Study report on education in Australia and New Zealand

Study report on education in Australia and New Zealand
2005-01-13 Author: Chen Weimin, Zhouzhuang autumn, building Lihua, Xiao Mi group, high Ge, Shi Weidong, Ge Ying, Li Gang, Ding Wenjun
The Australian-Australian Education Study Group visited Australia and New Zealand from December 14 to December 26, 2004 for a 13-day study tour to Sydney, Canberra, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Melbourne, and Auckland. Waiting for the city. The education delegation was headed by Chen Rongsheng, secretary of the Party Committee of Gudang Street in Xihu District. The members of the delegation were: Chen Weimin, Zhao Zhilong, Yan Xiangsheng, Jin Yujun, Shan Jin, Zhou Zhuangqiu, Lou Lihua, Yan Xiaoqun, Gao Wei, Shi Weidong, Ge Wei, Li Gang, Ding Wenqi.

The main purpose of this visit is to have a perceptual understanding and understanding of the education of Australia and New Zealand through listening, introduction, exchange, etc., especially the specific investigation and exchange of the basic education system of the two countries. Therefore, drawing on its successful experience, it proposes new ideas for promoting the reform and development of education in our district.

During the period of Australia and New Zealand, the delegation heard the introduction of education in Australia and New Zealand, and inspected six schools including Sydney University, West Lake Girls' School, West Lake Men's Middle School and WELCOME, and felt the local campus atmosphere. Education must face the world, we must first understand the world, so that we can glimpse the scales of the world education reform outside the country. The stone of other mountains can be used to attack jade. In contrast to our own teaching reform practice, we will get a lot of inspiration from it. Although the inspection time is short, there are not many schools to visit, but the harvest is quite fruitful, which has a great inspiration for our future education reform and development.

I. Overview of Australian Education Australia has a unique historical, geographical and cultural environment with a population of more than 19 million and a land area of ​​7.69 million square kilometers. It is a country that attaches great importance to education. Its education system is divided into three parts: Chinese small, vocational education and training, and higher education. Australia has implemented 12 years of free Chinese small education, of which the first to the tenth grade is compulsory. The traditional saying is that 1 to 6 years is the national education, 7-10 years is the secondary education, and 11-12 is the college preparatory education. Usually enters preschool education at the age of 5. Before the age of 5, it is the entrance to the child care center, and the nursery and kindergarten stages are paid. Normal requirements are 6 to 16 years of age for compulsory education. It seems that the 7-12 grade is also called secondary education. At present, there are a total of 959O in China, including 6,970 government schools, accounting for 73% of the schools, and 2,620 non-government schools, accounting for 27% of the schools. There are about four TAFE colleges and other government training institutions, and more than 4,000 private training institutions. There are 42 universities in total, of which 38 are public and 4 are private. China's small, vocational education and training, as well as higher education students are 3.25 million, 1.75 million and 695,000 respectively. Australians firmly believe that an educated and resilient workforce is an important factor in maintaining Australia's international competitiveness, and a good education system is its guarantee.

Another country we surveyed, New Zealand, is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, across the sea from Australia. It is an English-speaking island country with a land area comparable to that of the United Kingdom and a population of 3.7 million. This is a beautiful, rich and picturesque country. New Zealanders are warm and friendly, retaining a rich lifestyle and cultural heritage. Gorgeous natural scenery, idyllic scenery, blue waters and golden beaches attract countless visitors from all over the world. New Zealand's education is considered one of the best education systems in the world. Its main features are: most children start school at the age of 5, public schools do not charge, encourage adults to learn, can go to secondary schools, universities or participate in special skills training, many schools provide English tutoring, to help students whose mother tongue is not English. The New Zealand government requires children between the ages of six and sixteen to attend school, including the national primary. The country's 660,000 Chinese students are enrolled in more than 2,800 national Chinese schools. The government's annual investment in China's small education exceeds 2 billion New Zealand dollars. To help students with poor economics complete their studies, the government has a student loan policy in which students receive loans sufficient to cover tuition and fees and student allowances for daily living. Immigrant New Zealand is free to apply for schools and majors. The tuition fee is only 1/5-1/10 of the international students. It can be loaned to the government. After graduation, it will be repaid according to the income. There are 8 public universities and 25 polytechnics in New Zealand, offering everything from bachelor to doctoral. New Zealand's national primary school system is six years, secondary school is 5 years, college preparatory course is 1-2 years, college diploma is 1-2 years, student degree is 3-5 years, master's degree is 2-3 years, doctoral degree 3 -5 years. Since the last year of high school is a college preparatory course, equivalent to the first year of a university, a bachelor's degree usually takes only three years to complete. New Zealand's higher education consists of a university, a polytechnic, and a teacher's college. They are funded by the government and administered autonomously. Compared with the American education system, the University of New Zealand education is closer to the British education system.

