Wed, Mar 06, 2024 page8

• [ LETTER ]

  • • 
    • 
    • 

  Streaming in education

  In recent years, the Ministry of Education has been carrying out a policy of “normal distribution” in middle schools so that students can be educated in a more equitable way.

  In the past, students would be assigned to different classes based on an ability-driven streaming system, but after years of normal distribution, teachers and parents might have different opinions about the policy.

  More students choose to enter private middle schools and that says something about the normal distribution policy. Obviously, parents want their children to be educated in private middle schools rather than public ones precisely because they believe that the former can provide a better learning environment than the latter.

  The principle of the normal distribution of students is to provide education for all without discrimination. Yet, we should also remember that there is another Confucian principle that urges teachers to teach in accordance with each student’s capability. In elementary schools, teachers would find that some students simply cannot study well. When these students enter middle schools, teachers tend to ignore them as long as they do not disrupt the order of the classrooms. These students, who are not suitable for academic learning, would become strangers in the classroom. Although public middle schools would redistribute students into different classes on a regular basis, we need to pay more attention to those who cannot perform well and try to understand how they cope with the redistribution.

  Without proper guidance, it is likely that these students would give up on both studying and themselves.

  In this sense, the streaming system should be designed based on the differences between academic and vocational education. Nowadays, the streaming does not start until the later stage in secondary education, namely, not until high school would students have the opportunity to opt for academic or vocational education. Such a streaming system is similar to the US one, which requires a better network of education channels. In the US, magnet schools and charter schools are for the students who have difficulty learning.

  We should examine the normal distribution policy and make some changes.

  Teachers with different capabilities should also be assigned accordingly. Teachers who are good at guiding students through academic research and teachers who can support students in an encouraging way have different skills.

  They should be able to play their roles to the full. That way, students can be assisted most appropriately. Under the normal distribution policy, teachers cannot look after every student, while some students might get in the way of others.

  In theory, students’ families would also affect their learning. Their financial and cultural capital would be related to or even reflected in their school performances. This has been discussed in the West for some time. In Taiwan’s university admissions, students who are able to take advantage of the recommendations program have already acquired a certain amount of cultural capital thanks to their family backgrounds. Their applications and portfolios would be more appealing than others. This is an indisputable fact that we should consider.

  Should we instead change our system in line with the British one, streaming at an earlier stage? Should we improve the transition between vocational and academic education to assist those students who have less cultural capital to compete with others?

  Liu Chang-ching

  Taipei
• Most Popular

  • 1

    HSR to encircle Taiwan

  • 2

    MOFA welcomes Rubio’s Taiwan remarks

  • 3

    China seeks to divide Okinawa: report

  • 4

    Open letter to Speaker Han Kuo-yu

  • 5

    EDITORIAL: Taiwan’s constitutional moment