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A genuine revolution

By Chris Watt - posted Wednesday, 13 February 2008


Fidel Castro’s guerrilla manifesto of 1957 included an immediate literacy and education campaign, with the slogan “Revolution and Education are the same thing”.

One suspects that Federal Labor were not reading from the same script when they promoted their education agenda during 2007. While the Federal Government has “named” its education agenda an “Education Revolution” a fundamental question might be: “is it?”

The Prime Minister, 12 months ago in January 2007, as the then Opposition Leader, stated that what was needed was “a revolution in the quantum of our investment and a revolution in the quality of our education outcomes”.

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Going by this definition it is arguable that the “plan” as made explicit to date, is a true revolution.

It does not at first appear to be a political revolution, nor “a sudden and violent revolution that seeks not only to establish a new political system but to transform an entire society”. Nor even a significant change that usually occurs in a short period of time, nor perhaps “activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation”; depending of which definition suits one’s argument.

It is possible, if the types of challenges facing Australian education outlined later in this piece are addressed, we may consequently see “slow but sweeping transformations of the entire society that take several generations to bring about”.

The choice of the word “revolution” however, opens possibilities, perhaps unintended when the Prime Minister announced it last year. The word revolution itself is critical in consideration of the questions “but where and how should it end?”

Paul Freire in his eloquent writing Pedagogy of the Oppressed said of the nature of “the word”:

But the word is more than just an instrument that makes dialogue possible … Within the word we find two dimensions, reflection and action, in such radical interaction that if one is sacrificed - even in part - the other immediately suffers.

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In this context then it is worth reflecting on education in Australia over the past decade, considering the achievements, the challenges and the shortfalls.

In spite of what the Independent Education Union of Australia would view as poor government policy and inadequate funding over the past decade, Australian students have been highly competitive in the international surveys.

Further, almost all Australian students meet the national benchmarks in literacy and numeracy.

But, and it is a big but, as the authoritative 2000 OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) found, while Australian students did extremely well in comparison with other OECD countries, the gap between those achieving at the highest levels and those at the lowest was among the largest. In other words, Australia did not do well on measures of equity.

Australia’s above OECD average achievements in each of scientific, reading and mathematical literacy are an indication of the commitment and dedication of this nation’s teachers and school staff, especially when measured against expenditure and resourcing.

Australia spends less on education and active labour market programs such as training than a majority of developed OECD countries. Moreover, compared to expenditure on education, training and research in North America, Western Europe, Singapore, Korea and China, Australia is going backwards. Our total spending on education was once well above the OECD average. Now it is below the OECD average and falling.

Amazingly this has occurred against a background of an economy that has been expanding for at least a decade. Government has failed to properly invest in the nation’s educational infrastructure. For instance, despite the importance of early learning (for three to five-year-olds) - the foundation for everything that happens later - federally, a tiny 0.1 per cent of GDP is spent on early learning or one-fifth of the OECD average. A nation of our wealth and prosperity deserves a better deal on education.

Therefore reflecting on national and international achievement and expenditure, what improvements or challenges should “the revolution” be measured by?

At the very least the issues of Indigenous education; early learning and intervention; students with special needs; investment in teachers; and, underpinning all of these, the question of school resourcing, should be areas in which appropriate benchmarks measure the success or the progress of the revolution.

These would not be inconsistent with the Prime Minister’s statement of “a revolution in the quantum of our investment and a revolution in the quality of our education outcomes”.

Early childhood education

Extensive research has demonstrated the value of early childhood education. Specifically it shows that effective schooling cannot be developed in isolation, that early childhood education is important for subsequent success and schooling should build on the influential pre-school years.

We know that good quality early child care and education sets the right foundation for children's further development. Well trained, well resourced and well supported child care educators are central to this formula.

The IEU (Independent Education Union of Australia) believes that early childhood education and child care services play a crucial role in supplementing parental care, promoting children's social, cognitive and personal development. This role is vital in enabling parents to participate in employment, education and training.

Consequently, the IEUA believes access to good quality and affordable care is a priority for families combining employment and family responsibilities.

This is certainly an area that has been identified in the “revolution” and will be one that provides an opportunity to measure an end point.

Indigenous education

The fact that Australia’s Aboriginal peoples remain at the bottom level of every economic, health and social indicator is unacceptable and should be a source of national shame. Correcting this must be a national priority and Australians need to commit to support courageous policy to tackle together the issues that continue to divide this country.

