Ready or not, here we come: Students pushed to VCE without basic English
Victorian teachers say many secondary school students are being pushed through to VCE English with having mastered basic English. There could be a better way.
By RACHAEL ANDERSON
Victorian teachers say many secondary school students are being pushed through to VCE English without being given the chance to consolidate basic elements of written expression.
The teachers warn some year 10 students have not mastered basic English skills and are not prepared for the final-year subject.
Secondary school integration aid Bernice Porter says the core English unit is challenging for children with learning difficulties.
"Especially when they come to year 11, a lot of them are still struggling ... when they’re doing their SACS we can’t offer them a lot of help during it and it’s all done in class ... it’s really frustrating to see them struggling and we can’t help them," Ms Porter says.
While many primary and junior high schools offer support for students struggling with English subjects, she says this support is not as common during VCE.
"There is no real world situation where you have to sit there and write three completely different equally coherent pieces of writing" – VCE teacher Alexandra Pierce
The introduction of a lower stream of English in addition to the current literacy units would improve the situation, since only offering an advanced English curriculum particularly disadvantages children with learning issues, she says.
"Three essays in three hours, that’s a huge task for them especially if they’ve got dyslexia, auditory processing and expressive language problems," she says.
"If we offered just another stream ... that would be a bit more realistic ... of what they can do and it would be fairer."
VCE teacher Alexandra Pierce agrees, and says the current format of English assessment does not give a true indication of the capability of a student who struggles with English.
"External exams assess a very particular set of skills. I don’t think that they’re actually reflective of what students are going to be genuinely capable of doing in a real world situation because there is no real world situation where you have to sit there and write three completely different equally coherent pieces of writing,” she says.
Ms Pierce also believes the problem stems from the fact some secondary teachers are not properly trained in how to teach students basic literacy skills.
"One of the problems that I face as a high school English teacher is that I haven’t been taught how to teach kids how to read," she said.
"I’ve come to know how to do some of that but I’m not trained automatically in how to do that."
When contacted, the VCAA declined to comment.