Second, the experience of the delegation visited the delegation, the visit, and the direct experience of the Australian economy and society during the visit, which left a deep impression on the education of the two countries.

One of the feelings: Education belongs to the whole society. One: There is a classroom in the Capitol. When we visited the Canberra Parliament Building, we were meeting the graduation ceremony of the University of Sydney. Students of different colors and ages were dressed in bachelor gowns and wearing a bachelor's hat and sitting in the congress hall. They also attended the parents and professors. With the melodious music, the prelude of the ceremony was opened. The solemnity of that moment was so great that the people who visited it breathed in gaze, and the silence was in this solemn and solemn, perhaps also given by this sacred place. Then the tour guide took us to the parliament hall. She told us that it is a surprise for us to have the right to listen to the parliament as a citizen. Moreover, in the last row of the circular seats in the parliament hall, the table is equipped with a plexiglass baffle, which is said to be specially arranged for the attendees. The live event of the meeting is passed to the audience of the gallery through a special device. Many schools have organized students to go to the parliament hall to conduct social class study, so that students can truly understand the state's political system, political operation mode and social issues, considering that teachers and students may need to conduct necessary teaching and discussion activities on the spot. Therefore, the soundproof plexiglass baffle is installed, so that it can not affect the normal progress of the meeting activities, and does not limit the observation and thinking of the teachers and students on the overall situation of the meeting. I really didn't think that the Capitol was actually a social classroom.

Episode 2: Everywhere is a place for education. In Australia, education is everywhere. When you walk in the scenic area, you can see the plants around, some plants are hung with small brands, some plants stand next to the window, they are all introducing relevant botany knowledge and surrounding ecological environment; multiple Sandstone, highland, striking cliffs, descriptions of geological features and geological changes near many rock sections; walk into the park, there are entertainment venues for children, artificial beaches, artificial lakes, children play in the water The laughter and resounding resounds through the park, and at the same time, people are able to arrange the "zero distance" contact between the animals and the children as much as possible while ensuring the safety of the children. While playing, in the embrace of nature, the children enjoy swimming in the ocean of knowledge, knowing the flora and fauna and understanding their contribution to human beings, understanding the various natural phenomena and gaining emotional knowledge, and experiencing the harmony between man and nature. Get along with the fun and mystery. At the same time, many public cultural places in Australia, such as the National Art Museum, the former site of the City Expo, libraries, museums, art galleries, etc., are open to students free of charge, where school teachers can often be seen, where students visit and listen to lectures. Communicate with each other, access materials, hands-on experiments, and participate in online interactive communication. Many students complete papers or survey assignments in these places, and during the activity, staff or volunteers generally provide timely assistance to students. . Of course, the history, culture, and architecture of Australia and New Zealand are the materials for students to learn.

See the third: the government coordinates services to form a comprehensive education environment. Australia has a unified preferential policy for students to travel by road and visit exhibitions. In many activities, relevant departments arrange for adults involved in counseling to protect and guide young people. When New Zealand students participate in community education, students can participate in different projects according to their own interests. The management departments and staff of different projects can obtain the government's education funds according to the number of education vouchers handed in by the participating students. In the Australian government, for students over the age of 16 to experience independent living, they will also issue certain Allowance.

