Episode #17 PISA Cope

Well, we've got a really fun episode today.

So we'll jump into that.

Yes.

I'm really, I'm very passionate about this first article.

So the first article, I actually, I read through this the first time when I was sat at dinner and I read the heading and went, I've got to, I've sat with two other people and I went, I need to, I have to read this now.

And I read the heading out to them.

The heading is, is Australia's school system anti-boy? And this one is, it was published in The Conversation by Amanda Keddie.

She's a professor of education at Deakin Uni.

But I want to start off by asking you a question, Greg.

If I said to you, what are your thoughts on the feminization of Australia's curriculum? What are your thoughts? What would you say?

Well, look, it's this guy, Matt Canavan, not Caravan, Canavan.

I did misread it a few times.

Who is the leader of the Nationals, which I suppose we would explain to people who aren't Australian, that that is kind of the minor partner in this partnership of two parties, the Liberals and the Nationals, that form something called the coalition that represents the centre right of our politics.

And he said something, you know, he said boys are sick and tired of the feminisation of Australia's curriculum.

And he's weighed it in in a typical kind of culture wars way, not very diplomatic, probably not going to win many people over who are not already rusted on to the nationals.

But

does he...

I read it and I just, I don't know what that means was like my first thing.

I was like, what do you mean by feminization of the Australian curriculum? Yes.

Well, I mean, and I don't know because the answer to that question, the question you asked me, Katie, is precisely that, is what do you mean by it? And I think there are some, I think women generally face more issues at school than men do in total.

But I do think there are some male-specific issues that young men face.

And I do think there is a tendency in society more broadly to paint men as like on the baddies, like on the side that oppresses.

In modern society, we want to reduce everything to a battle between oppressors and the oppressed, right? And oppressors are bad and the oppressed are good.

And so you want to identify with the oppressed and you don't want to identify with the oppressors.

It's kind of like almost the complete reverse of Roman culture where power was considered to be good and virtuous and things like that.