private ( catholic ) vs. PUBLIC (2 Viewers)

[Mike iE]

I've gone to Catholic Primary and Secondary schools, and if i could chose i would go to a Catholic school. Studies of Religion is compulsary, but its more of a History of Religion in Australia, opposed to bible teachings. We have mass twice a year and liturgies on special occasions, which are usually fun and interesting. The Catholic influence is there, but its not overpowering. Alot of my friends are Anglican and they find it alright.

I like the all-round education that you get, its not just about being academically educated, you get a good moral grounding and a real sense of community amongst the school, i dont what it is, but i reckon I'll come out of the school a better person for having gone there.

I dont think i could handle a public school.

 

[Skillo]

Here's my rant...

In 2002, when I was in Year 10 I went for four scholarships for three Melbourne boarding schools. PLC, MLC and Caulfield Grammar School. The last one (CGS), I was into the last round of selection...but just missed out. I go to a public, country high school and thought that I was in a 'dead-end' situation. I thought that the facilities these private schools offered would improve my grades, I was under the dillusion that a 200 seat theatre and extensive theatrical program would make me a better performer, I thought that being in a school surrounded by relatively wealthy people would make me a better person.

Now, I can't believe how stupid I was to think that. I can't believe I considered going to a private school. I can't believe how I let myself ignore the opportunities my town offers me. I can't believe that I'd not exhausted the public system.

My parents both teach in the public system and collectively have knocked up 40yrs of service. I like to think that I know the private system now, after my experience of tours, try a day and crap like that. My 13 years of public education has been invaluable. Out of the meager funds my school receives I am taught lessons for life. I am not spoon-fed work, or taught how to succeed in exams. I am taught skills that will be the basis for my career in the foreseeable future. The success of public schools is not measured by how many children get perfects UAIs, the 25 meter swimming pool or the music centre with recording studios. The success is measured by the retention rate of public school students at tertiary institutions and respective careers, the little things we achieve with the poor facilities we are provided with, students who achieve outstanding results despite not having that state-of-the-art VA studios or computer labs, and the alumni...that are coming back to their school, still wanting to be a part of it.

I am so very glad I didnt get that scholarship.

Johnny Howard questioned the values that public schools teach, believing that it is taught one-sidedly. What is the one side of respect? What is the one-side of responsibility? What is the one side of equality, reconciliation and peace? I know that he is a war-bringer, a tiny man playing up to the big-players. But his ignorance and poor governing of this country doesnt gain my respect.
What is his objective in stirring this argument up? Perhaps the ultimate, the government losing responsibility for the public education system...just another thing off his agenda...or perhaps he wants to decrease public schools funding even more...

We learn to live, we can survive in the real world. We are not sheltered, we encourage discussion. We invite students from all backgrounds, financial, racial, religious.

Thats what I love about Public Education. Diversity.

(P.S: braindrainedash, loved the letter in the Border Mail. My family loved it!)

 

[Mambomeg]

If students disagree with teachers about an issue like homosexuality etc, its not an issue. Why would it be an issue? sometimes if we disagree on stuff like whether or not the pope should step down, in an appropriate environment (like in a class where we have nothing better to do) we will debate about it, with everyone voicing their opinions, but its never really serious, its more to encourage us to listen to other ppls point of views, and stuff.
Often you'll find that teachers agree with your point of view, contrary to popular belief, not all catholics are hard core virgin homophobics who dont use birth control and have a hundred kids.
Many of my teachers, particularly young or well travelled ones disagree with some church policies, believing them to be outdated or wrong.
Catholic schools just expose you to the morals, ethics and values emphasised by the faith. You dont have them forced on you, but you are exposed to them, and can choose whether or not to adopt them.
They are not necessarily better than pubic schools, just different.

oh - and btw - most of the "exclusive" private schools, ie kings, barker, tara etc are not catholic, they are private, but not catholic.

 

[Lainee]

Originally posted by miss_pie
my family doesn't have alot of money but they want a good education for me and my sister so they send me to a catholic school. none of us are catholic and most of it is barely absorbed. anyway back to my point... i think catholic schools are a good alternative for those who dont want their children going to public schools because they're generally not very expensive, mine is about 5 grand for yr 12. and so due to this, there is a wide range of economic status and no one is judged based upon it. private schools don't nessecarily discriminate based upon how much money one has anyway... thats an ignorant assumption to make if you've never experienced private schooling.

Pardon me, but I went to a catholic primary school and my family are Catholic - the reasons why we didn't choose a Catholic school are varied but I'm satisfied with what I have achieved out of my 6 years of public schooling. And I never made the assumption that people would be discriminated against in private schools at all - I repeat to clarify that "I don't ever want to ever put myself in a position where I would stand chance of feeling inadequate". I'm sure that this is not the case in many schools - I wouldn't know - and you're lucky miss_pie that you're in a satisfying environment at school, but I'm sensitive about my family's lack of wealth and that impacts on my choice of school - I'm not suggesting anything other than that.

