- English teachers being asked to teach students to ‘read graffiti’ in Queensland
- Assessment instructions detailed on official Queensland curriculum document
- An expert described the graffiti as a ‘waste’ and ‘dumbing down’ of education
English teachers in Queensland are being instructed to teach their students to ‘read graffiti’ in an official curriculum document.
The sample assessment, detailed on the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority website, asks students to engage, examine and evaluate graffiti.
Images of graffiti are provided to the students who are asked to explain, ‘How do you know about the graffiti? Who produces the graffiti? Is graffiti an art form or a criminal offence?’
A ‘dumbed down’ Queensland curriculum is teaching students to ‘read graffiti’ in Year 9 English classes. An example of one of the images students are asked to analyse is pictured.
Kevin Donnelly, a reviewer of Australia’s National Curriculum, described the graffiti exercise as a ‘waste of time’ and a ‘dumbing down’ of education, in an interview with the Courier Mail.
He told the publication ‘it’s very difficult’ to get teenagers to read something that’s 300 pages long’, since young people are now used to ‘visual images, graphics and cartoons’.
The exercise even provides examples of student responses to the graffiti images, with answers including ‘I have seen graffiti on the way to school’ and ‘It is mainly done by young people’.
Images of graffiti (example pictured) are provided to the students who are asked to explain ‘how do you know about the graffiti?
Kevin Donnelly (pictured), who is reviewing Australia’s National Curriculum, described the graffiti as a ‘waste of time’ and a dumbing down’ of education,
Queensland’s Education Minister refused to comment, while the curriculum authority described the assessment as an ‘optional resource’ for teachers, according to the Courier Mail.
‘Decisions around the use of assessment items and contexts for learning are made at the school level,’ he said.
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