In Australia, every student must wear a uniform. The cost of school uniforms needs to be paid by the parents. The price is high, but parents are very supportive. On the one hand, it is because the types of school uniforms are quite rich: from shirts, fleece, jackets, sportswear, dresses, shoes, shoes, etc., and the school uniform style and texture are very suitable for students. On the other hand, school uniforms are an effective measure to protect the rights of young Australians. First of all, each parent can choose whether to buy a new school uniform for his or her child, or buy an old school uniform that the previous student passed through, and the uniform can be sold to the school or voluntarily donated. Secondly, uniform dressing can avoid inappropriate comparisons between teenagers, and is conducive to fostering children's awareness of equality and diligence. Finally, what is more satisfying to the parents is that every day from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm, the police will ask students who are wearing school uniforms on the streets. Those who are not suitable for young people should not be allowed to wear school uniforms, take public transportation, visit exhibitions, etc. Students with uniforms can enjoy the discount. This not only strengthens the equality awareness and environmental awareness of young students, but also saves the education investment of the whole society, clearly coordinates the education responsibilities of the whole society concerned with the next generation, and rationally balances the interests of all parties, and is conducive to economic development and environmental protection. It has received universal support and support from the public.

It can be seen that the whole society in Australia and New Zealand are concerned about education and education belongs to the whole society. We say that quality education and character development must be closely linked to each person's personal, concrete and repeated experience to penetrate the hearts of the people and naturally become their inherent moral quality. Make full use of social and cultural resources, integrate school education into society, and continue to receive the support of the source of social life and the support of social forces. Such education will be vigorous and balanced, and will make due for the stability and progress of the society and the happiness and well-being of the people. contribution. At the same time, the government attaches great importance to education and ensures the need for education funding. In recent years, Australia has grown very rapidly in this respect. In 1998, Australia’s total education budget has reached 5.46% of GDP; fiscal education funds accounted for 84.1% of all education funds, while non-financial education funds accounted for only 15.9% of education funding. In addition to the state's normal education investment, the school's funds for hardware facilities are all allocated by the federal government. In addition, except for the expenses of the compulsory education stage, all of which are invested by the government, the government will also provide certain subsidies for those who participate in various types of vocational training. In particular, students who continue to participate in vocational training after work can often take paid reading. In addition, parents and the community will also make voluntary contributions to the construction of the school, such as helping the school to build a computer room, or building a gym on campus. Some companies will also contribute to the implementation.

Feeling 2: Everywhere, the concept of "people-oriented" is highlighted. One: Humanized care. Walking in public places, you can feel the humanity care everywhere: everywhere you see a chair for pedestrians to rest, a green passage for disabled people to walk, a well-trained guide dog for the blind, consciously let the pedestrian Vehicles, free open-air baths for busy residents, free paradise for children, and more than 100 on the Gold Coast. There are three types of public restrooms: three special toilets for men, women and the disabled. There is a special "wheelchair" mark at the entrance of the disabled toilet. Normal people will never go in. To museums, hospitals and other places, there are free wheelchairs for people with disabilities. It is the "McDonald's" opened on the street, which fully reflects the people-oriented concept. On the side of the store, they have two windows for sale, and there is a driveway for cars to pass by. The driver who wants to buy McDonald's just drives the car and drives to the window, which can be easily bought without getting off the bus.
See the second: The purpose of the Sydney TAFE Academy is to help you find a job. Vigorously develop vocational education and establish a complete vocational education system. The main force of vocational education in Australia is the School of Technology and Continuing Education.

There are 250 TAFE colleges in the country, and 1.3 million students are funded by the government. TAFE's philosophy is "helping you find a job" and "helping you to be more qualified for work". They continue to investigate the talents of the industry needed by the society, and cooperate extensively with the company to obtain support from equipment and teachers to cultivate practical technical talents. TAFE itself also strengthens investment, such as purchasing "Boeing" aircraft to train drivers, etc., constantly expanding their visibility and social coverage, and looking for their own survival cornerstone. Therefore, the TAFE Academy's annual professional, curriculum and teaching facilities and methods are closely integrated with the needs of the society. To evaluate the quality of the school's education, the most important measure is whether the students who have been trained have found a job or a job.