My mum just wrote a cheque of $350 - my school fees for the year, and to one of the best performing schools in the state. My parents too want a good education for me and my sister, so please don't say that your parents are prepared to pay more to ensure you all a good education - so do mine, but we chose public education for probably different reasons. Doesn't mean one is better than the other, which is what I've been saying all along. You just have to compare and contrast individual schools on criteria that is tailored to fit every child's needs and every family's expectations.

 

[Not-That-Bright]

I think it's personal preferance, however alot of my friends that changed from public to private AFTER me while they were still at the public school said how great public schools are.. I think if you could go to private you should at least give it a go for a couple of years, see how it goes with ur personality.

One thing that i think people should know is, private schools AREN'T selective schools, they cant just pick the children they want to take. The reason why often there is more disipline in private schools is because they're set up better for it, So if you want to MAKE SURE your child does SOMETHING, then you should send them to a private school. However for children who are commited, it should be fine either way, long as the school has enough text books for everyone etc.

 

[Lainee]

Johnny Howard questioned the values that public schools teach, believing that it is taught one-sidedly. What is the one side of respect? What is the one-side of responsibility? What is the one side of equality, reconciliation and peace? I know that he is a war-bringer, a tiny man playing up to the big-players. But his ignorance and poor governing of this country doesnt gain my respect.
What is his objective in stirring this argument up? Perhaps the ultimate, the government losing responsibility for the public education system...just another thing off his agenda...or perhaps he wants to decrease public schools funding even more...

Heheh, I can't say Howard is very diplomatic about voicing his beliefs. The media has just caught it and blown it up into huge proportions. Australia has always been a country of choice, but by making such a public and highly opinionated comment like that he was basically encouraging one choice more than the other - which means he'll end up upsetting people who support the other choices and likely just his arse kicked out of the pretty prime minister seat. Not only is -public schooling- about diversity, the education system is suppose to encourage it - I think you just hit the nail on the head Skillo.

I'm sorry to hear that you weren't satisfied with the choices you make about schooling Skillo - but I hope everyone realises that what may not have been the perfect outcome for one person may be a very good choice for yourself. To each their own.

 

[cro_angel]

i watched on the news today.. mark latham went to a public primary school and read the little kids a book about jesus' birth lol

 

[Lainee]

Originally posted by Not-That-Bright
One thing that i think people should know is, private schools AREN'T selective schools, they cant just pick the children they want to take. The reason why often there is more disipline in private schools is because they're set up better for it, So if you want to MAKE SURE your child does SOMETHING, then you should send them to a private school. However for children who are commited, it should be fine either way, long as the school has enough text books for everyone etc.

I'm going to have to say the opposite to you on this - contrary to what you said, private schools can be very selective. http://www.tai.org.au/WhatsNew_Files/WhatsNew/Buying an education.pdf
(Does not mean I support the conclusions drawn from the report, I just find some arguments valid for further discussion here - so don't flame me )

"That is, selective government high schools perform well primarily because they only select students who are highly likely to excel academically. Similarly, expensive nongovernment schools are highly selective across a broader range of criteria, including
the ability to pay high fees and the willingness of the student to conform to a more rigid code of behaviour. Difficult students, or students with physical or mental disabilities, who would divert attention away from the majority of students, can also be excluded from the school, freeing up both financial and teacher resources for the selected few.

Recent research has highlighted the effect that socio-economic status (SES) has on students achievement. A report written by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER 2003) has found that SES influences childrens achievement in two ways. The first is that students from schools with higher SES perform better on numeracy and literacy tests. The second finding is that students from families with higher SES also achieve higher tests scores (Rothman and McMillan 2003). These findings are of interest as SES was shown to affect students achievement regardless of the type of school they attend. In essence it is not the school that directly affects students performance but rather the location of the school in a high SES area and the individual SES of the childs parents." (pg 6)

"If the purpose of spending tens of thousands of dollars on private school education is to increase that childrens chances of gaining entry to the university degree of their choice, then the Commonwealth Government has recently provided parents, by means of full fee paying places at university, with a cheaper, and more direct, mechanism to achieve such an outcome. That is, if parents wish to improve their childrens chances of gaining admission to the degree of their choice they are now provided with an alternative and, in turn, a new choice to make: would my money be better spent on a private school education or invested to purchase a full fee paying place at university after school?" (pg 6, 7)

 

[Not-That-Bright]

Mark latham.. if you look into him more than since he's been the PM is a very disturbing man who has made some very stupid comments, If he ever becomes the prime minister alot of people are going to regret it.

John howard's statements where about why he sent his children to private school... it was a personal choice for his children.

We can sit here and complain about it all day, but the private system is basically better, if your willing to fork up the money. You get the better facilities, generally there isn't much 'crime' at private schools. But as for Education, i think you can do just as good at a private school if your commited. It's all about commitment, and alot of the kids that actually CHOOSE for themselves to go to a private school are commited.

