‘Pluck two.”

“Stop right there you ugly beast! No one hurts our feathery friends” quacked one duck.

“Yeah.” quacked another. You’ll pay for this!”

“QUACK!” screamed the leader.

“Huh?” cried the confused tiger.

Suddenly, a wave of about a thousand identical blue ducks charged towards the confused tiger, screaming mean insults at him.

“I’m not fat or ugly, I’m beautiful!” retorted the hungry tiger. After thirty seconds, he couldn’t take it anymore as he was a sensitive animal. His head felt dizzy and he thought it might explode like a volcano! “NO! Go away you ugly ducks!” the tiger roared and sprinted away as fast as he could.

After all the commotion was over, the tiny blue ducks cautiously waddled over to the net and used their sharp, yellow beaks to cut open the net.

“Thank you so much my ducky friends, you saved me!” yelled Ducky giving himself a stretch. “No worries! But… you’re HUGE!” smiled the ducks.

Yes, I am huge. Because you rescued me, let’s be the BEST-EST BUDDIES EVER!” exclaimed the excited, yellow duck!

Everyone was so excited and noisy that you couldn’t hear yourself think, even if you were 5 miles away!

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Creative Essay by Julia Kaburaki

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Mum is wailing in the kitchen. Her piercing cries stabbing into my heart. I never want to see her like this. Every time she cries, warm salty tears overflow like a river that never ends. My heart starts throbbing as if someone is grabbing it and ripping it apart. I am standing in front of the kitchen door speechless. All my muscles strained. Frozen. Stopping me from moving. Tension fills the air making it an uncomfortable atmosphere around the whole house.

Dad fled after committing a crime. He had been running away from the police for weeks. Mum had lost all energy. Dark black bags under lifeless eyes, hair like barbed wire. Once bright and rosy cheeks, now turned pale and white like a ghost. Looking at her gives me shivers.

Why did this have to happen to my family? Why can’t we just be like other families? Warm, happy, a life filled with smiles. It used to be like that. Dad coming home every day, Mum preparing dinner, the delicious smell of spaghetti gradually spreading in the house making my mouth water. Those days are now like a dream. Can my life become any worse? Our big and spacious house seems so dull and small. Bitter cold air flows in and out every time the cold winter wind sneaks through the little gaps between the windows, whispering unpleasant words in my ears. When we were together we didn’t seem to notice these small things.

Wherever I go, it seems as though everyone is staring right through me. I wish I was invisible. Invisible so no one can give me cold looks or judge me. What have I ever done? Everything around me seems to be whispering two words into my ears, “criminal’s child”. People around me avoid me as if I am a contagious virus or something. Giving me the ‘special treatment’ doesn’t make me feel any better. The world around me seems so colourless and lifeless. It used to be so bright and colourful, just like what I read in picture books when I was little. Where did all the pretty butterflies and rainbows that appeared on rainy days go? Since when did the whole world turn against me?

As I am wandering into the playground, in my neighborhood, it starts spitting. At the same time tears unconsciously flow from my eyes. The grey clouds cover over me as if it is an ominous sign. The rain saturates my clothes, making them heavier and heavier. Coldness seeps into my body. I shiver like a little puppy that got abandoned. My hair sticks to my skin, which is pale. Lips become a bruised colour. Rainwater mixes with tears making my vision blurry.

I close my eyes imagining a place. Somewhere with colour, warmth and smiles. A world without darkness. Always luminous. People welcoming me with a gleaming smile. Everyone together and laughing at pointless jokes. Nothing gloomy, no more frowns, just looking at them makes me feel warm, seeing the happiness flowing out of them. A world where you don’t need words to communicate, just an understanding of each other.

As I open my eyes to see the colorless world, something seems to be different. I look up to see the beam of the sun’s ray finding its own way through the grey clouds. Seeking its own way, by itself. The tiny beam of ray shines on me, I feel warmth.

Maybe I could change the world myself, with my own hands.

