Flemish studying for the proffession of teacher score poorly on common knowledge

[sabaku_no_gaara]

Google translation:

The general knowledge of many students in teacher training in Flanders is weak. This is evident from an examination of the Katholieke Hogeschool Limburg (KHLim), Knack could look into that.

Only 15 percent of respondents know that Herman Van Rompuy President of the European Council. More than half do not know that Wouter Beke at CD & V hears or Vincent Van Quickenborne at Open VLD. Students know the difference between the federal and the Flemish policy. So You Think quarter that the PS in the Flemish government is.

Four in ten students can not distinguish ideological currents. The entire opposition in the Flemish Parliament, according to many students still sit in the Flemish government. And also many students China or Congo not indicate on a map. More than half of the respondents know finally the definition of index no and 30 percent do not know what a stock is.

No newspaper

Two teachers from the KHLim, Jan Swerts and Kurt Monten, have nearly a thousand students from the teacher training colleges to eight test of 92 multiple choice questions to pass in order to gauge their knowledge about politics, history, geography and economics. The study also shows that four in ten students rarely or never read a newspaper or watch the TV news.
"Education should be the head of students not fill with facts in order to participate in a quiz. Education must give them insights to know how the world works and make informed opinions to form, "say Swerts and Monten. But the level of general knowledge is very low. "The root of the problem lies in secondary education," the researchers said.

According Mieke Van Hecke, Director-General of the Flemish Secretariat of Catholic education, the problem is not only in high school, but it also has to do with the home environment.

"There is a difference between students who freaks getting new calls and new lay," she says in The Morning on Radio 1. "It is also a task of the family together to follow the news," she says. "But we should really consider how we can bring more students to be interested in current events."

http://www.standaard.be/artikel/deta...word=van+hecke


Just now I heared the ministre of Education partly blame the Americanisation of our society

No but seriously, I don't have the propper education to become a teacher, yet I score a lot better on the test they gave the students than they did.

Nonsense of Americanisation of our society aside, the ministre did have a valid point when he said that 20 years ago when you watched tv you watched the news as a child because you watched with your parents, today you surf the web and can completely ignore everything that you think you don't understand or don't care about. this is dumbing down children. There was also a teacher on tv who complaigned that the pressure on teachers to not fail people is immense meaning that people graduate without actually diserving to graduate wich adds to the dumbing down of our society.


I was shocked though to notice that 80% of the students studying to become teachers didn't recognise Nethanyahu or that 46% or so didn't know who Nelson Mandela or Mao where, or that over 20% of the students studying to become teachers (even those studying to become geography teachers) didn't know where the Atlantic ocean was or the Pacific

[King Gambrinus]

There should be a general studies class every week instead of some of the options the "general" system offers in Belgium.


Its pretty rich comments coming from the Catholic faction though, who have made sure their free schools have the best teachers despite receiving the same funding as state schools. If they have a problem with the level of education, they can start looking at themselves and their elitism. Jesus would've been real proud.

[Treize]

I got 87 out 92 correct.

But you can't expect me to know Flemish ministers.

[sabaku_no_gaara]

I got the same result.

We did a lot better than most Belgians studying to become teachers.

I saw a job opening for history teacher today, I actually emailed the school to say that despite not having the propper diploma I'm a History enthousiast and score higher on the test that was used to determine that students studying to become teachers are poorly educated on common knowledge like history, geography, economics and politics.

If they decide to hire me, I'm in trouble because I'm not allowed to just go ahead and search for employment due to my handicap and social benefits that acompagny it. I'm suposed to ask permission to get a job from the federal gourment first and they need to send me to a doctor who needs to decide if I can work or not, then the federal gouverment has to decide if they allow me to search for a job at wich point I loose my benefits of wich the monthly wage is slightly higher then the entry level of most jobs. (I asked at the Flemish service for job mediation or VDAB)

I need financial security so I shouldn't get a job or look for one, but I'm tired of feeling useless I wish to contribute.

[newromansc]

I got the same result.

We did a lot better than most Belgians studying to become teachers.

I saw a job opening for history teacher today, I actually emailed the school to say that despite not having the propper diploma I'm a History enthousiast and score higher on the test that was used to determine that students studying to become teachers are poorly educated on common knowledge like history, geography, economics and politics.
Lp
If they decide to hire me, I'm in trouble because I'm not allowed to just go ahead and search for employment due to my handicap and social benefits that acompagny it. I'm suposed to ask permission to get a job from the federal gourment first and they need to send me to a doctor who needs to decide if I can work or not, then the federal gouverment has to decide if they allow me to search for a job at wich point I loose my benefits of wich the monthly wage is slightly higher then the entry level of most jobs. (I asked at the Flemish service for job mediation or VDAB)

I need financial security so I shouldn't get a job or look for one, but I'm tired of feeling useless I wish to contribute.

l

Are you serious, you haft to ask the goverment to get a job and they decide if you can get the job. Sound a whole lot like communism

[sabaku_no_gaara]

l

Are you serious, you haft to ask the goverment to get a job and they decide if you can get the job. Sound a whole lot like communism

It's because I get social benefits due to being handicapped.