To me both are good, but at the public school these things happened that dont happen at my school;
Fist fights constantly - Girls and guys... always fighting.
People doing drugs - Now lots of people do drugs at private schools, but trust me it was much more rampant at my old school.
Facilities - Basically... the windows at our public school were constantly broken, people would just walk in throw rocks from every BIG window, and grafitti all over the place, all that money had to be paid for by the school, reducing our facilities. Along with that basically they didn't have as much money.

Problems i found at private;
Some people can be snotty - I came from a public school, and went to private, I had a fair bit of money ... but the people in public schools often have a fairly different outlook on life just from there different schooling it was a bit hard to find normal.
Lots of bitching - everyone bitches... they think they're rich as all shit and just sit around bitching acting tough, it gets annoying.
Teachers are in it for themselves - Alot of private school teachers, altho they are very good teachers... aren't in on it on a very personal level with the students. There are a few exceptions, and they are all HUGE with the community, but there's less of a 'I'll get to know each student like a friend' sorta thing... They're there to teach, ur there to learn.

Yea.. that sums up the bad from both.

University is very selective, I've learnt alot of stuff on a broad way in highschool alot of which i wont use much, but its great to be knowledgable in general, its good to know about business for example no matter what your going to do.

 

[cro_angel]

i know someone who went to a catholic school.. then he wanted to like do well in music/creative arts things so he changed to a school that is good at it.. but its public (even though it is selective everyone gets in anyway)
he went there for a few weeks.. although he made friends.. did well at music.. he went back to his old school
i know at my school.. people with relatives/siblings that went to the school get auto entry, people who are christian get preference.. then if theres any spots left they let in others

 

[Lainee]

Originally posted by Not-That-Bright
We can sit here and complain about it all day, but the private system is basically better, if your willing to fork up the money.

Basically better? We're sitting here and complaining about it because people like you try to squeeze assumptions down our throats dearie. 'Pro-public' people like me aren't exactly brainless idiots - wait, don't get offended yet, I know you didn't say that - but the arguments we've produced are valid, it's just that we've found the system very fitting for us. I'm not dissing any private schools, I'm not supporting any public schools - I'm putting forward that there's no ONE SIZE FITS ALL SCHOOL! Thus, there's a diversity to compensate for people's differing needs! *feels like she's repeating herself over and over here*

 

[Not-That-Bright]

It's roughly the same system but with money and better facilities.. .yea people are getting annoying. But no, i dont think public school people are stupid, and alot more of my friends come from public schools. I went to a public school till year 10.

If you look at my entire post, there are problems with both of the schools that i've experienced, and im not pushing the assumptions of ' Public school people are violent and stupid ' nor do i want to push the assumption that ' Private school people are snobby and nerdy ' even tho i have found the latter to be partly true.

I'm with you that it depends on what your needs are, But there's really not too much of a structural difference, Im just as laid back in private school as i was in public, The teachers are pretty much the same, It's just that it costs alot, and there's some better stuff.

If you've found the system better for you thats cool but i cant guess why really, unless you really hate the snobby people, or u cant stand how much you have to pay, there isn't much of a difference. Altho maybe it's different for me , where i live.. every public schools just full of little punks that just want to destroy things.




I think there's no point debating this.. cause its just really a flame war, We all prolly like our schools, i dont really even like my private school much, I would much rather be able to make my own decisions about how I want to learn.. I find that I learn much more just reading through the book doing the work I think i need, after they give me sheets... However its all designed to suit EVERYONE, i think it'd be much nicer if a school could implement a system to encourage EVERYONE's way of learning.. not just a little to everyone.

 

[cro_angel]

yes... public school people do seem to like destroying things
me and my friends went into a public school out of boredom one day.. and their toilets/change rooms were full of graffiti and this weird ass smell.. hehe just had to complain about it
my uniform is ugly though.. but i dont mind it compared to the shortness of public school girls uniforms..

 

[freaking_out]

the only thing i can say is that my skool is filled with a lot of "catholic skool kick outs".

 

[sneaker]

All that i can say that compared to Latham (in terms of the issue of education), HOWARD is way ahead!

 

[Not-That-Bright]

Yea.. look into latham's past... he's really just some full on psycho labour guy that has even less solid policy than howard.

 

[miss_pie]

Originally posted by Lainee
My parents too want a good education for me and my sister, so please don't say that your parents are prepared to pay more to ensure you all a good education - so do mine, but we chose public education for probably different reasons.

I appologise, i didn't intend to imply that at all. I think public schooling is fantasic, i did primary school at public schools and my father is a teacher at one. i just intended to state that i see no economic inequality or discrimination, but perhaps this is not the case in all catholic schools.

 

[glycerine]

Originally posted by Not-That-Bright
Yea.. look into latham's past... he's really just some full on psycho labour guy that has even less solid policy than howard.

care to back up that statement without mentioning the taxi driver incident?

 

[Not-That-Bright]

He once said in parliament ' I will raise my kids to hate the liberals '

 

[miss_pie]

haha what a champ