For example, based on my own experiences, I don't think private/elite education in Australia is much better that the state system. I went to a Methodist high school here (where one of my teachers, a Catholic, actually described Methodists as being "like Protestant Jesuits") and we frequently had classes of about 40 kids, which was probably more than many state schools at the time and some crappy teachers, including a fair number of pedophiles apparently. According to friends the Catholic schools at the time were no better, probably worse.
State schools, if only those in elite socio-economic areas, regularly beat us in terms of average exam results too. In fact, when I was a journalist, a conservative MP told me she took her son out of an elite private school and he was doing a lot better at the local state school (in a leafy suburb of course).
Nevertheless, I have leftist friends who say they will send their kids to private schools, usually because of their own experiences at state schools ... I just tell them not to waste their money.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Alexandre Fenelon" <afenelon at zaz.com.br> To: <lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org> Sent: Saturday, April 12, 2003 11:23 AM Subject: RES: [lbo-talk] Gulag query
>
>
> -----Mensagem original-----
> De: lbo-talk-admin at lbo-talk.org [mailto:lbo-talk-admin at lbo-talk.org]Em
> nome de Thiago Oppermann
>
>
> Then again, I went to a Jesuit school in Brazil until I was 14.
Admittedly,
> that was elite, but when I first went to Australia, I knew more about
> English grammar than most kids in my public school in Canberra, though I
> could only barely get along in English. There is something wacky about
> anglo-saxon (working class) education. I remember getting a huge shock at
> how strict and unfriendly teachers were at my new school and I couldn't
> believe that we had to spend the entire day at school. The Jesuits had
been
> warmer people and they hadn't insisted on being called Sir, they had loved
> arguing, whereas my new teachers were not really all that cluey or
motivated
> to engage anyone. Least of all each other. They were probably very
stressed,
> but I remember Australian schools feeling like jail. I still think that
that
> was probably right: their function was more to discipline than to teach.
>
>
> Thiago Oppermann
>
> -Yes, but Jesuit schools in Brazil are for upper classes. If you compare
> -Australian public schools with Brazilian public schools, maybe they are
> -quite similar. Maybe the points you mention are common to working class
> -eduction in western countries?
>
> Alexandre Fenelon
>
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