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Australian kids living in fantasy world

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A land where yoghurt grows on trees and animals produce cotton socks — sounds like a great premise for a creative writing piece, doesn’t it?  Alarmingly, this isn’t fiction; according to many Australian kids, it’s fact.

A study, conducted by the Australian Council of Educational Research (ACER), was reported recently in the article, Kids think yoghurt comes from plants, survey finds. Of the 300 students surveyed, the study found:

- three-quarters of Year 6 students thought cotton socks came from animals;

 - just under half of Year 6 students did not know that bread, cheese and bananas all came from farms;

- a quarter of Year 6 students thought yoghurt was a plant product;

- only about a quarter of Year 10 students knew that salmon and eels were farmed animals.

In response to these findings, president of the National Farmers Federation, Jock Laurie, expressed his concern: “It seems incredulous that children are not taught more about where these vital products come from, or what goes into growing them.”

While the statistics are certainly alarming, just who should be held accountable for them? As a psychologist and educator, I believe these lessons are the shared responsibility of both schools and parents.

First and foremost, parents must recognise the importance of engaging in round table discussion with their children during meal times. Not only are such conversations a great way to practice social skills, they are also invaluable opportunities for children to broaden their knowledge base.

Parents should also be regulating the amount of time their children spend on computers. The survey’s findings suggest that, despite all it promises, the Internet is isolating children from the world around them. At Edworks, we far too frequently see kids in grades 5 and 6 who have little concept of where Sydney is in relation to Melbourne, what states are where, and what our capital cities are. The attitude that kids can just ‘Google’ answers is a dangerous one to adopt, too. Young children need a broad general knowledge in order to make informed decisions. Such lack of awareness is cause for great concern when we consider that these children will soon be moving into adolescence and adulthood.

Finally, unless schools and parents are proactive in working to remedy this predicament, the sort of ignorance the ACER survey has identified in our children will have significant environmental affects down the track. Consider, with the world’s population growing at such a rapid rate, a generation of adults with little concern for the environment or our world food source.

So, parents, rather than simply asking your kids how school was, or what homework they have, set small challenges for them to get them engaged with their surroundings. And there’s no better time to impart your wisdom than when sharing a meal at the dinner table … you can even discuss the origins of your food!

 

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Can ‘poor’ schools offer rich education?

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The richer the school, the better the education, right? Generally, yes. But don’t get too concerned if you can’t afford to send your child to a private college — there are plenty of ‘poor’ schools with loads to offer.

The article Status of school can affect results, recently published in The Australian, discusses a study by Murdoch University revealing that ‘the socio-economic status of a school can mitigate the effects of a student’s own background.’

It was found that students from poor economic backgrounds, who attended one of the richest schools, improved test scores by an average of 57 points in reading, maths and science. Similarly, the test results of the richest students attending one of the poorer schools dropped almost as drastically across the board.

Education researcher, Dr Laura Perry, who along with Andrew McConney analysed the study’s results, said it suggests the background of the school’s majority could affect the results of a single child.

“It was previously thought it would benefit lower socio-economic kids to go to a richer school, but that it didn’t matter as much for privileged kids because they’ll do well no matter where they go to school,” she said. “It’s not true. They’re just as sensitive to the composition of the school as any other kid, which was a depressing finding for us.”

Depressing, perhaps, but as a psychologist and teacher of more than 30 years, these findings come as no surprise. Rich schools, more often than not, offer positive learning environments, comprising high quality teachers and students who serve as role models to peers. Such environments promote development and foster improved academic results.

In poorer socio-economic schools, however, there is often little peer pressure to perform. There is also almost no incentive for schools to change, as they are not offered support or encouragement from governments or the communities. As with children, expectation and encouragement are great motivators. Consequently, students in these environments often suppress their abilities so as not to stand out from the crowd. Like kids in rich schools aiming high to match the performances of their peers, kids in poor schools will often allow their results to slip to ensure they don’t draw unwanted attention.

However, it isn’t solely socio-economic status that will determine the success of any one school. A school’s identity, and how it projects the importance of education, can impact significantly on student performance.