See the third: the school system is more flexible. Everyone's development is different. In order to adapt to the differences in student development, Australia has proposed an flexible academic system, that is, students who have learned well can graduate in advance, and students who have poor academics can delay graduation and drop out of school for various reasons. After having work experience and social experience, he is allowed to return to school with questions. While actively expanding the possibility of higher-level students transferring to and from school, Australian schools have also opened channels for mid-course admission.

Episode 4: In order to ensure that every Chinese student can develop in a balanced manner, Australia has prescribed the number of classes in all 12 grades in China in the form of law, of which 25 are in the first grade and 30 in the 2-10 grade, 11 The -12 grade is 25 people. If the class exceeds one person, it will be illegal. When evaluating a student, the subject teacher's evaluation of the student is both quantitative and qualitative, and there is a vertical comparison of the various aspects of the student's ability. In this way, even if you are a latecomer, there will be many places worthy of recognition, and the enthusiasm of each student is stimulated. When we arrived at WELCOME School, this New Zealand public country hour, strolling through the corridors of the campus, was greeted by excellent teachers' photos and profiles and a variety of student works. No classroom decoration is exactly the same, the first impression is a messy and disorderly feeling. Looking through the glass, every wall and window is covered with various works of students. Even in the middle of the classroom, the wire is pulled. The students want to stick and stick, and they want to hang. I used to be tidy in the classroom. The first thing I felt was that the classroom was so messy and I thought about it. Isn’t this a scene full of vitality and personality? Doesn't every student have a stage to show their talents? Although some works are so naive, for children, that is their greatest creation. I heard that each of their classrooms is equipped with a washroom, which is convenient for students. Outdoors, the event venue is large, the lawn of more than ten acres is the children's football field, football field, and a customized wood playground for the lower grades.

People-oriented as a concept can be fully reflected in all aspects of Australia. The education with the theme of "People and Development" is our overall understanding of the current state of education and characteristics of Australia. In the school education, the "student" is the foundation, and in the development of the school, the "teacher" is the foundation. Improve the teacher's access threshold, set up a teacher registration committee, and strengthen the requirements of the teacher's morality. For the teachers who have been appointed, they respect the work of teachers, respect the creative work of teachers, and care for the sustainable development of teachers.

Feeling 3: Paying great attention to the effective allocation of school teaching resources. See the first one: three strips of wood, plus a curved wooden board, nine nails become the school's school card, painted with the name of the school, standing in the green belt On the road junction of the school, there is an iron chain tied to the two wooden stakes. There is no door. If it is called the door, it is equivalent to the garden gate on the fence of our rural vegetable garden.

See the second two: WELCOME school's teaching building, office building are one-story bungalows, the external structure is very similar to the temporary construction of the aluminum building of the domestic construction team. The school's sports facilities are very popular. The cement basketball court, the thumb playground, and the green playground are simple but the area is large. Students can carry out various sports. The construction of these venues can fully meet the needs of students' general sports activities, but the construction funds do not know how much to save than the domestic playground.

See the third: When I was visiting the West Lake Girls' School in New Zealand, I found that there were nearly 20 iron buckets behind the teaching building, concave and convex, and rust spots. Hey, what is this? When I look closer, I also find that An iron bucket has oil paintings with different patterns. It was originally a trash can, all made of discarded iron drums. It is both environmentally friendly and economical.
See the fourth: I heard that the Sydney Institute of Technology is a well-respected TAFE school in the world, where there are not many luxury facilities or particularly expensive equipment. There are not many books in the school library, but all books are useful for students to learn. The number of computers used by the library for teachers and students to search will not exceed one hundred. It is said that the configuration is not the most advanced. Students use computers to make appointments, and the school arranges time. From this case, they further embodies their "enough" principle.

The school education in Australia is very adequate. In addition to the funds allocated by the government, parents and the community will donate money to the school. The six schools we visited this time include universities and small Chinese. There are public schools and private schools. There are private church schools with large investment, large scale, good facilities and high quality, but more schools are built with high efficiency. "Practical, practical, enough" principle, all facilities and equipment are not pursuing luxury and style.

