Dr Dennis Jensen - Vision and Issues
Outcomes Based Education
Outcomes based education (OBE) is a social experiment that essentially works under the premise that competition (apart from self-competition) is bad. Unfortunately, this is not how the real world works, and as soon as our children leave school they will be competing with others, whether it be for university, training or apprenticeship places, or for a job. Why is it that competition in sport is viewed so positively, yet academic competition between students is actively discouraged? Whatever happened to the pursuit of excellence?
We need an education system that encourages students to strive for excellence, whilst acknowledging that not all can excel in an academic sense. Those less academically minded should be assisted to work in areas that best suit their temperament. OBE does cater for these students but fails to challenge other students to pursue excellence, to go the step beyond – instead it encourages mediocrity. If mediocrity is what the State Government is aiming for then it is a goal that is sure to be achieved! |
