Kerre Woodham: Streaming seems like a relic of a bygone era

We were streamed at our school - languages on one side, with Latin at the top - technical on the other. 

Streaming seems like a relic of a bygone era - I wasn't even sure that streaming still existed until the story came out that teachers’ unions want streaming in schools to be abolished. 

I'm sure it makes classes easier to teach. You're all on the same page, literally and metaphorically. You all learn the same subjects the same way. But that's not life. 

We're surrounded by all sorts of people with all sorts of abilities. Just being good at English or Maths doesn't make you good at everything. Being good academically doesn't mean you're a winner in life.

Being practical and having hands on learning skills doesn't make you dumb. 

And yet so many of us were pigeon holed - we were one thing, but not the other. How on earth is streaming still a thing? And does that kind of thinking still exist? 

That if you're a tradie, you're not as smart as someone with a half-arsed degree? Surely not. 

Surely that kind of thinking when out with walk shorts and socks. Is there anyone willing to mount a case for streaming and how many people were put into the wrong box when they were at school. What sort of ramifications does that have for life?

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