Feeling 4: The higher nationals have a good knowledge: As soon as they set foot on the land of Australia and New Zealand, the first impression is that the sky is so blue and the air is so fresh. On the car going to Auckland, through the windows and sides, there are blue sky and white clouds, green grass, oil and sheep in the idyllic scenery. There is also a similar view in Australia. Every city has a fascinating place: Canberra has four seasons of trees and green grass, and the 704-hectare Griffin Lake is surrounded by picturesque scenery, the “garden capital” is well-deserved; the Sydney-style opera house, Standing on the Bay of Benilang Cape, the 1149-meter-long single-arched bridge was born, and it is a touch of old-fashioned buildings and modern high-rise buildings in the old part of the pier. The Botanical Garden covers 1/4 of the city area. Lush, colorful flowers, birds and flowers. Talking to Australians, the beauty of the environment is where they are most proud. Similarly, the Australian and new university campuses generally have no walls and no gates. There is a school in the city, there is a street in the school, the building and greening of the campus are completely integrated with the whole city, without any deliberate and artificial.

See the second two: During the inspections in Australia and New Zealand, we saw that people are obedient and trustworthy, conscientious, honest and courteous, and walk in public places, pedestrians will be friendly and friendly to you.

See the third: On the evening of December 25th, we are going to return to China. In the afternoon, I went to a small convenience store with a member of the group. When I paid, I found that the money in the bag was not enough. So I took out the dollar and asked if I could pay. The salesperson shook his head. At this time, a young man was watching. He got together and paid for the insufficient Chinese currency. We even said: "Thank you!" He smiled friendly at us.

The reason why we can see such a beautiful environment here is that apart from the sparse population of these two countries, what is more important is that people have very high quality and everyone has a strong sense of responsibility to protect the environment. This sense of responsibility is due to the long-term environmental education of the children. In a small number of institutions in the Ministry of Education, there is a department specializing in environmental education, which shoulders the heavy responsibility of environmental education throughout the state. Schools in all grades from the National Primary School offer courses in environmental education. These courses allow students to experience and understand the importance of protecting the environment in the contact with nature, and generate environmental responsibility from the heart, thus becoming a volunteer in the environmental protection cause. The school also attaches great importance to the practice of behavioral norms, and there is a kind of honesty and courtesy in the school and society. The traffic order is completely managed by traffic lights and road markings and camera lens. The parking spaces are managed by signs and automatic timing cards. There are customs of customs everywhere, the habit of consciously queuing, nod greetings everywhere, and the pace of life is relatively leisurely. Church schools and private schools have a very tight grasp of student conduct, and they have detailed and detailed norms and guidance. The high standards of Australia and New Zealand's nationals are worth learning.

Third, through the investigation of our enlightenment and thinking, we must establish the idea that education belongs to society.
Pay more attention to the coordinated development of education and economy and society. In the 21st century, the task of education is not only to teach and educate people, but to preach. Schools of all types and at all levels must provide more and stronger talent support for social development and economic construction. Colleges and universities make full use of the school's talent and scientific research advantages to transform scientific research results into productivity. As a government, we should fully recognize the strategic position of education in economic development. From the height of sustainable development, we should do a good job in the planning and layout of the harmonious development of education and society, and further increase the investment in education. The strategies, methods, and styles of education are diverse, and we need to pay attention to finding the best solutions that are acceptable in many aspects. Therefore, front-line teachers, experts, parents and other social institutions must work together. In the socialized education, everyone is an educator and an educator, accepting education from the whole society and accepting education from practice. Therefore, we must effectively develop the work of the community education college. The work of the community colleges needs to be further improved. On the one hand, we must pay attention to this work. On the other hand, we must continue to strengthen the masters and recruit volunteers and volunteers. At the same time, we will maximize the development of social resources to promote school education.