Early in my career I taught at schools where the main role of the teacher was simply to manage children; there was no value placed on actually educating them. Meanwhile, other schools in similar socio-economic environments were aspirational and encouraged students to look beyond their families’ standings and backgrounds, and strive for success.

More recently, as reported on Four Corners, poorer schools like Toronto High School in Sydney and Hume Central Secondary College in Melbourne, have been able to buck the trend. By employing highly skilled, passionate teachers, and creating positive learning environments, their academic results improve enormously.

Further, this turnaround subsequently benefits the rest of the community, as it breaks the cycle of failure. Kids can aspire to achieve irrespective of their home environment. It creates a whole new mind-set, and a fresh, positive outlook.

So, while a schools’ socio-economic status can provide an indication of academic performance, schools lacking in funds aren’t always poor. The key to success for all schools, as Edworks recognises, is offering positive education — an environment in which teachers engage students, and where students constantly challenge and motivate each other.


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My Dog

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My Dog
By Georgie

My dog’s name is Roxy and her colour is white. Her floppy ears are brown. She’s very funny when we wash her. It’s like she’s rubbing her shoulder. She is also very playful. I’m very, very happy to get one.

In October, I was hoping to get my dog because I’ve never had one before. My Dad did not want one but Mum and I wanted one. My mum kept on talking and I’m not sure why but my dad said yes because my mum convinced him.

When I got home from my friend’s house my mum came up to me and said “Daddy said yes!” I bolted to my bedroom and celebrated.

Jax likes me a lot. Every time we let him over, he always comes to me. We have a doggy flap. We let Jax come over a lot of times.

Roxy is very smart with training. We take Roxy for drives and walks a lot of times. She gets very happy when she comes inside.

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Planning Beyond NAPLAN

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Since its inception in 2008, the NAPLAN testing scheme has received much public criticism. In reviewing the article, School test results not improving (The Age), it appears this criticism has been warranted.  When compounded by the issues discussed in the article, We risk losing education race, Julia Gillard warns  (The Australian), it becomes increasingly clear that a change in policy is required … and fast.

Edworks’ 2011 blog article, NAPLAN fails students, discusses the claim that schools are manipulating the national testing system in a bid to protect their own interests.

Another major criticism levelled at the scheme is that teachers often discard academically favourable curriculums to focus solely on yielding attractive exam results — ‘teaching to the test’, as it’s been termed.

The most damning assessment, however, comes from the NAPLAN national report for 2011, as quoted in The Age: ”Nationally there are no differences between the 2009 to 2011 and 2008 to 2010 cohorts in gains in reading or numeracy from year 3 to year 5 or from year 7 to year 9”. In short, NAPLAN testing has effected no academic improvement in students since its inception four years ago.

What makes this discovery all the more disturbing, is the fact that Australian students are being left behind by their Asian counterparts in both literacy and numeracy testing, as reported in The Australian.

In presenting OECD figures indicating that Australian education standards were falling relative to those of nations like Korea, Singapore and Japan, Julia Gillard suggested we are at risk of losing ‘the education race’ and becoming the ‘the runt of the litter’.

So what is the Australian Government planning to do in response? While Gillard has acknowledged the areas requiring most attention — low-income families and ‘kids at the top end’ — there is an obvious lack of direction from our leaders.

For more than a decade those in power have advocated a move towards becoming a ‘clever nation’, yet, little has been achieved. The strategies of literacy and numeracy tuition vouchers (where teachers at the core of the problem were offered opportunities to tutor kids outside of school) and computer handouts have not focused on qualitative measures of success.

One of the fundamental reasons Edworks’ students thrive is that we focus on skills, not scores. The Government must adopt a genuine revolution, which, like Edworks, focuses on the development and assessment of students’ skill-sets.

In devising this new approach, it’s vital we consult experts outside of the current system for considered advice, and draw inspiration from those countries with successful structures in place. A paradigm shift will simply not occur when those in control are inward looking.

Ultimately, if NAPLAN is persisted with, Australian students will continue to flounder while our counterparts flourish. It’s time the Government be held accountable for its failings and commit to wholesale change.

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