Explicit learning, or rote learning as it used to be known, definitely has its place (“Teachers heading in rote direction”, April 23). Having children learn their times tables in this way embeds the facts so that the child can usually recall them easily. As explicit learning does not lend itself to every subject, one hopes that the education authorities will not proclaim “you must” to teachers but leave the application of this “new” form of learning to school principals to implement. Marjie Williamson, Blaxland

We’ve ejected the phonics v whole language debate in favour of the explicit teaching v inquiry-based learning hot button issue. The problem is failure to accept that teacher expertise and professional judgment is the key to great learning. Rejecting this is a recipe for a further decline in student results. Controlling what is taught in the classroom only suits the private corporate entities who develop the educational materials which are edging their way into the system as well as flooding the education market. Vanessa Tennent, Oatley

Explicit teaching is an essential component of teaching for every class. It should be followed first by practising the skill just taught, and once competent, students can use those skills to apply to problem-solving and inquiry-based learning. Explicit teaching methods go hand-in-hand with rote learning. Even these days, teachers employ rote learning when teaching new songs, games, and dances, even if they do not recognise it as such. It is basically repeated practice to deeply embed knowledge so that once learnt, it is never forgotten. It need not be dull, and many students enjoy the ritual of chanting tables, spelling words etc. As with all teaching methods, they should not be exclusive but agreed to by good teachers who work with the best mix for their classes. Augusta Monro, Dural

Mental health needs more support

All the responses to the Westfield Bondi Junction tragedy obscure the reality of how underfunded, under-resourced and under-serviced mental health services are –and how this tragedy and others like it might have been avoided with adequate mental health funding and support, which goes much farther than “kick a ball”, “phone a friend”, “watching sugar settle”(“After a week of horror in the city, remember what matters most”, April 21). Mentally ill people often don’t have phones, homes, housing, friends or families and can’t afford a coffee. Berwyn Lewis, Bondi

For a long time, environmental and economic concerns have been in conflict, but in one crucial area, they are in lockstep, even if our politicians don’t realise it (“Minister under fire for slow pace of reform”, April 21). It is economically, as well as ecologically, imperative that we stop climate change before it stops us. Yes, the cost of mitigation may be high, but the cost of doing nothing is even higher – not only in terms of species loss and ecosystem decline but also in pure dollar terms. If we let the planet continue to warm, we will see more natural disasters like droughts, floods, fires and storms, declining agriculture, rising hunger and the mass movement of people from affected areas. That, in turn, will create political instability and spark wars. Do we really want to live in that kind of world? Ken Enderby, Concord

Free market failure

The fact that company CEOs in Australia are paid 55 times more than their average worker is further proof that our free market economic system is failing us (“The hefty pay packets of CEOs is becoming harder and harder to justify”, April 21). The system’s relentless in-your-face advertising boosts consumption and waste beyond what the planet can bear. It focuses production on the goods that only rich people can afford, not those that people need. And, as evidenced by the salary differential, it is generating extraordinary inequality.

Recent reports show that the richest 10 per cent of people now own nearly 76 per cent of the world’s wealth. As billionaire Warren Buffett said, “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.” Ian Penrose, Kew (Vic)

Thank you, Victoria Devine, for reminding us of the obscenity of CEOs’ inflated salaries. There is no justification for the ultra-wide disparity between the salaries of the CEO and senior executives and their employees. The public performances of some of these people in recent times attempting to justify their company failings fall far short of what the public expects. Many appear willing to accept the salaries but are seemingly a lot less willing to accept the responsibility. Max Redmayne, Drummoyne

Advice over abstinence

Correspondent Geoff Harding advocates an “alcohol-free lifestyle for the good of all” (Letters, April 21). That seems to me a little too much like prohibition, and we know what that led to in the USA between 1920 and 1933: organised crime and near-anarchy. Wise counselling is both more effective and very much less costly. Douglas Mackenzie, Deakin (ACT)

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