More attention should be paid to the people-oriented educational philosophy.
The six schools we visited this time include universities and small Chinese schools. There are public schools and private schools. There are also boys’ schools and girls’ schools. There are private church schools with large investment, large scale, good facilities and high quality. There are also school buildings. A public school with a general site size, standard facilities, and general teaching quality. All in all, these schools have their own characteristics, and they all cultivate healthy and well-developed citizens as their educational goals. It should be said that at present, China's education sector has a relatively strong consensus on "people-oriented", but it lacks the action that truly reflects this scientific and advanced concept in the practice of education and teaching. In many localities, the administrative departments of education and schools are also shouting "people-oriented" on the one hand, and on the other hand, they do not consider the reality of schools and students at all, and do not respect the opinions and requirements of students and teachers. Therefore, our "people-oriented" is still only on the slogan, and it is still far from the true "student-based" requirements. This requires us to do it. Australian schools are highly flexible in their curriculum and are inspired by the inspiration of students' intelligence, self-learning skills, and practical application. In teaching, there are usually a variety of teaching methods, and classroom infusion is rare. Teachers are more flexible in their assignments. Australian schools have to write small essays since the beginning of the country, and students make full use of online resources to search for information. In China's Xiaoli, Australia, the student's literacy and ability training throughout. For example, public expressions and speeches are considered as basic competencies for students. In English and social science classes, students need to make multiple presentations. From choosing topics to collecting materials, preparing for presentations, rehearsals, and formal presentations, students need to be very valued because speeches often account for 10% to 20% of the total score. Collective collaborative work is another important part of the training of syllabus. Some large-scale assignments must be completed collectively by three to five people. These are all worthy of the mirror. We say that the purpose of education is to make every child develop, which is beyond doubt. Then, in the process of implementing the new curriculum, how do we combine Chinese and Western, seek better solutions in the teaching process and methods, and truly act and integrate with our educational philosophy? Let each child truly develop his own personality, we have a long way to go.

Excellent teachers are the key to running a good school.
When visiting the Australian school, the principals thought that the school would have to choose the best teachers to teach at the school, and put the construction of the teaching staff at the top of the school work. It is true that the education problem is ultimately a teacher problem. Since teachers are directly responsible for educating students, it is particularly important to ensure that talents enter the teaching team. How can I choose good teachers to come to school? Australian schools place great emphasis on the personality power of teachers. Special attention is given to selecting talents with affinity, responsibility, mission, and educational practice skills into the ranks of teachers. In addition, strengthening teachers' in-service training is also one of the important ways. Establish a diversified on-the-job training system, such as carrying out graduate-level on-the-job training, in order to broaden the knowledge of teachers, conduct long-term life experience-based training in enterprises, social education institutions, and welfare institutions; and train psychological counseling for all teachers. Ability, especially to strengthen the on-the-job training of childcare teachers. In connection with the reality of Chinese education, the current common problems are: the structure of the faculty is unreasonable, the age of the principals is aging, and the proportion of part-time teachers is too large. The evaluation of teachers is important for knowledge and skills, and the personality of light is to change this situation. The construction of the teaching staff must face the world and face the future. Evaluating and selecting teachers is not only about whether their professional knowledge is excellent, but also whether they have a personality strength, whether they can adapt to students and adapt to parents.

School facilities should pursue the principle of “efficient, practical, and adequate”.
The construction of hardware facilities in Australia campus emphasizes the principle of “efficient, practical and sufficient”. The campus area is large, sports facilities, sanitation facilities and information technology equipment are complete, but not luxurious, especially information technology equipment is more auxiliary. . Examining Chinese education, it seems that we can make some reflections on the pursuit of luxury and advanced schools on the hardware. Especially according to China's national conditions, it is necessary to eliminate waste and blindly compare the use of limited funds to the knife.

Pay attention to vocational education. Cultivate practical talents that meet the needs of social development.
The competent education department must strictly control the professional settings and teachers' equipment at all levels of vocational schools according to the needs of the society. It is necessary to effectively reverse the current misconceptions of heavy academic and light skills in the society, and let more people realize the important role of strengthening vocational training to improve the cultural literacy of the whole nation. At the same time, it is necessary to change the status quo of professional teachers in vocational schools as soon as possible, improve their ability to design and develop teaching materials and the ability to teach flexibly, thus improving the quality of training.
Through this foreign education study, we deeply felt that Eastern and Western education is like the moon, and each has its own gloom. Today's education reform and development is to combine Chinese and Western cultures, to take advantage of each other's strengths, to make the East and West cultures collide and find the best combination.