The report by Professor Tony Vinson Dropping Off the Edge released in February 2007 found: “that despite our nation's recent strong economic growth, some communities remain caught in a spiral of low school attainment, high unemployment, poor health, high imprisonment rates and child abuse”.

Sadly, the economic and social policies of the last decade have widened the gap between rich and poor in this country and have further exacerbated problems in many communities.

The IEUA strongly supports the notion that “education can help transform social and economic opportunities”. Accordingly the IEUA believes that increased resources and support are a long overdue national priority in indigenous education.

When the former US Surgeon General, Dr David Satcher, after looking around Central Australia, was recently asked: “What is the solution to this misery?” He didn’t say “emergency seizure of the remote communities”. He said “education, education, education”.

Special needs students

The current funding mechanisms are not fine enough measures to accurately account for the number of students in a school with disabilities or other special needs, including behaviour management issues, or to take account of the particular educational needs of these students and their related costs.

There is an urgent need to develop a nationally consistent set of definitions as to what constitutes disability for the purposes of funding.

To ensure that schools have the capacity to meet the educational needs of all students, the “revolution” needs to develop and deliver a framework of teaching and learning resource standards for high quality teaching and learning conditions for students with disabilities and other special needs with regard to:

  • the appropriate levels of specialist teaching and support staff;
  • class sizes which allow optimum teaching and learning for integrated classes;
  • time release for curriculum and program modification and planning, and liaising with parents and external agencies; and
  • access to appropriate and relevant professional development for teachers and support staff.

School resourcing

It has been suggested previously by some commentators that the funding of education in Australia is “around the wrong way”. Namely that the amount of per capita funding provided to education increases from pre-school, to primary school to secondary school and then on to tertiary education.

What might happen if the relativities were reversed? What if there were sufficient resources to address early learning issues, especially in literacy and numeracy? Would we see not only improved student outcomes but also improved classroom environments, fewer behaviour problems and better teaching-learning opportunities?

Put bluntly: “More for all and even more for some”.

There are genuine concerns and indeed demonstrable problems with the current federal funding arrangements and there is a need for a transparent and open review of the current policy.

A more coherent public policy on education funding is essential: one that acknowledges the realities of Australian schools and provides the way forward for a more equitable and less divisive framework of schooling.

Building on the work of the MCEETYA (Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs), it is necessary to establish a national resources standard for schools in order to provide for the educational needs of every Australian student, and subsequently the public resourcing of government schools to the benchmark needed to provide quality education for every student.

Flowing from this, non-government schools should be funded by government on the basis of genuine need, with reference to the national resources standard. In addition, the development of clear principles to bring the differential funding from state and federal sources into a consistent framework are needed.

This would enable public discussion of funding realities to take account of all sources of funding for government and non-government schools and require all schools to be publicly accountable.

Teachers

Teachers across Australia make a vital contribution to the richness of Australian society.

However, federal and state/territory governments have failed to properly manage workforce planning and to address proper levels of professional pay for teachers across the span of their career. There has been a short-sighted approach in efforts to properly recognise the highly skilled work of teachers and to provide the kinds of professional support that is the norm in other industries.

The recently released ACER study Staff in Australia’s Schools 2007 canvassing the views of almost 13,000 teachers and school leaders asked the question “In your opinion do schools have difficulty in retaining teachers in the profession?” Two thirds of primary respondents and almost three-quarters of secondary respondents said “yes”.

When then asked: “To what extent do you agree that the following would help retain teachers in the profession?” more than 90 per cent of these primary and secondary teachers nominated smaller class sizes, fewer student management issues and a more positive public image of teachers.

Yet, the report In the Balance (PDF 2.24MB) published in August 2007, commissioned by the Australian Primary Principals Association illustrates what we instinctively know about teachers, that in spite of the challenges, difficulties and stresses, they remain positive about their work. Ninety-two per cent of primary teachers surveyed indicated they “enjoy their work as a teacher” and the same percentage, 92 per cent, believe they “feel able to make a difference to the students they taught”.

Government needs to make an equal return investment in the teaching profession and the schools they work in, knowing that this is what the Australian community wants and deserves.

Equally, teachers deserve both the rewards and resources to undertake their task

In conclusion, this list of measures, by no means exhaustive, may take a generation or more to achieve, but in that sense it would truly be a revolution and not just another faddish educational experiment or program setting.

Our grand-children can only hope for a genuine revolution. Or as Paulo Freire put it: “Thus to speak a true word is to transform the world”.

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About the Author

Chris Watt is the Federal Secretary of the Independent Education Union of Australia.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Chris Watt

Creative Commons LicenseThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

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