This is for the Americans: a comparision of the Australian (or at least, Queensland) education system, compared to my experiences in the Seattle area.
I probably have a few details wrong about the local school process -- but it's generally correct.
And I don't know if this is how all AU (or even Queensland) high schools do it: it could just be at The Girl's high school.
The structure is:
-Seven courses per term
-A rolling 7-day schedule
-Four classes per day (plus 10 mins of homeroom)
-Most classes meet 4x during the rolling schedule -- but some only meet 2x or 3x
This means that -- unlike at the high school **I** went to -- no one memorizes their class schedule -- because no two days are alike.
Students tend to map out in a grid which class they have for Period 1, 2, 3 and 4 for each day of the cycle (Day 1, Day 2, Day 3...), and carry a copy in their binder, and post another copy at home (e.g. above their desk). Each morning you then check the schedule, to know which books to bring.
Also, Health/PE is a single class, but with two different "modes": the Health sessions are classroom days, while the PE sessions are in the gymnasium (and you have to change into your gym gear in between periods). Because the kids aren't allowed to travel to school in their gym clothes (they have to wear their school uniforms), it's awkward to have period one as PE -- so usually on those rotation days they're they Health days -- but not always. And sometimes if they're working on an in-class project, the teacher will tell them that next session will be a Health day, not a PE day -- and they have to remember that for next time (which could be 2-3 school days later).
The advantage of this "rotating schedule" system, I suppose, is that that each period is longer -- so each period is about 90 minutes long (whereas I think EHS was 50 or 55 minutes -- six periods a day?), which means that it's practical to do longer, more involved in-class activities.
And also you only have to bring 4/7ths of your books each day.
But, to use an AU phrase: "it would do my head in" to have a rolling seven day cycle: it doesn't even align to the school week (i.e. 5 days) -- such that the Day 1 class schedule at the start of a term is on a Monday -- but then on the next loop it's on Wednesday -- and then on a Friday....
Another advantage, though, is that it's robust against public holidays: for example, if Monday is a holiday, then you just hold the classes for that day in the rotation... on Tuesday.
And I suppose it's good preparation for university - where your different daily schedules don't align.
Another difference is that you have "lower primary" (years Prep (American kindergarden) through year 2, "upper primary" (years 3-6), "Jr. secondary" (years 7-9) and "secondary" (years 10-12).
I'm pretty sure that up until the '80s(-ish), people who were planning to work in factories, get apprenticeships for trades, and etc. would just stay in school until year 9 and then get a "Jr secondary" high school diploma. The kids who wanted to be office workers (higher than admin. assistants) or go to uni would stay all the way through to year 12.
This means that kids who thought school was a "waste of time" could legitimately leave after year 9. This also means that (based on my impression) that the upper-level high school math, history, science and English classes are more rigorous in AU -- almost U.S. university level -- because only the "decent students" traditionally remained.
The implication is that university degrees in AU typically don't require "breadth" requirements like in American universities (e.g. 1 history class, 1 English class, 1 math, 1 science, 1 year of foreign language...) -- because anyone who went through year 12 already has that at a sufficiently high standard. So people at university basically start specializing right away -- e.g. History majors will take nothing but History classes. Within the broader (national) approach to education, it's internally consistent. Similarly, they have the option of staying for an "Honours year" after their three-year Bachelor's degree, to do an "honours thesis" -- which strikes me as pretty similar in scope to a Master's thesis. Which is why people typically don't get a Master's degree on the way to their Ph.D.: the Honours degree is a sufficient prerequisite.
As undergraduates they tend to have two majors (minors don't exist): half the classes in two different areas each -- e.g. Business and Economics, or Math and Physics. However, a "double major" (all your classes in a single area) is viewed as more focused.
Law, Dentistry, Veterinary and Optometry are all undergraduate degrees. So is Medicine (or, used to be, at least; they may have changed it in the last few years). But some of them (I believe) require additional internship/residency periods.
A whole different system. Different from the U.S. approach -- but both are
internally consistent.
--Travis
Labels: Aussie-isms, schoolwork