[Big War Bird]

As an American I can see blaming America. We get our teachers, on the whole, from the bottom of the barrel.

[Imperial]

As an American I can see blaming America. We get our teachers, on the whole, from the bottom of the barrel.

...or maybe the students are from the bottom of the barrel.

[Big War Bird]

...or maybe the students are from the bottom of the barrel.

Possibly, but studies have shown that american teachers come from the lower rungs of academic achievement.

[motiv-8]

Possibly, but studies have shown that american teachers come from the lower rungs of academic achievement.

Which studies are these? And at what level of schooling, elementary? high school? You know I don't really need a kindergarten teacher to know who is the Chairman of the Fed or how stocks and bonds work, right?

[cupoftea]

I got 82/92. This is so ing unfair (well maybe not unfair) but I had to redo two years because I just did't give a about what I had to study, while I'm fairly smarter than the average joe walking around on my school, and then those dipships who can't even point out China on a map get through everytime just because they're better at reading those books over and over again untill they cram it all into their heads which I can't.

[The Black Mark]

Asking to have a job and then having somebody decide whether to give me a job sounds a whole lot like a job interview to me.

[Roma_Victrix]

over 20% of the students studying to become teachers (even those studying to become geography teachers) didn't know where the Atlantic ocean was or the Pacific

Dear Lord. I'm an American teacher working in Kyrgyzstan for the Peace Corps at the moment, and I can say confidently that every teacher at my school aside from the geography and history teacher have abysmal knowledge of the globe. I'm sure it would take them a while just to locate Central Asia on a political map, and only because they'd be familiar with the outlined borders of Kyrgyzstan.

If 20% of the Flemish students trying to become teachers didn't know these basic geographic facts, one has to wonder what the percentage is for American students trying to become teachers. I have excellent knowledge of geography, but I'll be the first to admit that my fellow Americans aren't exactly known for their expertise in this area.

[Himster]

As a teacher this doesn't surprise me: Those who can do, those who can't teach.
Also was anyone ever taught the positions of countries in school, I know I wasn't. I learned about geology in geography class for some reason. I learned the placement of countries by going to them and/or general life.

[tarvu]

As a teacher this doesn't surprise me: Those who can do, those who can't teach.
Also was anyone ever taught the positions of countries in school, I know I wasn't. I learned about geology in geography class for some reason. I learned the placement of countries by going to them and/or general life.

I had an AP geography class in 9th grade which tested frequently on the placement of countries/borders/capitals. Are you sure you are thinking about geography class or general social studies (though geology shouldn't be taught in that either)? Throughout school we were also showed the position of countries we studied, were expected to know the position of countries we did reports on (in Colorado in 3rd grade we had to give presentations on an African nation, in fourth or fifth I think we did Asian and South American countries respectively)

I did go to a very good public school district before we moved to Dallas and I went to one of the worst in the country, then Hawaii where well... very unlikely a president is coming out of those schools as opposed to the elite private Punaho Obama attended.

Though I would say I was always pretty good with geography wargaming/grand strategy games have made me a map wizard. Maybe more teachers should take it up.

[BSZ]

This can't be that big a surprise. In Denmark, it was shown that most of the people who applied to become teachers did so when they got rejected from their first priorities, and when they got rejected from the courses that required a higher GPA than they had, they got accepted into teaching, which requires a lower average. In fact, only around a third of the teachers had it as their first priority.

This doesn't show that much, as many apply for courses that require high GPAs first, just as a "I know I probably can't get into this, but it doesn't hurt to list is as one of my top priorities". Generally speaking the highest GPAs are consistently required for Medicine, Psychology, Midwives (mostly because of the low amount of accepted), Political Science, Molecular Medicine or Insurance Mathematics but are also very often affected by trends, eg. at the moment International Business, International Business&Politics, Film&Media Science or Communication&Technology require high grades too. Good news are (or bad news, depending on how you look at it), that if you have a high school diploma and have passed the specific access requirements (I guess that would be decent maths and/or physics/chemistry grades), the Technical University of Denmark won't require an average from you for Physics&Nanotechnology, Geophysics&Space technology or Chemistry&Biotechnology, because of too few applicants.

[karo]

Can't say that I am surprised, look at the profiles of the people that are trying to become teacher today.

[motiv-8]

Can't say that I am surprised, look at the profiles of the people that are trying to become teacher today.

Please, tell us more about these profiles. Still waiting for any sort of statistical or fact-based posts to happen in this thread. Instead I'm reading nonsense, tired, and erroneous stereotypes like "those who can't do, teach" which makes me wonder if people here have ever even been to college.